On the way down, she was surprised again. This time, she could at least have anticipated it. Her mother, who had been sitting in a chair, rose, embraced Kyprosa, and fussed over her as she retied her hair. The three of them went to the dining room, where her dead uncle Siardric, her uncle Den, who had run away, and even her grandfather, who had died before Kyprosa was born, were all present. Grandmother Rosia sat Kyprosa beside her, straightened her clothes, and spoke with a smile.
“How can our granddaughter be so lovely?”
No banquet in Fir Castle had ever been so lively. Her father was making plans to go hunting with Uncle Siardric the next day. Uncle Den told some joke, earned a scolding from Grandmother, and signaled to Kyprosa to help him. Kyprosa did not even know what she said, but Grandfather soon burst into hearty laughter.
Kyprosa wondered whether she had ever laughed so much in a single day. Then, the instant she thought of Fir Castle wrapped in cold silence, she understood where she was. This was Shadow Castle. There could be no doubt. It was the place described in the journal her father had left behind.
They said that in Shadow Castle, somewhere deep in the forest, everything happened in the opposite way from Fir Castle. So Grandfather had not died in battle, Grandmother had never become lord, Father had not left, and Uncle had not died. And all of them loved Kyprosa. She had never imagined how she wished things might be, but she had not known anything could be this wonderful. It was so wonderful that she had almost decided to settle here for the rest of her life.
Then someone opened the door and entered the banquet hall.
This time, it was someone she knew. Aunt Elma. But she was holding a baby. Uncle Siardric quickly rose and went to her. Elma handed him the baby and spoke.
“She’s had her fill of milk and she’s still fussing. I think she wants to see her father.”
Since Siardric was not dead, there was nothing at all strange about Elma having another baby. And yet, as Kyprosa gazed at the baby, she felt she was forgetting something. What was it?
Ah, now she remembered. Kyprosa looked at her father.
“Papa, where is Orchidna?”
She saw Raeven slowly tilt his head. A puzzled tilt to the right. He spoke.
“Orchidna? Who is that?”
Understanding came slowly. As the warm bustle filled the banquet hall again, Kyprosa rose. Slowly, she pushed back her chair, stepped out, and moved away from the table. She felt she could not bring herself to take a step, yet before she knew it, she had reached the entrance.
In the journal Kyprosa had read, her father had tried to find Shadow Castle. There were traces of the persistent research he had done to summon it by magic when he could not find it. Perhaps her father had summoned it then, and that was why Kyprosa had entered now. If so, Father must have come here too. Where had he gone?
Had Father seen the same things here as Kyprosa? Had this scene made him happy too? Had he not stayed here because it had not? Or… had he stayed, but Kyprosa could not see him?
If that were really so, where could one say he was?
She could understand why Father had wanted to find Shadow Castle. He must have felt as Kyprosa did. Fir Castle must have seemed dreary to him, and he must have resented Rosia, who never looked after her son because she was busy governing the domain and commanding the spearmen. But would staying in Shadow Castle solve everything? Kyprosa could tell that it would not, because she had not found the real Raeven here. Raeven the madman.
Shadow Castle was not real. What had happened there was not the truth.
Orchidna would never be born in Shadow Castle. Because Father would never leave the castle and meet another woman. But if Kyprosa stayed here, Orchidna, abandoned in the forest in the real world, would die and disappear too. Last night, Kyprosa had risked her life to leave the castle. To find Orchidna. She would not abandon her so easily.
Leaving Shadow Castle was simple. Since it was exactly like Fir Castle, she only had to follow the familiar route out through the gate. As Kyprosa went alone into the forest, just as she had the night before, she thought of the bed shimmering in the soft pink light and the blue velvet dress laid upon it. Would that dress she would never wear remain in the same place forever? Or would a shadow girl who belonged there wear it and rejoice?
In the meantime, snow had fallen and made the forest gleam white. So clearly that she could not understand how she had lost her way yesterday, as though someone were guiding her, Kyprosa soon heard a baby crying. At the same time, she heard a wolf howling in the distance. She was not afraid. She hurried on, and there, some way ahead, she saw the basket holding the baby.
She ran. As her cloak brushed the fir branches, frozen snow broke loose and fell. Please do not let her have frozen to death. Please let her be alive.
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