Thread of Gold

Ch. 28: all that glitters

Something was wrong.

Ryne stared at the letter. In the dim light of Penny's bedroom, he could just make out the slanted words.

Ryne, it read.

I've gone to Summerhill for a while. Please don't come after me, and don't tell anyone where I am. I need to be alone with my thoughts right now.

Love,

Camille

He'd spent the last two days studying it, but Ryne couldn't make sense of it. The handwriting was rushed. Sloppy. As if she'd been in a great hurry. But that made no sense, Ryne thought, crumpling the letter. Why had she left for Summerhill so quickly? And why had she bolted from the woods?

Camille had done the same thing from the tavern, Ryne recalled, almost four weeks ago. Something was wrong.

"Tell me where she went," Brigid said.

Ryne looked up. His mother was watching him with dark eyes, her chin propped up on one hand. The other one cradled Penny's limp fingers.

"She's asked to be left alone," he said.

"Did she say why?" Ryne shook his head, and the oddest look passed over his mother's face. It was almost like relief. "She doesn't know about Penny, darling. She would want to be here for this."

Ryne swallowed. He'd had the same thought.

Not that there was much they could do; June had been in to examine Penny, and the healer had explained that there was nothing to do but wait. Penny would survive the overdose, June said, but there was no telling what the long-term effects would be.

"It's a waiting game, I'm afraid," June had told them. "We'll only know the extent of the damage once Her Highness wakes up."

Still.

His mother was right; Camille would want to be here. In fact, Ryne had been intent on fetching her himself until Isaac pointed out that he was in no shape to ride. And Isaac couldn't leave while there was a murderer roaming around the castle.

"Please." Brigid shifted. "I'm worried for her, darling. To leave in such a hurry..." Her auburn hair glinted, a twin flame to Penny. "I don't say this enough, but I love you children. I would burn down the world for you. To see you upset breaks my heart."

Ryne sighed. "She's at Summerhill."

Surprise flickered across her face. "Our summer residence?"

"Is there another Summerhill?"

Brigid ignored this. "I'll fetch her at once." She rose. "If all goes well, I'll have her back in time for First Frost." She squeezed Penny's hand. Once. Twice. "Keep an eye on your sister, Ryne."

"She's not going anywhere."

"Well," Brigid sighed. "If there's anything predictable about Penny, it's that she's always unpredictable."

It was, Camille thought, rather tiresome being bound to a bedpost — but it was even more tiresome when you ran out of books.

She'd read most of the library at Summerhill by now. Pirate adventures. Bodice-ripping romances. What her servant thought of the whole thing, Camille didn't know, but the girl bound her without complaint every morning, untying one hand at mealtimes so Camille could eat her toast or boiled eggs.

Camille lost track of the days. Dawn broke over the barren garden outside the window, bathing the sky in fire, and then faded to blue. Some days, the sky turned the same iridescent pearl grey as Isaac's eyes. She liked those days because it gave her something to focus on. Something outside of the pain.