Lord Day and Lady Night

48. Tigress in the Castle

Amy glanced around the room they had been assigned. The tower room. In the tallest tower of the castle. Really, could this be any more cliché?

"All I'm missin' are a wicked witch and fifty-five feet of long golden hair," Amy muttered.

She didn't miss the fact that there were several beds missing in the room, either. For the four of them, there was only a single one. It seemed that His Grace intended for the girls to sleep somewhere else. Imagine that.

"Is it just me," Flo asked, glancing around the bare room with the single door and single window, which happened to be roughly fifty feet above the ground, "or does dis place look a little like a prison cell?"

"Oh, no," Amy told them with a serious face. "A prison? Surely, you are mistaken! That can't possibly be!"

Just then, a key clicked in the lock, and a latch was slid in place, shutting them in. Raucous laughter echoed outside in the corridor, followed by thumping footsteps as whoever had just locked them in this place looked for something more interesting to do.

Flo gave Amy a look.

Amy shrugged, and smirked. "Oops?"

"Ha!"

"Oy, don't give me dat look, Missy! Ye volunteered to come ta dis place, remember?"

"Hm...I guess I did." Frowning, Flo glanced around. "But dis ain't going da way we expected it to. For starters, why are we 'ere with ye? We should 'ave bin taken ta where dey keep da other girls."

Just then, Amy heard the sound of rattling from outside, accompanied by the pounding of hooves. Striding to the window, she peered outside, just in time to see a magnificent black-and-golden coach rushing out of the gate.

"Dere's yer answer. Seems like da duke wasn't just airing 'is coach earlier. Apparently, 'e's got places ta be tonight."

"Which means..."

"Aye." A smirk spreading across her face, Amy turned back to face the three girls. "We'll 'ave all night ta play around in dis pretty castle."

Thus began the wait. The afternoon passed quickly, thanks to Amy's foresight. Other people might have gone on a dangerous secret mission armed with knives and pistols and tools. Amy, however, had a different approach. She had spent pretty much her whole life in dark and dangerous places, and had long since learned one thing: the most dangerous thing was not danger, but the boredom before the danger.

"Cards, anyone?" Pulling a deck out of her pocket, she waved it in the air.

"Oh, goody!" Clapping her hands, Flo rushed over and settled next to Amy on the bed. "I bet two matches!"

"Skinflint!" Leona muttered.

Five minutes later, they were settled around a central pile of winnings, cards held closely in front of their faces, sandwiches in hand.

"Ham?"

"Nah, I'm good with cucumber."

"All right, stop stalling ye two! Let's see yer cards."

"Don't get yer nickers in a twist. 'ere ye go."

"Ha! I win!" Aggie punched the air in triumph. "I win! Gimme all yer matches!"

They continued playing until the sun began to sink behind the horizon, and the sounds of life from the castle slowly started to subside. Except for the occasional owl hooting in the distance, the night was silent.

Amy glanced out of the window, and the only things she could see were the flickering lanterns carried by the guards patrolling the property. Idiots. Patrolling in the night with a lantern? If you did something like that in Devil's Acre, you'd end up as target practise for a dozen thieves armed with throwing knives. In the night, light didn't illuminate. It only alerted your enemies.