Excerpt:

Mishi's days continued like this for a while. Stollern was studying hard, and she spent the days cleaning the house from ceiling to floor, until it was bright and clean and homelike, again. Stollern gave her permission to clean his bedroom, too, but not the secret room that plagued her. Still, she was happy. And after a week, Stollern took her to a farm in the morning, showing her the way very carefully. She spent the day there, helping the farmer, then the farmer's wife, and finally playing with the farmer's dogs until it was time to milk the cows again. She loved cows.

For an entire month, this continued, and she was content.

After one month, though, Stollern was ready to test her. And he began by telling her that she would have to learn how to read.

Mishi was concerned about this “reading” thing. She wasn't sure if it was a step in the right direction. However, she was sure that she didn't know how, and if Stollern thought it was a good idea to teach her, then she would learn. She wondered if Todd knew how to read.

The sun was just peeking up from the horizon when they started for the castle. Stollern talked as they walked, telling her about the alphabet and how it would take a long time to learn to read, but she would love it once she learned. Mishi wasn't really listening. She was looking around. She hadn't got to see much of the city, spending most of her time at the house or the farm. She still thought it was a magical place.
The castle was quiet at that time of morning, although there were still people moving about. The endless maze of wooden hallways was nearly silent, and Mishi's footsteps sounded loud. The doors to the library were closed, as usual, but as they approached they opened and the head library stepped out, leaning against the doors. He looked pale and his eyes were wide. He looked relieved, though, when he saw Stollern.

“Thank goodness you're here, Stollern. We have a bit of an emergency, and you're just the man to help me deal with it,” the old man said, reaching out and taking Stollern's arm. Mishi followed the two into the library, where the librarian locked the doors behind them.

Lying flopped over on one of the tables in the front was a little old man. He was quite obviously dead.

“Oh, my,” Stollern said, putting his hand up to his mouth.

“Yes. Suicide, I think,” the old librarian sighed.

“VonDuvell, this is not good,” Stollern said, shaking his head slowly.

“You do not have to tell me, sir,” the librarian sighed again, deflating a little. Mishi bit her lip.

“What does suicide mean?” she asked.

“It means taking one's own life,” VonDuvell asked without missing a beat.

“Mishi! Get out of here! This is not the place for a child,” Stollern said, giving her a gently push toward the door. Then he pulled the librarian away, and they began to talk in hushed voices.

“Hmph,” Mishi said. She moved toward the table. She looked at the man. His eyes were still open, his cheek lying in a puddle of vomit. There was a sheaf of paper on the table, also.

The man wore expensive clothing. He was dressed in a housecoat and slippers, but they were very fine. Purple with gold threads. Mishi also noticed that there was a worn friendship bracelt on his wrist. Poorly braided, fraying blue and red yarn. It made her like him.

His hair was white and his eyes were blue. His face was very pale, but Mishi figured that had something to do with him being dead. Under the table, an empty glass lay on its side. Mishi frowned, looking at it. It was very clean, not a drop of liquid left in it. She doubted any liquid had been in it in the first place.

“I bet someone knocked you off,” she said to the dead man. He didn't answer. Mishi then looked down at the paper that was on the table. It appeared to be a letter describing in horrible spelling how awful his life was and why he had to kill himself.

“Oh, please. I don't think someone this rich would misspell 'dear' and 'too' and 'rabbits,'” Mishi mumbled, looking over the letter with a critical eye. He was definitely murdered, then. She sighed and began to take off her right glove.

“I'm only doing this because your daughter or niece or whatever gave you that bracelet, and you wore it,” Mishi told him. “I don't know you at all, and I promised myself I wouldn't do this anymore. But that bracelet is just too nice.”

Again, he did not reply. Even if he had, Mishi wouldn't have heard him, because her hand was now placed on the paper before her.

There was some confusing stuff at the beginning, where the paper was being made. There was always that confusing stuff, though, and it was gone in a flash. Then there was a lot of darkness, where the paper sat unused, waiting to be written upon. But finally, she was lifted out of her drawer and set down on a table. A quill pressed down against her, and began to scribble. Above her, a man stood, blinking rapidly, swaying back and forth. His nose was quite red and his eyes were bleary. He had a huge black beard and wild black hair.

