Disclaimer: I'm too lazy to write an entertaining disclaimer this week. Go
to www.disclaimer.com (nonexistant) to find your weekly disclaimer about
how I own (surprise surprise!) absolutely nothing except Audrie and a few
other things.
Author's Note: Yup, another update. I'm trying to stay consistent. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm surprised how many of you remembered me! Thanks to Semiramis for betareading this chapter!
~ ~ ~ ~
"Thieving knows much of coincidence." At that instant, Audrie snapped into movement, dashing the four steps to the door before Raoul even noticed she had moved from where she had been standing. Running out into the hall, Audrie barely heard the footfall of Raoul running behind her.
Her first instinct was to run back to her rooms, but instantly realized that was impossible: if she did, Raoul would follow her and discover her identity. Instead, Audrie ran down halls, the pounding boots making it easy for Raoul to follow close behind, though neither dared to say anything, for fear of waking anyone up. Sliding down stair rails, Audrie stifled a laugh as she spotted Raoul deliberating between sliding down the rails as well or taking the slower but slightly more dignified way of simply running down the steps. Pride took priority in the scenario, disappointing Audrie; she would have liked to see Raoul sliding down stair rails.
Finally Audrie burst out of one of the side doors for the servants, gasping in the cold morning air. She nearly slowed down before she saw Raoul bursting out of the door as well. Her sudden burst of speed at his appearance, however, caused her to trip in icy mud, splattering her outfit and allowing Raoul to catch up. She was trying-- but failing-- to stand when he slowed to a stop in front of her.
Audrie cursed under her breath and lashed out her foot towards Raoul. His face had a pitying look, as though she was a rabbit stuck in a trap and he was the hunter. Silently, he held out his hand to help her up. Face emotionless, Audrie took his hand and, gripping it tightly, raised herself up. And smashed her elbow into Raoul's gut.
"I don't want your pity." She ran off to the first building she could think of, but Raoul, ignoring the pain of his stomach, soon ran after her, though he smiled when he saw which building she was heading towards.
Audrie's boots pounded against the wooden stairs of Balor's Needle. Her lungs felt as though they were being ripped apart each time she drew in an icy breath of cold air, but she kept on going. Beneath her she heard the footfall of another running up the stairs as well. She reached the isolated top room of the tower, a desk covered in papers and a chair accompanying it were the only furniture in the room. Silently Audrie cursed but looked out to the stairs that wound around the outside of the tower.
Raoul ran into the top room of the tower, gasping for breath, but found it surprisingly empty. He knew she should have been in there, he had heard her above him as he ran up the steps. Yet there was no sign of her, only the vague creaking o the metal outer steps as they swayed in the wind.
Running out towards them, he looked down expecting to see the Ace of Spades sliding down them, yet saw nothing. The hunter's rabbit had disappeared into thin air. And giggled, apparently. Raoul snapped up and saw a smirking Ace of Spades on the roof, apparently no longer concerned about whether Raoul would find her. Much, this time, to her surprise, he climbed onto the handrail of the outer stairs and leapt onto the roof to join her. The smirk on her face remained there, but there was a certain paleness to her face that hadn't been there a second before. Now, however, Raoul too was smirking.
"You're trapped, Miss Spades."
Cocking an eyebrow, Audrie replied, straight faced, "How do you know I'm a miss and not a Mrs.?"
"Forgive me, I assumed you were too young to be married."
"Then you obviously don't know young women these days." A tiny smile played on Audrie's lips. "I'll have to inform my husband that I'm much more popular with the men these days than he'd like to think."
"Indeed. But when shall you be telling him?"
Audrie's face fell slightly but regained its composure quickly. "When I get down from here, of course."
"My lady," Raoul looked straight into Audrie's eyes but found only indifference. "I don't believe you'll be getting off that easily. You see, I've just trapped you up here, and I'm not letting you down any time soon."
"Indeed, I don't expect you to let me down at all." Wind ripped around Audrie as she untied the shawl from about her waist. "I can get down just fine on my own, thank you." Audrie suddenly ran to the edge of the roof and added, "By the way, I'm not really married," winked, and jumped off.
Raoul dashed to where she had just been, and though he was too late to catch her, he saw the wind pushing her farther away from him at an astonishing speed, yet held her up due to her use of her shawl as a makeshift parachute. Nearly a hundred yards away she landed on the ground with a graceful roll, and he knew that if he tried to catch her she would be gone before he reached the bottom of the tower. Instead, he stayed on the roof and watched as she silently ran to the corner of the palace and, much to his surprise, rather than running off into the woods, turned the corner and was gone.
~ ~ ~ ~ Audrie sighed with relief as she slowed to a walk after turning the corner. She walked slowly, but failed to be silent as her ragged breaths disturbed the icy air, and snow crunched beneath her feet. She wiped off some of the ice and mud on her breeches and tapped her boots lightly on the frozen ground in front of the back door to the kitchen in order to shake some dirt off of them. Breathing a sigh of relief, Audrie found the kitchen to be still empty, and silently went to the hidden door in the pantry. A shiver ran through her body as she began climbing up the ladder, but she was too tired to bother to notice it.
Entering her room, Audrie saw Sarri sitting on the large bed, a disapproving look on her face. "I come in here to prepare an early bath for you, and you're gone!" Sarri put on a woeful face and placed her hand on her heart. "What do you think that does to a girl like me? I had no idea what had happened to you!"
"Wow, and here I thought I left my mother when I left home." Audrie grimaced, "Obviously, you've been talking to her."
"Don't be silly. You look half frozen to death, what on earth happened? Why are you absolutely covered in mud?"
