Pushing her mistress aside, Sofia opened the door using a spare key, which no one but the prison guard should have had. Incidentally, Rachel had one too, but she wouldn’t use it. It would offend her pride as a picker. Okay, no, that was a lie.
“Have you found anything wanting in your lifestyle here?” Sofia asked.
“Nothing that stands out. I’ve been sleeping well since we brought in a proper bed too. It’s helping me make progress with my writing.”
“I have complimentary copies from the Mouse & Rat Company in the wagon, so please, take a look at them for yourself later. How have you managed to write ten volumes even though you have been here for less than a month?”
“Hee hee, when your characters take on a life of their own, they do all the moving for you.”
Rachel stepped through the door into the front room for the first time in about a month.
“Mm! That’s the smell of freedom!”
“With only a set of iron bars in the way, the air here is no different to what you have been breathing all along. We are short on time, so hurry up and sit down, please.”
Sofia sat Rachel down in the prison guard’s chair and began combing the brunette wig she’d brought with her. Rachel had long hair to begin with, so they were using a darker wig and being careful to keep her real hair from showing through. Sofia tidied up Rachel’s hairstyle and made her presentable.
“These are tickets for a box seat. They will be performing The Prince and the Pauper. The young master will be at the house today and tomorrow, so I booked a twin bedroom with a living room for you at the Green Leaves Inn. Meia will be on hand to dress you for your return to the prison. If you have any business with the mansion, have Meia deliver your commands to Lisa.”
Rachel, already dressed to go out, checked her hair in the mirror and smiled happily. “I haven’t seen Alexandra in so long! That would have been back before her father took his new post, so it’s been a whole year now.”
“There was a message from her saying that she has been wanting to see you too and is looking forward to hearing all of the details. Lady Martina sent a letter as well, by messenger pigeon, to apologize for not being able to attend.”
As she talked, Sofia took off her hood and coat. Her ash gray hair had already been dyed chocolate brown and done up in the same style as her young mistress’s. She was also dressed in Rachel’s loungewear. Rachel and Sofia were very alike in height and figure, so this worked in their favor, but usually, the difference in their dress and manner overshadowed their similarities.
“You could have changed here, at least. Is the size all right?” Rachel asked Sofia.
“I was unsure of how much time I would have to make myself up once inside the prison. It frustrates me, though, that there is spare room in the chest area.”
“You shouldn’t complain, you know? Or Miss Punching Bag will show up to haunt you.”
“That girl is still alive and well, right?”
Not long after, the driver came to inform them that they’d finished unloading. Rachel donned Sofia’s hood and coat while Sofia went inside the cell and checked to ensure that nothing had been overlooked.
“Oh, right. Young mistress, there was no real garbage for us to collect the last time we came either. What have you been doing with your table scraps and such?”
“Hm? Well, it wouldn’t do to just leave them around, right? I was throwing them out the window into the back gardens, but it seems someone lodged a complaint. Now I simply throw it all into the bin in the front room, and Mr. Guard separates and collects it.”
That complaint had likely come from a certain lover of the back gardens.
“Oh, I see. Very well, then.”
Sofia dropped the subject without prying further. If the problem had been solved, she cared as little as Rachel as to how. They were generally quite similar.
Rachel locked the door from the outside, and Sofia attached the padlock and chains from the inside. This one time, despite the usual ease with which she seemed to do everything, Sofia dropped the chains and had to pick them back up.
“Young mistress, I am impressed you could lift these.”
“If I couldn’t have lifted that much, I wouldn’t have been able to carry on a light conversation while holding a crossbow at the ready either.”
There was probably only one young lady in the world who would call threatening the prince “light conversation.”
Rachel quickly looked around the front room to see if she was forgetting anything. “I’ve been staying up well into the night lately and changing up my daily schedule, so as long as you’re under the covers, Mr. Guard shouldn’t bother you. The issue will be dealing with His Highness and his cronies when they occasionally drop by, but...you can handle them, right?”
Sofia pressed her neck in a number of spots and cleared her throat. Then...
“I already look pretty close with this makeup, so if I keep the lights down, it’s unlikely they’ll notice. I mean, you know how His Highness and Miss Punching Bag are, right?”
Sofia had responded with Rachel’s voice and manner of speech.
Rachel grinned with satisfaction and nodded to the driver before climbing the stone steps. “Ta-ta, Sofia. I’ll see you about this time, the day after tomorrow.”
“Yes, please do enjoy your pajama party.”
“I’m not thrilled that it’s to talk about His Highness and George, though.”
Once she left the dungeon, Rachel had no time to look at the wide-open sky, which she was seeing for the first time in a month, as she stepped into the wagon. As the wheels began rattling, she rested her head on her palm and narrowed her eyes.
“Now, then...I think I’ll start by chopping off his arms and legs.”