I gave a reluctant laugh. “You really are hopeless, Kali!”
“Not hopeless, hopeful,” she corrected me. “One day I’ll get the chance to travel and have adventures like my mother.” Her voice turned wistful at the mention of her beloved mother who had passed away two years previously.
“Of course you will.” I squeezed her hand. “Hopefully nicer adventures than my current one.”
I bit my lip as the enormity of my so-called adventure hit me again.
“Actually, Kali,” I said, “I don’t think I can take the time to tell you about it now. I promise I will, but not now. It’s imperative that I get back to the palace.”
Her face, which had fallen at my initial words, brightened again. “The palace! I understand, of course.” She squeezed my arm. “But you will tell me eventually? You promise?”
“Of course.” I frowned down at myself. “I don’t suppose you have anything you can loan me to wear? Those men didn’t get a good look at my face, so if I can get into a less distinctive outfit, I should be safe on the streets.”
“Come this way.” She tugged me back into the side room. “I’ve kept a change of clothes here ever since I got covered in flour that time. Do you remember? I dropped in to give Father a message on our way to the market. And flour does not brush off!” She made a despairing face before opening a small cupboard and bringing out a wrinkled chemise and outer robe.
“Thank you, thank you,” I cried, changing my outfit as quickly as I could. “Can I leave this here?” I held out the gold gown. “I’ll come back for it when I get the chance.”
She laughed. “I’ll hold it hostage against that promised explanation.”
I rolled my eyes before grinning and thanking her a final time.
Although my mind told me I was safe in my new outfit, my eyes and ears were still on high alert as I took the fastest route to the palace. I could feel the fatigue pressing in behind the alertness, but it wasn’t yet strong enough to override the fear.
I arrived to find the last of the ball guests long gone, and even the lanterns that had decorated the front courtyard of the palace packed away. It was as if the night before had never happened.
Worst of all, the main gates were closed and barred. They weren’t solid, like the walls and gates of most of the houses in the city, but formed of metal strands that twisted together to create beautiful patterns. So I could see through the gates to the palace beyond, but I couldn’t reach it. When the gates were closed, the only access was through a solid wooden door on one side of the gate that was flanked by a pair of guards.
It was open when I arrived, the guards talking to a man pulling a handcart piled with crates. I lined up behind him, my heart sinking. My instincts had said to run to Rek, and I hadn’t taken the time to think it through properly.
When the cart finally rolled into the palace grounds, I approached the guards. They eyed me up and down in perfect synchronization.
“I need to speak to Princess Adara,” I said, deciding at the last minute that I would be more likely to get access to the princess than the crown prince.
“Do you now?” The speaker looked across at the other guard, their expressions making their opinion clear. “And would you have an appointment?”
“I’m an old friend,” I babbled. “I was here last night for the ball. Something’s happened, and it’s very urgent that I—”
“The ball?” He was openly incredulous now, once again looking at my gown—the crumpled dress of a miller’s daughter.
“Or Prince Tarek,” I said, the exhaustion pressing in on me and making me desperate. “It’s a matter of life and death and the good of the kingdom. I must speak to the prince or princess!”
The silent guard cleared his throat. “In that case, you’ll need an appointment. You may write to the junior vizier in charge of schedules and request…” He continued on, but I’d stopped listening.
I could ask for Captain Jerome. That might get their attention. But while I’d seen him talking with Rek at the ball, he hadn’t seen me, other than one brief shadowy glimpse in the gardens. And he hadn’t looked approving on that occasion. If I asked to see him, he might dismiss my whole story as an attempt to get close to the prince. Or he might suspect me of being in league with the thieves and send me straight to an interrogation like I’d feared from the beginning.
Remembering his serious face, I shivered and rejected the idea. Perhaps I should ask for Samuel or Benjamin instead? Instantly I realized that I should have asked for them from the beginning. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have.
But the two guards were looking more and more suspicious. If I didn’t get myself out of there soon, they were going to arrest me regardless and let the captain sort it out.
“Can you at least pass on a message to Samuel or Benjamin for me?”
The names of their fellow guards made the ones in front of me pause, looking at one another again.
“Please just tell them that Zaria needs to talk to the prince—or to one of them, at least—immediately. They’ll know who I am.”
“Will they now?” The first guard asked slowly.
“Yes,” I said hurriedly. “Thank you.”