The silence that followed that shocking statement was as thick as tar. Dr. Keaden rose from his chair keeping his gaze locked on Mally’s stunned face. He moved past her to the trap door, opened it, and descended down the steps without another word. Mally stared for a long time at the stairwell, her heart racing, her mind filled with an odd ringing, before she slammed the trap door back down with such haste that it bounced back up. She spun around, her eyes not taking in any of the kitchen.

The princess? Princess Avona? Her? Ridiculous! Absurd! The man was insane! So what if they both had birthmarks—hers was probably a crooked swirl. It had been seventeen years, for God’s sake. No one would remember something as trivial as a birthmark in such detail for all that time!

But it was a horrible coincidence. Two birthmarks on two right shoulders on two seventeen-year-olds. Mally shut her eyes and grabbed her hair, twisting the curls painfully between her fingers. If that infernal ringing would just stop she could think! Her fingers stilled suddenly as she froze. What if he told them his suspicions? What would Galen or Lita think—oh, God, what would Ivan do? But surely he wouldn’t tell them? Somehow Mally didn’t really believe that.

Without even making a conscious decision, Mally had left the kitchen and was hastily weaving her way around the display tables in Maud’s shop. Just as she turned the knob on the door, a patch of moonlight illuminated the table before the window adorned with skulls and herbs. There sat the giant rat, his black eyes trained on her form. His tail was draped lazily over one of the skull’s jaws, his beetle black eyes glittering. Mally yanked the door open and fled.

She was lucky. Only twice did she have to dive for cover to keep from being seen by passing knights. It seemed that the knights weren’t satisfied with their capture—they knew a handful of rebels had escaped from their raid. Mally spotted many knights demanding entry from sleepy-eyed proprietors and roughly searching their homes and shops. She wondered why Maud’s had yet to be visited by the brutes.

Some twenty agonizingly tense minutes later, Mally cracked Bob Kettle’s stable door open. Contented, sleepy snorts came from the dark stalls as she hurried to Sam’s. The moment she had lifted the heavy iron latch with a clank, Sam arched his neck and snorted loudly.

“It’s me, Sam. It’s me!” Mally hissed, quickly running her hand down his long muzzle.

He immediately calmed down and pushed his nose more forcefully into her hand, his ears twitching contentedly. In a flash she had him saddled and out of the stall. How she would get out of the city without the knights noticing she had no idea. It was impossible to hide Sam. They would just have to go as fast as possible.

Sam’s giant hooves sounded like hammers on the cobblestone as they fled through the city. Quite a few candles flared into life through dark windows as they rushed by the shops and apartments, startling the sleepers awake. Distantly Mally thought she heard a shout, but she didn’t turn her head to look. As they neared the gate, Mally’s heart jumped into her throat. It was open! A large wagon led by bleary-eyed mules was being allowed entry. At the sound of Sam’s pounding hooves, the knights and wagon driver looked about, startled.

“Halt!” the knights yelled. Their shouts alerted those patrolling the towering outer walls. Five knights, drawing bows, ran above their heads to the gate. Mally simply bent lower over Sam’s neck and begged him to go faster.

Stupidly, or maybe bravely, the knights stood their ground, drawing their heavy swords. The wagon driver and mules on the other hand were not so dimwitted. Panicking when Sam didn’t slow, the wagon driver lashed out at his mules who screamed and screeched as if they were being murdered. The wagon lurched forward, forcing the knights to jump out of the way of the trampling mules. Never hesitating in his stride, Sam plowed into the chaos. The knight who had stood guard when Mally had first entered the city so long ago—Sir Strap—screamed in fright as Sam nearly ran him over. Strap leapt back so quickly that he tumbled over backwards like a barrel. Mally heard his cursing along with the mules’ screeching long after the city had been lost on the horizon.

It had been a long time since Sam had truly stretched his legs and he reveled in the run. Blighten was four hours away from Bosc and it was still very dark. Mally wondered just how late it actually was, but she couldn’t risk stopping to ask at a passing inn or farm house. The knights didn’t allow people to just leave the city without their names being recorded—Molick enjoyed keeping his puppets’ strings accounted for.

Even in Mally’s fear of being followed, she slowed Sam to a canter. It wasn’t wise to burn him out. When dawn broke on the horizon, Mally’s stomach groaned and her eyes itched for sleep, but she straightened in the saddle and kept Sam moving.

What Dr. Keaden had proclaimed was absolutely absurd! She was not Princess Avona. But she knew that if she had stayed with Galen and the rest, the doctor would certainly have told them what he thought. She had failed to convince him that he was wrong. Mally couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to try to convince the others. Was their desire to be freed from this tyranny so great that they would have forced her to take a throne that was as much hers as Bob Kettle’s? No, she had had to leave … there was no other option. And if they followed her? Then she would have the proof that only a mother could give. She was not Princess Avona.

