Disclaimer: I think we can guess by now that I don't own anything that
Tamora Pierce owns, and she doesn't own anything I own. So, there's no need
to bother me with threats of suing, especially since I don't have enough
money to get sued (I used to have $60, but it disappeared in the wash).
Thank you to all who reviewed! For the first time ever I received ten reviews! Special thanks to Hannirose, the tenth reviewer! (By the way, there will not be any romance between her and the boy she trained because he's twelve and she's eighteen, and while I don't disapprove of age difference, I think twelve's too young since this only lasts three weeks) Thanks again!
~ ~ ~ ~
The rest of the night was, indeed, spent sleeping well, with Audrie gleefully waiting to see the reaction on everyone's faces come morning. Unfortunately, she had stayed up to such a point that by the time she had awoken, the sun had long been up, and she could guess that her 'surprise' had already been discovered.
Running down the hall in hopes that she would still be in time to see at least Roger's reaction, Audrie found a large crowd surrounding the door on which she had nailed the loincloths to. It seemed she was right on time: the duke was currently calmly walking down the hall, oblivious to the fact that his loincloths happened to be a public spectacle not too far away.
A knight, obviously trying to hide a laugh by way of coughing several times, spoke to Roger in a hushed voice, using gestures to indicate what the crowd was so interested in. Audrie found herself quite pleased when she saw Roger turning red in the face, and she herself had to hid a grin behind a hand.
Roger stormed over to the door, plowing through the large group of people to see that the knight had spoken no lie; his loincloths were soundly nailed to the door, with, he noticed, a playing card, upon which was written, 'I believe the Duke will be wanting these back, please be so kind as to return them to him.' He promptly turned far redder than before, turning to a shade that would make any rose envious, and ripped both card and clothing off the door, leaving only a the nail and a piece of cloth still stuck to the door.
"Would've worked better if you'd removed the nail." Audrie muttered, before bothering to notice that most of the crowd was now leaving. She was more than happy with the results of this prank, thinking that she should do similar things more often. She then went into the dining room, to find where she was to be seated this time, and, what she predicted, to die of boredom once more.
Audrie found herself, to her lament, seated -once again- next to Selia, and also next to a knight that she had met the other day. What was his name again? Raoul? She hadn't really bothered to notice. She was also, unfortunately, stuck next to Prince Jonathan, and several other painfully boringly polite knights. It seemed she was doomed to die of what she considered a terrible disease: Proper Manners. She shuddered at the thought. Despite the fact that the seating arranger was out to get her, Audrie found herself holding back laughter as she saw people, most of whom had very confused looks on their faces, holding up cards and staring in such a way that, quite honestly, reminded Audrie of goldfish. She also became quite proud when she saw both Delia and Jonathan's rather sullen expressions.
Audrie had been listening to Selia drone on about the difference between forks for fish and forks for steak for approximately twenty minutes before feeling the need to scream. Of course, she couldn't help but notice that, beyond the moody Jonathan and near-asleep Raoul, most seemed utterly entranced by Selia, never taking their eyes off of the young court lady. Or, at least, never taking their eyes off her bosom.
Desperate for conversation, Audrie turned first to Jonathan, who only turned away and sighed. Muttering about spoiled princes, she turned instead to Raoul. "So."
"So?" He looked at her, wondering what she was babbling about.
"Well, are you going to endure this boredom or will you actually bother to say something?"
"What's there to say?" Raoul sighed, "It's not as though I could just interrupt her. That's rude."
Audrie felt like slamming her head against that table. What was with nobles and having everything be perfectly polite? "So start a conversation that doesn't involve her. Then it can't get nearly as boring. Here's a start: why do you have a card in your pocket?" Again Audrie felt like slamming her head against a table, this time due to her own stupidity. Just what she needed, a reason for a knight to wonder how she knew about the card.
"This card? Why do you ask?" Raoul raised an eyebrow at her strange conversation starter.
"Why not? Is there anything better to talk about? Forks, I suppose?"
"How very true." Raoul grinned, " So you wanted to know about the card?"
