Everyone admire our new cover with the correct new title on it! And in the media is our old cover for nostalgia or something.
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Nemia and Irina walked in silence deeper into the gardens. There weren't many people wandering around, which was ideal for Irina's plans. But they weren't alone. They emerged from the sheltered, leafy walking path to find the white stone patio where several picnic tables were arranged for nobles who wished to eat outside, shaded by tall and brilliantly green trees. One table was spread with the food Irina had ordered for her and Nemia. The other was empty but for the princess, her tutor, and the mindful presence of her guards standing rigidly around the outskirts of the patio.
Irina smothered her instinct to smile, forcing instead a look of mild surprise. "I thought we'd be the only ones here. I suppose I must have forgotten to see if anyone else reserved a table." She had not forgotten.
Nemia blinked as if she hadn't noticed the other occupants before Irina had spoken, then eyed them warily.
Irina hurried on, pretending not to have noticed the other girl's discomfort. "Well, feel free to sit down, I got--" Her hasty steps toward their table slipped on the stones of the patio and she toppled forward with a loud gasp.
Two of the nearest guards jumped and rushed toward her but she regained her balance quickly and waved them off with a small laugh. "Silly me!"
Nemia, who she noticed hadn't made any move toward her, frowned.
Perhaps she was being too dramatic. Still, it worked on one end. Magali had turned around to see what had happened, and upon meeting Irina's eyes politeness dictated she had to greet her. Sweeping her skirts around, she stood up and nodded to Irina's curtsey, blushing slightly as if she was the one who had tripped. "Irina."
"Your Highness."
There was an awkward pause as Nemia remained frozen in place. Magali glanced at her and looked quickly away, more embarrassed than before. That would make things harder, Irina noted, but she'd planned on the difficulty of both the princess's and the assassin's shyness.
"I'm sorry to intrude on you, Your Highness. Nemia and I were just going to take lunch here, but--"
"No, please, stay. It's not a problem."
Easy enough. The hard part was getting invited to sit at the same table as the princess. As it turned out, Nemia actually proved to be an advantage in this case, by doing what she did best-- silently staring. In this case, at Caer.
A 'thank you' on the tip of her tongue, both Irina and Magali's attentions were drawn to Nemia's obvious, wide-eyed stare aimed just over the princess's shoulder. Caer shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Oh," said Magali in a desperate tone, clearly wanting to disperse the tension Nemia so effortlessly and unintentionally brought wherever she went. "Do you want to sit with us?"
The guard closest to them flinched and threw a panicked look to the long-haired young man who must have been the highest ranked of them, standing stiff as a statue on the other side of the patio. There was no spoken response, but with hardly a sound the guards stationed loosely around them closed in by a foot or two. Nemia lowered her gaze to the ground with shattering intensity.
Irina felt an uncertain, fluttery feeling in her chest in response. Guilt, probably. How horrible it must be to have guards stand alert whenever you entered a room-- and Irina had dragged her into this. For her own good, Irina reminded herself, and for the good of the Inigrit.
"We'd love to, Your Highness."
Nemia did little to hide that she certainly would not love to, but allowed Irina to guide her to the table to sit across from Caer. Hopefully her fascination with the boy would keep her from paying too much attention to what Irina was putting into place, but a glance at her sharp eyes showed that was unlikely to happen.
They all sat and arranged themselves for a minute, during which Caer subtly gathered the papers he and Magali had been looking at before their arrival and placed them on his lap, out of sight.
Not quite out of mind, though, as Irina wondered what they had been discussing, and Nemia narrowed her eyes at the table as though deep in thought.
"It's so beautiful out here," Irina sighed, opting for a neutral opener.
"Really wonderful," Magali agreed, though her voice sounded pained. Perhaps their princess had grown tired of being the mouse, playing along to the tune someone else set. But only a fool assumed nothing important ever happened beneath the surface of conversations like these. And in this, Irina had the advantage, knowing exactly what melodies she was going to spin into this conversation.
Still, the tutor boy had eyes as sharp as Nemia's. She couldn't get too overconfident.
"Such a waste to spend days indoors when we have gardens like these. That's why I meet Nemia for lunch lately, to get outside. Paperwork gets so tedious, doesn't it?"
"Absolutely. I can always use an assistant like Caer."
The tutor bristled slightly, perhaps jokingly, but Irina was focused on her opening.
"Must be harder to get through it all without the extra help from-- oh! What am I saying? I'm sure the Thief wasn't helping you with paperwork!" She laughed as though at her own lapse of thought, and Magali joined.
Strangely, the mention of her Thief didn't even stir Nemia from her silent stillness. She hadn't touched her plate, staring into it with a vagueness that meant she must have retreated into her mind as they talked.
Hopefully she hadn't completely zoned out.
Now that she'd successfully worked in the Thief, this conversation might go quicker than Irina had expected. Calling on her sympathetic smile she tilted her head toward Magali. "Still, even though I joke, I'm sorry she's gone."
"I... what?"
Caer looked puzzled as well, most likely trying to figure out how Irina would come to like, or even know, the Royal Thief.
"Well, we all saw the difference she made. You two were good friends, weren't you? I'm sure you miss her... just as much as Nemia does."
