Tuesdays at the Castle

Lilah lowers Celie down the wall so that Celie can find food for them and dismiss all the castle staff. Khelsh will be left with no one to wait on him. As Celie drops from the roof to the balcony, she encounters a maid. The princess gives the maid the quickest escape route and tells her to spread the word that everyone should leave the castle immediately.

When Celie reaches the kitchen, everyone is grieving because they think she’s dead. Celie immediately takes charge of the situation and shows everyone how to escape through a secret exit. Once outside, they are to summon everyone in Sleyne who can fight to return with weapons and lay siege to the castle. The cook gives Celie a basket of food to take back to the tower for herself and Lilah.

Celie sneaks behind a tapestry in the throne room to overhear what her enemies are saying. Lulath is protesting Khelsh’s coup while Rolf says he’s named Celie as his successor. At that moment, the emissary discovers the princess’s hiding place. She creates enough of a distraction to allow Lulath and Rolf to escape in the confusion. Celie sends them off to rally an army but refuses to leave the castle herself, saying, “It’s my Castle, […] I plan on being the last one out” (188). She escapes through a trap door before her pursuers catch up with her.

On her way back to the tower, Celie encounters a group of laundresses. She shows them the nearest way out and tells them to spread the word that help is needed. Celie winds her way through the castle’s secret passages, narrowly escaping Khelsh’s soldiers. By the time she arrives back at the roof, she’s worn out from the chase.

Celie summons Lilah to haul her up to the tower and recounts her adventures as the two eat the food that Cook packed for them. Celie realizes she’s lucky to be alive: “Lilah’s white-faced horror as Celie told her about her several near misses with Prince Khelsh and the soldiers made her realize how great the danger truly had been” (196). Celie collapses into an exhausted sleep shortly afterward.

The following morning Lilah says the two need to leave the castle. Celie protests because she believes part of the castle might still be alive: “‘What if it isn’t dead?’ Celie felt her heart expanding with the very idea. ‘I mean, yes, Khelsh did that horrible spell, but … what if there is some way we can undo it’” (198).

When she looks through the spyglass, Celie is astonished to see three armies assembling in front of the castle. The king’s army has been joined by the common folk and the armies of Grath and Vhervhine. She speculates that Lulath’s letters must have reached their allies in time.

The princesses gather their possessions and prepare to leave. Celie tucks her stuffed lion, Rufus, down the bodice of her dress. Once they lower themselves down the wall using the rope, they steal through the now empty castle. Lilah and Celie encounter Sefton and Feen in the kitchens. The princesses are angry and want to eject the councilors from the castle but are told that Khelsh’s men are guarding all the exits. The prince wants to capture Lilah and Celie and threatens to kill anyone else who tries to leave.

Sefton says he’s had some wizard’s training and that Khelsh didn’t kill the castle. He only put it to sleep. It should be possible to lift the spell. The princesses take Sefton with them when they escape through the secret passages, thinking he might be of use in awakening the castle. Their route leads through the royal bedchamber. On a pedestal by the fireplace, Celie notices her father’s crown. After she leads the other two all the way to the moat exit, she returns for the crown, determined not to let Khelsh have it. When she reenters the bedchamber, she finds Khelsh in the act of placing the crown on his head.

Celie snatches the crown, barely eluding Khelsh and the emissary. They and their guards chase her up to one of the castle’s parapets. Celie sees Bran and her parents below. Pogue tells her to jump into the moat at its deepest point. Cornered by Khelsh, Celie manages to defend herself until Khelsh cuts her arm with his knife. Celie doesn’t think she can go on. “She had nowhere else to go, and she didn’t want to be the reason why her family lost the Castle. Her legs were shaking, and a single drop of blood fell onto the gray stones of the Castle” (219).

Celie tucks Rufus under her arm as Khelsh mocks her attachment to a stuffed animal. Celie drops Rufus onto the flagstones as she prepares to jump. To her amazement, the toy transforms into a real live griffin—a winged lion. The griffin seizes Khelsh and flies off with him. Just as a guard is about to seize her, Celie jumps to the courtyard below.

Celie awakens unharmed and surrounded by her family. Rolf explains, “I knew the Castle loved you best” (221), as he tells her that the castle caught her, and the stones turned soft where she landed. The family picks Celie up and carries her to her bedroom. In answer to Celie’s questions, the queen says that the king was injured and couldn’t travel until now. The king thanks Celie for defending the castle while they were gone. Lulath congratulates her for her bravery.

The queen makes everyone leave the room so that Celie can rest and recover. The princess senses that the castle is alive again and tells it how much she missed it. In response, “The curtains over her windows closed, and Castle Glower painted the ceiling of her room dark like the night sky, twinkling with thousands of gemlike stars” (226).