"Think of it as a mud bath. Good for my complexion, or something of the like." Audrie threw the shawl onto her bed and wanted to flop down next to it. "Although, I wouldn't say no to that hot bath you were mentioning."
Sarri sighed. "It was meant to be a cold bath, those are better for your complexion. But since yours is already so nice due to that mud bath, I'll draw up a hot bath."
Audrie nodded and started undressing, happy to get the cold grit and dirt off her skin. She sighed as she remembered when she slept in her clothes in cold, muddy campsites, where dirty skin was a requirement and baths were never taken on a regular basis.
"Amazing how dirt can be nostalgic, huh?" The trap-door painting creaked open and revealed a grinning Jered.
A sharp glare on Audrie's part was soon replaced with cherry red embarrassment as she realized her situation. "Out, out, out!" She grabbed her shawl from her bed to cover her chest, and was grateful she hadn't taken her breeches off yet. Holding the shawl to herself with one hand, she began to push Jered back into the passageway with the other.
"Hey!" Jered protested, "I was enjoying myself!"
Another nasty glare from Audrie. "If you don't want a fountain pen shoved violently up your nose, I suggest you leave."
"Ah. Well, then." Jered drooped slightly. "Perhaps I should be going. Don't mind me. I'll just keep George's news to myself. I'll be sure to tell him you refused to speak to me."
Audrie raised an eyebrow. "What information?"
"Regarding the next week. However much I love dropping in simply to see you, I do have a reason you know."
"Oh really? I couldn't tell." Audrie sighed dramatically. "Whatever it is, you'll have to wait I--" Suddenly, Sarri walked in, blushed slightly, but grinned. "M'lady! If I had known you would be busy."
Audrie blushed and turned towards Sarri. "That's not it--"
"Of course not!" Jered began to play with her hair, defending her while not bothering to look up from twisting her hair into buns, apparently much entertained.
"Will you stop that!" Audrie pulled her hair away from him and glared at him. "Whatever you have to say, say it, so that I can take a bath and rest. It's nearly four in the morning and I have yet to sleep at all!"
"You didn't used to need sleep this much." The tone was vaguely accusing, and Jered received an icy glare from Audrie.
"I didn't used to have to dance and act and pretend." Audrie sighed. "I'd rather wait tables and laugh and drink any day. And besides, I never considered two hours of sleep a lot. Even before I came to Corus. In Corus I work in the evenings, go out until morning, and sleep during the day. I still got plenty of sleep."
"Do you want to know what George told me or not?"
"What?!" Audrie grasped him by the shoulders and started shaking him, with a nasty glare on his face. "You're. The. One. Who. Changed. The. Stupid. Subject. In. The. First. Place!"
Jered never replied. Instead, Audrie had to follow his gaze to where he was staring. Apparently, while shaking Jered Audrie had let her shawl drop.
"You know, I always imagined you slightly better endowed. " Jered found himself turning blue very quickly as Audrie attempted to strangle him. "Okay, okay, it's not your fault your so flat!" Audrie's fist met with Jered's nose.
This type of exchange continued for some time, resulting in many injuries on Jered's part. It ended as Jered pleaded defeat and allowed Audrie to change while he turned away.
"What was it you were going to tell me? From George?" Audrie still glowered at Jered, but had basically forgiven him.
"Basically, I came here to take whatever you've stolen and take it back to George to sell. Also, on Friday I'll come back to take everything of worth out of the room so we can sell it all. Extra profit, all that stuff."
"Ah."Another dark look from Audrie. "Is that it?"
"Pretty much. Care to have me help out with picking out your dresses for the week?" Jered pranced (Author MST: Pranced? WTF?! Is Jered gay?!) over to her closet and sifted through it. Pulling out a slinky red dress, he held it up to himself daintily and posed. "Well? How do I look?"
Audrie snorted out the tea Sarri had just given her to warm her up. "What in the Goddess' name are you doing?!"
"Well, if you don't wear it to the ball, I will. I think it suits me. But do you think it will make me look fat?"
"You'll see me dead and mangled severely before you see me in that dress. And if you wear it you will find yourself dead and severely mangled."
"Fine, fine." Jered continued pulling out various revealing dresses for suggestions for the ball, each of which Audrie would promptly refuse. Finally, he sighed and gave up, selecting out a soft green dress that he figured she would accept. "Happy?"
"Quite." Plucking the dress out of his hands, she gave a light smile and a brief nod. "Now out."
"What? But we have to pick out your other dresses too."
"No, we don't." Audrie retorted. "You've had your fun picking out dresses and torturing me with the threat of wearing them, now go. I want that bath."
"Fine, fine. But don't come crying to me when you can't pick out a dress tomorrow and you need my amazing fashion sense."
"Out." Audrie grinned but propelled him over to the trap door.
Once he had gone, along with all of the goods Audrie had stolen, Audrie finally took her bath, sighing as the warmth engulfed her sore body.
She had been soaking for some time when a dark shadow passed behind her, lurking quietly. Then, as Audrie just began to fall asleep in the bath, it attacked!
"I don't care! I don't want you to wash my hair! It's clean enough from yesterday!" Audrie snapped and glared at Sarri.
"But m'lady, all that dirt!" Sarri continued to scrub at Audrie's hair. Audrie sighed and sulked, giving way to Sarri's demands about Audrie's hygiene, though not happily. After dragging Audrie out of her bath, Sarri began with the usual occult rituals of noblewomen by torturing Audrie with curling her hair into perfect ringlets and tying it up but leaving a few locks untied. Then Sarri continued by plastering far too much face paint on Audrie, of whom promptly removed it, forcing Sarri to redo it, though at a far less dramatic amount.
