Rowan

The castle was abuzz with its usual day-to-day activities. Servants and maids passed me in the hallway carrying baskets of laundry and trays of tea. I could hear the clattering of cookware as I left my office and walked toward the grand staircase off the foyer, seeing the door to the servants’ hallway that led to the kitchen slightly ajar.

It was nearing lunch, and I was definitely hungry. I stopped to let a maid pass by with a tray full of sandwiches and ...