Aeric started awake.
The room was pitch black and uncomfortably warm. The fire had died down to hardly more than a few embers after a night of burning.
Why had he woken up? Had someone knocked? And if someone had, why would anyone knock so late in the night?
There must have been some other noise to wake him, he reasoned. But he couldn't figure out what. And no matter how hard he listened, the only noises he heard were ones too faint to make him wake up so suddenly: the distant ticking of the clock, the quiet sounds of nocturnal animals, the gentle whispering of a breeze.
The room remained silent for so long that he almost drifted off again trying to listen for whatever had woken him up.
He rose to his feet and stretched. He might as well walk around and investigate before he retired to his bed to hopefully get some more sleep.
It seemed that he tripped over just about everything in the room on his search, but by the time he'd circled back to the chair by the fire, the only thing he'd found to be out of place was the book he'd dropped on the floor when he'd dozed off. He picked it up and smoothed out the bent pages, setting it down on the chair.
Aeric cracked open the balcony door before he went to the bedroom in order to cool the place down a bit. He wouldn't be able to sleep properly if it remained as warm as it was.
He yawned and rubbed his eyes, letting the cool breeze from outside flow over his face before he turned and stumbled his way through the darkness to the bedroom door. It wasn't very difficult after that to climb in bed and settle down.
It was only a few short minutes before he was asleep again.
**
A beam of sunlight slanted in through the tiniest crack in the curtains, perfectly angled to hit his eyes.
He ignored it for as long as he was able to before he angrily threw back the covers and sat up. He shot a glare at the curtains even though he knew very well that they didn't and couldn't care about what he thought.
Aeric got out of bed and located the breakfast that had been left for him. When, he had no idea. But it was still warm, so it must have been recent. He ate it slowly, staring at the charred log left in the fireplace from the night before.
He realized only after he finished the last bite of his food that if he'd been served breakfast in his room, that could only mean he wasn't expected to go downstairs to eat. Could it be possible that they'd given him another day to himself?
It wouldn't surprise him very much, knowing the queen. And knowing how strange everything seemed to be in the palace. Well, maybe not strange, per se. Just not how he expected...
The morning passed slowly. No one knocked on the door, but he still continued to expect it to happen.
He didn't want to pick up another book just to have to put it down again a second later when someone arrived. So he sat there and watched the second hand of the clock on the mantle slowly tick around the clock's face.
It felt like years had passed, but it wasn't even noon yet. He got up with a sigh and walked out onto the balcony. The sky was overcast, but the air was warm. The balcony railing was covered in a thin sheen of dew.
He walked further out into the open air, only to nearly fall head-over-heels when he tripped on an object lying in his path. He fought to save himself from falling, but he only half succeeded. He crashed into the wall rather than the floor. The grainy blue stone bit into his face and hands.
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.