Kata made her way silently down a hallway of flickering shadows. She had left Erzsebet in bed, her slender frame hidden under the thick quilts. The nights were getting colder.

There was a strict curfew in place for the servants of the house, and those caught out of their quarters after hours, and without good cause, would ultimately need to answer to Erzsebet; some servants had been known to be accused of conspiracy against the Countess and her family, an accusation that always ended in punishment. If a night guard, or a nosy handmaid, were to catch her lingering in the wrong part of the castle after hours, she too would most certainly have to explain herself to Erzsebet. Everyone knew Kata, and they knew exactly where she was supposed to be; in her chambers adjacent to Erzsebet’s, not just around the corner from the comforting glow of the kitchen.

The tension in Kata’s muscles fell away as she stepped through the door. Reka was sitting in her usual high back chair at the wooden table gouged with years of chopping and slicing. Reka had already removed the kettle from the fire and two steaming mugs sat on the uneven table surface. They were the only living creatures in the kitchen, and likely the only ones out of bed, aside from the guards, at this hour.

Taking the mug in both of her hands, Kata inhaled deeply, savoring the strong smell of ginger, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Reka spoke first, “So. He’s coming home sooner than I thought.”

Reka and Kata had met when Reka was brought on to manage the kitchen nearly ten years ago, and so far she had lasted much longer than any of the others that preceded her. Kata intended to keep it that way. “He is.”

Kata had not wanted to discuss Ferenc tonight, but Reka was persistent. “Do you know anything more than that skinny little soldier does?”

“I don’t. I just know that he’ll be here, and we better have a perfect feast waiting for him. You said you have a plan?”

Reka nodded grimly, “I came up with it after last time.”

“Good.”

The two women sat in silence for moment, watching the steam curl into the darkness.

“So, did you see the new blacksmith apprentice?” Kata was desperate to change the topic, and men were always a good distraction for Reka, who now had a sideways grin spreading across her lips.

“Of course I did! Who do you think brought him food at mid-day? You aren’t the only one I bring my goulash to, you know.” Reka’s stew was meant to warm more than just the young apprentice’s belly, and he certainly wasn’t the first one to get special deliveries from Reka.

“Reka! You’re years older than him! Why would he be interested in you when he’s got plenty of girls his own age to chase?”

Reka laughed. “Well, when he gets tired of those wispy things who don’t know what they’re doing, he’ll find his way to me. They always do.” She winked at Kata, the soft lines around her eyes crinkling and casting deep shadows.

Kata took a large gulp of the potent tea, eager to fill her belly with its warmth which spread through her tired limbs, and calmed her still edgy nerves. Reka’s smile faded as Kata went silent, the ancient memory of Akos still tickling the edges of her mind. Erzsebet had prodded and picked at the old wound in heart with her exclamations of love until it opened up, wet and oozing like raw skin under a scab. Kata ached from exhaustion and took several shallow breaths, her chest cavity simultaneously hollow and tight.

Reka had developed a sense for when Kata was heading towards the dark cliff of her memories, and through the intimacy of their midnight chats, had also learned how to pull Kata back from the precipice. Pity had never worked. “So. Erzsebet had her secret lesson today. Did you see who was under the robe this time?”

“No. Same as always. After I rolled up the tapestry she dismissed me. I caught a glimpse of him in the doorway.” Kata took another gulp of the tea, shaking Akos from her mind. “It’s the only part of her I don’t know, and it scares me.” She laughed, “Whatever she’s been doing in that room for the past decade…she’s just locked me out. I know what she day dreams about, about every inane thought that pops into her head. She told me how each of her babies felt moving inside of her, and secrets that I’ve not even shared with you.”