Audrie nodded, "I've seen several others with similar cards, and wondered why so many people find the ace of spades so fascinating." 'Great,' she thought to herself, 'go ahead and scream it out that you're the Ace of Spades already, Audrie. You give the exact same impression by giving away that you know so much.'
"Well..."
Raoul seemed reluctant to explain. Of course, this had been Audrie's goal: steal everything that people don't want others to know they had. But now it was working too well; no one would tell her anything!
"I used to have a pin from Lady Delia." Raoul began explaining under a hushed breath, proving to Audrie that he was still worried but not enough to go back to listening to a conversation about eating utensils. "She gave it to me one night after a dance. I'd rather Jon not know since he tends to... overreact to thinking that a lady he takes a liking to enjoys the company of anyone other than him. Particularly, it seems, in the case of Lady Delia."
Audrie could have groaned at Raoul's comments. "And what does this pin have anything to do with the card everyone's carrying around?" She knew relatively well, but wouldn't admit to that. Besides, it was interesting to hear the side story of the small rose pin she had stolen just the night before.
"Last night I fell asleep at my desk while working at some problems. When I awoke this morning I found that the pin had disappeared and that someone, a lowly thief, apparently, had left me a note in return for the pin."
Lowly? Audrie gritted her teeth as she heard his description of her. Obviously he hadn't met her in her normal appearance, but she felt like bashing his head in for considering her a cheap thief, practically with the ability of a pickpocket.
"Actually, I'm impressed with the thief. Not only did he manage to get past the guards, but also snuck into my room without my waking up. I'm a very light sleeper; that takes talent."
So now he was complimenting her? Plastering on a fake smile, Audrie merely nodded her head, not knowing how to reply in an unbiased way. After a moment of grinning somewhat stupidly, she realized Raoul had something of a sad look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She shook him lightly by the shoulder, apparently waking him from a daze.
"Hm? Sorry. It's nothing."
"And I'm the queen of Galla. Seriously, what's wrong?"
"I just wish that the thief hadn't taken something of such sentimental value." Raoul sighed.
That was it? Audrie felt let down. A friend dying, world troubles, something. Not the fact that the thief had taken a little pin that he was attached to. "Hello? It was a pin. A pin from Delia no less. I don't see why you would even want one from her."
The instant she said this Raoul looked at Audrie as though she were insane. Obviously it had never occurred to him that he could never win Delia's heart. Delia was far too busy dallying with the prince to bother with Raoul. Why she gave the pin to Raoul in the first place was beyond Audrie.
"Right. Never mind." Grinning brightly, albeit an extremely false grin, Audrie dismissed herself from the table.
~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie had been slamming her head against the wall for ten minutes before Sarri stopped her. To think she had been so stupid as to let herself talk about her cards and how she had stolen things last night. Her knowledge on the subject screamed 'I'm a thief I'm a theif'. But then again, things like that only acted as a warning to another thief, and it seemed that Raoul hadn't noticed her bizarre interest in the subject whatsoever.
Audrie paced the room for some twenty minutes, wondering whether anyone would think her strange when it occurred to her that she was worrying far too much. Everything these days was 'will they suspect me for this?,' and 'will they suspect me for that?.' It was high time she cut herself some slack. Doubtless, any decent lady would think her terribly rude and never speak to Audrie again, but then again, that would never kill her.
Upon this decision, Audrie felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She never should have bothered with trying to learn all of the manners anyway. The truth was, she could never be as graceful as a noble, but that was something she considered a good thing. Who wanted to be a prim and polite?
Sighing with relief, Audrie plunked herself on her bed, asserting to herself that there was good reason to celebrate this decision, and what better way to celebrate than to do as she always did? A flask of brandy and a long afternoon nap after that. That was the way she celebrated a good night's steal normally, so why couldn't she do it now? No one would notice that she was gone.
She had only taken a sip of brandy before a sadness washed over her. This was, indeed, the way she always celebrated, and it made her miss being at the Dancing Dove, laughing with the bartender and other waitresses, along with so many of her fellow thieves. She never missed her true home when she left so long ago, but over the past year or so she had become rather attached to Corus and its people. It took her a moment to realize why she felt so sad: she was homesick for the informality, and gaiety of the city, in comparison to the dull lifestyle of nobles. To think that the people here thought they had the advantage over those in the slums!
