Ladies, Lords, & Liars

Chapter Sixteen: Unprepared

   He pushed away from the wall and gingerly felt his face. It was warm to the touch and the skin had been broken in places, but he didn't feel any blood.

   He rubbed his hands against each other to rid them of the gritty flecks of stone before he turned to look for what had caused his fall.

   His eyes eventually fell on a single shoe; a lady's shoe with an uncomfortable-looking design and a rather long heel. It was a stormy grey color, with gold lining. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. Where had it come from? 

   He took the shoe inside and set it down on one of the tables in the middle of the room. He would figure it out later. Right now he wanted to make sure he hadn't hurt his face too badly. If people noticed and asked, he would hate to have to explain how he got the injury, which would entail explaining why he'd tripped in the first place. That, or lying.

   He examined his face in the glass. It looked red and maybe just a tad puffy, but he couldn't see any serious scratches. Thank goodness. One less thing for people to ask him about. He already had enough to worry about without a wound or two.

   He splashed himself with cool water and scrubbed the grit away from the already-fading scuffs.

   He jumped when a knock sounded at the door.

   It was the same servant as the last time. The plump lady who he had assumed to be one of the ones that had first greeted him. She curtsied slowly, and the movement looked almost painful.

   "Her Majesty would like to know if you wish to attend luncheon this afternoon." Her bun was crooked at the nape of her neck, and strands of stray hair billowed around her face as if she'd been rushing around so much that her hair had come undone and she'd had no time to correct it.

   "How long from now will it be served?" he didn't know if he had enough time to make himself presentable.

   "About an hour, from what I saw in the kitchen, sir."

   He nodded slowly. "You can tell the queen that I'll be there."

   "Alright, I'll do that." She nodded, dipping into another harried curtsy before she began to rush off down the hall. The way she moved almost reminded him of a duck.

   "Thank you!" he called after her.

   She gave no sign that she'd heard.

   He closed the door and headed to the bedroom to put together an outfit fit for the presence of royalty. He wished he could just wear a plain shirt again, but he knew that it would earn him more strange looks than he wanted.

   Even though he couldn't just wear the shirt, he was by no means about to wear the frilly clown suits they'd left for him. He picked the most subdued thing he could find, as usual.

   When he was satisfied that he was no longer a wreck, he checked his face again in the bathroom mirror. Thankfully, the redness had all but disappeared. He would easily be able to write it off as a blush if anyone questioned it, but he hoped they wouldn't ask at all.

   He sighed heavily before he headed down to the dining hall.

   He didn't want to attend any gatherings at all, but he couldn't appear antisocial. That would become suspicious after only a day or two, especially after he'd moved past the time range for using travel fatigue as an excuse.

   So he ducked through the doors and tried to melt his way into the crowd, hoping no one would stop him to chat.

   The doors creaked slowly closed behind him. No one looked his way, and he was successfully able to find a quiet corner to observe the rest of the room.

   Surprisingly enough, the outfits in the room seemed oddly subdued compared to what he'd seen the past few days. There were more earth tones and blacks than he'd seen on a person in a long while. He wondered if there was a special occasion.

   Then again, special occasions would call for even more flamboyant dress. Had someone died?

   The king and queen's arrival was announced to the room, and they came in wearing similar clothes. Both were sporting matching outfits of deep brown and forest green. The queen was even wearing trousers, which was probably the biggest shock.

   Everyone sat down and began to eat as usual. He found himself at the far end of the table from the king and queen. A pleasant young lady and her husband sat on the left side of him, and a gaunt, silent elder sat on the right.

   As they ate, the chatting slowly picked up around the room. He couldn't hear anything but a loud conversation about truffle hunting from across the table. The rest of the words melded into one incoherent murmur.

   After the dinner had been cleared so that the only trace of it was the full bellies and occasional soiled napkin around the table, the queen rose to her feet and cleared her throat in an almost musical way.

   Actually, everything she did was almost musical, now that he thought about it.

   "I trust everyone wore the proper attire for our ride today?" she sang out across the room.

    There was a ride? It shocked him, but it was a welcome piece of information, as it explained why everyone had such a sudden change in attire.

   The only problem was the fact that he hadn't known about it, and now he was most likely going to be thrust into some activity that he had no time to prepare for.