"I have no intention of making a reputation as a clown or harlot in court, thank you very much. I have little need of such superfluities." (My beta reader kept using superfluous, so I felt like sticking it in.)Audrie stated solidly, crossing her arms. Sarri sighed at Audrie's stubbornness but refrained from any commentation.
By the time Audrie was done preparing for the day, the sun had already risen and breakfast was due to begin momentarily. Audrie sighed but added a bit more face paint to hide the bags beneath her eyes.
"So much for any sleep." At last finished, Audrie headed out of her room, groaning as she saw a beaming Roger directly in her path to the dining hall.
"My lady, such a pleasure to see you!"
Audrie nodded coldly. "You seem very." Audrie groped for a word beyond 'idiotic' "...chipper this morning, my lord." Audrie restrained from slamming her head against the wall due to her choice of adjectives.
"You slept well last night, I presume?" Roger barely registered the fact that she had even spoken.
"Of course. How kind of you to ask."
Roger obviously didn't notice the dry sarcasm in her voice, for he simply nodded and smiled. "Would you be so kind as to allow me to escort you to breakfast?"
"It would be too much." Audrie's face remained a mask of emotionlessness.
"Oh no, of course not!" Roger's smile continued to be plastered on his face, without change.
"No, no, I'm sure you're much too busy doing something else." The mask stayed on, though Audrie developed a minor eye tic.
At last Roger's face fell slightly and he only replied with an, "Of course, of course. Too true." As Roger left, a tiny smile danced onto Audrie's lips. 'It's seems I've finally figured out these court manners.' Still smiling, Audrie walked down the hall with a certain lightness to her steps, mostly in relief that Roger wasn't there.
Audrie found herself sitting in an unusually pleasing seat. She was next to Selia, who seemed to have finally gotten a grip on interesting conversation. At one minute Selia'd be chatting away blithely about political situations and her opinions on them, and the next joking with everyone around her about something else entirely, though her occasional wry joke was lost among those who expected her to be less intelligent.
Across from Audrie sat the prince and his squire, Alan. Several other ladies and a few knights, Gary among them, sat around her, though most were paying attention to Selia's latest debate with Gary over rights for peasants.
Finally, Audrie leaned forward slightly and tapped Jonathan on the shoulder, trying not to draw attention from everyone else. "Your highness?"
Jonathan looked away from Selia and smiled slightly. "Yes?"
"I noticed that at dinner last night there were three others with you. Who were they?"
"Ah! So you noticed our important guests." Jon smiled broadly. "You see, we have the very king and queen of Tusaine here, as our guests. It's rather important to invite them here... for diplomatic purposes of course. And their eldest daughter is accompanying them."
"How old is she?"
"Ah, 16, I think?" Jon shrugged. "She's very beautiful, to be sure."
"16? But I thought their oldest was--" Audrie stopped and began again, "I always hear that their eldest is 18."
"Ah, you mean the princess' older sister? She's been gone for years. No one really knows what happened to her. Would you like it if I asked them this evening?"
"No, no. Perhaps I'll ask them myself," Audrie insisted, "If that's alright, of course."
"Of course. I'm sure they'll love to meet one of the the loveliest ladies in court."
"Then they haven't been introduced to you yet?"
"Hm?"
"Nothing." Audrie smiled but her stomach sunk.
~ ~ ~ ~
Breakfast passed without any further occurrence that would interest the reader, of whom I'm sure is currently falling asleep at what appears to be pointless conversation. Nevertheless, I'm sticking it in here. Anyway, the rest of the day passed similarly, so we've zoomed ahead to dinner. Happy? Oh yes, also, the cat wandered out of Audrie's room and into the kitchen, where it was promptly declare a demi-god by one of the foreign chefs and was fed richly with table scraps for the rest of its day.
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Audrie sat herself down at the dinner table and was surprised to find that, in fact, she had been seated next to Raoul and Gary once more, along with the usual group of boring knights. She smiled brightly and began to joke quietly with them as the waiters came to fill their goblets.
"Would you prefer water, my lady?" The waiter bent over to fill her glass and muttered, "You never had tolerance to alcohol anyway."
After nearly falling out of her chair from surprise at seeing Ballin serving, Audrie smiled brightly and replied, "No, I think I'd prefer wine, really."
"If you prefer." Changing the goblet for another, he poured this one with a dark red wine.
"Don't meddle in my affairs," Audrie hissed between her teeth as he bent over.
"I'm not. I'm meddling in my own." He replied evenly.
Audrie smiled falsely and turned to Gary, "So, my lord, I've heard much of your fighting abilities. Do tell."
No one noticed that Ballin's eye twitched slightly as he left.
Gary droned on for some time, apparently not noticing that Audrie had lost interest two seconds after he began. Finally, winding down his speech about the difference in hilts of different makes of swords, he began to get the inkling that Audrie wasn't really paying attention. The fact she was asleep, head on the table, lightly murmering, might have been a clue.
"Not gonna be a stupid..." She muttered in her sleep, "Don' wanna... I'll die before you can force me to marry..."
Gary looked at Raoul with a look that clearly said, 'Are you sure she's sane?'. Raoul simply shrugged and tapped Audrie lightly on the shoulder, who raised her head slightly and blinked.
"Huh?" Looking up and blinking sleepily, Audrie realized where she was. "I'm so sorry!" She sat up stiffly once more and began to apologize profusely. "I never meant to fall asleep, I'm terribly sorry. It's nothing personal of course" (This comment made Gary wonder if, in fact, it had been personal, a thought that hadn't previously crossed his mind) "I just... That is... I was... tired." Audrie finished lamely.
"Not enough sleep last night?" Raoul looked at her concernedly.
"Not really. I was woken early by my maid." 'Or would have been, had I actually been asleep' Audrie amended silently.
