Midnight in Everwood(51)

Marietta ran. Trapped between the king and the growing crowd, and clad in her shimmering gown of snowflakes, she was indistinguishable from the king’s party of revellers. She threw a longing glance in the other direction, at that silent wall of firs in the distance that held her freedom, before dashing behind a gingerbread stand selling molten chocolate. Shouts and cries and clashes.

When she looked out, she saw a rally of townspeople taking on the soldiers as the captain drew his sword. She heard King Gelum instructing him to deal with the dissenters before the Faceless Guards marched the king back to his sleigh. She watched the captain rush about, issuing orders and organising the king’s retinue of faceless guards to escort the king back to the palace. Then King Gelum’s royal sleigh rushed away, its mouse-carved runners spraying snow in its hurry. Several sleighs of faceless guards followed, the air thick with the sound of moose hooves pounding the snow. Marietta’s breath caught. The rebellion held a mighty task before them; the king’s defence was near impenetrable.

‘Allow me to return you to the sleigh.’ Captain Legat appeared at her side as if he’d stepped out from the night itself.

‘I had wondered why you had reacted in such a strong manner last week, when you unceremoniously bade me leave your study.’ Marietta addressed her words forwards, watching the glimmer of the Festival of Light play out against the chaos in the streets. She felt the captain stiffen at her side. ‘It failed to make any sense to me. At the time I dismissed it as my own confusion owing to my state of mind. Now, though, I understand.’

‘Then perhaps you might enlighten me as to what you are referring to.’

Marietta turned to him. ‘Red for the blood you’ll spill in the streets, red for the rebellion you belong to.’

Captain Legat’s fingers tightened on his sword hilt. His butterscotch eyes hardened.

‘Such an innocent thing, a curl of ribbon. Doubtless no one would consider it twice. One of the countries in my world once associated revolutionaries with a red Phrygian cap. Once it is uncovered it takes on more importance, of course. Becomes a powerful symbol.’

The captain gave a dry laugh. ‘Someone has been filling your head with fantasies.’

‘Indeed?’ In an emboldened move, Marietta reached for the captain’s jacket pocket.

He caught her hand in his and whisked them around. Her back cold against the frozen gingerbread wall, he released her hand.

‘I saw the ribbon dropped onto the ice before the protest erupted,’ she said a little breathlessly. ‘You cannot pretend it means nothing. I know.’

He stood before her, close enough to keep her pressed against the gingerbread. ‘I possess it as a ruse. As captain of the King’s Army, it is in my purview to ascertain and deal with any threats to the king’s rule.’

Marietta looked up at him. ‘You’re lying, Captain Legat.’

‘And you have no idea what you are stumbling into, wanderer.’ His voice was veined with anger. Yet it was the deepest pools of anger than ran with denial.

‘Why do you insist on calling me by this moniker? You have never once addressed me with my name.’

The captain’s face revealed nothing. ‘Ought I to have? I do not know you, neither do we hold a friendship.’

Marietta’s thoughts were a map of consternation. She surveyed the captain. Lifted an eyebrow. ‘Are you in the habit of gifting your mother’s cake to veritable strangers?’

‘Are you under the delusion that I hold some degree of affection towards you? I can assure you that I do not.’

Marietta’s laugh was hollow. The captain’s gaze dipped to her mouth for a second. ‘Nor would I desire you to,’ she told him.

‘Very well,’ he said curtly. ‘You may see yourself to the sleigh. I must attend to an urgent matter but another soldier shall escort you back.’

‘Fine.’ She turned on her heel and strode away.

The commotion had intensified. Under the bewitching night sky, unrest poured across the frozen lake. Marietta glanced back at the captain just in time to see him slip away. As she kept eyes on him, she watched him double back and alter his direction. She took a deep breath and followed him.





Chapter Twenty-Seven


Captain Legat’s path circumnavigated the frozen lake. Marietta took care to keep from sight as he twined past a glass wall of a mountain and entered a narrow alley. It was a maze, constructed from sugar, between a pair of ice cliffs that teetered up to brush the stars. Studded with alcoves and delicate sugar-stairs, signs heralded all manner of sumptuous delicacies crafted within. Marietta’s heart beat faster as she took it all in, illuminated by strings of tiny ice-lanterns above. Chocolate truffles imbued with the finest liquor that promised euphoria with a single bite. Petits fours laced with beautifying charms. Caramel buttercream birds granted with flight. This, then, was Sugar Alley.

Captain Legat removed his hat and ascended a staircase. Marietta glanced over her shoulder. At the opposing end of Sugar Alley, she thought she caught a swoop of silver hair yet no sooner had she fixed on it, it had already vanished. She shook any fearful contemplations from her head and followed the captain.

‘You oughtn’t to have risked yourself for such a foolhardy visit,’ a woman said, the curves of her accent deep and caring.

‘It was imperative I see you,’ Captain Legat replied. ‘The protest has erupted. I needed to ensure your safety.’