The Palace of Lost Memories

Chapter 27

"I'm on your side. We all are. Let me put it in a safe place where no one will find it. That way you can rest easily."

The king drew in several deep breaths. He looked down at his bare legs as if he just realized he was dressed only in his shirt. He blushed and looked sheepishly at me, the expression at odds with his tantrum. "My stomach still hurts. I need that draft, Miss Cully."

"Of course," I said. "I'll make it now. In the meantime, you should rest."

"Doctor's orders?" he offered with a wan smile.

I smiled back. "Doctor's orders."

"It contains personal things," he told me. "Private things. It's important to me."

I nodded.

"The maids have been informed not to touch it. If they broke it..." He thrust out his chin to Hammer. "Take it somewhere safe, Captain."

Hammer picked up the cabinet only to put it down again. He stared at it.

"What is it?" Theodore asked.

"It felt...strange."

"Just take it!" the king shouted.

Hammer continued to stare at the cabinet. Then he slowly picked it up again. He held it out from his body as if it smelled foul.

"Where will you put it?" the king asked, following Hammer out of the dressing room. "Wait, don't tell me now. Later." He tried so hard not to look at me that I suspected my presence was the reason for his reticence.

So be it. I couldn't expect him to trust me completely.

I picked up my bag and left with the captain. He acknowledged the guards at the door then walked quickly along the corridor to the hidden door. I opened it and we entered the labyrinthine service corridors.

"Where are you taking it?" I asked.

"To a safe room that hardly anyone will look in. The maids don't go in to clean it."

"Are we going there now?"

"I am. You're going to the kitchen."

"After I go with you to the safe room."

Hammer kept walking in silence. After a moment, he said, "I've never seen him so anxious. The poisoning is playing on his mind, and tonight's festivities are important to him."

"It's a pity he wouldn't consider delaying them."

Another silence then, "He's not always like this. The anxiety is making him do and say things he normally wouldn't." We stopped at a fork in the passages. "Can you find your way to the commons?"

"No." It was the truth. The hidden corridors were too complex for me. But I had to admit that I wanted to see where he took the cabinet.

"What's in it?" I asked, feeling bold.

"I don't know."

"You've never looked? Even though you know it's personal to him?"

"That's precisely why I haven't looked. There is such a thing as privacy. That goes doubly for kings."

"But considering he's probably lying about losing his memory—"

"Don't, Josie."

He quickened his steps. I had to trot to keep apace. My bag bumped against my hip and scraped along the wall. We passed two maids carrying trays. They stepped close to the wall, allowing us to pass single file. They both smiled at Hammer but I couldn't see his face to know if he smiled back.