Reka’s head jerked slightly at the last statement, and Kata pretended not to notice. Erzsebet had confided in Kata like a sister for twenty-five years, and in truth Kata liked being the one that knew Erzsebet better than anyone. Even better than Ferenc did. He had been away when Erzsebet lost her first child, and it had been Kata who held the weeping countess in her arms until she fell asleep from grief. Reka disapproved of Kata’s attachment to Erzsebet, but she wasn’t the one who had talked Erzsebet through the first time she bled as a woman, or held Erzsebet’s hand during the six day long journey from her childhood home to Cachtice Castle.

“I just wonder what she does behind that door that she won’t tell me.”

Reka snorted, “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. That woman knows the devil. Hell, she may actually BE the devil.”

Kata rolled her eyes and laughed. “My friend, you know the devil’s too scared to come to Cachtice.”

Reka barked with laughter and reached for the kettle to refill their mugs. The two women sat together in the warmth of the dim kitchen, huddled over their tea, giggling while the fire burned itself down to embers.

***

Kata made her way towards her chambers, torches lighting the way as shadows danced around her. Her face was warm from laughter and tea as she walked along the edge of the long hallway. It ended where it met another hall about twenty feet in front of Kata. As she approached the dead end of the hall, a robed figure, their face masked by the heavy shadows cast by the torches, crossed into view.

Kata slammed her body into the shadows of the cold stone wall with a sharp inhale, sliding down into a crouch. She kept her eyes on the dark figure as it moved purposefully down the corridor.

Kata caught a glimpse of a white nightdress under a dark cloak.

It was Erzsebet.

Erzsebet glided down the hallway, her shadow warping and growing as she went. Before Kata could visualize the punishments inflicted on her if she were caught, she scurried from her hidden corner and followed Erzsebet through Cachtice.

Kata caught up to her just long enough to see Erzsebet turn another corner, and then another, before heading toward a set of rarely used stairs. Erzsebet grabbed the sole torch mounted on the wall and ducked into the darkness of the stairwell. When Kata reached the stairs she peered into the disorienting blackness and only heard the soft shuffle of the footfalls of her mistress, the light of Erzsebet’s torch already swallowed up. Kata put her hand up to the wall as a guide and stepped into the darkness.

With each step she slid her foot forward, feeling for the edge of the stair, then, when her foot was hovering in the still air, she steadied herself against the wall and shifted her weight forward, anxious for the moment when the ball of her foot touched the cool stone surface. After many steps she lost sense of how far she’d gone in the pitch dark. The air around her was getting colder, the only indication that her journey in the darkness was leading to a destination. Kata’s heart began to flutter as she realized she had no idea how much further into the unknown she had to go, or even where she would step into. Despite the pounding in her chest she pushed forward.

Finally at the bottom of the stairs and continuing to slide her feet forward for what would have been two steps, she made it she came to what felt to be a wooden door. Kata felt around the rough, damp surface of the door until she came across a rusted door handle. She tried to open the door but it didn’t budge. She pushed against the door to no avail. The darkness was starting to disorient her, and like a trapped animal she started to panic. With resolve, and desperation, Kata carefully backed up several steps from the door, took a steadying breath and launched her body against the door.

Kata tumbled into the silver wash of the moon and saw the shadowy figure of the countess walk gracefully towards the thick forest about half a mile from the castle. Kata quickly glanced behind her to see if there had been another door out of the dark stairwell, but the only door on the smooth castle wall was the one she had just forced open.

The sloping earth was littered with scrubby bushes that looked silver under the full moon, and offered very little for Kata to hide behind. Hunching down she darted from bush to bush, cursing herself every time she snapped a branch under her foot and praying that Erzsebet wouldn’t notice her new shadow.

As she darted from behind one of the bushes, a needle sharp branch scraped the side of her cheek, catching in her ear. In her surprise Kata lost her footing, her ankle twisting and popping as she fell into another bus and the palms of her hands hitting the hard earth with a thump. Kata bit the inside of her mouth to muffle a pained yelp until she tasted blood. Desperate to reorient herself, she focused on the steam of breath puffing in front of her face, catching the moonlight.

Now at the mouth of the forest, Erzsebet stopped and looked behind her and, seemingly satisfied that she was alone, continued into the forest.

