Chapter 3

Clara

I pushed the handsome stranger against the wall. Instinct held my hand on his chest.

His skin was warm and smooth. I could feel the muscles shift as he breathed.

The man was well built. I could feel the strength in his muscles and the power in his body.

His sharply defined features resembled the sculpted perfection of a Greek god. He barely seemed real in the light of day.

“If you’ve caught your balance,” his voice was captivating, as if feathers were brushing gently against my ears, “You should probably let go.”

There was a note of teasing in his voice that brought warmth to my cheeks. Although his words were harmless, his tone implied something else. I felt like I’d been caught doing something intimate, and maybe illicit.

I scurried backwards, feeling my face redden with embarrassment. He grinned and slipped past me.

I washed up quickly. My heart pounded at the memory of his arm around me. My skin tingled where his skin had pressed against mine. Why did his touch feel so good?

I reached for his hand once I was ready to go outside.

“I need to deliver your pen,” I wrote.

He nodded. “Be discreet. Don’t draw attention to yourself,” he warned me.

I patted his hand to show I understood. I always tried to avoid attention. Life was easier if most people ignored me.

When I stepped outside, I saw my neighbor, Nora. I waved and smiled.

Nora waved back and walked over.

Like me, Nora had been banished to the most remote area of the royal compound. She was a rare beauty, and the other maids bullied her out of jealousy.

Nora’s father, like me, was mute. So she’d learned sign language young. She was one of the only people who bothered to understand me.

She was also my only friend.

“Hello, Clara,” Nora said. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” I signed.

I noticed a bruise almost hidden by the neckline of her dress. I motioned to it.

“Your mate hurt you again?” I asked.

Nora’s mate was awful. He was a brute who beat her constantly.

Nora nodded and looked away. I knew she didn’t want me to mention it, but I was worried.

I heard him yell at her at night. I saw new bruises on her skin almost every day. It was getting worse.

“You should reject him,” I signed to her. “You have the right.”

All she needed to do was show the bruises. I could back up her claims. Even if I couldn’t speak, I was literate. I could write out what I saw and heard.

“No, it’s not that easy,” Nora replied.

She put her hands on her hips and nodded towards my room. “Anyway,” she continued, “You need to focus on your situation.”

“What situation?” I signed.

I tried to look as innocent as I could.

“I saw you,” Nora said. “You dragged some strange man out of the stables last night.”

I winced. She saw that?

“And there was no alarm raised, and no guards came running,” Nora continued. “You didn’t turn him in. You kept him in your room. Didn’t you?”

I nodded once, and turned away.

“Royal servants are supposed to report any strangers,” Nora said. “You’re not allowed to have a strange man in your room! What happens if you’re caught, huh? You’re putting yourself in danger.”

“He’s not a strange man,” I signed. “He is a friend of Beta Jasper. Now I need to deliver this to him.”

I showed Nora the pen.

“Beta Jasper?” Nora repeated. She shook her head. “Clara, you’re too low rank to walk up to Beta Jasper and hand him something.”

I winced. She was right. I’d be punished harshly for even trying to approach someone of his rank.

But Nora was higher ranked than me among the servants.

“You could help me,” I signed.

Nora hesitated, but I gave her my best pleading expression. She sighed and shook her head. I knew I’d won her over.

“Fine,” Nora said.

We went to Beta Jasper’s residence. It was closer to the main palace than I ever went. I was curious, but I kept my eyes on the ground and stayed close to Nora.

Nora took the pen. She studied it for a moment, and then put it in her pocket.

“Stay here,” she said. “I don’t want to think about what might happen if you’re caught inside.”

I nodded and found a corner that should be safe.

I waited. I assumed it would take a few minutes for Nora to convince the servants in the residence to let her speak to Beta Jasper.

I glanced at the sun after a little time, and realized that an hour had passed. What was taking so long? Was I wrong about Nora’s rank being high enough to approach a Beta? Was she in trouble?

Maybe I should try to help her. But how? I couldn't go inside. Maybe I could cause some kind of distraction, and give her a chance to escape.

Before I could come up with a good distraction, I heard several people approaching. I tried to hide, but I was too slow.

My luck was awful. It wasn’t just anyone approaching. It was the same group of higher ranked maids who had bullied me the day before.

Their ringleader, Ella, spotted me first. She smirked and walked over to where I waited.

Without saying anything to me, she purposefully bumped into me.

I bowed. There was no choice. Even though she walked into me, I was of lower rank. So I was the one who had to bow.

“Aren’t you going to apologize?” Ella demanded.

She knew I couldn’t do that. I signed an apology, even though I knew it was futile. None of these maids understood my signing.

Several of the maids laughed and flapped their hands around. They liked to mock my signs.

Another maid decided she liked Ella’s little game, and bumped into me. Again, I bowed. And again, the maid demanded an apology I could not deliver.

A third maid bumped me hard enough to knock me to the ground. Ella kicked me as I tried to stand up.

“Look at you,” Ella sneered. “You’re pathetic.”

“Yeah,” another maid agreed. “You’re a stain on the royal household.”

I scrambled to put my back to the wall as Ella stood over me.

“You’re just a mute who shouldn’t be anywhere near the royal family,” Ella jeered.

She grabbed the collar of my dress and pulled me up.

“You should have died years ago,” she added. “You’re ruining the image of the royal family. You’re an embarrassment to us all!”

I threw myself backwards and managed to yank my dress out of her grip. I looked around frantically, looking for any way to escape their bullying. I had to help Nora, I didn't have time to deal with their pettiness.

I saw a gap between two buildings. It formed a narrow alley. If I made it there before they caught me, they wouldn’t be able to surround me.

If it was too much work to corner me, they would give up. Then I could concentrate on finding my friend.

There were two maids between me and that narrow path. I braced myself and ran between them. They both reached for me.

At the last second, I twisted to the left and grabbed the maid on the right. I pulled her off balance and shoved. She fell into the maid on the left.

I dove past them. I hoped they’d take long enough to sort themselves out that I’d be able to get away.

I ran for that gap in the buildings. I nearly made it, but my heel caught on a bit of uneven pavement. I stumbled and my leg gave out. I crashed to the ground, hearing the sound of a half dozen furious bullies running to catch me.