"That's the trouble with some servants. They don't know when they're helpfulness is really a bother." Gary grumbled.
This began a debate over servants and what was the proper attitude towards them. Periodically, Ballin would come over to serve food and make sure that All Was Well. The occasional odd glance towards Audrie was hardly noticed. Gary did notice, however, that Audrie would look around every once in a while, as though searching for someone, but chose not to comment.
~ ~ ~ ~
Dinner soon ended, and the mass migration to the ball room commenced soon afterward. Women, of course, went back to their rooms to 'freshen up,' or add on an extra coat of face paint. A few prissy men did as well. Audrie returned to her room simply for a quick rest and for appearances. 'After all', she complained, 'how strange would it be to have a woman who simply didn't care about appearances and face paint?' After a brief muttering about superficiality, Audrie returned to the ball room, all smiles and laughter.
Audrie's smiles, unfortunately, soon disappeared as she saw Roger, once more, happily walking -nearly bouncing, in fact- towards her, though she could have sworn it was only sadistic pleasure that brought him. Glancing around, Audrie latched onto the first male arm she could. Raoul looked down at her oddly, as though he had mistaken her grip on his arm for innocent fear rather than potent loathing.
Roger swept a deep bow to the group Audrie was with, but nearly instantly went over to Audrie with a smile on his face. "My lady, a dance?"
While Roger's smile was one of eagerness, Audrie's sickly smile could hardly be described as 'eager'. "I'm afraid, my lord," Audrie's grip on Raoul's arm tightened to the point where Raoul began to wonder if he would still be able to use his arm after this. "But I already have a dance partner for the next dance. Perhaps another time."
"Who's your d-" Raoul began to ask, before he was dragged out onto the dance floor.
Audrie dragged him as far into the crowd as possible, in order to guarantee that Roger wouldn't try to spot her. "If I have to dance with him one more time," She hissed, "I will personally see to it that everyone who didn't invite me to dance first is hanged."
"You must really hate him."
"Now what gave you that impression?" Audrie snapped, causing Raoul to grin. "What, dare I ask, is so funny?"
"Nothing." Raoul looked away innocently. "Ah. Nothing made you grin. Of course."
"I wonder who will kill the Duke first, his enemies in war, or you."
"Both, because to me I am his enemy."
At last the dance ended, and Audrie drifted off to the side of the room with Raoul. They continued chatting until Audrie realized her triumph.
"I didn't step on your toes once, now did I?" She grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"I don't believe you did, my lady."
"Now, ask that man over there," Audrie pointed over the old man she had first danced with the night before. "He'll tell you otherwise. I don't know how many times I had to step on his toes before his hand failed to wander towards places it shouldn't."
Raoul nearly spit out the wine he had been drinking. "You didn't!"
"I don't like people fondling me where they shouldn't." A dark look passed over Audrie's face.
"You don't?" Raoul grinned. "And the punishment is the death of the fondler's toes?"
"Sometimes with the heel of my shoe."
"Remind me never to fondle you then."
Suddenly out of seemingly nowhere Ballin appeared with drinks in his hand. "More wine, my lord? My lady?"An icy look from Audrie only caused Ballin to grin. "Perhaps I could speak to you about ordering a specific drink?" Audrie maintained her 'Icy-look-that-would-freeze-people-over-if-she-had-any- choice-in-the-matter.'
Dragging Ballin off away from Raoul, Audrie hissed to Ballin, "Staying to your own affairs, hm?"
"Entirely." Ballin nodded knowingly. "I consider your well-being part of my affairs." He gave her a small pat on the head.
"Stop being so condescending." Audrie glared once more. "We're just talking."
"In a dark corner, where most people can't see or hear you, and about fondling. Things go on in corners like that, with conversations like that."
Audrie groaned. "Leave it alone, Ballin."
"Oh, but we can't leave our widdle Audwie out all alone with the wolves." Audrie's nails dug into Ballin's arm, but an evil smile played on her face. "Leave or I tell someone about your identity."
Ballin stopped smiling. "Audrie, you wouldn't."
"You've gotten the wrong person angry, Ballin. I would." Audrie let go of his arm. "Get me something strong. Beer if you have it. But put it in a wine glass."
Ballin simply nodded and left. Audrie returned to Raoul with a false smile. "He just didn't seem to understand the concept of wanting my wine slightly diluted. I prefer my wine not quite as strong as they seem to be serving."
Raoul nodded understandingly, "I prefer it this way myself, but I hear they serve it with more water at the convent, so it's understandable that you would prefer it that way." Audrie's lie had passed.
The conversation drifted, and Audrie was asked to dance several more times, and from each she stole a good deal. Once Ballin returned with her drink, a stronger wine being apparently all he could get, but once he left Audrie continuously spotted him passing by often, checking on her.
Only at the end of the night, her pockets laden with various things she had stolen, did Audrie realize she had failed to ever speak to the guests of the king and queen. Shrugging it off with a vow to speak to them tomorrow, Audrie returned to her rooms to stash her goods in the closet once more and, rather than go out again tonight, get a full night's sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~
Author's Notes: Was this chapter too long? I wonder... I hope not. Anyway, only twenty more reviews to the 150th, so keep reviewing and we'll see what it ends up as. Here are the (basic) choices: Audrie/alone (not paired with anyone, walks off into sunset to never appear again), Audrie/Raoul, Audrie/Jered, Audrie/Ballin, Audrie/Roger (only if you really want to be morbid, please don't, it's just cruel), and, of course, Audrie/Jon (wtf??!! Apparently a few have suggested this but it was in no way one of my original intentions. In fact, I really don't like Jon...). Yeah, pretty much the last two are...Not really options. Please don't choose Roger. Although, if I get a few morbid requests I'll write an Alt. Ending. It'd be disturbing though.
