Heeeey guysss... So... Been a while, huh? What can I say? I'm sorry. I was just very anti-writing this chapter when I opened it a year ago. But time has changed me! Enjoy, and hopefully chapter 7 will be following shortly :)
ALSO - I don't know what happened, but this website really jacked up the format of this chapter and deleted a bunch of words. Just comment if you spot anything I missed.
Chapter 6
"You're late...as usual..." Professor Gray adds in a mutter, not looking up from his pile of papers.
"I can explain!" I say, all ready with my excuse about a dog attack, but the Professor cuts me off.
"You can make up for it later. I have a new job for you."
"Intrigue me." I say. The jobs I have been given so far have been dull, dull, dull. Basically errands for the lazy teachers of this school. I wasn't too excited about this one.
"The King is having a ball tonight. We are concerned that one of the guests is a spy from another kingdom who wishes to steal military secrets."
"You want me to sneak in through a window and keep an eye from above?" Alright, this sounds interesting.
"No, I need you to blend in, ask questions, watch for anyone who acts unusual."
"Pose as a maid?" Even better. A disguise! "I can do that."
"Not tonight. I need you to attend the ball as a courtier. You must go as one of the guests."
"What?!" I gaped at Professor Gray. "Oh, no you don't. I hate nobles. I refuse to act like one!"
"If you want to be a good spy, you cannot pick your roles. You must be good at all of them. You will do the job." He doesn't show any other sign suggesting he cared about my feelings. Not that he ever has before. As far as Gray has always been concerned, it's the job first. Anything after that is meaningless.
"Fine." I snap. I know when I'm fighting for a hopeless cause. The first thing I learnt here was that if Professor Gray wants something done, it happens.
"You'll need a dress for the ball and a ticket. Take these." He hands me what looked like an invite and a letter addressed to someone called Lia. "Find the The Thread and Needle in the main shopping district and give this note to Lia, the seamstress. She will give you a dress for the ball. Go now."
Outside the school, I scream, startling a couple of passing students. I cannot believe he is making me do this! I have to get dressed up as a noble, pretend to be one, go talk to a whole roomful of them.
"Don't you love my dress? It cost my five thousand coins and I'm only going to wear it this once! Ha ha ha, isn't being rich wonderful?" I say to myself in a high pitched voice as I storm through the city. "One of my favourite hobbies is throwing a chicken leg into a crowd of peasants and watching them all scramble for it. Ha ha ha!" Selfish, arrogant, stuck up, idiotic little - ah, there's the shop. I hadn't even realised I had arrived in the Shopping District. What luck that I found it this quickly.I cross the busy courtyard, full of traveling merchants and buyers, and enter the The Thread and Needle, a little dress shop.
A bell tinkles somewhere deep in the shop as I enter, and there's the quiet voice of a violin coming from an invisible source. Fat, lacy ball gowns that make me feel sick just looking at them crowd the small shop. They are literally shaped like a ball. How can that be 'fashion'?
"I suppose this gown will do," says a high, shrill voice which did not help my poor stomach. I bite my tongue to stop myself from releasing another scream at the sight of Lydia.
At school, it was forbidden for students to talk about rank. Most followed this rule, but a few, especially Lydia, made sure to remind everyone that they belonged to the noble families and that they were more valuable than the rest of us. Lydia made it her business to know who everyone at school was, and to categorize us into the favourable and unfavourable.
Fortunately for me, I was highly unfavourable to her.
"Deliver the gown to my father's estate." Lydia tells a woman standing before her who I suppose is Lia.
"Yes, m'lady." The woman replies. Lydia then turns, and spots me standing by the door. Her face mirrors the disgust I feel as she walks over, her ridiculous green hair bouncing with each step she takes.
"What are you doing here?" She snarls.
"Mmm, just browsing."I say, grinding my teeth against the many things that I would have had far more satisfaction in saying. Just keep this conversation short, simple, and as vague as possible. Hopefully she'll forget I was ever here - just being in this shop could ruin my reputation!
"Well, don't get too comfy. You couldn't afford anything in here even if you wanted to."She swept past me, face to the ceiling, filling my nose with the suffocating sweetness of flowers. I roll my eyes at her back, then go up to the woman who was now arranging a black and gold dress.
"Are you Lia?" I ask her.
"Yes. May I help you?"
"I...er...need a gown for a ...ahem...ball." I couldn't look her in the face.
"Are you sure you are in the right place? This is a very expensive store."
"This is from Professor Gray." I hand her the note that I had been instructed to give her and watch her eyes skim down it.
"Ah, I see."Then she turns towards an area at the back of the store, brimming with material and dresses full of pins. I follow, wading through the silken sea and pray for one with minimal ruffles.
"This one will do." Lia pulls a stand out from behind a table, dragging forth a scarlet and gold dress, as frilly as a frosted cake. I grit my teeth at the sight of it.
"Where do you live?"
"Lamplight District, Apartment 2B."
"Would you like me to ship it to your home or would you like to put it on here?"
"Ship it." I say at once. There is no way I am going out in broad daylight wearing that thing.
"Very well. It will be at your home shortly."
"Actually," I say quickly, "just wrap it up and I'll take it." Lia looked startled. "Please," I add.
