The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen Read Online Free Page A

their riddles. I spoke with the cooks and tried foods I had never tasted.
    “Girls would pass by and say how handsome the Count was with his black hair and green eyes. They were disappointed not to have learned his name, but most decided to make merry anyway. The girls flirted with the minstrels and sang to their songs. They danced, and drank, and laughed. I ate the food with glee, happy to eat something besides peas.
    “A dark-haired man stepped out from the kitchen carrying a platter of cheeses. He asked me my favorite dish and I pointed to the elderberry tarts. He shook his head and took me to a silver platter of little stacked cakes. I’d never seen such beautifully decorated cakes and each was small enough to fit into the palm of my hand.” Galadriel draws a circle in her palm with a finger.
    “He handed me a little white one with pink roses made of frosting and plum curd in the middle. I took a bite and we smiled at each other. He had the most beautiful green eyes.
    “I looked to the front of the hall and noticed that the Count’s chair was empty. My mouth was full of cake when I realized who this man really was. I swallowed hard, but as I stepped forward to confront him my foot slipped on spilled wine. I thought I would fall, but he caught me by the arm and pulled me up slowly.” Galadriel sips again from her fourth cup of ale, her face speaking greater volumes than her words.
    “I was so embarrassed, but he looked at me with such worry and so I did the most obvious thing. I asked his name and he whispered it in my ear. One of the girls must have noticed and soon a swarm of them headed for us so he ran off through the kitchen.
    “Ulrich returned to the table, but the festival was nearly over. The trumpet sounded, signaling the end and all the maidens headed toward the hundred or so carriages that waited to take them back to their villages. I stayed behind until the trumpeter noticed I was the only maiden left in the great hall.
    “He called after me harshly and ordered me to leave. Ulrich was walking toward us and I was about to say his name when I heard Ebba shout from the stairwell. I turned to see her pushing her way through the crowd, charging toward me.
    “I felt the stab of a dozen pairs of eyes glaring at the back of my head and I ran for the staircase on the opposite side of the castle. The shoe slipped from my foot but I left it behind. I quickly found a carriage and returned to Xanten, knowing I would have to go back to Gisla.”
    “Why did you run?” I ask.
    “I thought Ebba would embarrass me in front of everyone. I thought she would tell them all that I was just a servant girl who picked her supper from the ashes.”
    Galadriel is now loose in speech and posture. Her expressions are dramatic, like a child’s, as she tells her story. She stumbles as she rises from the table and meanders to the barrel to fill her mug. I wonder if Father shall be mad when he finds she’s drunk us dry, yet I say nothing. She sits and sips from her mug, the corners of her eyes softening further.
    “How did Ulrich find you?” I ask.
    “He found me at Gisla’s. I had to go back. I hid my cloak and gown beneath the floorboards so Gisla wouldn’t take them from me. Ebba and Dorthe swore I was at the festival wearing a beautiful silk gown. Gisla thought the girls had gone mad, but still punished me for running away.
    “Three days later the little man came to our door with the shoe that had slipped from my foot, ordering us each to try it on. Gisla demanded a moment to give her daughters a chance to wash their feet.
    Ebba, being the eldest, was to be the first to try on the shoe. Gisla knew the shoe would not fit for while Ebba had slight feet, her largest toe was long and fat, so Gisla grabbed a knife and ordered her to cut off her toe.”
    “No!” I gasp.
    “She did! Ebba didn’t want to do it. I suppose I could have cried out that the shoe was mine and asked the little man to place it on my foot, but I