The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series)

Chapter 17

The next several days pass in a blur of brightly coloured dresses, insipid chatter and decadent feasts. I make an effort to blend in with the ladies, sitting with them in the parlour and throwing in the odd comment when they discuss the guards they are eyeing or how someone plans to style their hair. As the days pass, it becomes more and more difficult to feign interest in their shallow affairs. At the same time, as vapid as these girls are, I know that they are barely tolerant of me. I'd have to be blind not to notice the way their conversations cease whenever I walk by.

I attempt to disguise myself among the most forgettable of the group, three girls I have nicknamed Blushes, Glassy and Blinky. Blushes is a quiet girl with a habit of turning red in the face every time I address her directly, ducking her head and murmuring replies. Glassy appears distant, staring blankly with a glazed, far-off look in her eyes and Blinky, being completely uninteresting, forced me to settle on the one characteristic I was able to discern.

Shielded by these girls, I am mostly able to hide myself and avoid being conspicuously alone. I walk with them to and from meals and sit next to them in the parlour, occasionally enticing them to play a few hands of cards, which I win easily.

I have been unable to speak to the Princess alone since the first day I arrived. She is most often shadowed by Hawk Nose and Plumpy, or otherwise occupied with some business that her father has arranged. I don't want to impress myself upon her, remembering Will's instructions to concentrate on blending in and biding my time.

I ache to explore more of the Palace but am hesitant to give the ladies more fodder for gossip if I'm caught snooping. For the most part I keep to the fourth floor, leaving only for meals and the occasional walk in the courtyard when the confinement becomes too unbearable.

At supper I look for Will, my annoyance growing with each night that I find his seat empty. I expect him to send for me any day to discuss my progress and formulate our manoeuvres, but it seems that after seeing me settled, he has returned to his flat in the City and left me to fend for myself. Deprived of his dependable arrogance, I feel more alone than ever.

After a week spent at the Palace I find myself going mad from the boredom and stagnation. I pace back and forth in my room as Sera sits on the bed, darning a tear in the hem of a dress from when I trod on it the night before.

"Would you like to take a turn in the grounds, Miss Abby?" she suggests.

"I've taken enough turns," I say, not bothering to hide the curtness in my voice.

"Perhaps a novel? There are several books on the shelf that you haven't read yet."

"Pointless drivel, all of them," I declare. "I've already read everything that was written for someone with more than half a brain in their head."

Sera cringes, chewing on her bottom lip. "What of the library, then? The Palace has several more books on the seventh floor."

This stops me in my tracks. "There is a library?"

Sera nods eagerly, relieved to have stumbled on something that might interest me. "Yes, the best collection in the City. The ladies are encouraged to borrow from the library, but I don't think many of them have the inclination."

A room in the Palace full of books, and not a single lady to contend with? How is it that I am only hearing about this now?

"Thank you, Sera." I say gratefully. "I'm going to go visit it right now."

"Have a good time, Miss Abby. And keep your skirt free of your feet!"

I laugh, shaking my head as I exit the room and head toward the staircase. I pause at the landing, glancing around to see if anyone is watching. Seeing no one, I hitch up my skirt and take off up the stairs at a sprint, revelling in the feeling of exerting my legs, grown soft from the days spent indoors.