Kata heard Reka’s voice in her head telling her not to be stupid, but she ignored the imagined warning and stealthily made her way into woods after her mistress.

Kata could only make out dark shapes as her eyes adjusted to the absence of light in the forest. Bright slivers of moonlight cut through the thick canopy of the trees. Standing just inside the boundaries of the forest, Kata realized that the soft pads of her slippers had already been shredded beyond saving. As the dull throb in her feet began, she pushed herself forward, eyes straining in the darkness to catch glimpses of Erzsebet’s dark silhouette among the trees.

She picked over gnarled roots of ancient trees, and her mind began to flood with stories of the dwarves and elves that supposedly roamed the woods at night, alongside the fairies that were said to sometimes grant wishes. Kata shivered at the memory of tales of Ordog, the satyr creature said to wield dark forces, sometimes in the shape of a shepherd with dark eyes that sparkled as he trapped unsuspecting humans in brutal bets.

But those were children’s tales. Maybe once these woods had teamed with helpful forest dwellers, but under Erzsebet and Ferenc, surely all of the light and magic had been swallowed up.

Kata could no longer feel the tips of her fingers when they pushed against the rough trees and rocks for balance. She stepped in a puddle of moonlight and saw her feet shredded even more into bloody ribbons. Quickly she ripped the bottom of her skirt and wrapped her feet with the strips of cloth, which were hot and throbbing against the pressure of the wraps. It offered some relief but it was going to be difficult to mask the pain in each step tomorrow. Her breathing was more labored now, and she saw the thick clouds of iridescent breath linger as she walked.

In the shadowy distance Erzsebet had stopped in a small clearing of birch trees. Kata moved as close as she could behind Erzsebet, making sure to stay in the darkest shadows.

Kata still hadn’t figured out what this late night trip into the forest meant or why Erzsebet hadn’t told her about her plan to leave the castle tonight. Surely Erzsebet would have wanted Kata to know, or at least help her in dressing.

Erzsebet’s hands swiftly unhooked the buttons on her front and with a flourish Erzsebet’s dressing gown was pooled around her feet. Beside her was a small bag she’d had hidden in the folds of the gown which had tumbled out as she disrobed. Erzsebet arched her back and threw her arms up over her head, and then ran her hands along her limbs, bathing in the light of the moon. Erzsebet shoved her slender hands into her thick hair and scratched leisurely at her scalp, head thrown back and eyes closed. Her milky skin was luminescent, glowing as brightly as the full moon above her. Kata was mesmerized by the fluidity of each of her seemingly random self-caresses.

After luxuriating in the moonlight, Erzsebet dropped her arms and bent down next to her discarded dressing gown and picked up the bag. She undid the drawstring and reached in, revealing what appeared to be a smooth piece of a branch just the length of the countess’s palm. Erzsebet clutched the small wand and crouched so her head touched her bent knees. She held the wand a finger width away from the tip of her nose. Kata could hear her softly singing a vaguely familiar song.

The air went still, the clearing shrouded in silence. Suddenly a spark of purple light began to glow in Erzsebet’s palm, the light slowly spreading through and illuminating her veins. The light converged in Erzsebet’s chest, glowing darker, and pulsing in time with the pumping of her blood.

Erzsebet stood slowly, picking another trinket off the ground. It was a small flask that Kata recognized from Erzsebet’s room. It had appeared after a visit from her instructor several years ago. Erzsebet had used it last night, filling it to the brim with Nora’s blood as it poured from her wounds. Erzsebet sometimes liked to keep souvenirs, so Kata hadn’t thought anything of the action at the time. Now, illuminated from within and pulsing energy that froze every drop of blood in Kata’s body, Erzsebet took a long draw from the flask, blood dripping off her chin as she pulled it away. She let out an unearthly wail, threw her head back, opened her mouth wide like a howling wolf with her teeth barred, and poured the remaining blood from the flask over her. Blood trailed down her body, nearly black against her luminescent skin.

