He was more confused than excited, but he did not want to dampen her enthusiasm. “So they grabbed the prince.”
“Exactly! That’s why the queen went to Our Lady. Her trap failed and she feared Severn’s revenge. She stayed in sanctuary and let her other son out. Everyone knows she has stayed in sanctuary so long because she’s still afraid of his revenge. The two hate each other.”
“I’ve met her,” Owen said softly, rubbing his chin. He would have to ask Ankarette about this.
“Really?” she asked, almost shrilly, grabbing both of his hands and squeezing them hard. He yanked them away.
“I snuck away from the palace,” he said. “I went to Our Lady to escape.”
Her mouth formed a big O of surprise and she sat up straight, as if all the fragments of a broken jug were coming together in her mind. The look she gave him transformed from eagerness to newfound admiration.
“You didn’t!” she whispered in awe.
Owen nodded. “I snuck out of the porter door in the wall and walked there. Ratcliffe caught me because Mancini told him I was there. I don’t like Mancini much.”
“He’s a spy, but he’s not very good,” she replied in agreement. “So you met her! They say she uses witchery to stay young, but I don’t believe any of that stuff. Was she pretty?”
Owen felt a little uncomfortable. “I think so. I don’t know.”
She waved aside his response. “That’s amazing, Owen—you are so brave! I thought you would be too scared to try something like that. So you like to sneak around, too?” Her choice of words implied that she did as well.
He nodded shyly.
She started shaking her hands around excitedly. “We’re going to have so much fun together! There’s a secret part of the grounds. The cistern. Have you found it yet?”
He stared at her in surprise. “What’s a cistern?”
She grinned. “It’s like a well, except it catches rainwater from the clouds, not from underground streams. Grandpapa showed me the wall blocking it. He said it’s the only place I can’t go. Which makes me want to go there even more!”
“Won’t we get in trouble?” Owen asked.
She waved a hand dismissively. “I sneak around all the time. So I have to tell you the story of Bletchley. Don’t you just hate his name? Bletchley. It’s like you’re throwing up. If your family name was Bletchley, I wouldn’t marry you. Kiskaddon, I love! It’s not as good as Mortimer, but good enough. Elysabeth Victoria Mortimer Kiskaddon.” She shivered with delight. “Oh yes, Bletchley! He was nothing but a lying guttersnipe! He tricked Uncle Severn into giving him control of the Espion, which meant he got control of the princes. Then he made them disappear. And who gets the blame? Severn gets the blame. It was a nasty bit of work, I tell you. A cruel trick. Bletchley killed the princes, and that’s why Severn executed him for treason. Everyone thinks the king did it, but he didn’t.” She looked into his eyes and then, much more gently, reached for his hand. “You were worried that the king was going to put you to death, but my grandpapa thinks you’ll be all right, and I believe him. Do you see why now? The king is upset that his nephews died. He didn’t want it to happen. Remember, his motto is ‘Loyalty Binds Me.’ He took that motto to heart.”
Owen was not sure what to think. One thing he knew. The Mortimer girl knew much more than he did. His parents had told him next to nothing about the families of the realm and the troubles between them. He knew his father had gone off to war again because the king had summoned him. He had been surprised to learn that his father was considered a traitor to the king.
How was he supposed to discover what was true and what was tale? Everyone believed the coins vanished from the fountains and granted wishes. But just because they believed it, didn’t make it true.
“Goodnight, Owen Kiskaddon!” Elysabeth Victoria Mortimer whispered suddenly, stooping to kiss him on the cheek. And with that, she scampered off the bed and vanished out the door.
The following day, the Mortimer girl took Owen on a grand exploration of the grounds. Jewel was not pleased with her and kept demanding they stop and rest, but the girl paid her no mind whatsoever. Grabbing Owen’s hand, she led him on a merry romp toward the secret part of the grounds, leaving their elderly guardian lagging behind.