Sly

Chapter Sixteen

Sly

The afternoon passed as I mapped a bit more of the palace. My heart pounded with every person I passed, and it felt as though eyes were on me at all times. But despite those nerves, I was determined to make the most of my last night in the palace. I had nearly all of it mapped up to the middle floor now. You never know when a secret map of the palace would come in handy.

Orchid had talked me into wearing a dress again. It was "the last night of the festival after all and a girl from Swamp had few enough chances in life to wear such nice things" she insisted. Besides, we were going straight to the gardens and there wasn't anything big to be carried. The rest of the muses were on Orchid's side, but I suspected it was just so they could play with my hair again.

We strolled outside a bit before six and took up the usual alcove. Rorik managed to be missing for the herald tonight, though he was sitting at the table shortly after Princess Nadia gave the prayer. I didn't know what to make of him, he made me nervous with his sharp eyes and easy nature. Nothing that I expected from a prince.

The crowd settled as food was served, and the players began their work, leaving me once again with little to do but observe and make notes. River started the night off with her flute while Moon and Star danced. Star began the night with scarves and Moon with fans. Though the twins were identical in every way, and they practiced mirroring each other, they did sometimes have telltale movements that differed. I closely watched the performance and suspected that by the end Moon ended up with the scarves and Star with the fans.

Orchid took her harp out next, and played a soft tune. By then, I was falling into a chair, almost dozing off. The feeling of being full of food was out of the ordinary for someone from Swamp and I had taken full advantage of the last day of the feast. There was only so long my disgust for the excess of the feast could dissuade an empty belly. Orchid's song nearly finished putting me to sleep as I gazed out at the eager faces watching the performance, until I spotted something interesting near a secluded corner. Lord Girault.

Girault sat with his cane across his lap. Six men and one woman all dressed finely were around him talking amongst themselves. I sat up immediately. Eight nobles. Could I be so lucky? It was quite the suspicious group, every other face was turned to either the food or Orchid but not this circle of nobles in the corner. Like the muses, they were in an alcove. It was overgrown with lilies, and mostly hidden from the rest of the courtyard, with the exception of the alcove I sat in.

I silently thanked Bliss for her daughters, who had insisted on dressing me up. With a quick whisper to Panther, I slid from the silk screens and into the crowd. I easily blended into the people and meandered my way closer to Lord Girault's group. Luckily they weren't in particularly good seats for any of the entertainment, so there were empty tables close enough to them for me to observe without being too obvious. I wished I had borrowed a fan or something, to conceal most of my face or at least shield that I was looking at the group in the corner so openly.

Fae had started in on the final part to the Ballad of the Hunt. That took a bit of time to do, so I stayed in position. I couldn't hear them, but I could see them clearly. The book hadn't left my side, and I took more ciphered notes on the nobles talking to Girault. The notes, while decently descriptive, were not very useful without names.

I was so engrossed in what I was observing that the man sitting down across from me took me completely by surprise. The color drained from my face as I gave something of a bow while still in my chair.

"Highness..." I greeted.

"A lady tonight is it? Stop trying to bow, you look ridiculous and you're going to draw attention." Prince Rorik's bemused smile irked me just like Davery's did, but I lifted my head. "So while everyone is either too drunk or too enthralled to notice I'm gone, would you care to chat a bit?"