Strike at Midnight(42)

The card game at The Tamed Wolf would have been the perfect opportunity because the duke had been drunk that night. And that raised the question that someone may have ensured he had ended up that way before leaving. Someone who moved in those higher circles had to have been involved, and after the prince’s kidnapping, it was evident that this thing could be bigger than any of us realized.

How many people had been targeted and kidnapped with another unknowingly taking their place? How many others had fallen victim to this plot? And where the hell would they be keeping the original people?

I needed to get a witch on board. One I could kind of trust. Even though they were few and far between.

While we were at the castle for the weekend, we could arrange for a witch to visit the imposter duke in the dungeons and see if she could wipe the original spell. But where to find a witch who wouldn’t want a virgin sacrifice in return? Not that witches sacrificed virgins, but a lot of the witches always tended to want a weird payment. One that I couldn’t exactly offer up if a virgin sacrifice was on the table.

Those who openly practiced simple magic or who made pretty potions would be no good. They would just try and offer up their own services rather than point me in the direction of someone who had the power to do this. I needed a true witch, one who could do magic that fell outside of regulations. The prince would no doubt be able to give the special permissions they needed to make it legal, so that would help.

The Inn of the Briar Rose could be a good place to start thinking about it. I remembered something about the owner—Briar Rose herself—having some links to magic when her father was alive. Maybe she would know of someone I could trust to do this?

It was worth a try, and I could head down there and have a word with her after visiting the lands of the Camemberts and Crickets.

My clock, which was now back on my dresser, showed that it was early enough for me to fit it in before Rapunzel came by later this afternoon with her report on the others. It would also be when I could tell her about the ball, and the fact that she was a lucky bitch because she would only have to attend the daily activities.

A pang of guilt hit me at the fact that she would probably love to go to a ball and dress up and dance at night. I knew what it was like to pine for something when it had been taken from you. Maybe I wouldn’t refer to her as a lucky bitch in person? Just to be nice.

Getting a gown was a low priority but it still needed to be done. Thankfully, the dressmaker still had my measurements from last time. I would also need the advance from Sir Raymond, so that could be done tomorrow. I’m sure the dressmaker would have a gown or two already made that she could modify. If not, I was just going to hack the bottom off one of Melody’s. Screw it.

Rem was out back seeing to Ginger and the other two horses when I finally made it outside. It looked like Marcel hadn’t had the heart to turn them out, and they had made themselves comfortable in the meantime.

“Morning, kid,” I said, and he looked at me with a smile.

“Morning.”

“I’m about to head out,” I said, nudging my head towards the black mare he was brushing down. “Do you think that one is ready to go?”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod of his head, then he went back to brushing her. “She’s had her breakfast, and has settled better than the other one. Marcel said I could name them. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” I said, leaning against the doorframe as I studied him. “What did you decide on?”

“‘Maple’ for the quieter one,” he said, pointing to the horses sharing a drink of water with Ginger. “And this one I’ve decided to call ‘Majestic.’ Or ‘Jessie’ for short.”

A smile tugged at my mouth. “I like it. I’ll saddle up Jessie if that’s okay?”

“I’ll do it if you want,” he said, and I took advantage of the offer.

“That will be great. Thanks.”

He put the brush down and moved off to get Ginger’s saddle to use on Jessie. That was something I was going to have to talk to Marcel about because keeping three horses was going to be an expense I wasn’t sure we could afford.

“Was there anywhere your brother liked to hang out?” I asked him as he got to work. “Anywhere he spoke of ever going to if he got the chance?”

“No,” he replied, but it was quicker than I would have liked.

“I’m not saying he left you, kid,” I said, guessing the reason behind his sudden change in body language. “But I’ve got to cover all angles.”

“He used to see a girl down by the docks. Her dad was a fisherman.”

“What was her name?”

“Emily something. I don’t know her surname.”

“Anything about what she looked like? Where her dad worked?” There were a lot of fishermen who lived down by the docks.

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“Okay,” I said tentatively. Something seemed wrong, but I didn’t want to push him. He couldn’t exactly accuse me of not doing my best if he wasn’t going to play ball. But I also knew what it was like to hope. Sometimes it made you do stupid things, like kissing princes, but that wasn’t the point.

We remained in silence as he finished saddling up Jessie, and then I thanked him and got on my way. We would need to talk about a more permanent residence for him soon, seeing as Marcel’s couch was only temporary.