Mishi bit her tongue, hard. Reality jumped back at her, pushing the history away. She slid her glove back on and sighed, tasting the blood in her mouth. She looked at the little dead man. Definitely not him that wrote that letter. She sighed again.

“Stollern?” she asked, moving to where he was and tugging on his sleeve. “Mister Stollern?”

“Mishi! I thought I told you to get out of here,” he said, starting when she touched him. He put his hand between her shoulder blades and moved her toward the door.

“But...”

“Now, listen. I don't want you to be a part of this. Just wait for me, and we'll talk later, okay?” he said, unlocking and opening the door. He pushed her into the hallway. She turned around, but the door was already closed. She heard him lock it again, and this time he took the key with him (she knew because she peered in the key hole to check).

Mishi groaned and leaned against the wall beside the doors. Now they would plan on telling everyone about his sushi sigh, when really he was murdered. Well, she'd just have to tell them when they opened the doors again. She closed her eyes and pictured the murderer. He had strange eyes, frightening eyes. Just like the man from the village. Her palms grew sweaty and she couldn't help but reminisce.

Puppy...kitten...birdie...

“What are you doing here?” an accusing voice said, startling Mishi from her daydream. She stood up straight and looked around.

Todd was standing in the hallway, glaring at her.

“I'm allowed to be here!” Mishi snapped. “What're YOU doing here?”

“I'm lookin' for my dad,” he replied, folding his arms. Mishi blinked and swallowed her anger back.

“Your father? But... uh...” she bit her lip. “He left.”

“Left? What do you mean?” Todd cried, staring at her with wide eyes.

“This morning, we passed him on the road up here. He had to go, duty and all that,” Mishi said, shifting her weigh nervously.

“God,” Todd looked down at his feet, glaring hard at the ground. Mishi reached over and took one of her braids in her hand. She stuck the end of in her mouth, feeling the ends under her teeth.

“So... why're you just standing there?” Todd asked, his voice soft and strange. Mishi let her hair fall out of her mouth.

“Uh... they kicked me out, because of the dead guy,” she said.

Todd looked up, his eyes widening, then narrowing. “Dead guy?”

“Yeah. There's this little old dead guy in there. They think he did it himself, because it looks like he was poisoned and there was a letter saying that he did, but he didn't really, and I want to tell them that but I'll have to wait because Stollern kicked me out,” Mishi said in one quick breath.

“Wait. How do you know?” Todd leaned back, looking at her with a frown.

“Well, for one thing, he didn't write the letter they found. And he doesn't look like he wanted to commit sudsy sire to me,” Mishi shrugged.

Just then, the door swung open. Mishi jumped away from the wall to stand before it. Stollern was standing there, looking at Todd with surprised eyes.

“Oh, dear. I forgot to send a messenger,” he said softly.

Todd crossed his arms, scowling. “Yeah, no kidding. And you're lookin' in the wrong place with that guy in there. He didn't off himself, he was offed.”

“Excuse me?” Stollern raised his eyebrows.

“Take a second look. I'm sure you'll figure it out,” Todd snapped. “I mean, obviously he didn't write that note, and just look at him. He isn't exactly a depressed guy.” Then, he reached out and grabbed Mishi's arm and dragged her down the hallway, taking the first right they came to and going to the end of that hall before letting her go. She stood, staring at him, dumbfounded.

“What was that for?” she said.

“A dramatic exit is the perfect emphasis for something like that. Why I brought you with me, I have no idea,” Todd replied breezily.

“No. Why did you tell him that?” she said quickly, rubbing her arm where he had held onto her.

“I dunno. Because he was listening,” Todd shrugged.

“Well. He'll figure out it was me that told you, eventually, you know,” she said, eying him.

“I don't care. I have to find my dad. My mom has a message for him,” Todd turned and began to walk away from her.

“You're dad?” Mishi frowned and moved to catch up with him. “Seriously, he's gone already. You won't be able to find him...”

“Leave me alone,” Todd brushed her off and began to move more quickly. She caught up again.

“Hey, what's wrong with you?” she asked, scowling at him.

“Shut up, you idiotic girl,” he said, and broke into a run, dashing down a side hallway. Mishi stopped and stared after him. There was a crash, a clatter, and the sound of breaking glass. Mishi sucked in a breath and hurried around the corner after him.
Todd and a maid lay on the floor in a heap. The maid had dropped her tray and scattered its contents across the floor. She was swearing and gathering things up, trying to untangle herself from Todd at the same time.