As she was contemplating this, Audrie heard a small tap on the door, along with several whispers outside. Muttering about nobles and inconvenient timing, she opened the door to find herself face to face with Raoul, the Prince, and the others from the group she had spoken to yesterday.
"What do you want?" Audrie snapped at all of them, and most seemed surprised at her change in manner from the day before.
"We noticed you don't have many friends," Raoul began.
"And I can only wonder why." Gary, muttering under his breath, received a sharp glare from Audrie.
"And were hoping you would like to come for a walk." Raoul finished, hoping Audrie hadn't noticed Gary's side comment. Unfortunately, she had.
"Why should I?" Audrie glared, "It seems your friend here is less than interested in becoming a friend."
Surprised at Audrie's bluntness, Gary stuttered. "I-I guess I shouldn't have-"
"Don't apologize for something you're not sorry for." Audrie began to close her door on the group standing before her, only to be stopped by Gary.
"No. Truly. It was rude, and I'm sorry."
"Oh, really?"
Audrie was tempted to accept what seemed to be a sincere apology, for, though she loathed to admit it, she had something of a soft spot for people who apologize well. Softening her voice slightly, she added, "I doubt you'd want me along anyway. Leave me be."
She continued closing the door until she noticed the boy with flaming red hair. Hadn't George mentioned that he knew a squire named Alan in the palace? Despite her resolve to become more relaxed, duty came before wishes, and George had directed her to give that note to Alan.
"Well," Audrie sighed, "I suppose I could go. Don't expect me to be good company though."
Shaking her head at the insistence of nobles, Audrie fetched both her black scarf, though it was slightly out of place with her canary yellow dress, along with the letter George had given her.
No one blinked an eye at Audrie's choice of scarves as she left with the group of men, though she knew that they were all silently thinking her insane. Indeed once she was outside the palace she noticed Gary looking at Alan knowingly, as though he had said Audrie would be strange even before they had met.
"Yellow and black?" Raoul at last called attention to her pairing of colors.
"I suppose I look like a bumble bee, but you know, I don't really care."
The sudden humor from Audrie surprised a laugh from even the squire, Alan. She gave them all a mischievous grin as they all regarded her with somewhat confused smiles.
"What, you thought me to be entirely dull? Surely you know that anyone with as sharp a tongue as mine cannot be stupid." At least, that's what her father had always told her, before she left.
"I know. It's just that you were so, well, rude, I figured you to be cold." Raoul cocked his head in question, "What caused the change?"
"It's too early."
"But it's practically ten o' clock!" Alan smiled incredulously. "I know." Audrie grinned, "I'm used to waking up at noon. The whole beauty sleep thing. That and spoons on the eyes. Does wonders for an old crone like me."
"Crone?" Jon smiled, apparently, much to Audrie's dismay, having recovered from Delia rather quickly.
"Oh yes, I'm far past my time. Old hag I am. So sad, eighteen and still unmarried. Next thing you know I'll be all wrinkled, knitting all day and taking oatmeal baths."
"Eighteen? That's young." Gary covered a broad grin with his hand, obviously finding this conversation hilarious.
"Didn't you know?" Audrie too was trying to keep serious, "These days, with girls being married off at six years old, anyone above twelve is past their prime. Such a sad thing. You're past your prime as well. But you should try spoons too. They would work wonders on those dark circles under your eyes. Of course," She looked pointedly at Jon, "I'm sure you already do."
Jon turned slightly pink, indicating that she was correct in her assumption. "I would never."
"I was only joking, you know." Audrie grinned at Jon's embarrassment, thoroughly enjoying having made the prince turn such a lovely shade of red.
All the time the group had been joking over early engagements and old ladies, they had wandered over to a cold stone building that was rather far off from the actual palace. Stopping to look at it, Audrie noticed a slightly nervous look on everyone else's faces.
"What is that place?" Audrie turned to look at the building, that reminded her somewhat of a mausoleum.
"The Chamber." Gary's tone was no longer one of joking, and instead became one of awe, and, Audrie sensed, one of fear.
