Rick had a plan, but he needed help if he was to have any chance of avoiding blame for Elsie’s disappearance.

“Do you think you can keep a secret better than Harry?” He asked Ethan.

“It’s insulting that you have to ask.”

Fair point. “I need your help. I’m taking Elsie to my brother.”

“Oh, so speaking with Edmond went well?” Ethan asked sarcastically.

That morning, Ethan arrived late for combat training. Unconcerned, he strolled straight past the other soldiers and up to Captain Edmond, who was observing. “Morning, Captain.”

Edmond nodded in greeting. When Ethan didn’t leave his side, he asked, “Have you come to help supervise?”

“If my uncle’s sheep dog can do it on his own, I’m sure you’ll be fine. I was just wondering, what’s going on with Rick’s family?”

Edmond gave Ethan a withering look, but Ethan was immune to such things. “Have you really been snooping around again? Even here?”

“Can’t help it if I hear things,” Ethan said dismissively. Never mind how carefully he listened. Ethan’s own brother had been imprisoned for a freak fire accident. Of course he was curious what brought people to the Count’s attention.

“Lord Henry wants his family back. Count Seymour won’t give up his work, and he has the king behind him. The situation is under control for now, but I fear that one of them will do something drastic.”

“The king supports him against her family’s will?”

“She injured two people, Ethan. It’s not safe to leave her unchecked.”

“What can she do? It was probably just an accident.”

“And Seymour claims he can prevent further accidents. They’ll be safe as long as Henry stays smart.” Edmond sounded close to losing his patience.

Ethan shrugged, turning his palms face up. “Eh, Henry might not be the one to worry about. Has Rick seemed on edge to you lately?” He broke away from Seymour and joined the soldiers who were gearing up for training. Edmond scowled after him.

Rick received an order to return to the capital the next day, and was packed and ready to go before noon. He left the castle and, rather than starting on the road home, rented a room at an inn near the edge of town.

Two days later, he snuck back into the castle with Ethan as a lookout. The fewer staff and guards who saw him the better, but the priority was keeping out of Edmond’s sight. Rick waited in a small, disused study for Elsie to be dismissed from her session, at which point Ethan would lead her to Rick instead of her rooms.

The length of the sessions varied. If they could leave early enough today, they could get a decent headstart before Sibyl noticed something was off and raised an alarm. If it took too long, however, Rick might have to try again another day. The sooner he could get Elsie home and be on his way to the capital, the better. Edmond would have written ahead that the king should expect his return, and a long delay would just be incriminating.

Fortunately, Ethan and Elsie turned up not even an hour later. She looked exhausted, but the change in routine had her on alert. Ethan entered the room first, and she trailed behind him warily. She perked up when she saw Rick.

“Oh! What are you doing here, Uncle?”

“I’m going to take you to your father,” he said.

“Really? Mama will be so pleased. She was awfully mad before.”

Elsie turned to Ethan. “Will you tell my mother where I’ve gone?” she asked.

“Sure I will,” Ethan promised. “Now let’s get you out of here.”

They made it back outside having run into only a couple familiar faces. Rick trusted Ethan to convince them to keep quiet.

Rick was eager to get far away from the castle, but first he made one last stop at the inn he had been staying in. He gave Elsie a simple blue woolen dress so she could change out of her conspicuous noblewoman’s clothes. He also changed out of his guard’s uniform and wrapped their clothes up in a bundle to wear on his back, his sword hidden in the middle.

The day before, Rick had already hired a carriage that would bring them to Windermere and asked the driver to be ready to leave at any time. They said goodbye to Ethan and left Dunhall behind.

Rick would have liked to be moving quicker than the carriage allowed, but he didn’t have the money to hire a horse for a one-way trip. Rick disliked carriages in general because they were so uncomfortable, but Elsie was enjoying the trip. She giggled at every bump that lifted her off her seat and asked constantly if she could look draw the curtain and look out. Rick turned her down over and over again for the first half hour, then finally deemed it safe enough.

She was captivated by the slowly changing views on either side of the carriage, and switched sides frequently so as not to miss anything.

They stopped for lunch around noon. The driver took care of the horses and sent Rick and Elsie off to get lunch for all three of them at a stall he recommended. Rick bought two loaves of bread and some cheese for them to share.

A couple hours later, the driver dropped them off in Windermere.