The Secret Language of Stones

Chapter 31

Somewhere in this godforsaken castle, the mother of the recently executed tsar of Russia sat tied to a chair, her feet and her hands bound. A gag stuffed in her mouth. I had no doubt, if she wasn’t already dead, she would be soon. I surmised they wouldn’t kill her until they safely held the necklace.

And now they did.

Even though it wasn’t the real one, even though there was nothing inside those pretty red eggs. They believed they possessed what Monsieur had sent me to deliver.

“Well done, Opaline. You made an old woman very happy,” Grigori said. We were in the foyer, watching the Dowager and her party leave. “Did you tell her the truth? Did you really not hear any messaging?”

“I really didn’t,” I said as I put my hand up to my forehead and rubbed it. I knew why I hadn’t heard anything. The talisman that was now in my pocket would only have worked if held by the children’s true grandmother, not a fraud dressed in her clothes.

“Another headache?” he asked, with what seemed like real concern.

“Yes, a terrible one. I think I need to take a powder and lie down for a little while. Is that all right?”

“Of course. We’re not departing for at least two hours.”

“I’ll go to the kitchen. I’m sure they can find something.”

“I’ll get it for you,” Grigori offered, “and bring it to your room.”

I had no choice but to let him.

A few minutes later, he knocked on my door and came in carrying a small tray. I took the powder in water. “Thank you. Now I should lie down.”

He left. I waited a few minutes and then got up. I wanted to find Briggs and find out if there was a phone. Even if they were in on the charade, I could come up with an innocent enough reason to need the phone. And then I’d find a way to call the police. If I bumped into Grigori, I’d just say the headache hadn’t gone away and I wanted some tea.

But when I arrived at the kitchen, there was no one in sight. Had all the staff been sent off already? Was anyone left in the castle but Grigori and me? And the Dowager?

I searched but found no phone in the kitchen. Taking a glass of water, as an alibi in case anyone remained behind, I left and made my way to the library. No phone in sight. Was it possible there wasn’t one? No. This castle belonged to royalty. Modernized, electrified, there must be a phone. Even if no one currently lived here, people had been living here as recently as four years ago, Briggs had said.

The clock on the mantel chimed. I’d used up a half hour. And I hadn’t found a phone and I didn’t know how to get to the Dowager. And then I remembered the prints of the castle in the upstairs hall. A series showing how it had evolved over the centuries.

I made it back to the hallway without being seen and examined each print. The dungeon must have been part of the original building. I started there and then, by studying each subsequent print, finally understood the layout of the east, west, and center wings. I knew my location. And hers. And now how to get there.

I found the older wing of the castle, then the stone room, the staircase, and finally the dungeon. With shaking hands, I tried the door, afraid I was not going to find the empress alive. When I opened it, I found myself staring at a lifeless woman sitting in a chair, her head falling on her chest, her chest not moving.

I was too late. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Then I heard rustling. Was it Grigori? Had he found me? I turned around. No one was at the door. The noise continued. I turned again.

The sound wasn’t emanating from the door but from the Dowager. She’d raised her head. Was twisting in her seat.

First, I removed her gag.

“I thought it might be those men again and wanted them to think I’d expired.”

“Well, it worked. I thought…Thank God you didn’t, Your Highness.”

I untied her hands and went to work on her feet. Then I helped her up. Wobbling, she had to take two turns around the room before her circulation returned to her limbs and she could stand on her own.

Amazingly, she wasn’t scared, but angry and full of fury. “These are the monsters who destroyed everything that ever mattered to me. Hurry, child, they will be back and I need you to help me.”

“But how?”

“I own a gun. You have to get it for me.”

“But they packed all your things. Yasin and your maid, who was dressed as you, left.”

“I should have been more suspicious when my own maid came down with a stomach bug on the boat. But the gun is still in the room, I’m sure.”

I turned to go, took five steps, and came face-to-face with Grigori.