“Sorry!” Todd said, trying to wiggle out from underneath her.

“Wass goin' on here?” a loud voice boomed. Mishi looked up and saw a man standing in a doorway, peering down at them with drunken eyes. His nose was red. His hair was black, out of control, and his beard was huge, covering most of his face. Even drunken, however, Mishi recognized the look in his eyes, and a panic went through her.

He was the murderer.

“Ack!” she said, choking on the word. She reached out and grabbed Todd's arm, yanking him to his feet. Before he was steady, she took off down the hallway, jumping over the maid and dragging him with her. She ran blindly, taking random turns here and there and pulling Todd along so quickly he couldn't even protest.
She didn't stop for what seemed like forever, and when she did she yanked open a random door and pulled Todd inside, shutting the door behind them. She pressed her ear to the wood and listened, trying to hear the hallway over her own rushing breath.

There was nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“What are you doing?” Todd whispered.

“That guy! He was the murderer!” Mishi whispered back.

“Sir Devander?” Todd said on an inhale. “How do you know, anyway?”

“Because I saw it!” Mishi hissed. Then she looked around. “Um. Where are we?”

Todd turned and looked at the room. He made a strange noise, a cross between a gasp and a yelp, and pressed back against the door. “Th-th-th-th!”

“What?”

“This is the princess' room!” he gasped. Mishi's eyes opened wide. The room was huge. The walls were pale yellow silk draped across the wood, the floors were covered in white tiger fur rugs. The bed was four-posters and had yellow gauze curtains. There was a giant vanity, covered with things that Mishi didn't even have a name for. And there were four doors in all, two windows, all carved with patterns of animals. The shutters were closed on the windows.

And coming from the single door on the left wall of the room was a strange noise. Mystified, Mishi moved to that door, even though Todd grabbed at her arm and tried to hold her back.

“Mishi, we have to get out of here!” he whispered hoarsely.

“Is that... singing?” Mishi whispered back, giggling. She put her ear to the door. It WAS singing, although not very good singing. It sounded rather like a sick horse coughing. There was also the sound of water splashing. Behind that door, a princess was bathing and singing to herself. Mishi had to cover her mouth to keep the giggles in.

Todd appeared beside her and pressed his ear to the door, too. A slow grin spread across his face, which looked strange and tight, like he wasn't used to doing it. Mishi wondered where the happy boys that had worn beige mittens in the winter had gone.
“C'mon, we've gotta go,” Todd whispered. Mishi nodded and started to straighten up, when there was a splash and the strangely recognizable sound of someone getting out of a bath. Todd's eyes went wide and Mishi's breath caught in her throat.

“Hide!” she mouthed, and pulled Todd over to the other side of the bed. They knelt behind it, just in time, because the door to the bathroom opened and the princess stepped out.

She was wrapped in a towel, with a turban on her head. Mishi and Todd stared at her over top of the bed, hardly daring to breath. She moved to her vanity and sat down, letting her hair out of the turban. It was long and appeared to be brown, though it was wet. She picked up a brush and began to brush out her hair.

“Marie? Where are you?” she called.

“Coming, my lady!” another voice returned. It came from behind them, and Mishi and Todd looked at eachother in panic. Then, Todd crawled underneath the bed, and Mishi followed suit. It was a tight squeeze, but they made it, and they could see the room around them, just a little bit.

A pair of feet in simple black shoes came into the room. Marie, Mishi supposed. Mishi blew a dust bunny away from her face. It was quite dusty under the bed.

“What dress would you like to wear today, ma'am?” Marie said.

“Oh. I'm thinking... purple,” the princess replied.

“You wore purple yesterday,” Marie said. Her voice was teasing.

“It's my favorite color! Is that my fault?” the princess replied with a laugh. Marie's feet went passed the bed again. The princess began to hum to herself.

Mishi looked up and saw a spider staring at her from above. Her eyes went wide and she pressed back, against Todd. He scowled at her and she pointed at the spider. He shook his head, rolling his eyes.

“Marie, do you think you could hurry up a little bit? At least just with the underthings. It's so cold in here! It's barely even fall!” the princess called.

