Margaretha sat down on the steps, placing her hand over her heart. It vibrated against her hand, so hard was it pounding. “He nearly saw us.”
“If he sees you,” Colin whispered, “do not act as if anything is amiss. But if he sees me, our plan is ruined.” He grabbed her upper arms, forcing her to look at him. “You must help me find a few loyal guards, men you are certain would never betray your family. Then you will need to go to Claybrook in the Great Hall. Since he asked your mother to tell you to meet him there, he will become suspicious if you don’t show up.”
Margaretha’s heart fluttered. He seemed so wise and capable, his hands warm and reassuring as they gripped her arms. Thanks be to God that he was here, helping her.
“Will you come with me?” she whispered.
“Yes, but you must lead the way.”
He let go and she hurried to leave the castle by a back door. Colin followed just behind her to the gate.
When they arrived at the gate house, a guard was there, but Margaretha did not know him. With him was one of Lord Claybrook’s guards, wearing the blue and gold of Lord Claybrook’s uncle. Margaretha smiled at them, hoping she didn’t look suspicious. A glance behind her showed Colin hanging his head, no doubt trying to hide his face.
Margaretha turned back toward the castle, and when she did, she saw more of Claybrook’s guards near the stable. Were they trying to keep track of who was coming and going?
She clasped her hands and bit her lip as she walked, keeping to the back side of the castle so as not to be visible to Claybrook from the windows of the Great Hall. God, have you truly entrusted me, a girl who has never faced danger of any kind, to help save Hagenheim? To place such a responsibility on me, when I never imagined I would need to do anything like this . . .
“Do you know where you’re going?” Colin whispered behind her.
Margaretha kept walking as she turned her head to answer. “Of course. I know every foot of these — oh.” She ran into something . . . or someone.
“Careful, Lady Margaretha. You should look where you’re going.”
She took hold of his massive arm. “Bezilo.” He was as loyal as any of her father’s guards. She would wager her life on it. “We must speak with you, Bezilo, but we need to go where no one will hear us. Please come with me.” They were near the flower garden, which was behind the castle, sheltered partially by trees. She led the two men through the short iron gate and motioned them to follow her to the shade of a low-hanging mulberry tree.
Once they were under the relative seclusion of the thick leaves and branches, she told Bezilo in a hushed voice, “We are in danger. Lord Claybrook is trying to take over Hagenheim.”
Bezilo’s eyes went wide. “I knew it. I never trusted that foolish looking foreigner.”
“Well, my friend — for indeed, I consider you my friend and one of my father’s most trusted guards — this man here is also a foreigner, from England, and if not for him, we would not have known of Lord Claybrook’s treachery.”
Bezilo turned to Colin and nodded.
“We don’t have much time,” Margaretha went on without translating for Colin. “I need you to get a message to my father as soon as possible. We need to let him know that Claybrook is plotting with his uncle to take over Hagenheim and kill my father and Valten. But I’m not sure where Father is.”
“Duke Wilhelm and Lord Hamlin were checking out some reports of brigands to the north. I shall find them, don’t worry.”
“What did he say?” Colin asked, tapping her arm. “Translate for me.”
“Just a minute,” Margaretha told Colin, barely glancing away from the guard. “How will you leave without Claybrook’s men seeing you? His guards are milling about the stable.”
“I can leave the castle gate on foot and get a horse from town.”
“They’re watching the castle gate as well.”
“I’ll say I’m going to see my sister who sells vegetables in the Marktplatz.”
“What are you saying?” Colin demanded.
Margaretha explained briefly to Colin what Bezilo planned to do.
“Good.” Colin nodded approvingly at Bezilo, as if with the authority of Duke Wilhelm himself. “But before he goes, he should alert the other guards that there will be a fight in the morning at dawn, or probably sooner. Or perhaps he should alert one guard and let him tell the others, but only the ones they are certain are loyal.”
Margaretha relayed his message to the burly guard.
Bezilo grunted. “Very well, I shall. But do you have a plan, Lady Margaretha, for you and your family to escape?”
“Yes. We shall say we are going to visit someone, or that we are going on a picnic. You must tell Father and Valten that we are at the manse in the forest.”