Read While Beauty Slept for Free Online Page B

But when we finally emerged from St. Elsip’s warren of crooked streets, I was overwhelmed by the sheer mass of the fortress that sprawled defiantly atop the hill before me. Thick walls of rugged stone seemed to have burst forth from the earth to encircle the jumble of towers within. Behind the battlements, turrets stabbed the sky, with a few narrow windows giving the only indication that people lived within. For a moment the weight of it chilled my spirits, and I was seized by a sudden reluctance to enter. Raised in the open air, with land extending in all directions, I had never considered what it would mean to live enclosed within walls.
    Hannolt and Marcus had continued ahead, joining a crowd of carriages, carts, and fellow travelers along a steep upward path. I forced myself to shake off the foolish presentiment of danger and hurried to catch up with my companions. The castle’s grim exterior must hide wondrous luxuries, I told myself, else why would the king live there? Though I was seduced by the beauty within soon enough, I was never able to forget that first visceral reaction. Most saw those walls as protection from danger, but I had recognized, somewhere deep in my soul, that not all threats came from without.
    The press of people moved toward an arched gatehouse, with guards posted at either side.
    “This way,” Hannolt said, pushing me in front of him and jerking Marcus to his side. Marcus stared straight ahead, as he had done since we left my aunt’s house, seemingly aloof. He had the slight build of a boy some years from manhood, but his straight nose and clear skin presaged future good looks. His thick, dark hair was raggedly cut and fell unevenly over his forehead, and his eyes intrigued me with their seriousness. The few boys I had known in my village had been either braggarts or awkwardly shy when conversing with girls their own age. None had ever appeared so at ease in my presence as Marcus did. Even his silence, so disconcerting at first, had become oddly comforting. His father babbled enough for the two of them.
    Hannolt nodded to one of the guards and pulled the sack he was carrying off his shoulder. Opening it, he began lovingly describing the shoes inside. The guard glanced into the bag with scant interest and waved us through the gate.
    We stepped into a large courtyard, so filled with activity and shouting that I did not know where to set my eyes first. Carriages swept by so close that I could feel the whip of wind as they passed, while my way forward was blocked by a circle of men boastfully comparing swords. Servants dressed in royal livery were shouting out orders to a group of workers—masons, by the look of their tools. I peered up, above the mass of people before me, and saw the castle rising toward the sky. A soaring vision of gray stone bordered by four great towers, each standing guard over the tiny figures swarming below. How well I remember the moment I paused there, face-to-face at last with the object of my dreams! I can still summon the tingle that ran from my scalp to my toes, that exhilarating mix of fear and anticipation, as I stood on the threshold of a new life. My earlier doubts cast aside, I longed to join in the drama surrounding me, to play a role—no matter how small—in upholding such magnificence.
    Ahead, a paved drive led up a short rise to the entry doors, emblazoned with gold crests.
    “That’s how the quality enter,” Hannolt said. “The rest of us fight our way to the back.”
    He took my hand and tugged me alongside him as a cart came crashing toward us. I saw that most movement in the courtyard was swelling and ebbing around an arch to the left side of the castle. Cramming ourselves into the passageway with the others, we emerged into another courtyard, of similar proportions but even more crowded. Opposite us, groomsmen were leading horses in and out of paddocks. Immediately to my right, a series of doors opened into the lower level of the castle; judging