Author's Note: Yup, another update. I'm trying to stay consistent. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm surprised how many of you remembered me! Thanks to Semiramis for betareading this chapter!
~ ~ ~ ~
"Thieving knows much of coincidence." At that instant, Audrie snapped into movement, dashing the four steps to the door before Raoul even noticed she had moved from where she had been standing. Running out into the hall, Audrie barely heard the footfall of Raoul running behind her.
Her first instinct was to run back to her rooms, but instantly realized that was impossible: if she did, Raoul would follow her and discover her identity. Instead, Audrie ran down halls, the pounding boots making it easy for Raoul to follow close behind, though neither dared to say anything, for fear of waking anyone up. Sliding down stair rails, Audrie stifled a laugh as she spotted Raoul deliberating between sliding down the rails as well or taking the slower but slightly more dignified way of simply running down the steps. Pride took priority in the scenario, disappointing Audrie; she would have liked to see Raoul sliding down stair rails.
Finally Audrie burst out of one of the side doors for the servants, gasping in the cold morning air. She nearly slowed down before she saw Raoul bursting out of the door as well. Her sudden burst of speed at his appearance, however, caused her to trip in icy mud, splattering her outfit and allowing Raoul to catch up. She was trying-- but failing-- to stand when he slowed to a stop in front of her.
Audrie cursed under her breath and lashed out her foot towards Raoul. His face had a pitying look, as though she was a rabbit stuck in a trap and he was the hunter. Silently, he held out his hand to help her up. Face emotionless, Audrie took his hand and, gripping it tightly, raised herself up. And smashed her elbow into Raoul's gut.
"I don't want your pity." She ran off to the first building she could think of, but Raoul, ignoring the pain of his stomach, soon ran after her, though he smiled when he saw which building she was heading towards.
Audrie's boots pounded against the wooden stairs of Balor's Needle. Her lungs felt as though they were being ripped apart each time she drew in an icy breath of cold air, but she kept on going. Beneath her she heard the footfall of another running up the stairs as well. She reached the isolated top room of the tower, a desk covered in papers and a chair accompanying it were the only furniture in the room. Silently Audrie cursed but looked out to the stairs that wound around the outside of the tower.
Raoul ran into the top room of the tower, gasping for breath, but found it surprisingly empty. He knew she should have been in there, he had heard her above him as he ran up the steps. Yet there was no sign of her, only the vague creaking o the metal outer steps as they swayed in the wind.
Running out towards them, he looked down expecting to see the Ace of Spades sliding down them, yet saw nothing. The hunter's rabbit had disappeared into thin air. And giggled, apparently. Raoul snapped up and saw a smirking Ace of Spades on the roof, apparently no longer concerned about whether Raoul would find her. Much, this time, to her surprise, he climbed onto the handrail of the outer stairs and leapt onto the roof to join her. The smirk on her face remained there, but there was a certain paleness to her face that hadn't been there a second before. Now, however, Raoul too was smirking.
"You're trapped, Miss Spades."
Cocking an eyebrow, Audrie replied, straight faced, "How do you know I'm a miss and not a Mrs.?"
"Forgive me, I assumed you were too young to be married."
"Then you obviously don't know young women these days." A tiny smile played on Audrie's lips. "I'll have to inform my husband that I'm much more popular with the men these days than he'd like to think."
"Indeed. But when shall you be telling him?"
Audrie's face fell slightly but regained its composure quickly. "When I get down from here, of course."
"My lady," Raoul looked straight into Audrie's eyes but found only indifference. "I don't believe you'll be getting off that easily. You see, I've just trapped you up here, and I'm not letting you down any time soon."
"Indeed, I don't expect you to let me down at all." Wind ripped around Audrie as she untied the shawl from about her waist. "I can get down just fine on my own, thank you." Audrie suddenly ran to the edge of the roof and added, "By the way, I'm not really married," winked, and jumped off.
Raoul dashed to where she had just been, and though he was too late to catch her, he saw the wind pushing her farther away from him at an astonishing speed, yet held her up due to her use of her shawl as a makeshift parachute. Nearly a hundred yards away she landed on the ground with a graceful roll, and he knew that if he tried to catch her she would be gone before he reached the bottom of the tower. Instead, he stayed on the roof and watched as she silently ran to the corner of the palace and, much to his surprise, rather than running off into the woods, turned the corner and was gone.
~ ~ ~ ~ Audrie sighed with relief as she slowed to a walk after turning the corner. She walked slowly, but failed to be silent as her ragged breaths disturbed the icy air, and snow crunched beneath her feet. She wiped off some of the ice and mud on her breeches and tapped her boots lightly on the frozen ground in front of the back door to the kitchen in order to shake some dirt off of them. Breathing a sigh of relief, Audrie found the kitchen to be still empty, and silently went to the hidden door in the pantry. A shiver ran through her body as she began climbing up the ladder, but she was too tired to bother to notice it.
Entering her room, Audrie saw Sarri sitting on the large bed, a disapproving look on her face. "I come in here to prepare an early bath for you, and you're gone!" Sarri put on a woeful face and placed her hand on her heart. "What do you think that does to a girl like me? I had no idea what had happened to you!"
"Wow, and here I thought I left my mother when I left home." Audrie grimaced, "Obviously, you've been talking to her."
"Don't be silly. You look half frozen to death, what on earth happened? Why are you absolutely covered in mud?"
"Think of it as a mud bath. Good for my complexion, or something of the like." Audrie threw the shawl onto her bed and wanted to flop down next to it. "Although, I wouldn't say no to that hot bath you were mentioning."