"Chamber. Oh yes, very specific." Audrie tried to keep her voice light, in hopes that the others too would lighten up.
"It's were we- the knights- take our ordeal. The chamber...It knows." Jon nodded, trying to indicate that they should leave.
Audrie took his hint, though she was still interested in the chamber. But from what Jon had said, about the chamber knowing, she had a small inkling of just what the chamber was about. Something terrible, that caused fear in everyone. Just what, she didn't know.
The instant the group left the chamber, everyone returned to their normal coloring, rather than the pale shades they had been instants before. Unfortunately, it was at that instant that Audrie spotted something that turned her paler than a white rose.
"Roger, what a pleasure to see you." Audrie nodded gracefully, rather than try to curtsey.
"Yes, just what I was thinking." Roger's tone was one of light interest, rather than the icy one Audrie had been expected. "If I could speak to you for a moment?"
A pit sunk in Audrie's stomach as she nodded her head and walked off with Roger, deserting her group momentarily.
"What did you wish to speak of?" Audrie, despite her fervent wishes, was back in her formal speech, as though she were some loon acting like the swan it could never be.
"Perhaps you saw the large swarm of people surrounding the doors of the dining hall this morning? I don't suppose you managed to look at what they were gawking at?"
The pit in Audrie's stomach grew larger. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"The thing they were so interested in was, unfortunately, a particular garment of mine that I would prefer not to be seen by the public."
Audrie hated the way Roger was beating around the bush when he thought she knew exactly what he was talking about, and she did.
"Yes, I was just wondering if you happened to know anything about how the garment came to be there."
"My lord," Audrie smiled prettily, "I have no idea what garment you speak of, let alone how it appeared on some door. I'm terribly sorry though."
"Oh, I think you know. And I'd appreciate it if you kept away from my loincloths from now on, though I have no clue how you got to them. Take this as a warning, Lady Audrelinia." After a stiff nod, Roger walked off to the gardens, leaving Audrie to return to the others, who had been patiently waiting for her to finish.
"What had that been all about?" A tense voice brought Audrie's attention back to the real world. Alan was looking slightly angry, though for a reason Audrie couldn't even fathom.
"Oh, nothing important. Just a brief little chat on -" Audrie was about to say 'his loincloths,' before she caught herself. "Just nothing. Really." Smiling brightly, she switched the conversation over to painfully dull ladies who had nothing more than a few butterflies fluttering about in their heads.
Not long after talking to Roger did Audrie decide she needed some time to think about the duke and his odious manner, and excused herself by way of saying she was quite tired from walking so much.
Rather than heading to her rooms as she had said she would, Audrie headed to the gardens, once more showering her little horseweed with both water and affection, chattering away about everything from utterly useless ladylike talents such as how to hold a fork (as explained by Lady Selia) to her friends and, though now long gone, her family.
"I hate to say this," Audrie concluded, "but you're my only confident. I know that a plant like you can't talk back, which is the nicest thing in the world for me. Plus, you're not biased and don't expect me to be extremely polite. I do believe I'll have to repot you and take you home with me when I leave. Wouldn't that be funny?"
The crunching of dead leaves behind her called Audrie's attention to her surroundings. "Who's there?" Turning around she saw that the squire, Alan, had been watching her. "How long have you been here?"
"Just came. I was wondering," Alan stared at Audrie with unblinking violet eyes, "how you felt about the duke."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You wouldn't tell us what you were talking about back there. Curiosity got the better of me, so I came to ask you once more: what were you talking about with him?"
"You dislike the duke don't you?"
An expression of surprise flashed across the squire's face. "Yes, though I can't entirely say why. How did you know?"
"I'd like to think I can read expressions well. You seemed angry at him earlier. It's nice to know someone dislikes him as much as I."
"You mean you don't admire him, adore him, fawn over him, the way nearly everyone else does?" Alan folded his (AN: Audrie thinks Alan to be a him. Should I use him or her in this context?) arms across his chest.
