77
Elodie is there.
Jago too.
The two of them dressed in period costume and looking like the natural-born king and queen of every kingdom that ever was or ever will be.
But it’s Braxton who claims my attention.
His head is lowered in deep conversation with Hawke, Keane, and Roxane, but the moment I arrive, he must sense my presence, because he immediately looks up and his gaze lands on mine. I bow my head and dip into the curtsy I’ve also been practicing, and he nods and bows in return.
“How do you feel?” Jago asks. “Ready, excited, like you want to hurl your guts out?”
Elodie elbows him in the side.Hurl your guts outisn’t the kind of thing one says in Arthur’s vicinity.
Still, it makes me laugh. And besides, a quick look behind the glass where Arthur currently sits tells me he has other, more important things to occupy his time.
“How about all of the above?”
Jago grins. “It’s a perfect summation of how I felt before my first Trip. You do look completely enchanting, though, if I’m allowed to say so?” He shoots a quick glance at Elodie, who groans and runs a critical gaze from my hair to my shoes before coming to rest at my neck.
“I don’t remember seeing this in Wardrobe.” She reaches toward the talisman, but I stop her from making contact.
“It was a gift.” I cradle it protectively between my fingers.
Her gaze shifts between the talisman and me. “A moon and star in a tiny golden cage,” she says, her tongue dripping acid. “That’s so…adorbs.” Her gaze burns on mine, and I’m about to deliver a biting reply, but luckily, Roxane calls me away just in time. I can’t afford to take Elodie’s bait. Not today.
“Ready for the big reveal?” Roxane pulls an envelope from a folder and hands it to me.
I slip a finger under the red wax seal bearing the Gray Wolf logo and retrieve a square of paper made of the same card stock my first day’s schedule was printed on before I was entrusted with a slab. The instructions are as follows:
Your presence is requested!
When: 25-26 February 1745
Where: Palace of Versailles: The Hall of Mirrors
What: The Yew Ball
Why: Celebrating the marriage of Dauphin Louis to Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
What is not committed to print are the verbal instructions that we are expected to freely filch from the revelers whatever we deem worthy of taking that’s still small enough to smuggle out. Normally, I’m told, there’s an actual Get in mind, but considering how this Trip is meant to serve as my final exam in procurement, Arthur wants to see how I handle myself in a real-time experience.
While I give Roxanne my full attention, pretending to soak in every word, my right hand creeps into the pocket where Arthur has left me my own secret set of instructions. My fingers find the edges of two stiff bits of paper.
“Everything clear?” Roxane asks. Not satisfied with a nod, she makes me recite everything I just read.
Luckily, I have a pretty decent memory, so after reciting the details, I add a bit more in a shameless effort to impress her. “It’s a party thrown by King Louis the Fifteenth,” I say. “It marks the start of his longtime love affair with the future Marquise de Pompadour.” Just voicing the words out loud, knowing I’ll soon be mingling among that glittering crowd, sends a swarm of prickling chills over my skin.
“Looks like someone’s been studying,” Roxane quips, though the slight curl of her lips tells me she’s pleased. “As I’m sure you know, the Yew Ball is a masked ball.” She gestures for Keane to fit an elaborate jeweled mask onto my face.
Outside, it looks like any other fancy masquerade-style mask. Inside, it’s lined with some sort of silicone type substance that molds to my features, forming a skintight seal.
“The mask enables you to skip the contacts, since the directions to the portal are embedded inside the mask itself.”
“Just don’t lose it,” Keane says, stepping away to examine the fit.
I remember wearing the contacts during one of the constructs last week when I found myself in a hologram of the Vienna opera house. Despite being surprisingly thin, they still took some getting used to. So I’m glad to forgo them on my first real Trip.