Sarri sighed. "It was meant to be a cold bath, those are better for your complexion. But since yours is already so nice due to that mud bath, I'll draw up a hot bath."
Audrie nodded and started undressing, happy to get the cold grit and dirt off her skin. She sighed as she remembered when she slept in her clothes in cold, muddy campsites, where dirty skin was a requirement and baths were never taken on a regular basis.
"Amazing how dirt can be nostalgic, huh?" The trap-door painting creaked open and revealed a grinning Jered.
A sharp glare on Audrie's part was soon replaced with cherry red embarrassment as she realized her situation. "Out, out, out!" She grabbed her shawl from her bed to cover her chest, and was grateful she hadn't taken her breeches off yet. Holding the shawl to herself with one hand, she began to push Jered back into the passageway with the other.
"Hey!" Jered protested, "I was enjoying myself!"
Another nasty glare from Audrie. "If you don't want a fountain pen shoved violently up your nose, I suggest you leave."
"Ah. Well, then." Jered drooped slightly. "Perhaps I should be going. Don't mind me. I'll just keep George's news to myself. I'll be sure to tell him you refused to speak to me."
Audrie raised an eyebrow. "What information?"
"Regarding the next week. However much I love dropping in simply to see you, I do have a reason you know."
"Oh really? I couldn't tell." Audrie sighed dramatically. "Whatever it is, you'll have to wait I--" Suddenly, Sarri walked in, blushed slightly, but grinned. "M'lady! If I had known you would be busy."
Audrie blushed and turned towards Sarri. "That's not it--"
"Of course not!" Jered began to play with her hair, defending her while not bothering to look up from twisting her hair into buns, apparently much entertained.
"Will you stop that!" Audrie pulled her hair away from him and glared at him. "Whatever you have to say, say it, so that I can take a bath and rest. It's nearly four in the morning and I have yet to sleep at all!"
"You didn't used to need sleep this much." The tone was vaguely accusing, and Jered received an icy glare from Audrie.
"I didn't used to have to dance and act and pretend." Audrie sighed. "I'd rather wait tables and laugh and drink any day. And besides, I never considered two hours of sleep a lot. Even before I came to Corus. In Corus I work in the evenings, go out until morning, and sleep during the day. I still got plenty of sleep."
"Do you want to know what George told me or not?"
"What?!" Audrie grasped him by the shoulders and started shaking him, with a nasty glare on his face. "You're. The. One. Who. Changed. The. Stupid. Subject. In. The. First. Place!"
Jered never replied. Instead, Audrie had to follow his gaze to where he was staring. Apparently, while shaking Jered Audrie had let her shawl drop.
"You know, I always imagined you slightly better endowed. " Jered found himself turning blue very quickly as Audrie attempted to strangle him. "Okay, okay, it's not your fault your so flat!" Audrie's fist met with Jered's nose.
This type of exchange continued for some time, resulting in many injuries on Jered's part. It ended as Jered pleaded defeat and allowed Audrie to change while he turned away.
"What was it you were going to tell me? From George?" Audrie still glowered at Jered, but had basically forgiven him.
"Basically, I came here to take whatever you've stolen and take it back to George to sell. Also, on Friday I'll come back to take everything of worth out of the room so we can sell it all. Extra profit, all that stuff."
"Ah."Another dark look from Audrie. "Is that it?"
"Pretty much. Care to have me help out with picking out your dresses for the week?" Jered pranced (Author MST: Pranced? WTF?! Is Jered gay?!) over to her closet and sifted through it. Pulling out a slinky red dress, he held it up to himself daintily and posed. "Well? How do I look?"
Audrie snorted out the tea Sarri had just given her to warm her up. "What in the Goddess' name are you doing?!"
"Well, if you don't wear it to the ball, I will. I think it suits me. But do you think it will make me look fat?"
"You'll see me dead and mangled severely before you see me in that dress. And if you wear it you will find yourself dead and severely mangled."
"Fine, fine." Jered continued pulling out various revealing dresses for suggestions for the ball, each of which Audrie would promptly refuse. Finally, he sighed and gave up, selecting out a soft green dress that he figured she would accept. "Happy?"
"Quite." Plucking the dress out of his hands, she gave a light smile and a brief nod. "Now out."
"What? But we have to pick out your other dresses too."
"No, we don't." Audrie retorted. "You've had your fun picking out dresses and torturing me with the threat of wearing them, now go. I want that bath."
"Fine, fine. But don't come crying to me when you can't pick out a dress tomorrow and you need my amazing fashion sense."
"Out." Audrie grinned but propelled him over to the trap door.
Once he had gone, along with all of the goods Audrie had stolen, Audrie finally took her bath, sighing as the warmth engulfed her sore body.
She had been soaking for some time when a dark shadow passed behind her, lurking quietly. Then, as Audrie just began to fall asleep in the bath, it attacked!
"I don't care! I don't want you to wash my hair! It's clean enough from yesterday!" Audrie snapped and glared at Sarri.
"But m'lady, all that dirt!" Sarri continued to scrub at Audrie's hair. Audrie sighed and sulked, giving way to Sarri's demands about Audrie's hygiene, though not happily. After dragging Audrie out of her bath, Sarri began with the usual occult rituals of noblewomen by torturing Audrie with curling her hair into perfect ringlets and tying it up but leaving a few locks untied. Then Sarri continued by plastering far too much face paint on Audrie, of whom promptly removed it, forcing Sarri to redo it, though at a far less dramatic amount.
"I have no intention of making a reputation as a clown or harlot in court, thank you very much. I have little need of such superfluities." (My beta reader kept using superfluous, so I felt like sticking it in.)Audrie stated solidly, crossing her arms. Sarri sighed at Audrie's stubbornness but refrained from any commentation.
