Sly

Mid-day came, and brought with it the hunting party. The Festival of the Hunt was a three day celebration of Claw, god of the hunt and all wild things. This was the only time the royal family allowed actual hunting in the Godswood, though foraging has always been acceptable. Legend says this is the only three days Claw allows men to hunt his creatures in the sacred forest.

And after my last encounter there, I wouldn't even risk it during the festival.

Two large boar and a stag were hauled to roasting pits in the kitchen courtyard while the nobles who hunted them down retired to wash up and rest. An array of smaller game was cleaned and prepared as well. Maids with baskets of spices dashed about madly, seasoning the meat as men expertly broke down the animals and dumped them in stew pots. Vegetables roasted, bread baked. The smell of dripping meat perfumed the palace and resulted in a detail of palace guards to be posted before the kitchens, much to the disappointment of more than one hungry guest.

The commotion made it easy to slip around unnoticed, though the thought of the feast did leave my belly growling.

While the Muses spent the afternoon practicing their craft, I was free to roam the palace until dusk. Panther promised that the first night would be light on the props. A few fans, and an instrument or two, but they wouldn't need me to help with pinning up hair as Orchid had teased.

I didn't try to hide my relief when she said that. However, it didn't save me from my fate in the styling chair myself. In order to look the part of a Muse initiate or a hired maid, I was poked and prodded and stuffed into a simple but flattering dress. My hair was even washed and contained, with the help of more than a few pins. But when Orchid tried to apply lip paint to me, I slid out of the chair and escaped the room. I could hear their giggling all the way down the hall.

"Henpecking Muses," I mumbled as I stormed away. "Meddling nannies. As if I need help slipping about unnoticed. A soot-covered chimenea sweep would have been just as effective as all this."

I looked down at my fine clothes, frowning that I'd have to mind that I didn't ruin anything.

With a huff and a pout, I lifted my chin and straightened my posture. Rule one when blending in was always act like you belonged. That meant embracing the roll of a busy lady's maid.

Through the upper halls where the guests were housed for the festival, I was able to see quite a bit. I knew who of importance was staying where, I knew which visiting servants were eager to share gossip, and I could see exactly who came and went from the courtyard thanks to my view out the corridor windows.

Unfortunately, I also found out how easy it was to become lost in the maze of doors and hallways.

Despite a passing page's directions to a garden, I quickly lost track of the turns. I wandered through the cool stone halls, letting myself slow down to listen for gossip. The palace was ripe with it, but nothing I thought useful. This lord took a mistress, the scullery maid had her babe. Nothing about the goings on outside these stone walls.

My feet carried me by several windows. A light rain pattered gently, but the sky didn't look to have much more to give today. I sent up a prayer to whoever may listen for the roasting fires to be spared from the rain. If I could find my way to the feast, I at least wanted to make the most of it.

I stayed at the windows for perhaps half a bell as the servants below scrambled around the courtyards trying to ready the feast to come. At some point I tired of watching, or perhaps I remembered my duty to my brother, and continued my wandering.

For a little while at least. Somehow, I ended up in a library on the second floor. I wasn't sure a library would hold the secrets Davery was hoping for, but the smell of printed paper beckoned me inside all the same. A chance like this doesn't just come along every day for a girl from Swamp.

I ran my fingers on the light wooden frame, marveling at so much unbroken wood. A whole length of tree, just for the sake of a doorway! Not an ounce of clay in sight. I opened the door just a crack, and my breath caught in my throat.

Row upon row of books. Scant oil lanterns doing their best to fight off the dim lighting in the library. Despite the lanterns and the large windows at the back, there were just too many shelves and rows and walls to block the light in its tracks.

I recovered my senses and stepped inside.

Despite looking the part of a lady here for the Hunt, the ancient librarian huffed his disapproval of my bewildered ogling of the shelves as I walked in. I didn't care, as long as he didn't blow my cover.

I wasn't a particularly strong reader, but if I had access to a world of books like these that would probably change fast. I was just resigning myself to giving up on finding good gossip and falling for the allure of the library when a two story window glinted at me behind the rows of books.

Curiously, I peered at it from my partially concealed spot in a row of times about old noble houses and long dead kings. The view caught the air in my lungs for the second time in so many minutes.

This part of the palace was on a cliff overlooking the lake. I raced to the glass panes to see more. Out this window I felt as though I were floating over the water like a cloud. From this high up, the deep blue waves didn't seem so menacing. Never in my life had I been able to see so much of Lake Unays in one eyeful. I could even name the rivers pushing and pulling the little boats around as they glided in and out of the docks, haggling their wares or unloading their passengers. Tiny lights pin-pricked outside houses and shops alike, and I realized from the lowering sun that it was probably close to six. A strong breeze tickled the surface of the water to life and wove through the trees in Green district.

It was a long time before I could pull myself from the panes, but in the end I forced it because I wanted enough time to find my way back. But this would not be my last visit to the library with the breathtaking view, I would make sure of it.

I turned to leave and rounded a row of shelves, bumping into something with a crash that took me completely off guard and nearly knocked me over.

"Oof!" I stumbled backwards, but snapped to a practiced stance that kept me from falling over. Dirk had done his job well, maybe too much so because no palace lady would be stumbling around looking like she had a knife under her frock.

Then again, maybe if more of them carried knives under their frocks it would be safer to walk alone at night.

"Tidy form."

My eyes snapped up from looking at where my feet had landed. The young man I had run into did not fare as well as I had, having fallen on his backside. He looked up at me with a grim smile, his clothes completely disheveled and around him sprawled the books he was carrying. "Clearly I need to pay more attention to my own martial studies. I'm sure my tutors would agree."

My face reddened as I helped him up. The heat on my face was noticeable, and I quickly hid the position of my feet with my king skirts.

"I... I am so sorry!" I bent to the ground and collected his books.

He chuckled as he brushed off his clothes and began picking them up as well. He had easy gray eyes and reddish brown hair that was now thoroughly tousled.  Was he a noble? He certainly dressed like he could be. Or maybe from a merchant family. He did say he had tutors. The only thing I could be sure of was that he was no Swamp rat.

A bell tolled somewhere overhead, signaling the quarter hour until seven.

"Damnit," he sighed, then looked at me. "I suppose you need to get down to the festivities as well, Lady...?" He let the 'Lady' trail in a question to my name, but I wasn't sure if I was even permitted in this library. Besides, I certainly had no business being mistaken for any of the upper class. My manner of dress was probably misleading and could get me in trouble for pretending rank. Thanks, Panther.

"I do, please excuse me and I won't keep you any longer." I did my best impression of Orchid's proper tone for speaking to a noble, which this man undoubtedly was, and gave a wobbly curtsy. Maybe he would forget he asked my name, or maybe he just didn't care enough.

I dropped the books I had gathered on top of the pile he now held and slipped away while he adjusted his grip. With one last glance back in his curious gray eyes, I left.

Sliding into the shadows of a narrow hallway near the library, I waited for the man to come out. Rather than risk dangerous conversation with someone I may or may not have robbed before, or may have to in the future for that matter, I would follow him to my destination.

A librarian came out shortly whisking the man's pile of books away, probably to his rooms, and the young man himself strolled in a different direction.

He wasn't particularly difficult to follow. He held his head high, his shoulders back, and walked down the middle of the hallways. His run-in with me had clearly not affected him, and he sounded in a good mood as he greeted several passersby. No one noticed the quite girl several paces behind the young man, though Orchid's silk dress made me conscious of how I might stick out. Silently cursing the swishy dress and missing my plain everyday grays and browns, I followed my target into the evening light.

To the Festival of the Hunt.