“Ready for you, here, my lady,” Marie said, moving to the princess again. The princess stood up, her bare feet becoming visible to the children, although Mishi was looking at the spider and not at anyone's feet. The towel dropped to the ground as the princess began to pull on her under things.

“God, do you have to pull it so tight?” the princess gasped at one point.

“Sorry, that's the way it is,” Marie laughed.

Todd nudged Mishi and scowled at her, which made her realize that she was making small whimpering noises.

“I hate spiders,” she mouthed to him. He rolled his eyes again, puckered his lips, and blew on the spider.

The little beast wiggled and ran up, over their heads, back where they couldn't see him.

Mishi gasped, just barely stopping herself from screaming.

A dust bunny flew into her mouth, down her throat, and caught.

Her eyes watered and she choked. She began to cough. Todd groaned.

When she was done coughing, there was a moment of silence.

“Well, you might as well come out from there,” Marie's voice said, only now it was dead serious. Mishi winced and glanced at Todd, who was red with anger. They both crawled out from underneath the bed at the same time.

Marie was a plump little woman with white-blonde hair, who was holding a dagger in her hand. She blinked in surprise when she saw Mishi and Todd.

“They're only children!” the princess said in surprise. She stood there, in the underwear, without even a hint of a blush on her cheeks. Now Todd was red for a different reason, and Mishi too.

“I don't sense any magic on them,” Marie said, her voice warming up again, just a little bit. “And I didn't sense any danger.” Her hand moved up and touched a small piece of amber that hung from a copper chain around her neck.

“We're really, really sorry,” Mishi heard herself say. “We really didn't know that it was your room, really, and we got really scared and didn't know what to do. And it is really dusty underneath your bed, by the way, and there is a spider and he is ugly and Todd blew on him and it scared me other wise we would have just left when you were gone and not bothered you we're sorry!”

“Relax, kid,” the princess laughed and sat down. “I'm not going to hang you. Are you a thief?”

“No!” Mishi gasped. Marie shook her head slowly.

“Listen here, little girl,” she said, leaning forward. “This necklace of mine lets me see things. I can tell if you are lying or not. So don't lie to me.”

“I'm not lying! I didn't come here to steal anything!” Mishi gasped. “I was just running away from someone bad!”

Marie frowned at her, then looked at Todd. “Will you tell the truth, then?”

“I promise you, madam, I am not a thief!” Todd said slowly. Marie raised an eyebrow.

“Well?” the princess said.

“The boy is not lying. The girl I am not sure about,” Marie said. Mishi's face went pale and Todd looked at her, surprised.

“Not sure?” the princess tilted her head to the side.

“I get confusing messages from her,” the woman said, sighing. “It gets worse the longer I look at her.”

Mishi's stomach tightened. A strand of red hair fell across her cheek and she began to chew on it.

“Marie,” the princess said, tilting her head to one side. “Take the little girl to the dressing room. Show her where the jewelry and shoes are. Let her pick out what I will wear today. Little boy, come here. You'll brush my hair.”

“Yes, my lady,” Todd and Marie said at the same time. Todd stood up and went to the princess, his face as red as a tomato. The princess handed him her brush and closed her eyes. Todd began to slowly brush her hair, obviously terrified.

Marie took Mishi to the most amazing room in the entire castle (that Mishi had seen so far). The princess' dressing room was as big as Mishi's bedroom, and stuffed with clothes, jewelry, and shoes. Marie left Mishi there, surrounded by glory. Mishi was so stunned she almost couldn't move. But she had to. The princess had told her to.

The clothes were arranged by color. Mishi began to look through the purple dresses. Some of them were huge and very fancy. Mishi didn't think the princess wanted to wear an evening gown all day, so she picked out something much less fancy. It felt like cotton under her fingers, although it was extremely well made cotton. It was pale purple with silver threads along the hems and neckline, which danced around each other like birds in the air. It was really pretty, but also simple, and Mishi liked it. She brought it out and handed it to Marie, then went back. She found some silvery slippers, which were soft to the touch and seemed to sparkle. They had the tiniest bit of a heel on them, which fascinated Mishi. She brought these out to Marie too, and found that the princess was being dressed in the dress she had chosen. It made Mishi blush.

