“Oh, we had a smashing supper,” Archie said with a grin. “So many courses, I slept very soundly. And how was yours, sir?”
“Yes, pleasant enough,” Francis fibbed.
Gustav tactfully said nothing.
“Did you meet the king?” Archie asked.
“Um…not as such,” Francis said. “Glimpsed from afar.”
“Afar?” Archie raised an eyebrow, then looked at Gustav. “What is he? Shy?”
Gustav became flustered. “He, um, well, um…”
Francis stepped in. “I think it’s obvious, at least to me, that this is all some sort of grand experiment. The king not greeting us personally, nor interacting with us himself, is putting the more nervous guests on edge. It is a tactic.”
“Oh? Hm,” Archie said, seeming surprised. “That sounds like a lot of work just to find a consort.”
Francis was inclined to agree, but there was little to be done about it.
“Where are Christian and Maddie?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Christian is sketching the palace interiors and getting tetchy about it,” Archie reported. “Maddie is with him to keep him out of trouble.”
Francis smiled. “And who is keeping you out of trouble?”
Archie grinned. “I thought I should accompany you today, sir. It’s a tournament, isn’t it?”
They both looked at Gustav in question.
“As far as I’m aware, sir,” the older man replied.
“See?” Archie said. “Best I accompany you. We don’t know what you’ll be expected to do or if the palace provides aides or not. You don’t want to be without.”
“We shall go together, then,” Francis said. In truth he felt better having Archie along for moral support.
They continued to eat their breakfast.
“Actually, Gustav, I did have a question,” Francis said. “Where are these infamous one thousand cats? I’ve not seen a single one at this palace.”
“I believe they reside in the garden, sir,” Gustav said.“That’s as much as I know.”
“Hopefully I’ll see them later, then.”
Francis would hate to come all this way only to not pet a cat.
* * * *
After breakfast, they made their way to the lower level of the palace to find out where they needed to be.
It wasn’t hard to figure out where the tournament was to take place. All they had to do was follow the noise and bustle of several other guests and their aides as they swept down the palace’s inner hallways, and through to an outdoor courtyard.
Francis balked at going outside without protection, but on glancing at the sky he noted there were some clouds this morning. Hopefully they would provide ample cover for his delicate skin.
He couldn’t bow out of the competition for fear of a sunburnt face. Granny would be cross with him.
In the courtyard were several Turkish clerks taking inventory of the suitors intending to compete and directing them to a path that led through a stone archway and presumably into the garden.
When it was Francis’s turn, the clerk wanted Gustav and Archie to head for the spectators’ area.