The air smelled like lightening and Kata’s flesh prickled as she watched Erzsebet in the clearing. A thousand voices screamed in her head to run, but Kata stayed. She inched closer towards the countess. Erzsebet was lost in a trance, humming a song Kata faintly recognized but couldn’t place, arms outstretched, wooden wand still in her hand, head still facing up, fully illuminated by the moon.

Thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, Kata watched in intrigued horror as Erzsebet slowly elevated off the ground, first just her heels, then only the tips of her toes brushed the forest floor before completely floating above the earth. The dark glow in Erzsebet’s chest intensified and the light of her skin began to ripple like sun reflecting off a lake. The air grew denser the longer Erzsebet floated in the air, a deep thrum pulsing through the trees and waves of invisible energy rolling off of her. Then, like the breaking of a heavy thunderstorm, the pressure burst and the entire clearing was illuminated in a blast of light, the countess’ dark silhouette at the center.

Erzsebet fell to the ground on her hands and knees gasping for breaths of air. Unsure of what she’d just witnessed, Kata knew for sure that if she were caught by Erzsebet she might not survive to figure it out.

As Erzsebet began pulling her dressing gown back up around her, Kata silently slipped away into the forest shadows and ran as hard as she could back to Cachtice.

***

Kata did not remember the details of getting back into her chambers. Her body remembered the pumping of her legs as she ran the uneven terrain in near darkness, remembered the heavy ball of panic that felt like it sat on her lungs each time she tried to inhale. The memory blur of stumbles followed by sharp pain and of branches whipping at her face.

In the harsh light of the morning her face was red streaked, but fortunately there was only one large, obvious scratch. In her muddled recollection she remembered a particularly sharp pain on her cheek as she crashed through the dense woods. The scratch was deep, her fingers coming away with bright red flecks after she ran her fingers along the edge of it.

Although she didn’t have a clear memory of it, Kata had put herself to bed after her speedy return from the forest. She had collapsed into a deep and fitful sleep that left her feeling that she had only blinked. Every muscle in her body screamed at movement she made towards rising from bed. Her feet were swollen and throbbing, bulging purple between the strips of linen stiff with brown blood and dirt. Lightning bolts of pain shot up her legs and into her fingers as soon as her feet pushed down on the heavy rug next to her bed in an effort to support her weight. She wept silently as she pulled each length of stiff cloth from her feet, ripping the crusted pieces of flesh that had started already to heal. She ripped a fresh bedsheet into ribbons and carefully rewrapped her shredded feet. Pinpricks of red dotted the fresh linen where she had opened the wounds.

Inhaling deeply Kata stood, doing her best to embrace the gradually dulling pain shooting through her legs and up her spine. Every nerve was on edge as she examined herself in the small mirror she’d been given as a gift by Erzsebet. She cursed at the jagged rip from her cheek to her ear. She could tell Erzsebet she had night demons and had scratched her face in her sleep, which would account for the superficial scratches, but certainly wouldn’t explain the deep cut from what must have been a sharp tree branch.

As she slowly and gingerly went about dressing for the day, Kata began picking at the knotted ball of memories from the previous night. Boszorkánys were well known in the kingdom, but Kata was used to the old catty witches of fairytales, not glowing ethereal women drenched in blood. Was her mistress a witch? There had been rumors that Erzsebet’s favorite aunt had been one, but Kata had never subscribed to that kind of thinking. Until now. She found herself at a loss for any other explanation, but still plagued with the thought that there was much more to Erzsebet’s moonlight excursion.

Erzsebet noticed the scratch right away. She hadn’t even laid the smooth heels of her feet on the floor next to her bed when she exclaimed “Kata! What happened? Your face!”

Instinctively Kata reached up to hide the wound. She’d had various excuses running through her head all morning as she prepared to face the countess. “Oh, just bad dreams, ma’am. I must have been scratching my face in my sleep.”