Shortly after dawn had begun to lighten the sky, grey clouds gathered and it started to rain. A cold, mournful rain that seeped through her servant clothes to her bones. Even Sam had lost his thrill for the journey. He now slowly walked down the muddy, sludgy roads where dirty half-melted snow had been pushed to either side. Mally shivered violently, wishing that she and Lita had thought to grab cloaks before they left the castle, but in all their excitement the thought had never entered their minds. A vision appeared in Mally’s brain of her mother in her warm kitchen, stirring a giant pot of soup with a large teapot steaming on the table. She sneezed and buried her numb fingers in Sam’s mane.

The rain continued on and Mally lost track of time. She followed the wooden signs alongside the road that pointed the way to Blighten. What had become of Ivan? Was he alive? Locked in the dungeons? Had Dr. Keaden told everyone his theories? Was Lita panicking at her hasty retreat? Was Galen searching the city for her? Something painful stung in Mally’s chest at the mental image of Galen … of Galen being told she had abandoned them. Would she ever see him again? With that thought, the pain in her chest nearly made her choke. Her eyes stung and a sob escaped her lips.

.

.

Susie Biddle threw another log onto the fire. What a disgusting day, she thought as she glanced out the window. Rain since dawn and still not any sign that it would stop. Susie turned as she heard a soft whimper. Bonnie, ears drooped, lay stretched before the door, her chin resting on her folded paws.

“I can’t stop the rain,” said Susie.

Bonnie lifted her head and Susie tried to keep the smile from her lips as the dog’s gaze practically screamed boredom. With another deep pathetic sigh, Bonnie returned her chin to her paws. Shaking her head at her hound, Susie wiped her hands on her apron and went into the sitting room. From a large basket by the hearth, she retrieved wool and needles. Just as she had settled down in a cushioned rocking chair, needles poised to start knitting, a loud, ear-shattering barking erupted in the kitchen. Needles and wool flew through the air as Susie jumped in her chair.

“Bonnie!” she yelled in fury. “What the devil was that for?”

But if Bonnie had heard her, she wasn’t heeding her. In fact, the barking increased, each booming vocalization pounding on Susie’s eardrums. Grumbling curses under her breathe, Susie rose from her chair and entered the kitchen. There she came across the most peculiar sight.

What the devil, indeed. It was as if someone had flicked a switch. Just before, Bonnie could barely make herself move for lethargy, but now she was quivering with excitement. She danced, leaped, and barked before the door, her black tail swishing at breakneck speed. It was as if she were torn between wanting to run in circles around Susie and scratch the door down. Susie watched in stunned bafflement as Bonnie pressed her nose as hard as she could to the crack at the bottom of the door, whimpering and crying in a mixture of joy and desperation.

Then the knock sounded. Even Bonnie froze, staring up at the door transfixed. The knock seemed hesitant, then rushed. Susie frowned, wondering who would be visiting her in such miserable weather. In a few swift strides, Susie crossed the floor, Bonnie watching her every move, and flung open the door. The sight of her visitor completely and utterly took her breath away.

Shivering and dripping, Mally stood on her doorstep. Her hair was limp and heavy about her face; her clothes clung to her as if she’d swum across a lake. She wasn’t even wearing a cloak! The freckles that splattered across her cheeks stood out in stark relief against the paleness of her skin.

“Hello, Mom.”

Susie’s heart nearly froze at the quivering in her daughter’s voice.

“Mally!”

In one swift movement, Susie had scooped her into her arms and led her to a chair. Immediately Bonnie leapt to Mally’s side.

.

.

Something in Mally sighed in relief at being back home, sitting once more in this chair, seeing her mother. Even though her nerves were shattered, a soft grin tugged at the corners of her mouth as she watched her mother fuss about her, gathering towels, scooting her chair closer to the fire, and bringing forth a giant mug of tea. Dear Lenzar, how she had missed her. Bonnie sighed contentedly, resting her chin on Mally’s knee.

“You’re home!” Susie exclaimed, tugging the towel closer about Mally’s shoulders. “I’ve so missed you! You should have written that you were coming—I’d be more prepared!” Susie tucked a wet lock of hair behind Mally’s ear fondly. “Why didn’t you wear your cloak, you silly child?”

Mally smiled slightly and shrugged. Now that she was home, sitting before her merrily gibbering mother, how could she even possibly ask? Her mother didn’t know the real reason she had gone to Bosc and Mally didn’t want to admit that she had fooled her. That she had deliberately risked her life after telling her that she would be safe.

Something in Mally’s countenance made Susie still. Susie stared at her face and then her eyes roamed over her.

“Where is your traveling bag?”

Mally froze. If her mother wasn’t already suspicious at her sudden appearance then she was now.

“Mally, has something happened?” Susie asked in a low voice.

Mally couldn’t bring herself to look at her. She couldn’t make her throat work. Where to start? The ambush? The truth of what she had been doing these last months? The rebellion?

“Princess Avona is alive.”

Mally kept her eyes fixed on her mother’s apron.

“Alive?”

The disbelief forced Mally’s head up and she nodded emphatically.

“Yes. Her casket is empty—we just found out last night.”