She shrugs, and ten minutes later I am handed a brown paper bundle. I barely thanked her before I'm out the door and sprinting down the street back home, where I threw the parcel under my table and collapse onto my bed to wait for night to fall.
~O~O~O~
As soon as it was dark enough outside, I put the dress on. 'Put' makes it sound simple. It was like a war against the satin empire, like I was drowning in a sea of fabric as I desperately scrabbled to get body parts through the correct hole until I was left gasping and disheveled. But in one piece. And the dress wasn't too badly ripped.
I look at myself in the mirror, feeling, for a tiny instant, proud of my achievement. And then I realised exactly what I was looking at.
Me.
In a dress. A fancy dress whose skirts took up most of my tiny I was about to walk around in public. This is most likely the most embarrassing thing I will ever do.
I wrap my cloak as tightly as I could around me, bunching the skirts up between my legs, and grab my knife from the kitchen table, tucking it under my sash. A quick hair smooth-down, a tweak of my bow, and I was ready - well, as ready as I could ever be.
It's just this evening, I tell myself. Just a few hours. So suck it up. Do a good job and it will be one more step to becoming a successful and respectable spy. And when that happens, I will be able to pick my jobs. This type of thing will be off the menu for city for good.
streets are mostly empty of citizens at this time of night, so I walk through the chilly air without the fear of someone I know seeing me. Though I have never been to the castle, I have seen it towering about the city in the north. I have to walk past the Shopping District and Noble District (it still irks me that they have their own area. It's their oh so polite way of saying commies aren't allowed) where I see a few late goers rushing to the castle like me.
I was in a part of the city I've never been before, and I look around with interest. A building with the sign 'Museum of Ancient Artifacts – coming soon!' on the door is the first thing I spot, then the Horse Haven (which comes with the strong smell of horse manure and straw), a cemetery and a large fancy park which is right next to the Noble District. They aren't really the places I would want to hang out willingly, but I guess they're nice.
I see the Castle. This is closer than I have ever been, and I stop for a moment to stare at how huge it is. Turrets and balcony's and statues line the place as if the architects were trying to fit as much splendor in as possible, to make it clear who lived here. How can one family need all that? It's not even a big family – from what I've heard, the King and Queen only have one son. If they don't all mine sharing a bed, they could probably live in my apartment easily enough.
The road leading to the castle is lined with empty suits of armor which glint rather forebodingly in the moonlight. Are they even empty, I wondered, or are they all masters of standing stiller than a rock? The castle grounds, much like the castle itself, are large and grand. I could see several ponds dotted around the place with sleeping birds floating on the surface of the water, and thick trees beyond – the castle protrudes into the forest, I guess. Not the best deference plan, I would have thought. But I've heard the castle guards are the best.
I climb a set of stairs and meet a couple standing at the top. The man is quietly crooning, and I lengthened my stride to get away."Lord Burton, shall we go inside and dance?" The woman replies loudly.
"Ticket, please," asks an old Steward when I finally reached the main door. I give him my ticket which he checks, then steps aside."Enjoy the ball, m'lady." He says with a bow.I walked through the large doors into the main entrance.
Two suits of armour guard the far end wall, mounted on which is a sword with the words 'Excalibur' on a sign beneath it.
"Welcome to Thais Castle, m'lady!" Says a voice, which nearly makes me jump. There is a maid standing just inside the door. Like the Steward, she also bows.
"Erm, thanks." I mutter in reply, and quickly move on. Time to catch a spy.
I follow the sounds of music till I reach a large, blue room, full of people dressed in outfits as similarly stiff as mine, dancing and gossiping in low voices. I instantly spot bright green hair at the end of the room, standing in a small circle of people.
Ugh! Lydia is here. I'd best avoid her, or else my cover would be blown and Professor Gray would get mad. And guess who would get the blame. Hint - not Lydia. And not the man who put a student in charge of a matter of national security.
I should search the castle for the spy – they will be most dangerous alone, not in a room full of guests. I cast a quick glance around the room looking for anyone suspicious, then leave as quickly as I next room over is the throne room, which only has one guest inside that I recognise as Lord Algar.
"I'm hiding from Lady Aleta." He says sheepishly, and I leave him to it. Poor guy.
The dining room is empty but for a few maids talking about the King and Queen's retirement. They stop as soon as they see me and ask if I need anything, which I quickly deny and leave. I walk along the corridor, back past the throne room and the busy ballroom.
Professor Gray said the spy would be looking for military secrets, which must be kept in the King's study. The best I can do is make sure that the room is empty and undisturbed, then hide and wait for the spy to appear.
At the end of the corridor, I find a set of stairs that take me up to a dark floor. The first room I search in is a large bedroom with a huge four poster bed in the middle of the room. This must be the royal family's quarters, I decide, and begin my search. There are two bedrooms, both empty and secure. The larger bedroom has two corridors leading out of it. I follow one into a small study and library which appears safe and undisturbed, so I go back and follow the second corridor. I'm walking as silently as my giant dress will allow me when I hear the rustle of paper up ahead.
I pause for only a second, judging my best option, then I take my knife from my sash run, through another library and into a study.
A tall man, his face in shadow, is bending over the desk. He looks up as I enter, his suddenly visible and, I do a double take, recognisable.
It 's Edward.