When it came to jewelry, Mishi didn't know what to do. She looked through the jewelry, trying to decide what would be pretty. She knew nothing about it, so she really couldn't tell. In the end, she chose a coil of silver wire that she thought might be a bracelet (in reality, it went on the upper arm, which was okay, too). She brought this, and only this, out to Marie, who gave it to the princess, who was fully dressed. Todd sat nervously on the bed, twisting the bottom of his shirt.

After the princess put on the silver coil, she turned to Mishi.

“Turn out your pockets,” she said. Marie moved over and did it for Mishi, feeling around in the pocket of her pinafore. She also felt through Mishi's hair, which tickled a little bit. Then she put her hands all over Mishi, patting her clothing. Mishi wiggled a little bit, her face red and her eyes stinging ever so slightly.

“Nothing,” Marie finally said.

“Well, good,” the princess breathed. “I am very glad you aren't a thief.”

“I told you I wasn't!” Mishi cried. The princess grinned.

“Well, since you aren't a thief, we can be friends,” she said.

“What?” Todd stood up as he said it.

“I like you,” the princess shrugged. “Something about sneaking into the princess's room makes me laugh.”

“It's not very funny. We were running from a really bad guy. It was just a mistake,” Mishi said, folding her arms.

The princess tilted her head to the side, but before she could say anything there was a knock at the door.

“Princess? Princess, may I come in?” an urgent male voice said. The princess's cheeks flushed pink and she swung around to face the door, her eyes opened wide.

“Yes, come in Branden,” she called.

The door opened and a young man in the uniform of a castle guard came in. He shut the door behind him and stood against it. His hair was messy, black, and his eyes were a strange pale yellowish color. He looked harried.

“What is it?” the princess asked, her eyebrows drawing together.

“I don't mean to bother you, you know, LeAnne, but... we're under lock down,” he said, his voice sounding rather breathless.

Todd and Mishi looked at each other. The princess put her hand to her mouth, then slowly turned and looked at the children.

“I think it's best that you tell me what's going on,” she said, slowly.

“Who're they?” the soldier said, looking at them with raised eyebrows.

“Let them tell their story. From the beginning, please,” the princess said. “And you might as well sit down, Branden.”

“Can't. On duty, you know,” the young man shrugged.

“Hush, all of you,” Marie said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and looking at Todd and Mishi with an unreadable expression.

“You might as well tell it. You know the whole thing, and I only know part of it,” Todd mumbled. He folded his arms and sat down next to Marie.

Mishi stood in the center of the room, surrounded by people hanging on to her every word. Her cheeks heated up.

“Um,” was the first thing she said. Then she took a deep breath. “Well, I mean I guess it started this morning. Me 'n' Mister Stollern came up to the library together today, which is kinda weird within itself...”

“Wait, Stollern?” the man named Branden said. “What've you got to do with him?”

“Well, he's my teacher and he's housing me now,” Mishi said. “He took me in when the Captain brought me. That's Todd's dad.”

Everyone looked at Todd, who shrugged. Branden made a humming noise.

“So you're the kid I heard about,” he said. “Figure you'd be wrapped up in this somehow, if you've been following Stollern around.”

“Um, yeah. Well. He was taking me to the library, because he wants me to learn to read, because I can't, and so he was going to teach me. But when we got there, the head librarian was all upset, and it was because that guy was dead.”

“What guy?” the princess said, growing pale.

“Sir Laurel,” the soldier said, sighing.

“Oh, no,” the princess said, covering her mouth with her hand. “Sir Laurel? Really?”

“Yes. I'm sorry.”

Mishi waited for a moment while the silence dragged on. Then she looked down at her shoes and continued. “Well, anyway, he's dead. And Stollern and Mister VonDuvell thought it was... uh, they thought he killed himself. Because it looked like poison and there was a note that said he did kill himself, but they were wrong. That guy didn't even write that letter! I mean, I didn't even have to... uh... well, I just saw it and I knew it wasn't the dead guy that wrote it. Because he's too smart for that. Anyway. He didn't kill himself. Someone else did it.”

“How can you know that?” Marie said, sharply.

“Uh,” Mishi blushed again. “Well, anyway, Stollern kicked me out of the library...”

“You didn't answer my question.”

“...and I met Todd out in the hallway, and I told him, and then he told Stollern. And Stollern listened to him because he felt bad because his dad was gone and no one told him.”

“Wait, what?” the princess shook her head. “Explain that last bit again.”

