CHAPTER 40
No peeking,” Kaiden warned, leading me forward.
“No peeking,” I promised, keeping my eyes firmly shut.
“You look amazing, my lady,” Clover said.
“Stunning,” Erodel said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Kaiden let go of my hand. There was some thudding.
“Ready,” Will said.
“You can look now,” Kaiden announced.
I opened my eyes. Everyone was in the courtyard. The sky above us was golden with afternoon sunshine.
“Good job!” Shana told Clover.
“This way,” Lute called. I turned and saw myself in a full-length mirror he had dragged into the courtyard.
Oh.
After the dress had come out of the dye vat, Clover had taken off the sleeves and gone to work. I wasn’t allowed to look at it, and when I asked her how it was going, she made growling noises and shooed me away.
The dress was amazing. The color turned out to be a breathtaking rust, almost as deep as Isadau’s hair.
The neckline was a variation of a Queen Anne, but instead of the triangular shoulder pieces, the embroidered straps were rectangular, flowing into complex bell sleeves, layered with rust and cream and bordered by wide bands of gold thread embroidery.
The chain of Digi’s amulet was hidden under my neckline.
The fitted bodice transitioned into a light-as-a-feather outer skirt, slit on the sides to expose an even thinner cream skirt underneath when I moved.
A two-inch-wide embroidered cloth belt caught my waist and from it, on a cord of a deep beautiful blue, hung the wooden puck of the Demarr crest. Clover had matched the color scheme with uncanny precision.
The hair from my temples was gathered up and plaited into an elaborate braid, leaving the rest of it free to drip down my back in wavy locks.
I’d had to sleep in wooden curlers, and it was hell, but my hair looked spectacular—shiny and wavy.
Clover had woven a matching blue cord into it and secured the whole thing with a cascade of tiny gold chains.
I had done my own makeup and adjusted it with her feedback to match the Rellasian formal occasion standards.
My shoes were tiny blue slippers with little heels.
It was as if all of my fantasy princess fantasies had somehow come to life.
I looked . . . I looked . . .
“You can’t cry, my lady!” Clover snapped. “You’ll ruin your face!”
“I won’t cry,” I promised.
Kaiden rolled his eyes.
“What do you think?” I asked him.
“You’re pretty,” he said.
“I’ll take that.”
Erodel offered me his arm. He was the picture of elegance in a silver doublet edged with light blue. A slender sword hung on his hip. Companions weren’t allowed at the joedurar, but as a ranowen, he could escort me all the way to the doors.
“It’s time,” he said.
I took a deep breath and put my hand on his elbow. We started toward the door, with Lute and Will following us. Both wore the Demarr shade-down of darker brown.
Behind me Lute said, “Hey, Maggie?”
“Yes?”
“Survive, get paid.”
Surviving was a good goal. An excellent goal, actually.
“No risk, no gold,” I told him.
Erodel led me to the carriage and loaded me into it. I painstakingly followed Clover’s directions to smooth the fabric over my butt before I sat down to keep from crushing my dress. Erodel climbed in, the brothers got onto the driver’s bench, and we were off.
If Everard hadn’t been poisoned, he would be at the joedurar.
I’d thought he would let me know when he arrived in the capital, but there had been nothing.
No sign at all. I’d asked Avaria to let me know if he rode in, and she didn’t send any word either.
The joedurar was my last chance. If he wasn’t there .
. . I had no idea what I would do but I would do something.
We would’ve heard something if Joris had poisoned him. Surely, we would’ve heard something.
“Anxious?” Erodel asked.
“Very.”
“It is fitting that you are anxious. If you were not, I would be worried that you’ve become overconfident. You are going into a den of predators. The apprehension you are feeling is natural. I taught you well, and you worked very hard to prepare. You should be confident but wary.”
I nodded. Confident but wary.
“You know every step of the polhe by heart.”
“I had a nightmare about it last night. I fumbled the transition to the second partner and fell off a cliff into molten lava.”
Erodel smiled.
In the middle of the polhe, the pairs of dancers broke up and switched partners for a brief period and then kept switching until they had made their way around the room to their original partner.
It required a turn to the left. For some obnoxious reason, I could turn to the right all day long but turning to the left threw me a little off-balance.
Not much, just enough to disastrously stumble at exactly the wrong moment.
“That damn dance now haunts me.”
“You will execute if flawlessly. I have no doubt.”
I smoothed my skirt.