"No. If anything, I loathe him. He's snotty, though he hides it well. Oh, by the way," Audrie only now handed the letter from George to the squire, "this is from George. Told me to give it to you." Winking at Alan, Audrie walked off, this time indeed heading back to her rooms.
Thank you to all who reviewed! For the first time ever I received ten reviews! Special thanks to Hannirose, the tenth reviewer! (By the way, there will not be any romance between her and the boy she trained because he's twelve and she's eighteen, and while I don't disapprove of age difference, I think twelve's too young since this only lasts three weeks) Thanks again!
~ ~ ~ ~
The rest of the night was, indeed, spent sleeping well, with Audrie gleefully waiting to see the reaction on everyone's faces come morning. Unfortunately, she had stayed up to such a point that by the time she had awoken, the sun had long been up, and she could guess that her 'surprise' had already been discovered.
Running down the hall in hopes that she would still be in time to see at least Roger's reaction, Audrie found a large crowd surrounding the door on which she had nailed the loincloths to. It seemed she was right on time: the duke was currently calmly walking down the hall, oblivious to the fact that his loincloths happened to be a public spectacle not too far away.
A knight, obviously trying to hide a laugh by way of coughing several times, spoke to Roger in a hushed voice, using gestures to indicate what the crowd was so interested in. Audrie found herself quite pleased when she saw Roger turning red in the face, and she herself had to hid a grin behind a hand.
Roger stormed over to the door, plowing through the large group of people to see that the knight had spoken no lie; his loincloths were soundly nailed to the door, with, he noticed, a playing card, upon which was written, 'I believe the Duke will be wanting these back, please be so kind as to return them to him.' He promptly turned far redder than before, turning to a shade that would make any rose envious, and ripped both card and clothing off the door, leaving only a the nail and a piece of cloth still stuck to the door.
"Would've worked better if you'd removed the nail." Audrie muttered, before bothering to notice that most of the crowd was now leaving. She was more than happy with the results of this prank, thinking that she should do similar things more often. She then went into the dining room, to find where she was to be seated this time, and, what she predicted, to die of boredom once more.
Audrie found herself, to her lament, seated -once again- next to Selia, and also next to a knight that she had met the other day. What was his name again? Raoul? She hadn't really bothered to notice. She was also, unfortunately, stuck next to Prince Jonathan, and several other painfully boringly polite knights. It seemed she was doomed to die of what she considered a terrible disease: Proper Manners. She shuddered at the thought. Despite the fact that the seating arranger was out to get her, Audrie found herself holding back laughter as she saw people, most of whom had very confused looks on their faces, holding up cards and staring in such a way that, quite honestly, reminded Audrie of goldfish. She also became quite proud when she saw both Delia and Jonathan's rather sullen expressions.
Audrie had been listening to Selia drone on about the difference between forks for fish and forks for steak for approximately twenty minutes before feeling the need to scream. Of course, she couldn't help but notice that, beyond the moody Jonathan and near-asleep Raoul, most seemed utterly entranced by Selia, never taking their eyes off of the young court lady. Or, at least, never taking their eyes off her bosom.
Desperate for conversation, Audrie turned first to Jonathan, who only turned away and sighed. Muttering about spoiled princes, she turned instead to Raoul. "So."
"So?" He looked at her, wondering what she was babbling about.
"Well, are you going to endure this boredom or will you actually bother to say something?"
"What's there to say?" Raoul sighed, "It's not as though I could just interrupt her. That's rude."
Audrie felt like slamming her head against that table. What was with nobles and having everything be perfectly polite? "So start a conversation that doesn't involve her. Then it can't get nearly as boring. Here's a start: why do you have a card in your pocket?" Again Audrie felt like slamming her head against a table, this time due to her own stupidity. Just what she needed, a reason for a knight to wonder how she knew about the card.
"This card? Why do you ask?" Raoul raised an eyebrow at her strange conversation starter.
"Why not? Is there anything better to talk about? Forks, I suppose?"
"How very true." Raoul grinned, " So you wanted to know about the card?"
Audrie nodded, "I've seen several others with similar cards, and wondered why so many people find the ace of spades so fascinating." 'Great,' she thought to herself, 'go ahead and scream it out that you're the Ace of Spades already, Audrie. You give the exact same impression by giving away that you know so much.'