By the time Audrie was done preparing for the day, the sun had already risen and breakfast was due to begin momentarily. Audrie sighed but added a bit more face paint to hide the bags beneath her eyes.
"So much for any sleep." At last finished, Audrie headed out of her room, groaning as she saw a beaming Roger directly in her path to the dining hall.
"My lady, such a pleasure to see you!"
Audrie nodded coldly. "You seem very." Audrie groped for a word beyond 'idiotic' "...chipper this morning, my lord." Audrie restrained from slamming her head against the wall due to her choice of adjectives.
"You slept well last night, I presume?" Roger barely registered the fact that she had even spoken.
"Of course. How kind of you to ask."
Roger obviously didn't notice the dry sarcasm in her voice, for he simply nodded and smiled. "Would you be so kind as to allow me to escort you to breakfast?"
"It would be too much." Audrie's face remained a mask of emotionlessness.
"Oh no, of course not!" Roger's smile continued to be plastered on his face, without change.
"No, no, I'm sure you're much too busy doing something else." The mask stayed on, though Audrie developed a minor eye tic.
At last Roger's face fell slightly and he only replied with an, "Of course, of course. Too true." As Roger left, a tiny smile danced onto Audrie's lips. 'It's seems I've finally figured out these court manners.' Still smiling, Audrie walked down the hall with a certain lightness to her steps, mostly in relief that Roger wasn't there.
Audrie found herself sitting in an unusually pleasing seat. She was next to Selia, who seemed to have finally gotten a grip on interesting conversation. At one minute Selia'd be chatting away blithely about political situations and her opinions on them, and the next joking with everyone around her about something else entirely, though her occasional wry joke was lost among those who expected her to be less intelligent.
Across from Audrie sat the prince and his squire, Alan. Several other ladies and a few knights, Gary among them, sat around her, though most were paying attention to Selia's latest debate with Gary over rights for peasants.
Finally, Audrie leaned forward slightly and tapped Jonathan on the shoulder, trying not to draw attention from everyone else. "Your highness?"
Jonathan looked away from Selia and smiled slightly. "Yes?"
"I noticed that at dinner last night there were three others with you. Who were they?"
"Ah! So you noticed our important guests." Jon smiled broadly. "You see, we have the very king and queen of Tusaine here, as our guests. It's rather important to invite them here... for diplomatic purposes of course. And their eldest daughter is accompanying them."
"How old is she?"
"Ah, 16, I think?" Jon shrugged. "She's very beautiful, to be sure."
"16? But I thought their oldest was--" Audrie stopped and began again, "I always hear that their eldest is 18."
"Ah, you mean the princess' older sister? She's been gone for years. No one really knows what happened to her. Would you like it if I asked them this evening?"
"No, no. Perhaps I'll ask them myself," Audrie insisted, "If that's alright, of course."
"Of course. I'm sure they'll love to meet one of the the loveliest ladies in court."
"Then they haven't been introduced to you yet?"
"Hm?"
"Nothing." Audrie smiled but her stomach sunk.
~ ~ ~ ~
Breakfast passed without any further occurrence that would interest the reader, of whom I'm sure is currently falling asleep at what appears to be pointless conversation. Nevertheless, I'm sticking it in here. Anyway, the rest of the day passed similarly, so we've zoomed ahead to dinner. Happy? Oh yes, also, the cat wandered out of Audrie's room and into the kitchen, where it was promptly declare a demi-god by one of the foreign chefs and was fed richly with table scraps for the rest of its day.
~ ~ ~ ~
Audrie sat herself down at the dinner table and was surprised to find that, in fact, she had been seated next to Raoul and Gary once more, along with the usual group of boring knights. She smiled brightly and began to joke quietly with them as the waiters came to fill their goblets.
"Would you prefer water, my lady?" The waiter bent over to fill her glass and muttered, "You never had tolerance to alcohol anyway."
After nearly falling out of her chair from surprise at seeing Ballin serving, Audrie smiled brightly and replied, "No, I think I'd prefer wine, really."
"If you prefer." Changing the goblet for another, he poured this one with a dark red wine.
"Don't meddle in my affairs," Audrie hissed between her teeth as he bent over.
"I'm not. I'm meddling in my own." He replied evenly.
Audrie smiled falsely and turned to Gary, "So, my lord, I've heard much of your fighting abilities. Do tell."
No one noticed that Ballin's eye twitched slightly as he left.
Gary droned on for some time, apparently not noticing that Audrie had lost interest two seconds after he began. Finally, winding down his speech about the difference in hilts of different makes of swords, he began to get the inkling that Audrie wasn't really paying attention. The fact she was asleep, head on the table, lightly murmering, might have been a clue.
"Not gonna be a stupid..." She muttered in her sleep, "Don' wanna... I'll die before you can force me to marry..."
Gary looked at Raoul with a look that clearly said, 'Are you sure she's sane?'. Raoul simply shrugged and tapped Audrie lightly on the shoulder, who raised her head slightly and blinked.
"Huh?" Looking up and blinking sleepily, Audrie realized where she was. "I'm so sorry!" She sat up stiffly once more and began to apologize profusely. "I never meant to fall asleep, I'm terribly sorry. It's nothing personal of course" (This comment made Gary wonder if, in fact, it had been personal, a thought that hadn't previously crossed his mind) "I just... That is... I was... tired." Audrie finished lamely.
"Not enough sleep last night?" Raoul looked at her concernedly.
"Not really. I was woken early by my maid." 'Or would have been, had I actually been asleep' Audrie amended silently.
"That's the trouble with some servants. They don't know when they're helpfulness is really a bother." Gary grumbled.