Susie’s eyes widened beyond their measure.

“What were you doing in the catacombs?” she demanded. At Mally’s uncomfortable silence, Susie added with more force, “What has been going on?”

Mally’s eyes swam with tears.

“Ivan is a rebel. He asked me to help him. That’s why I’ve been in the castle—I’ve been helping him to find the princess!”

Susie looked like she’d been slapped.

“I’m so sorry!” Mally sobbed.

Susie swallowed with difficulty and sat down in silence, watching Mally shiver and tremble.

“Have you eaten anything?” Susie asked in a very quiet voice.

Mally shook her head, wiping her nose.

Susie rose and ladled her a bowl of soup from the stove.

“Enough of that,” Susie ordered softly, placing a tray on Mally’s lap. “Eat.”

With each bite, Mally calmed. Even her toes were starting to warm. Mally looked up and noticed that her mother had pulled a chair up to the fire as well, facing her, watching her every move.

Suddenly, the beef in her mouth tasted like plaster. She had to say something. Even if they ended up laughing at the ridiculousness of the doctor’s raving, she had to tell her. Mally doubted she had ever seen her mother’s face so full of worry.

Mally put down her spoon.

“The rebels were ambushed. Last night.”

“Is that why you came back?” Susie asked.

“Partly.” Mally shot her mother a quick glance. “We’d just informed them about the princess. A few of us got away—they’re in hiding … but Ivan was captured.”

“Are you all right?” Susie demanded, leaping to her feet. Her eyes scanned Mally’s body, searching for blood.

Mally shook her head.

“I’m fine.”

Now was the time, but suddenly she couldn’t keep her eyes on her mother. Instead, she focused on a lump of beef, floating in the broth.

“Did you know that Princess Avona had a birthmark?” Mally asked quietly.

“No,” replied Susie, confused.

“The doctor who oversaw her birth saw to the injured rebels. A Doctor Keaden. He told me.”

“That’s … interesting.”

It was clear to Mally that her mother found the fact that a doctor would say such trivial things while patching up the wounded baffling.

“He told me because he saw mine,” Mally explained, finally unable to restrain herself. “He told me because he recognized it. He told me …” her voice caught in her throat as if someone had gripped their hand around it and squeezed.

Susie sat as rigid as a board, her eyes transfixed on Mally. The paleness of her face was increasing at a frightening rate. Mally wouldn’t have been surprised, even with their close proximity to the fire, to have found her mother’s skin as cold as marble.

Panic flooded Mally with uncontrollable force. Though her mother hadn’t uttered a sound, her countenance answered her more clearly than any words.

“My God, it’s true!” Mally cried. Tray forgotten, she jumped to her feet. She hardly noticed a crash as a buzzing filled her ears.

“Mally! Mally, calm down! It might not be,” said Susie quickly, rising to her feet as well. She tried to grab Mally, but Mally viciously jerked away.

“Might not be? You’re my mother! How can you not know who I am?” Mally demanded so loudly that her voice cracked and Bonnie huddled under the table.

“Because I adopted you!” Susie yelled back.

Mally stumbled backward as if Susie’s voice had pushed her.

“You—”

Susie breathed heavily as she continued.

“I couldn’t have a child. My aunt lived in Bosc and she was getting very old and sick. Jonathan and I went to Bosc to bring her back to Blighten with us, but she was such a stubborn old woman. We stayed in Bosc longer than we had intended, trying to convince her to come with us. Then, one night, a friend of mine who worked in the castle appeared at my aunt’s home. She had a baby in her arms. She told me that the baby had been abandoned in the work shed on the castle grounds. I was horrified. You were so dirty—you were only wrapped in a dishtowel.

“She told me that the baby would be taken to an orphanage in the morning and that if I wanted her, I could have her,” Susie continued after a pause. Her eyes swam with tears as she looked at Mally. “I so wanted a child.”

Mally sat down heavily. She was an orphan. But if—her heart raced—if she had been abandoned, dirty and uncared for, then she couldn’t be the princess. She couldn’t!

Against her better judgment, Mally asked, “Who was this friend?”

“Cayla Black,” Susie answered.

That name rammed the fact of her heritage right through her soul. It was too many coincidences for Cayla Black—the princess’s nursemaid—to be on the streets giving away a baby just when the baby princess disappeared. She must have removed the baby’s clothing and dirtied her face to make her appear discarded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mally demanded weakly as her vision blurred.

“I had no reason not to believe Cayla,” said Susie. “It wasn’t unheard of—to have babies left on the doorstep of the castle. I haven’t once considered it until now.”

“You believe the doctor? That was seventeen years ago!”

Susie blinked her eyes sadly.

“You know what I know, Mally. Now you must decide what to believe.”

“And what do you think?” Mally asked. She searched her mother’s face, willing her to scoff at the doctor’s ravings. To convince her that it was absurd.

Susie paused and placed a hand on Mally’s knee. She raised her pale eyes so that they met Mally’s.

“I think it’s possible,” she said very quietly. “Possible.”