"Well..."
Raoul seemed reluctant to explain. Of course, this had been Audrie's goal: steal everything that people don't want others to know they had. But now it was working too well; no one would tell her anything!
"I used to have a pin from Lady Delia." Raoul began explaining under a hushed breath, proving to Audrie that he was still worried but not enough to go back to listening to a conversation about eating utensils. "She gave it to me one night after a dance. I'd rather Jon not know since he tends to... overreact to thinking that a lady he takes a liking to enjoys the company of anyone other than him. Particularly, it seems, in the case of Lady Delia."
Audrie could have groaned at Raoul's comments. "And what does this pin have anything to do with the card everyone's carrying around?" She knew relatively well, but wouldn't admit to that. Besides, it was interesting to hear the side story of the small rose pin she had stolen just the night before.
"Last night I fell asleep at my desk while working at some problems. When I awoke this morning I found that the pin had disappeared and that someone, a lowly thief, apparently, had left me a note in return for the pin."
Lowly? Audrie gritted her teeth as she heard his description of her. Obviously he hadn't met her in her normal appearance, but she felt like bashing his head in for considering her a cheap thief, practically with the ability of a pickpocket.
"Actually, I'm impressed with the thief. Not only did he manage to get past the guards, but also snuck into my room without my waking up. I'm a very light sleeper; that takes talent."
So now he was complimenting her? Plastering on a fake smile, Audrie merely nodded her head, not knowing how to reply in an unbiased way. After a moment of grinning somewhat stupidly, she realized Raoul had something of a sad look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She shook him lightly by the shoulder, apparently waking him from a daze.
"Hm? Sorry. It's nothing."
"And I'm the queen of Galla. Seriously, what's wrong?"
"I just wish that the thief hadn't taken something of such sentimental value." Raoul sighed.
That was it? Audrie felt let down. A friend dying, world troubles, something. Not the fact that the thief had taken a little pin that he was attached to. "Hello? It was a pin. A pin from Delia no less. I don't see why you would even want one from her."
The instant she said this Raoul looked at Audrie as though she were insane. Obviously it had never occurred to him that he could never win Delia's heart. Delia was far too busy dallying with the prince to bother with Raoul. Why she gave the pin to Raoul in the first place was beyond Audrie.
"Right. Never mind." Grinning brightly, albeit an extremely false grin, Audrie dismissed herself from the table.
~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie had been slamming her head against the wall for ten minutes before Sarri stopped her. To think she had been so stupid as to let herself talk about her cards and how she had stolen things last night. Her knowledge on the subject screamed 'I'm a thief I'm a theif'. But then again, things like that only acted as a warning to another thief, and it seemed that Raoul hadn't noticed her bizarre interest in the subject whatsoever.
Audrie paced the room for some twenty minutes, wondering whether anyone would think her strange when it occurred to her that she was worrying far too much. Everything these days was 'will they suspect me for this?,' and 'will they suspect me for that?.' It was high time she cut herself some slack. Doubtless, any decent lady would think her terribly rude and never speak to Audrie again, but then again, that would never kill her.
Upon this decision, Audrie felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She never should have bothered with trying to learn all of the manners anyway. The truth was, she could never be as graceful as a noble, but that was something she considered a good thing. Who wanted to be a prim and polite?
Sighing with relief, Audrie plunked herself on her bed, asserting to herself that there was good reason to celebrate this decision, and what better way to celebrate than to do as she always did? A flask of brandy and a long afternoon nap after that. That was the way she celebrated a good night's steal normally, so why couldn't she do it now? No one would notice that she was gone.
She had only taken a sip of brandy before a sadness washed over her. This was, indeed, the way she always celebrated, and it made her miss being at the Dancing Dove, laughing with the bartender and other waitresses, along with so many of her fellow thieves. She never missed her true home when she left so long ago, but over the past year or so she had become rather attached to Corus and its people. It took her a moment to realize why she felt so sad: she was homesick for the informality, and gaiety of the city, in comparison to the dull lifestyle of nobles. To think that the people here thought they had the advantage over those in the slums!