Erzsebet’s black eyes focused on the jagged line running the length of her cheek. “Your nails are tipped with metal are they?”

“No ma’am.” Kata’s mind reeled. What would leave a wound like that? Kata blurted “It was a loose pin in my clothes this morning. It scratched my face while I was pulling my dress over my head.”

Erzsebet’s brow hardened, deep furrows forming at her eyes. Erzsebet was contemplating this excuse, but appeared dissatisfied “And how do you think a pin got left in your dress, Kata?”

Kata’s blood froze. She hadn’t meant to blurt out the pin. There had to have been a better story, but now it was too late. “I…I must have been careless, my lady. Maybe it fell off a table and got stuck on my dress?”

“Don’t be stupid, Kata.” Erzsebet snorted, “I bet one of those idiot seamstresses left it in there for god knows how long. It must have pushed through this morning. Who’s the woman down there that’s supposed to be in charge?”

Kata’s tongue was thick and heavy behind her teeth and kept sticking to the roof of her mouth. “Ma’am, this dress was made so long ago I doubt that anyone there even remembers –“

“No, Kata someone knows. That dress is only a few months old. Ilona. That’s her name right? The golden haired woman with the bent nose? Yes, Ilona Jo.”

Kata prayed that Ilona would know enough to play dumb and deflect Erzsebet’s questions.

After assisting Erzsebet in her morning routine, Kata sent the sleepy eyed page in the hall to bring Ilona to Erzsebet’s chambers. When she arrived, Ilona had her head bent, hands clasped in front of her chest, fingers picking nervously at the edges of her nails.

Erzsebet stood in the middle of the room, back straight like a pike, mouth set in a hard line. “I don’t suppose you know why you’re here, do you?” Ilona silently shook her head, still avoiding eye contact with the countess. “Look up you pathetic, bitch. Look at my dear, sweet Kata’s face.” Ilona hesitantly looked up at Kata and the angry rip in her cheek flesh and then frantically searched Kata’s face for answers, but finding only pity and regret.

“Well?” Erzsebet’s voice was cold and quiet.

“My lady, I don’t know what happened to lady Kata’s cheek. I wish I did so I could –“

Erzsebet barked out a laugh. “Kata, please bring me a hair pin.”

Ilona’s baleful brown eyes begged Kata for help, but Kata did as she was told and handed a pin to Erzsebet. “Ma’am, the wound on my cheek will heal. Ilona doesn’t understand or know what happened.”

“Well, that’s about to change.” Erzsebet gave Kata a menacing half smile. “Unless you know more than you’re telling me, Kata.” She cocked her head to the side and studied Kata’s face. “Are you protecting someone, Kata?”

Erzsebet’s eyes were fixed on Kata, so she couldn’t see the heartbreak and betrayal on Ilona’s face as Kata shook her head no. “Give me your hand.” Erzsebet reached out and waited for Ilona to place her hand in her own.

Ilona’s eyes darted between Erzsebet and Kata, still searching for answers that weren’t there. She held up a chapped, trembling hand and let Erzsebet take it in her grip. “Now, you see this pin?” Erzsebet held the silver pin just in front of Ilona’s nose, making her go cross-eyed when she tried to focus on it. “A pin just like this ripped my Kata’s cheek. Do you see how monstrous she looks? It was just a small pin, trapped in a seam. One pin caused all that damage.” Erzsebet savored the look of horrible realization spreading across Ilona’s face. “One. Little. Pin.”

“Oh ma’am, I swear I don’t know I would never leave something that could hurt anyone and oh my lady please forgive me” Ilona’s words were tumbling from her lips in an avalanche of tears, snot and fear. “Please! I’ll figure out who left it. I promise this will never happen again!”

Erzsebet smirked. “I know you won’t.” She held up the tiny pin still in her free hand and it caught the morning light. Ilona’s hand was still clutched in Erzsebet’s as the countess moved the pin to the tip of Ilona’s middle finger. She pushed the pin slowly against the fleshy pad of Ilona’s finger, Ilona whimpering as she braced for the puncture.

