Kingdom in The Sand

Secrets in Sashes

"What the hell is this?" Zaydan whispered, his voice hard.

"This is a land built on secrets," The Black Rabbit replied loudly, making Zaydan tense, his hand tightening on Marie-Fey's.

The ringmaster looked in their direction, then smiled.

"The Lord and Lady Rais, I presume," he said and Marie-Fey narrowed her eyes at him. His smile widened. "My, we do have secrets," he said, then spun away to address the entire audience. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Take in this incredible land of sun and sand and tropical paradises so rare one might not even think them real when found! Have you ever seen the sunshine so bright, or the sky glow such a blue? As with Our Lady Yumiko before, we have stumbled our way into someone's private home. Won't our hosts welcome us?"

Zaydan and Marie-Fey glanced at each other.

"What secret?" she hissed at him.

"You mean which," he corrected, "Do you have any idea how many secrets can be found in this compound? And we cannot simply have people looking around."

Marie-Fey pursed her lips, shot him a glare then got to her feet.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"I shall handle it," she replied and turned back to The Black Rabbit.

His smile brightened and he snapped his fingers, the seats before her separating and revealing steps. She swept down them, looking around to see if she could spot any of the women or guards, before joining him.

"This is extremely improper," she informed The Black Rabbit when she was beside him, voice loud enough to carry as she folded her arms. "Outside eyes are not for the ladies of this palace."

"And right you are, Lady Rais," he replied, tapping his cane twice on the ground, and suddenly they were moving. The world shot past them as they stayed still, Marie-Fey almost felt her balance give but The Black Rabbit caught her hand and held on until they stopped and she blinked.

She was in the inner gardens of her own palace, watching Mr Larkin sprawl over Barnaby's back, chattering at him like they could understand each other while Barnaby chewed away at whatever horror he had in his mouth, lying in the shade as Aya soared overhead.

Marie-Fey frowned as she watched her hawk fly without any apparent handler nearby. Who the hell was letting her animals loose together without keeping watch that Aya didn't try to eat Mr. Larkin?

Aya landed on a nearby branch, watching Mr. Larkin and Barnaby, and then suddenly, as one, they all looked in her direction.

Marie-Fey blinked, then glanced at The Black Rabbit.

"They can't see you," he said, his voice low for only her to hear. "But they can sense you, clearly you're close to your animals."

"I suppose," Marie-Fey muttered, "The monkey most but..."

"My, a monkey for a pet and a husband, quite a collection."

Marie-Fey turned a ferocious glare on him. "I'll have you redact that statement. Lord Zaydan is far from a monkey."

The Black Rabbit glanced down at her and smiled. "Who said I was talking about the Second Place Zaydan?"

Marie-Fey's glare vanished and she stared at him. "What the hell do you want?" she whispered.

"To find a secret," The Black Rabbit replied simply. She opened her mouth, but he held up his cane. "Come now, Lady Fey, I have no interest in revealing your secrets. I know them. I'm looking for something else."