Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
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.”
“Correct,” Erodel said.
“The nobles will form a ring around the open dance floor. Once I am in the ballroom, I will move to the front, directly facing the dance floor. I will stay there for exactly ten breaths to let myself be seen, and then I will step back, out of sight.”
“Correct. The etiquette dictates that only those of high standing remain in the front row, but it is proper and polite to let yourself be seen on arrival, so your allies know you have entered.”
“After I have been seen, I will find an out-of-the-way spot. Somewhere I can have a quiet conversation. I will not eat or drink.”
“Correct again. You’re doing so well, my lady.”
“Should I wish to use the washroom, I will tell the guard at the doorway, and he will escort me back and forth.”
“And if you are asked to dance?”
“If it’s a polhe, I accept the invitation. It is safer to accept than to offend someone powerful by refusing.”
“And if you are asked to dance a fast dance?”
“I demur and suggest a polhe instead.” Declining fast dances was somewhat socially acceptable.
Erodel leaned closer. “You have done everything possible to go through tonight with grace. It will be fine, my lady. I have complete confidence in you.”
I was as prepared as I was going to be. Get in, be seen, get out, and get home. I could do this.
The castle was ancient. I was met by guards at the entrance, and one of them politely offered me his arm to escort me to the ballroom. As we strolled through the hallway, the age of the walls was almost palpable. The very stone radiated centuries of power and conquest. The Eagle Roost had changed hands countless times. Thousands of people had died between these walls, some with a sword in their hands, others with a dagger in their back. Their blood had soaked into the stone floor tiles. I couldn’t see it, but it was there.