That caught the Assassin's attention, and Irina breathed a sigh of relief. Nemia had to appear a little less out of it for Magali to take the bait.
"Oh, I..." Magali stammered. "Yes, of course. I miss her very much." Her side glance at Nemia made it clear she hadn't considered whether anyone else might be missing the Thief very much as well.
Irina put a hand on Nemia's shoulder. "I should think you two would have much to talk about. Regarding the Thief."
Caer's eyes shot to Irina. She pretended not to notice.
"I... I would love to hear about Morane from-- from Nemia."
They both looked at Nemia, who looked back only at Irina, her expression inscrutable.
Irina could only hope that meant she would go with it. "Nemia will have to get back to the training yards after lunch, but we'd be happy to make a plan to, say, walk through the city together sometime."
They were sure to notice she'd roped herself in with Nemia without asking, but she counted on neither of them wanting to be alone with each other to keep anyone from pointing that out. There were the appropriate murmured agreements.
"Excellent! I'm sure Nemia has some wonderful stories about the Thief's younger days."
It had been clear for a while now that the only hope to get the Heir and Assassin in one room together was their single common interest-- the Thief. But Irina was confident that given enough time, she could spin that into a friendship as strong as the one Magali and Morane had evidently shared. With her included, of course. If Irina made Nemia invaluable to the princess, she'd share the reward. Or more accurately, the Inigrit would, reaping the benefits of having the future queen's ear.
It was a solid plan, except for the parts that relied on Nemia, as was effectively evidenced by the Assassin knocking over her water glass.
In reaching for the bowl of nuts close to Caer's side of the table Nemia had given her glass a shove hard enough to send its contents splashing over Caer-- and over the papers he'd stacked on his lap.
With a hiss he swept them up and onto the table, then grabbed a cloth to pat his clothes.
"Sorry," whispered Nemia, her first word in their presence.
"Oh, fine, fine," Caer said, distracted with his wet clothes.
Irina leaned over to offer him her napkin, then sat back with an odd feeling. It was the kind of stomach drop one experienced when thinking they had just made a very silly mistake, but Irina hadn't done anything but take her eyes off Nemia for a few seconds.
She looked back to her nervously, but Nemia was busy looking suitably embarrassed as she fidgeted with the hem of her tunic.
Perhaps Irina was just feeling the effect of the nerves she'd worked up over this crucial encounter, though it wasn't like her to affected by nervousness. Still, it might be best to end the lunch here, before Nemia made any more blunders.
"Well," she said, letting a hint of laughter into her voice, "I think we should leave before we injure Caer any more. Nemia must get back to training."
Goodbyes exchanged, she stepped off the patio feeling relieved. Minor incident aside, it had been a quick and successful lunch. Even Nemia looked a little cheerful as they made their way back down the garden path, something Irina hadn't expected after volunteering her to go on a walk with the princess. It made that little bit of guilt lodged in her chest twinge again.
"Listen," she started, "About what I said--"
"Yeah, fine," said Nemia, clearly not listening.
"I want to--"
"Absolutely, it's fine. I have to go. Forgot I have something to do in the castle before I go back to the training yards."
"Oh. What's that?"
"Check my mail," she said evasively. "Bye."
Irina stopped at the edge of the gardens, watching Nemia run up the hill. A strange girl, but then again, Irina still didn't know her well. She suspected Nemia's way of doing things made more sense if you knew her thought process, but her mind was a locked trunk Irina couldn't find the right key for.
It took a moment for her to realize Caer had followed them, and was currently standing a few feet behind her shoulder. "Oh, hello Caer. Did you need something?"
"I know what you're doing," he said, coldly.
Irina gave him a tolerant smile. "Seeing off the Assassin? Yes, I know what I'm doing too."
"Drop the pretenses. I've gone through this before, I know what you're planning."
"You've gone through this before? You mean you have befriended a Guardian only to betray her trust and try to force her into Magali's service? Yes, I heard about that. Some guards eavesdropping on that lesson were very helpful fleshing out the details. However, you're wrong in one crucial respect: I'm not pretending. I am Nemia's friend."
"How dare you--" Caer hissed. "I wasn't pretending! Morane was a good friend to me, as I was to her."
"Right, of course. That's why she left." It was a wild jab to try and make him say something he didn't mean to. She wasn't sure Caer knew why the Thief had left, only that he was the kind of person who might know something. It wasn't very important. She hadn't been trying very hard to find the Thief-- Morane returning before she and Nemia had become close with the princess would be devastating to her plans-- but she did like to be aware of all the moving pieces in her plan. The Thief could be a particularly annoying piece if she came back too soon.
"That's enough," Caer said stiffly. "I only came to warn you that I am looking out for Magali."
"So you see the benefit of giving her someone else she can trust, then."
"I doubt Nemia will be that person so long as you control her."
"Hmm. That's verging dangerously close to Inigrit policy, controlling Guardians. I thought you were Onoma?"
"But you're Inigrit. I don't trust you."
"Caer," she sighed patiently. "I don't give a half coin whether you trust me or not. Run back to your princess."
Caer muttered something rude under his breath as she walked away.
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So something's going on here... any theories? ;)