Narcissus
Chapter 3 - The Prince in Disguise
Sharon tapped her fingers against the beer-stained table of the Dancing Dove. She was giving off all the right signals, no? Hair was let loose without adornments; frown seemed to be carved out of stone; dress decent enough to be approved of a nun; fingers tapping loud enough to be heard from the next table. So why was this odd man still drooling over her and babbling like a drunk?
Oh, he was a drunk. And Sharon hated drunks—they were so hard to predict sometimes, despite the stereotype. Some cried when they were drunk, some laughed; some yelled and some slept; some couldn't tell their own head from the wall, and some gave the most insightful remarks of their lives.
The drunk muttered something and was extending a hand towards Sharon, when a hand came from somewhere unexpectedly and knocked the poor man down. Genuinely surprised for a change, Sharon turned around and saw her King.
George smiled his usual smile, winked, and walked away, leaving Sharon with a strange, rising feel in her stomach. She was very familiar with self-consciousness—that is, familiar with the knowledge that she was attracting attention; yet this, this thing of feeling delicate and vulnerable was not something that she dealt with everyday.
It was peculiar, wasn't it, that all these strange feelings began to breed and grow within her whenever the Rogue smiled. It was a very handsome sort of smile, to be sure, but Sharon had waved off much more handsome smiles before—no, it was the warmth in the smiles. Warmth, which in itself was as unfamiliar as the sense of vulnerability to Sharon, whose twenty years are filled with anything but warmth. It was hard to be warm, you know, when survival was based on cruelty and cold, frigid hearts.
Sharon sat in her chair rigidly, her eyes fixed on the laughing figure of George. He was very amused by something one of his friends said. Sharon narrowed her eyes at the sight of this particular friend: this girl, with her copper hair and insultingly violet eyes was strange figure alright, in a court where men were flippant and the women more than glad to bare some cleavage. Strange, for she dressed herself in the manner of a boy.
Her instinct told her that this was a dangerous girl though for what, she did not know.
The other strange friend was less of a threat. Indeed, he was flirting with every girl in the room, winking his handsomely blue eyes. He almost worked systematically, starting from a corner and working his way through. It would take a while before he got to Sharon though, since he was successful in most cases. The King's Court wasn't exactly known for its modest and prudent women.
While she was speculating, the lass-turned-lad had said something to George that led them up the stairs and presumably into his chamber. When Sharon realized this, she speedily slithered her way to George's chamber, peeking through the keyhole and fighting George's Sight.
"What is it lass," George had asked, a note of concern in his voice that Sharon had never heard before.
The stockier figure in the room had her back against Sharon, but the copper hair was still visible. She slumped a little and began hesitatingly, "It's Roger. Coram says he used a spell on me to tell him—tell him my secret, but he failed. He said I'm…I'm protected by the Gods. That's silly, right?"
The note of concern was replaced by a barely-there tone of affection now, "Well Alanna, you're the educated noble here. Personally, this rogue thinks the old soldier is right. Have you told Jonny?"
Alanna shook her head. "No, Jon believes his cousin," she mumbled.
"Myles?"
"I'm afraid that he'd guess that I'm a girl."
"From the Sweating Sickness, he prob'ly already knows."
"Yes, but I can't take any risk."
There Sharon quietly slipped away, fearing the Sight betraying of her presence. Still, this little conversation proved to be more than worth the risk—Jonny the merchant's son, huh? She never fancied that the prince would be quite as flirtatious, nor his favorite squire such a depressed little thing, but then again, life was just full of surprises, no?