As she was contemplating this, Audrie heard a small tap on the door, along with several whispers outside. Muttering about nobles and inconvenient timing, she opened the door to find herself face to face with Raoul, the Prince, and the others from the group she had spoken to yesterday.
"What do you want?" Audrie snapped at all of them, and most seemed surprised at her change in manner from the day before.
"We noticed you don't have many friends," Raoul began.
"And I can only wonder why." Gary, muttering under his breath, received a sharp glare from Audrie.
"And were hoping you would like to come for a walk." Raoul finished, hoping Audrie hadn't noticed Gary's side comment. Unfortunately, she had.
"Why should I?" Audrie glared, "It seems your friend here is less than interested in becoming a friend."
Surprised at Audrie's bluntness, Gary stuttered. "I-I guess I shouldn't have-"
"Don't apologize for something you're not sorry for." Audrie began to close her door on the group standing before her, only to be stopped by Gary.
"No. Truly. It was rude, and I'm sorry."
"Oh, really?"
Audrie was tempted to accept what seemed to be a sincere apology, for, though she loathed to admit it, she had something of a soft spot for people who apologize well. Softening her voice slightly, she added, "I doubt you'd want me along anyway. Leave me be."
She continued closing the door until she noticed the boy with flaming red hair. Hadn't George mentioned that he knew a squire named Alan in the palace? Despite her resolve to become more relaxed, duty came before wishes, and George had directed her to give that note to Alan.
"Well," Audrie sighed, "I suppose I could go. Don't expect me to be good company though."
Shaking her head at the insistence of nobles, Audrie fetched both her black scarf, though it was slightly out of place with her canary yellow dress, along with the letter George had given her.
No one blinked an eye at Audrie's choice of scarves as she left with the group of men, though she knew that they were all silently thinking her insane. Indeed once she was outside the palace she noticed Gary looking at Alan knowingly, as though he had said Audrie would be strange even before they had met.
"Yellow and black?" Raoul at last called attention to her pairing of colors.
"I suppose I look like a bumble bee, but you know, I don't really care."
The sudden humor from Audrie surprised a laugh from even the squire, Alan. She gave them all a mischievous grin as they all regarded her with somewhat confused smiles.
"What, you thought me to be entirely dull? Surely you know that anyone with as sharp a tongue as mine cannot be stupid." At least, that's what her father had always told her, before she left.
"I know. It's just that you were so, well, rude, I figured you to be cold." Raoul cocked his head in question, "What caused the change?"
"It's too early."
"But it's practically ten o' clock!" Alan smiled incredulously. "I know." Audrie grinned, "I'm used to waking up at noon. The whole beauty sleep thing. That and spoons on the eyes. Does wonders for an old crone like me."
"Crone?" Jon smiled, apparently, much to Audrie's dismay, having recovered from Delia rather quickly.
"Oh yes, I'm far past my time. Old hag I am. So sad, eighteen and still unmarried. Next thing you know I'll be all wrinkled, knitting all day and taking oatmeal baths."
"Eighteen? That's young." Gary covered a broad grin with his hand, obviously finding this conversation hilarious.
"Didn't you know?" Audrie too was trying to keep serious, "These days, with girls being married off at six years old, anyone above twelve is past their prime. Such a sad thing. You're past your prime as well. But you should try spoons too. They would work wonders on those dark circles under your eyes. Of course," She looked pointedly at Jon, "I'm sure you already do."
Jon turned slightly pink, indicating that she was correct in her assumption. "I would never."
"I was only joking, you know." Audrie grinned at Jon's embarrassment, thoroughly enjoying having made the prince turn such a lovely shade of red.
All the time the group had been joking over early engagements and old ladies, they had wandered over to a cold stone building that was rather far off from the actual palace. Stopping to look at it, Audrie noticed a slightly nervous look on everyone else's faces.
"What is that place?" Audrie turned to look at the building, that reminded her somewhat of a mausoleum.
"The Chamber." Gary's tone was no longer one of joking, and instead became one of awe, and, Audrie sensed, one of fear.
"Chamber. Oh yes, very specific." Audrie tried to keep her voice light, in hopes that the others too would lighten up.
