“I was just in there, the bed is made.”
“Did you check the towels?” The man nodded. “Extra sheets?”
“Why would the prince want extra sheets in his room?”
“Do you really need to ask that? This is Baldair we’re talking about.”
“Oh, Mother above.” He muttered something else under his breath.
“Come on, I need your hands.” A woman tugged on the servant’s arm, successfully pulling him away from Vi.
As he left, Vi could hear him murmuring, “I haven’t seen her around before…”
She disappeared into the bedroom, which was thankfully empty. Vi headed right back for the fireplace and pulled on the secret lever she’d found before. The bookcase opened with a softclickas the mechanism disengaged. Vi hurried over and stepped inside, closing it behind her. She listened through the wood as the commotion continued in the common area. Servants bustled about in the bedroom.
Then, silence.
Vi counted to fifty, then opened the hidden door slowly. On light feet, she stepped out and closed the shelf behind her. She’d learned every creaky board in this room from her investigations, and Vi made her way soundlessly into the dressing room, then into the bathroom. There wasn’t another soul to witness her collecting towels into her arms.
She poised herself in front of the bathroom door that connected to the main room. The bundle of linens was shoved under one arm. Her other hand was on the doorknob.
Closing her eyes, Vi took a deep breath. Who would she be? Who did she need to be in this moment?
“Yargen, guide me,” she whispered. It wasn’t quite a prayer. More like… asking a friend for a favor.
The door to the main room opened, heralding male laughter, and Vi sprang into action. She pushed open the bathroom door at the same time as Baldair and two other young men entered through the main door. Her eyes met his.
“My prince!” Vi said, startled. She juggled the towels, allowing them to scatter to the floor. Baldair’s laughter stopped and he regarded her with a confused and somewhat amused expression. Vi dropped to the floor, hastily gathering and folding the towels. “I’m so sorry. I was supposed to be gone, I know. But I realized the towels had not been properly refreshed for your arrival and I was terribly worried by the thought of you putting a musty towel to your face.”
The words raced from her with an anxiousness Vi hadn’t felt in some time. She couldn’t place the source of the feeling. Her mind was a dark lake, smooth and glassy. Perhaps Yargen had heard her request and this was exactly what the prince needed to see and hear: a panicked young woman, unassuming, innocent, and ready to flatter him.
Two armor-clad feet appeared in her vision, followed by knees. Vi brought her gaze up to the prince who had knelt across from her, making a clumsy attempt at folding a towel.
“Forgive me, your highness,” she murmured. “Not only have I ruined your return… but you are now doing a servant’s work.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.” He handed her the towel with a roguish smile. “Every time I return home, I hope a lovely woman is here to greet me. Really, I should be thanking you.”
“You’re truly incorrigible,” a man Vi recognized as Craig muttered as he shut the door.
“I think what the prince is trying to say… is that you have nothing to worry about.” The other man was at Vi’s left, and passed her a much more carefully folded towel.
She paused, taken aback by the familiar face.
I know these eyes.
Daniel. Vi had seen him in the North, but only ever at a distance. This was the first time she’d been close enough to him to see Jayme in his features.
Her stomach twisted.
“Thank you,” Vi murmured, collecting herself and the towel from Daniel’s hands. She was here on a mission. Vi cleared her throat. “My prince, I understand if you need to report me to my superiors for not having everything prepared for your arrival.”
“You don’t really think I’m going to do that, do you?” He chuckled and stood.
Vi finished the last of her folds, standing as well. “I don’t want to assume the will of a royal.”
“I’m not my brother.” Baldair shrugged. “Though, perhaps you could do me a favor?”
“Anything!”
