Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 18

After an agonizing eternity, she slowly raised her eyes to the other girl's skirts, then up to their hands folded softly in front of them, and then to the sea of people between her and the king. Finally, she glanced at the dias to see that the king's attention had been taken from her and was now on a man concealed in a oiled dark cloak.

As soon as Cole saw the mysterious man, she knew that something was happening. The man's face and form was completely hidden, and all that was visible was his muddy boots and the hilt of a sword hidden at his side. The only way she knew that it was indeed a man beneath the heavy folds were his shoulders too broad for any woman. In fact, if she hadn't been so intent of staring at the king of the country, she wasn't sure she would even have noticed the man in the cloak. He soaked into the shadows behind the dias, one foot behind the heavy curtains that hung draped behind the thrones and one foot pressed close to the king's side. He leaned up from behind the king, talking to him over his shoulder while the king looked down at the floor.

The king listened intently to whatever the cloaked man was saying, and then said something brief back. As soon as the words had left his mouth, the cloaked man shrunk back and disappeared into the shadows. At that point, the king held up his hand and the baron's tirade about his sheep's damp feet stuttered to a halt. The audience chamber lulled into confused silence as everyone's eyes turned to the king as he stepped down onto the first step of the dias.

One of the king's men cleared his throat, and in a booming voice that covered the room, announced that the king would be leaving early. The room dipped into bows and curtseys as the king brushed his way through them and down the aisle to the door to the chamber. He passed through without a single glance back at the crowd or a word to them. His attention was already on something else, and the people waiting to speak to him were now nothing.

Uncertain whispering filled the room as everyone tried to figure out what they should do. The audience with the king was meant to last until evening, and now they were free at not even noon. Eventually the courtiers left first, filing out into the hallway and heading back to their estates out in the city. The lesser nobles then followed, and then the commoners. Finally, the servants began to clean the room and put it back in order. However, since the prince's servants were not required to participate in general cleaning, they were able to leave with the stable hands and head back to their posts.

As the girls sighed heavily and filed up to the prince's rooms, Cole bounced on her toes and bit her lip. She was supposed to be spying on the prince, but the image of the man in the dark cloak would not leave her mind. Who was he and why had the king ended the audience early due to whatever news the man had brought?

As the girls shuffled around in the prince's library, straightening whatever was out of place and chatting with each other, Cole sought out Meegan.

"Is it all right if I go out to run some errands?" she asked.

Meegan raised an eyebrow. "It is not a day off," she said. "You are meant to wait for our prince to give us orders."

Cole glanced at the door to his bedchamber, which was still firmly closed. "I don't think he's going to come out today," she said. "He won't need me."

"You don't know that," Meegan replied.

Cole sighed, drawn between telling the truth of what she saw or keeping it as the secret she knew the prince must surely want. On the one hand, she wasn't sure if she could trust Meegan with secrets, but on the other she knew she wouldn't be able to make the other girl trust her if she didn't give her a good enough reason.

"Look, I saw something last night. Prince Bastian and his father... Something happened between them that makes me know that the prince will be resting for at least the rest of the day."

Confused registered on Meegan's face, only to be replaced a moment later with dawning. She cleared her throat and folded her hands primly in front of her.

"Fine. You may have the remaining length of the day off, since I doubt you'll be much help to us anyway. However, I want you here at dawn tomorrow morning, just the same as always. You need to start learning how to properly take your place as one of his servants before you start to attract his attention even more."

Somehow, even though it was disguised as disdain, Cole got the feeling that Meegan might have even meant the words kindly. Perhaps in the castle, making allies with the people you worked with would help in the long run. After all, there was only one prince, and if his servants all had each other's backs, then he'd be outnumbered... even if he didn't know it.

"Thank you, Meegan," Cole said, smiling and taking the other girl's hands. "I'll make sure to be here on time tomorrow."

Meegan rolled her eyes, but the smallest of smiles quirked the side of her lips as Cole bounded to the door and waved to the girls as she stepped into the hall.