“It will be fine, my lady. You know the dance, you know the etiquette, and you look just right. Beautiful, but not ostentatious. You will fit in perfectly.”
I nodded. This was helping.
“Let’s go over what happens again,” he said.
We had practiced it all, the entrance, the proper manners, what the guards might say, what the nobles might say . . . I took a deep breath.
“The joedurar will be held in the left wing. Will and Lute must stay with the carriage. You will escort me up the stairs. We will be greeted at the door and my invitation will be checked.”
Sudden fear stabbed me.
“Do you—”
He lifted the scroll case. “No worries, my lady. Continue.”
“Right. My invitation will be checked. You will stay behind and return to the carriage once I go in. A guard will escort me to the ballroom. Since I am arriving slightly late, I will be asked if I want to be announced. I will decline.”
“Correct,” Erodel said.
“The nobles will form a ring around the open dance floor. Once I am in the ballroom, I will move to the front, directly facing the dance floor. I will stay there for exactly ten breaths to let myself be seen, and then I will step back, out of sight.”
“Correct. The etiquette dictates that only those of high standing remain in the front row, but it is proper and polite to let yourself be seen on arrival, so your allies know you have entered.”
“After I have been seen, I will find an out-of-the-way spot. Somewhere I can have a quiet conversation. I will not eat or drink.”
“Correct again. You’re doing so well, my lady.”
“Should I wish to use the washroom, I will tell the guard at the doorway, and he will escort me back and forth.”
“And if you are asked to dance?”
“If it’s a polhe, I accept the invitation. It is safer to accept than to offend someone powerful by refusing.”
“And if you are asked to dance a fast dance?”
“I demur and suggest a polhe instead.” Declining fast dances was somewhat socially acceptable.
Erodel leaned closer. “You have done everything possible to go through tonight with grace. It will be fine, my lady. I have complete confidence in you.”
I was as prepared as I was going to be. Get in, be seen, get out, and get home. I could do this.
The castle was ancient. I was met by guards at the entrance, and one of them politely offered me his arm to escort me to the ballroom.
As we strolled through the hallway, the age of the walls was almost palpable.
The very stone radiated centuries of power and conquest. The Eagle Roost had changed hands countless times.
Thousands of people had died between these walls, some with a sword in their hands, others with a dagger in their back.
Their blood had soaked into the stone floor tiles. I couldn’t see it, but it was there.
“Thank you, Lady Maggie,” my escort murmured.
When the older knight had asked me for my name as he reviewed my invitation, I had introduced myself as Marigold.
The guard raised his head. The light from the ballroom illuminated his features. His skin was rich brown, his dark hair was cut short, and his eyes were light gray. Matheo.
How was he here? Why?
“Are you all right?” I squeezed his arm.
“I’m well,” he told me. “I’ve been watching you. I’ve met Tillmar.”
He’s been farseeing to keep an eye on me. How did he know who I was? Never mind, that wasn’t important right now. “The warning notes! That was you.”
“Yes.”
He’d been trying to help this entire time.
“Hreban doesn’t know who you are or what you look like,” Matheo murmured.
“He thinks the Butcher took a noblewoman off the street to satisfy his urges and her family rescued her, killing him. Lord and Lady Bors visited him and threatened him over Velpor’s death.
He knows the Conquerors are watching him, and he’s wary.
He still wants to silence you, but he will bide his time. ”
“You mustn’t escort the Sun Margrave on the day of the High Court. There will be a killer . . .”
“I know,” he said. “That’s why I have to do it. It’s my duty to keep the Sun Margrave safe.”
“Matheo—”
“My father would not want me to run. I will do what I must. It is my responsibility.”
Ahead, the ballroom glittered, framed by the arched doorway. We had run out of hallway.
“Matheo . . .”
“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,” he whispered. “I will be forever grateful.”
He stepped aside, bowed, turned, and walked back the way he came.
Damn it.
Another person appeared at the far end of the hallway, escorted by a different guard. I had to go into the room, or I would cause a traffic jam.
I took a deep breath and strode forward, quiet, unassuming, slipping into the ballroom in anonymous silence, just another noble in a lovely dress.
In front of me, bright light spilled onto the crowd from enchanted chandeliers: men in their best doublets, women in gowns of every color, hair ornaments glinting, jewels shining, voices murmuring to the echoes of the fading music.
Some people wore their crests in plain view, like me.
Others didn’t bother because they were well known.