“It’s time,” he said.
I took a deep breath and put my hand on his elbow. We started toward the door, with Lute and Will following us. Both wore the Demarr shade-down of darker brown.
Behind me Lute said, “Hey, Maggie?”
“Yes?”
“Survive, get paid.”
Surviving was a good goal. An excellent goal, actually.
“No risk, no gold,” I told him.
Erodel led me to the carriage and loaded me into it. I painstakingly followed Clover’s directions to smooth the fabric over my butt before I sat down to keep from crushing my dress. Erodel climbed in, the brothers got onto the driver’s bench, and we were off.
If Everard hadn’t been poisoned, he would be at the joedurar. I’d thought he would let me know when he arrived in the capital, but there had been nothing. No sign at all. I’d asked Avaria to let me know if he rode in, and she didn’t send any word either. The joedurar was my last chance. If he wasn’t there . . . I had no idea what I would do but I would do something.
We would’ve heard something if Joris had poisoned him. Surely, we would’ve heard something.
“Anxious?” Erodel asked.
“Very.”
“It is fitting that you are anxious. If you were not, I would be worried that you’ve become overconfident. You are going into a den of predators. The apprehension you are feeling is natural. I taught you well, and you worked very hard to prepare. You should be confident but wary.”
I nodded. Confident but wary.
“You know every step of the polhe by heart.”
“I had a nightmare about it last night. I fumbled the transition to the second partner and fell off a cliff into molten lava.”
Erodel smiled.
In the middle of the polhe, the pairs of dancers broke up and switched partners for a brief period and then kept switching until they had made their way around the room to their original partner. It required a turn to the left. For some obnoxious reason, I could turn to the right all day long but turning to the left threw me a little off-balance. Not much, just enough to disastrously stumble at exactly the wrong moment.
“That damn dance now haunts me.”
“You will execute if flawlessly. I have no doubt.”
I smoothed my skirt.
“It will be fine, my lady. You know the dance, you know the etiquette, and you look just right. Beautiful, but not ostentatious. You will fit in perfectly.”
I nodded. This was helping.
“Let’s go over what happens again,” he said.
We had practiced it all, the entrance, the proper manners, what the guards might say, what the nobles might say . . . I took a deep breath.
“The joedurar will be held in the left wing. Will and Lute must stay with the carriage. You will escort me up the stairs. We will be greeted at the door and my invitation will be checked.”
Sudden fear stabbed me.
“Do you—”
He lifted the scroll case. “No worries, my lady. Continue.”
“Right. My invitation will be checked. You will stay behind and return to the carriage once I go in. A guard will escort me to the ballroom. Since I am arriving slightly late, I will be asked if I want to be announced. I will decline.”