This began a debate over servants and what was the proper attitude towards them. Periodically, Ballin would come over to serve food and make sure that All Was Well. The occasional odd glance towards Audrie was hardly noticed. Gary did notice, however, that Audrie would look around every once in a while, as though searching for someone, but chose not to comment.
~ ~ ~ ~
Dinner soon ended, and the mass migration to the ball room commenced soon afterward. Women, of course, went back to their rooms to 'freshen up,' or add on an extra coat of face paint. A few prissy men did as well. Audrie returned to her room simply for a quick rest and for appearances. 'After all', she complained, 'how strange would it be to have a woman who simply didn't care about appearances and face paint?' After a brief muttering about superficiality, Audrie returned to the ball room, all smiles and laughter.
Audrie's smiles, unfortunately, soon disappeared as she saw Roger, once more, happily walking -nearly bouncing, in fact- towards her, though she could have sworn it was only sadistic pleasure that brought him. Glancing around, Audrie latched onto the first male arm she could. Raoul looked down at her oddly, as though he had mistaken her grip on his arm for innocent fear rather than potent loathing.
Roger swept a deep bow to the group Audrie was with, but nearly instantly went over to Audrie with a smile on his face. "My lady, a dance?"
While Roger's smile was one of eagerness, Audrie's sickly smile could hardly be described as 'eager'. "I'm afraid, my lord," Audrie's grip on Raoul's arm tightened to the point where Raoul began to wonder if he would still be able to use his arm after this. "But I already have a dance partner for the next dance. Perhaps another time."
"Who's your d-" Raoul began to ask, before he was dragged out onto the dance floor.
Audrie dragged him as far into the crowd as possible, in order to guarantee that Roger wouldn't try to spot her. "If I have to dance with him one more time," She hissed, "I will personally see to it that everyone who didn't invite me to dance first is hanged."
"You must really hate him."
"Now what gave you that impression?" Audrie snapped, causing Raoul to grin. "What, dare I ask, is so funny?"
"Nothing." Raoul looked away innocently. "Ah. Nothing made you grin. Of course."
"I wonder who will kill the Duke first, his enemies in war, or you."
"Both, because to me I am his enemy."
At last the dance ended, and Audrie drifted off to the side of the room with Raoul. They continued chatting until Audrie realized her triumph.
"I didn't step on your toes once, now did I?" She grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"I don't believe you did, my lady."
"Now, ask that man over there," Audrie pointed over the old man she had first danced with the night before. "He'll tell you otherwise. I don't know how many times I had to step on his toes before his hand failed to wander towards places it shouldn't."
Raoul nearly spit out the wine he had been drinking. "You didn't!"
"I don't like people fondling me where they shouldn't." A dark look passed over Audrie's face.
"You don't?" Raoul grinned. "And the punishment is the death of the fondler's toes?"
"Sometimes with the heel of my shoe."
"Remind me never to fondle you then."
Suddenly out of seemingly nowhere Ballin appeared with drinks in his hand. "More wine, my lord? My lady?"An icy look from Audrie only caused Ballin to grin. "Perhaps I could speak to you about ordering a specific drink?" Audrie maintained her 'Icy-look-that-would-freeze-people-over-if-she-had-any- choice-in-the-matter.'
Dragging Ballin off away from Raoul, Audrie hissed to Ballin, "Staying to your own affairs, hm?"
"Entirely." Ballin nodded knowingly. "I consider your well-being part of my affairs." He gave her a small pat on the head.
"Stop being so condescending." Audrie glared once more. "We're just talking."
"In a dark corner, where most people can't see or hear you, and about fondling. Things go on in corners like that, with conversations like that."
Audrie groaned. "Leave it alone, Ballin."
"Oh, but we can't leave our widdle Audwie out all alone with the wolves." Audrie's nails dug into Ballin's arm, but an evil smile played on her face. "Leave or I tell someone about your identity."
Ballin stopped smiling. "Audrie, you wouldn't."
"You've gotten the wrong person angry, Ballin. I would." Audrie let go of his arm. "Get me something strong. Beer if you have it. But put it in a wine glass."
Ballin simply nodded and left. Audrie returned to Raoul with a false smile. "He just didn't seem to understand the concept of wanting my wine slightly diluted. I prefer my wine not quite as strong as they seem to be serving."
Raoul nodded understandingly, "I prefer it this way myself, but I hear they serve it with more water at the convent, so it's understandable that you would prefer it that way." Audrie's lie had passed.
The conversation drifted, and Audrie was asked to dance several more times, and from each she stole a good deal. Once Ballin returned with her drink, a stronger wine being apparently all he could get, but once he left Audrie continuously spotted him passing by often, checking on her.
Only at the end of the night, her pockets laden with various things she had stolen, did Audrie realize she had failed to ever speak to the guests of the king and queen. Shrugging it off with a vow to speak to them tomorrow, Audrie returned to her rooms to stash her goods in the closet once more and, rather than go out again tonight, get a full night's sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~
Author's Notes: Was this chapter too long? I wonder... I hope not. Anyway, only twenty more reviews to the 150th, so keep reviewing and we'll see what it ends up as. Here are the (basic) choices: Audrie/alone (not paired with anyone, walks off into sunset to never appear again), Audrie/Raoul, Audrie/Jered, Audrie/Ballin, Audrie/Roger (only if you really want to be morbid, please don't, it's just cruel), and, of course, Audrie/Jon (wtf??!! Apparently a few have suggested this but it was in no way one of my original intentions. In fact, I really don't like Jon...). Yeah, pretty much the last two are...Not really options. Please don't choose Roger. Although, if I get a few morbid requests I'll write an Alt. Ending. It'd be disturbing though.