"It's were we- the knights- take our ordeal. The chamber...It knows." Jon nodded, trying to indicate that they should leave.
Audrie took his hint, though she was still interested in the chamber. But from what Jon had said, about the chamber knowing, she had a small inkling of just what the chamber was about. Something terrible, that caused fear in everyone. Just what, she didn't know.
The instant the group left the chamber, everyone returned to their normal coloring, rather than the pale shades they had been instants before. Unfortunately, it was at that instant that Audrie spotted something that turned her paler than a white rose.
"Roger, what a pleasure to see you." Audrie nodded gracefully, rather than try to curtsey.
"Yes, just what I was thinking." Roger's tone was one of light interest, rather than the icy one Audrie had been expected. "If I could speak to you for a moment?"
A pit sunk in Audrie's stomach as she nodded her head and walked off with Roger, deserting her group momentarily.
"What did you wish to speak of?" Audrie, despite her fervent wishes, was back in her formal speech, as though she were some loon acting like the swan it could never be.
"Perhaps you saw the large swarm of people surrounding the doors of the dining hall this morning? I don't suppose you managed to look at what they were gawking at?"
The pit in Audrie's stomach grew larger. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"The thing they were so interested in was, unfortunately, a particular garment of mine that I would prefer not to be seen by the public."
Audrie hated the way Roger was beating around the bush when he thought she knew exactly what he was talking about, and she did.
"Yes, I was just wondering if you happened to know anything about how the garment came to be there."
"My lord," Audrie smiled prettily, "I have no idea what garment you speak of, let alone how it appeared on some door. I'm terribly sorry though."
"Oh, I think you know. And I'd appreciate it if you kept away from my loincloths from now on, though I have no clue how you got to them. Take this as a warning, Lady Audrelinia." After a stiff nod, Roger walked off to the gardens, leaving Audrie to return to the others, who had been patiently waiting for her to finish.
"What had that been all about?" A tense voice brought Audrie's attention back to the real world. Alan was looking slightly angry, though for a reason Audrie couldn't even fathom.
"Oh, nothing important. Just a brief little chat on -" Audrie was about to say 'his loincloths,' before she caught herself. "Just nothing. Really." Smiling brightly, she switched the conversation over to painfully dull ladies who had nothing more than a few butterflies fluttering about in their heads.
Not long after talking to Roger did Audrie decide she needed some time to think about the duke and his odious manner, and excused herself by way of saying she was quite tired from walking so much.
Rather than heading to her rooms as she had said she would, Audrie headed to the gardens, once more showering her little horseweed with both water and affection, chattering away about everything from utterly useless ladylike talents such as how to hold a fork (as explained by Lady Selia) to her friends and, though now long gone, her family.
"I hate to say this," Audrie concluded, "but you're my only confident. I know that a plant like you can't talk back, which is the nicest thing in the world for me. Plus, you're not biased and don't expect me to be extremely polite. I do believe I'll have to repot you and take you home with me when I leave. Wouldn't that be funny?"
The crunching of dead leaves behind her called Audrie's attention to her surroundings. "Who's there?" Turning around she saw that the squire, Alan, had been watching her. "How long have you been here?"
"Just came. I was wondering," Alan stared at Audrie with unblinking violet eyes, "how you felt about the duke."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You wouldn't tell us what you were talking about back there. Curiosity got the better of me, so I came to ask you once more: what were you talking about with him?"
"You dislike the duke don't you?"
An expression of surprise flashed across the squire's face. "Yes, though I can't entirely say why. How did you know?"
"I'd like to think I can read expressions well. You seemed angry at him earlier. It's nice to know someone dislikes him as much as I."
"You mean you don't admire him, adore him, fawn over him, the way nearly everyone else does?" Alan folded his (AN: Audrie thinks Alan to be a him. Should I use him or her in this context?) arms across his chest.
"No. If anything, I loathe him. He's snotty, though he hides it well. Oh, by the way," Audrie only now handed the letter from George to the squire, "this is from George. Told me to give it to you." Winking at Alan, Audrie walked off, this time indeed heading back to her rooms.