“For God's sake, I'll do it,” Todd said. “I was here at the castle to find my dad. I saw Mishi and she told me about this guy. And then Stollern came out to... I dunno, send her home or something. And when he saw me he remembered that he was supposed to send a messenger to my home, but he got distracted. Because he felt guilty, he was paying attention to me, so I just repeated what Mishi had told me. Then we left.”

“Right. And Todd ran into a maid,” Mishi said. “And the maid broke something when she fell down, and that made a loud noise. So this guy came out to see what was going on. And I recognized him as the killer, so me and Todd ran away, and we came here, and you know the rest.”

“How did you know he was the murderer?” Branden said, frowning at her. Mishi began to play with her hair, wanting to put it in her mouth very badly.

“I just know,” she said. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“No, hold on. You never told me how you knew Sir Laurel didn't write that note,” Todd said, copying Branden's face. Mishi felt her stomach flip over and her eyes started to sting a little.

“I really don't want to talk about it.”

“Did you see the murder?” Branden asked, stepping toward her.

“No!” Mishi cried, stepping back. “I didn't see the murder. I... I just...”

“Mishi,” the princess said, her voice smooth despite the confusion in her eyes. “You've got to tell us. It could be very important.”

“I told myself I wouldn't,” Mishi said, more to herself than anyone else. “I told myself things would be different. If I tell you, you'll tell other people, and it will all be the same, all over again!”

“What are you talking about?” Todd snapped.

“I can't be a tool anymore!” Mishi cried, turning on him, her eyes flashing. “I want to be a regular person, not some weirdo who knows too much! I just know, and that's all I'll say. That's all you need to know.” She turned away and folded her arms. Tears wanted to roll down her cheeks, but she didn't let them.

“Mishi,” the princess's voice was nice. Too nice. Mishi felt a sob rising up in her chest. “Please tell us. I promise you, on all of my honor and my father's honor, what you say won't leave this room. You can trust me. And I trust Marie and Branden. Please tell us.”

Mishi took a deep breath and turned around. She couldn't bear to look up at the princess and the others, so she looked at her shoes. “It's kind of a complicated thing. Well. I dunno. You see...” Slowly, she slipped her hands out of her gloves.

“My,” Marie breathed. Mishi looked down at her scarred hands.

“They're not just ugly, though,” she said, slowly and softly. “When I touch things with my bare hands... with these scars, I guess... I can see things.”

“What do you mean?” the soldier said, frowning at her.

“Well. I see the past of things. Like, when I touched the letter in the library, I saw all the things that had ever happened to that paper. And... I saw who wrote on it. Anything I touch is like that,” Mishi sighed. “Back home, they used me to solve a robbery once. And things changed. I was solving everything that came along, and worse. When people know you can learn about every detail of their lives, just by shaking their hand... they don't really like you much. So... yeah.”

The princess sighed. “That's terrible.”

“I see,” Marie murmured at the same time.

“I don't want things to be like that here!” Mishi said, louder this time, looking up and at the princess. “I don't want to be a tool anymore. And I don't want people to hate me. I... I don't know why I touched that paper. Because he wore a bracelet some little girl gave him, I guess. Or maybe it was habit. But I can't let it happen again.”

“Relax, Mishi. We won't tell anyone,” the princess said.

“What!” the young man cried. “Are you joking? We have to tell the king about this. We have to let him know what's going on!”

Mishi gaped at him, going pale.

“We won't,” Princess LeAnne stood up and glared at him. “If someone else wrote that letter, than there will be more evidence to prove that. If it's already been pointed out to Stollern, than we don't have to worry.”

Branden looked at her, the folded his arms and leaned back against the door. “I guess so.”

“Mishi,” Marie said in the moment of silence that followed. “Who was the man you saw? Who was the killer?”

“I don't know,” Mishi shrugged. “He was tall. He had black hair, which was all crazy, and a bear. And his eyes... they were scary. I've seen them before, you know. They aren't nice eyes. They're killer's eyes. Anyone would notice them.”

“What're you talking about?” Todd said. “Just because someone's killed someone else, that doesn't mean their eyes change colors.”

“No, it's not that. It's just a... a look I guess. I mean, eyes tell a lot about a person, right?” Mishi said. “And those were dangerous eyes.”

“My father's killed people,” Todd said, his voice low. He was glaring at Mishi. “Does he have eyes like that?”

