The Hour of the Crow

Chapter 32: Creeping around Corridors

He gawked at her with wide, startled eyes. "Y-your Highness. My deepest apologies! I didn't see you there ..." His voice died while the strangeness of the situation dawned on him. The crown princess, who had been missing for weeks, stood in the kitchen among her staff, dressed in dusty clothes and with an air of secrecy around her.

The palace chef strode forward to greet her. He shooed the dumbfounded kitchen help out of the way with a few quick orders about cleaning up the mess. "Your Highness," he said in his low baritone. "You cannot be seen here."

"That is why I took the service corridors, Izban," she replied dryly. "I am glad to see nobody went off running to report my return to my father."

Izban scrunched his nose. "When we heard the Shah had you thrown into the dungeons, we all knew something was amiss. He has not been himself, Your Highness." A hint of disconcert flashed in his eyes.

Inna's gut clenched. Feeling slightly uneasy, she clasped the chef's shoulders. "What did he do?"

It was one of the other cooks who answered. "Last week, he had Usman strung up on the gallows for disobeying some of his more ... peculiar orders," she said. Usman had been the palace's chamberlain.

Inna's hand floundered up to her neck, trembling. "What orders?"

Some of the cooks shared uncertain looks, while others kept their gazes glued to the food that covered every inch of the counters. Izban cleared his throat. "He had Princess Nylah and Prince Kasmir banned from the palace."

He's trying to destabilize the court. "Why?"

He shrugged. "According to the official explanation, they defied his sovereign rule. But," he continued, his voice lowering to a whisper as his eyes flicked around the room, "rumor has it that Rasirian prince had something to do with it. He has been accompanying the Shah to all his council meetings, and three weeks ago, a delegation of foreigners arrived in the city. Mostly sorcerers and soldiers. There has been talk among the palace's servants, Your Highness. People are afraid of a siege."

"I think the siege has already begun, Izban." She straightened her back to face the entirety of the kitchen staff. "I would like to apologize for my absence in these uncertain times. I promise I will fix this."

"How?" the boy who had run into her asked from where he crouched near the fallen tray. Izban kicked him in the shin and snapped at him to show some respect.

Inna smiled at the flustered boy. "All I want you to do for now is to stay alive, keep quiet about my presence here and help me move around the palace unseen when I come for the prince of Rasir. He's a dangerous man with powerful magic and I don't want anyone else to get hurt, understand?" Everyone nodded. "Also, can anyone tell me where Tata is?"

"The maid?" Izban asked. "She fled the palace after you disappeared. I overheard the other maids gossip that she's holed up in her parental house."

"And my brother and sister?"

Her question was met by a sea of clueless faces. She bit back a frustrated grunt. "All right. I'll find Tata. Thank you for your help. All of you."

The servants and cooks bowed their heads.

Bringing her mouth to Izban's ear, she slipped a piece of parchment into his hands. "I need this message to get into the harem. Can you arrange for that?" Not every servant had access to the harem, but food certainly did.

He gave an almost invisible nod. "Of course, Your Highness."

"Good."

As she backed into the service corridor, Inna felt grateful for all the hours she had spent snacking in that kitchen as a child, for every genial smile given to a passing servant. It had earned her unswerving loyalty today. She trusted that no one in that room would betray her to her father; they knew she had memorized their faces and would discover whose tongue had slipped soon enough.