Threatened [W&W Book 2]

Chapter 9

The next two days dragged by at a horrible, tense crawl.  The castle was a beehive of activity, but Anya had very little to do besides worry and feel overwhelmed.  She tried to put her time to good use by studying in the library, but her attention constantly wandered back to her worries and her fears.

What was even worse for Anya was that she had not yet even caught a glimpse of Lord Wildwood.  She learned from Ildri that the wizard had been gone since a day or two before she had arrived.

Apparently the fact that he was gone was common knowledge, but what he was doing was not.  Anya could not help but feel paranoid that his secret business had something to do with her unfortunate mission.

Ildri did not seem interested or concerned by his absence.  Apparently it was not unheard of for Lord Wildwood to disappear on wizardly business from time to time.  No doubt Lady Theresa knew where her soon-to-be husband was, but Anya would hardly draw attention to herself by asking.

Instead she continued waiting and Lord Wildwood grew bigger and bigger in her imagination until she was almost certain she would never find a way to pull off what she had to do and save her brother and sister.

Anya was sitting in the library and reading a book on non-magical herbal tonics when her agonizing waiting finally reached its end.  She was pursuing the ingredients list of a skin cleansing solution when she heard a loud crash in the hall.

Anya glanced up.  Obviously someone had dropped something.  It was not the first distraction that she had, but it was just enough to pull her attention away from the page.

Attempting to concentrate was evidently pointless.  She realized she had not taken in even a single word that she had supposedly read.

Resisting the urge to throw the book down on the table beside her, she got up and put it carefully on the proper shelf.

A couple of times each day Anya would check in with Lady Theresa or Hanna and see if there was anything that she could do.  Lady Theresa seemed content with what little Anya was already doing, and the efficient Hanna simply smiled and assured her that everything was fine.

Anya felt useless to an extreme extent.  She needed to find a way to make herself indispensable to the lady or she would be out the door before Lord Wildwood returned.

Anya pushed the door open, deep in her gloomy thoughts, trying to think of something she could do for Lady Theresa that no one else could do.  Perhaps she could make the lady's life easier in some way.  She could not compensate for the terrible crime that she would commit against her husband, but what if there was something...

The tip of Anya's toe touched something and she glanced down.

Hanna was on the floor, picking up broken dishes.  Anya had almost stumbled over her while lost in thoughts.  Anya cursed herself for not paying more attention.  She was the most ridiculous of assassins, or rather, premeditating assassins.  She did not even notice what was going on around her.

Of course, most assassins were probably doing the job for money, rather than because their family was being held hostage by a madman.  The situation would push anyone beyond their means, surely.

Anya's self pity was interrupted by a muffled sniffle.

"Are you crying?" she asked the other maid in surprise.

"What?  Oh, Anya.  No, I'm fine," said Hanna in the most pathetic example of lying Anya had ever heard, which was quite a feat considering how many terrible lies she had heard over the years with two younger siblings in her charge.

"Really, what is the matter?" Anya asked again, wondering why she bothered.  She had her own problems, but she could not but feel sorry for the other woman.  She leaned down and picked up a couple of the broken shards of glass and a plate that somehow survived the wreckage.