“Of course not!” Mishi said, startled, leaning away from him. “No, no. Killing a person doesn't make you a killer, right? You dad's a soldier. I mean, I've killed someone, and I don't have eyes like that, I don't think.”

The room went silent and everyone stared at her. Todd's mouth was open.

“You're lying,” he finally said.

“Of course not,” Mishi looked at all of their faces. “Is that weird?”

“You're a very strange girl,” the princess said, sitting down again. “You've killed someone? And how old are you, again?”

“Nine years,” Mishi said. “I mean, it was sort of an accident. Kind of. I mean...” She stopped and shook her head. “Nevermind. That has nothing to do with this.”

“She's right, it's irrelevant,” Branden said, standing up straight. “I have a feeling I know just who you're talking about, Miss Mishi.”

The princess nodded slowly, with a heavy sigh. “I do, too. Sir Khaser.”

Branden sighed. “We'll have to speak to the king... Although we only have Mishi's vision as evidence. And, not to be offensive, but it is difficult to prove, isn't it?”

“We should tell Stollern,” Mishi said. “That way he knows where to look.”

“No,” Todd shook his head. “We can't tell him anything. If he starts to think that, or if he absolutely can't figure it out we can, but we can't make him start looking in that direction.”

“Why not? I know that's who it was!” Mishi said.

“No. You think you know who it was. I mean, you saw a guy that looked like the guy that wrote the paper. They think they know a guy that sounds like the guy you saw. That's not a for sure thing, Mishi,” Todd said.

“That's a very good point,” Marie nodded. “We can't go marching around telling people that Sir Khaser is a murderer, no matter how nasty of a person he is. Until we are absolutely sure. And we can't point Stollern in that direction, because it might slant his view of things, and if Khaser isn't the killer, the real one might not get found.”

“Oh,” Mishi said, looking down at her feet.

“Mishi...” the princess said, tilting her head to the side. “You said something about noticing that the note wasn't written by Sir Laurel. How did you know?”

“Oh. That's easy. Because whoever it was misspelled a whole bunch of really easy words. And I figured the dead guy looked pretty rich, so he was probably smart enough not to do that,” Mishi shrugged.

A moment of silence.

“I thought you didn't know how to read,” Todd said.

“I don't,” Mishi replied, her eyebrows coming together.

“But, then, how did you know the words were wrong?” the princess asked. Mishi thought about it a few moments, and her eyes opened wide.

“Whoa!” she said, her mouth hanging open. “How DID I know?”

“Here,” the young man said, pulling a small scroll from a pouch on his belt buckle. “What does this say?”

Mishi unrolled the scroll and looked at it. “'Dearest Branden. It has been a great number of days since...'”

Branden snatched it from her hand, his cheeks turning pink. “That's good enough! Looks like you can read.”

The princess was red in the face, too. Marie was chuckling under her breath.

“How did you learn to read and not even know it?” Todd snapped.

“I dunno. Maybe it's from knowing people the know how to read,” Mishi shrugged. “Pretty weird, though.”

“Knowing people?” Todd scowled. “You mean, touching them like that and all?”

“Yes,” Mishi shifted her weight.

“All right, you two,” the princess said, standing up. “It's time you went home. Branden and I will escort you to the main doors. Today is not a good day to visit the castle. But when all of this is over, I want you to come back and visit me often, okay? Because I like you a lot.” She smiled at them.

“Yes, all right,” Mishi and Todd said in unison, barely a breath after she was finished speaking. They looked at one another.

“Do we have to visit you... together?” Todd asked, wrinkling his nose.

“I suppose not, but I wish you would,” the princess said. She reached down and took Todd's hand. Then, with her other hand, she took Mishi's. Even though her hand was gloved, Mishi felt a little nervous about holding hands with the princess. “Now, let's go.”

“LeAnne, we're still under lock down...” Branden said, frowning at her.

“Yes, but you'll be with me,” LeAnne said, smiling at him. He blushed again.

“I guess that's okay, then,” he muttered.

Braden lead the princess, Mishi, and Todd out of the room, down several of the wooden hallways, to the main entrance. For the first time, the marble room was not full of people, although there were several guards moving through it.

“All right, you too,” LeAnne bent down and patted them both on the cheek. “Have a good day, and I hope to see you soon, for more than one reason!”