Ilona let out a howl as Erzsebet instead slid the needle under Ilona’s nail, visible as it pushed down to the fleshy wall of her cuticles. As Erzsebet slowly removed the needle, a blossom of blood followed the razor tip and then spilled out from under the nail. Ilona jerked in Erzsebet’s hand, but the countess was immovable. Erzsebet held up the needle, now glistening with bright red blood in the morning light, and placed it in her mouth, savoring the taste of blood on her tongue.

Erzsebet yanked on Ilona’s hand, took another finger and slid the needle under the next year. This time, though, she didn’t pull the needle back out. She wiggled with needle underneath the nail, the raw soft flesh beneath red with pain as Ilona’s nail began to separate from her finger. She let out another howl of pain as Erzsebet levered the needle upwards, removing the entire nail in a flood of blood. Still connected by the tough sinew of flesh, her nail pointed nearly straight up from her mangled fingertip, heavy droplets of blood collecting on the floor beneath.

Erzsebet took a third finger. “Such a small little thing, this pin. Yet, so much damage it can cause.” As she said this, Erzsebet slid the needle under Ilona’s pointer finger and pried up the nail in one quick motion. The torn nail fell into the puddle of blood that had begun to form in front of Ilona, sitting on the surface of the blood like a nightmarish raft.

Kata clenched her hands together, pushing her own nails into her palms. Erzsebet did not want to kill Ilona, at least not today. Kata knew that if she said anything, Ilona would surely die for Kata’s self-preserving lie. Kata tensed every muscle in her body to resist the urge to throw herself in front of the trembling seamstress.

Erzsebet continued to poke and pry and stab at the seamstress who was now limp and resigned to her torture. Her pale face was drawn with lines that had not been there when she had woken up this morning, her eyes looked off into nothing as if she could leave her body while Erzsebet had her way. When Erzsebet had finished, bright red blood marked a path where Ilona had been.

Erzsebet sat back in her chair by the window and let out a satisfied sigh. “Well, Kata. Are you ready to tell me what happened to your face yet?”

Kata’s stomach dropped straight through her. “Ma’am?”

“Oh, please Kata. A little pin ripped your face open? Even you have more sense than to keep pulling something across your face that’s cutting you. And, to be honest, I’m disappointed that you thought I would fall for it.”

She knew. Somehow, despite all of her caution, Erzsebet knew. And Ilona suffered for it. “I don’t want you to be upset with me, my lady. You know my love for you is undying. I’ve never done anything to hurt you.”

“Deliberately” Erzsebet corrected.

“Yes.” Kata suppressed a shudder of rage, her mind flashing with Akos’ kind face. Taking a deep breath, Kata prepared herself for what would come next. “I saw you last night, ma’am.”

Erzsebet flinched. “And what do you think you saw?”

“You were in the hallway. I was out of my room, and I shouldn’t have been, but I couldn’t sleep and needed to walk.” Hopefully that lie was more believable than the last. “I was worried you might have been sleep walking, so I followed you. And I saw you go outside, so I went outside too.” Erzsebet’s expression was cold and still.

“You followed me?”

“I was worried for you! Outside in the cold late at night. I fell and scratched my face on a branch. I saw you go into the forest, but I was too scared to follow you.” She prayed that Erzsebet would be satisfied with her answers.

Erzsebet sat silently and looked out over the rolling hills of her domain. “So, you were worried about my safety, but not worried enough to follow me into the darkness of the forest at night?” The countess stood up and walked purposefully towards Kata. In the blink of an eye Erzsebet raised her hand and slapped Kata with the back side of her ring adorned hand. A flash of white blinded Kata briefly before she felt the sticky heat of blood on her face. Her wound from the branch reopened and was now crossed by two new slices from her jaw to the side of her nose, just under her eye.

“Do not lie to me again, Kata.”