Kol had told me to meet him at the bell tower the following day. Since the Shetland Theater was in a different part of the city, he said he would prepare a coach to take us there. I joked with him that I didn't want any more unexpected surprises this time when I was with him. We talked a bit more about his two dogs until the rain slowed to a light drizzle. He had taken our wet clothes and laid them over a heater so they would dry. When I put my own clothes back on they were dry and warm. He insisted that I take of his family's carriages back to the inn I was staying at. I tried to decline, but he pressed the matter saying it was to make up for all my trouble. In the end I did take the carriage. It was a small dark carriage with the family crest emblazoned on the side in gold, much nicer than the carriages we had in Lyscos. After I had said goodbye to Kol, the driver returned me to the Gilded Leopard.

Giselle and Victoria were already there looking very angry and very soaked. It seemed that the rain had caught them as well. They both stopped talking when I entered the room and Giselle turned to glare at me. They still thought I had spent the day with the prince and were still upset over it. I had no intention of correcting them. If they wanted to be jealous over such a trivial thing and not gripe at me in favor of cold silence, I would not object. A few days free of their incessant complaining might be nice. Tomorrow both of them would be going out with the princes and I would be going somewhere with Kol. Still, I felt a twinge of jealousy about Giselle spending the entire day alone with Christian.

I slept well that night to the gentle sound of the rain which was now just enough to make noise on the windows. There was no more thunder or lightning. I was used to my odd sort of bed and found it rather comforting to have the backs of the chairs rising up protectively around me. It was not as comfortable as a regular bed with a mattress, but it was nice once I added various blankets and pillows that I had found around the room.

I awoke just in time to hear all about the wonderful time Giselle was going to have with the prince today and how excited she was. I rolled over and buried my head beneath a pillow. It did nothing to quiet her voice. "Imagine it, Tori, the prince and I walking arm in arm through the zoo for all to see. It will be so romantic."

"Hector is taking me to a play at the Mados Dral. He told me that it is a fairy theater and only hosts the best plays to perform in Pharyss. Today, Elle, we will both be with our princes." Victoria sang from where they both sat in her room.

I groaned and rolled over. Giselle and Victoria would be leaving in about a half hour. I would accompany them out to show that I too had somewhere to be as well. Already Giselle had been less than subtle in mentioning how some people were not so fortunate to have friends to take them places. I wondered at how her mind worked. She knew full well that the prince had invited me to the tournaments and to the hall of pictures. Somehow she had convinced herself that one day with him made her as good as his wife. I would not need to spend the hour they had in getting ready. Unhurriedly, I dressed in a plain yellow dress with short sleeves made of white lace. I fastened a belt around my waist that had a small coin purse hanging from it. I was not sure if I would need money, but it made me feel better to be prepared.

Both step sisters turned up their noses at my following them out, but neither verbally protested. The two princes were waiting in the lobby along with Sir Brockton. Hector immediately went to kiss Victoria's hand and his younger brother follow suit with Giselle. "You look lovely today, Giselle. I am looking forward to spending the day with you." Christian raised his eyes and saw me. "And you have brought Ebony with you. Perhaps she would like to accompany us. Would you be so kind as to join your sister and me at the zoo, Miss Ebony?"

I smiled broadly and readily accepted. Certainly Kol would understand. I would be sure to send a messenger to the square in my place and inform him of my change of plans. "I would be happy to join you. If you would just give me a moment, we can be on our way." I went over to the woman who sat behind the desk and hastily explained my message and where Kol would be waiting before returning to the prince and my very unhappy stepsister.

Hector, Sir Brockton, and Victoria were walking towards the doors already. Giselle had hid her agitation well and now I could barely tell she was affected by Christian's offer to me. Christian motioned to the doors and together we walked out of the Gilded Leopard. An open carriage was waiting for us at the foot of the steps. After Christian helped us both into the carriage, he climbed in himself. He sat next to Giselle which made her beam across at where I sat by myself. However, I consoled myself that with Christian sitting directly across from me, I could hold a conversation with him easier.

"It will be a pleasure to see the zoo now that it is all completed. I visited one day when they were still moving things around." I said as the carriage pulled away from the inn.

"You have already seen the menagerie, then?" Christian asked.

"I haven't seen the zoo at all," Giselle abruptly volunteered.

I ignored her and continued on as if she hadn't spoken. "Yes, I went a few days before the first ball. Already they had some wonderful creatures there. I saw the white peacocks that I was told are going to be used in your sister's wedding. The mockery was slightly frightening with its ability to mimic anyone's face. She did a perfect rendition of me while I was there."

Giselle looked thoughtful. "What is a mockery?"

"A mockery is a beast from across the seas," Christian explained. "It comes from Conan and is vicious. No one knows what one really looks like because they are always seen in their mocking state. They are called mockeries because they scorn all other creatures and disguise themselves to hunt their prey. They are not a large threat in Conan because they live deep in the jungle and rarely come close to civilization. However, the one that has been caught and brought here was one of the few that ventured into one of Conan's cities. It nearly wiped the city out before it was finally caught. Don't worry though. The mockery has been in captivity for years and its handlers know how to subdue it. It stays locked in its silver lined cage and cannot escape."

I shivered. I still did not think that having such a creature anywhere near people was a good idea.

"Mockeries sound fascinating," Giselle cooed. "What other animals have been brought in for us to see?"

The rest of the carriage ride was spent in Christian describing some of the various animals that had been brought for people to see. Most of the creatures I had already seen on my first visit to the zoo, but Giselle sat and listened with rapt attention to every word he said. I had not thought her to be so interested in animals before. Watching her performance now one would have thought it was her favorite subject. She asked questions and made awed sounds when Christian spoke of dragons or mermaids. At least it was better than her trying to subtly undermine me to Christian, I thought. This way she wasn't telling the prince made up stories that made her seem far more mature than me by comparison.

The zoo had come a long way since I had visited. Instead of having crates and half built cages lying around everywhere, everything was put up and standing tall. A heavy metal fence seemed to encircle the entire field and the gates opened up under a colorful archway with different animals carved into the wood in intricate patterns. Even before we passed under the archway I could hear the different animals that were held within. Lions were roaring along with the melodic song of the mermaids while the shrill call of a harpy mingled with the deep snoring of a living stone. An earth shaking roar from a dragon that could be seen rising up from the center of the field quieted everything for a moment.

"There's so many," Giselle gasped as we walked past a fenced area containing a silver unicorn.

She was right. There was much more than I remembered. I wondered where the mockery was in all of them. Giselle skipped ahead to look into a golden cage holding a tiny light wisp. A man was sitting in between about a dozen of cages similar to the one Giselle peered into. I looked into one of the other cages and came face to face with a little pink pixie.

"All the dangerous animals are in the center of the exhibit." Christian remarked. I doubted night wisps and pixies held much interest for him.

I looked up from the pixie to grin at him. "Do you mean to scare us, your highness?"

"Of course I do not mean to scare you. I was merely stating. It is where all the more interesting creatures are, I think." Christian smirked. He knew that we would not want to miss out on the interesting creatures so we allowed him to lead us to the center of the field.

And in a quick shift of location we are back at the zoo! (But I am not condoning what she did in standing Kol up because that was really mean)

Just in case you didn't already know...in the story's timeline, tomorrow is the ball (Yay!)