“I have.” It’s all he went on about last night. “All strong ideas. I have one of my own that I would like to propose.”
Marcel stops to look at me head on. “Go on then. I’d rather hear it now than be taken aback during our meeting.”
“I would like to propose that the Queen open up the lands south of the Graying Sea. Not even she explores those lands. If we could start charting more of that area there is no telling what we could find, and ultimately what could be traded.”
“South?” His face pinches with hesitation. “You mean areas like Farella?” The bitterness is sucked out of his face as it molds into delight. “A fine idea. One I can see them agreeing to.”
He starts walking again, wrapping an arm around me as he continues to discuss the ideas he has. My mind is split in three:what Marcel continues on about; the anchor that turned out to be a map; and the opportunity to spend the evening with Ariah.
22
ARIAH
Benny likes the bottle, cigars, and singing, both when he is and isn’t intoxicated. With his short stature it didn’t take much to get him drunk, but he still manages to hold his own. And he never sings around the princes though, but on occasion I can pick up on his humming. It is discreet, so much so that I don’t even think many have noticed it. I suspect it to be a coping mechanism.
Benny is also wickedly smart though he doesn’t show it. It is something a person has to observe from a distance. It is in the way he speaks and the instant answers he has to most questions, even if they aren’t directed to him, and even if he mumbles the responses to himself. He also always carries a book in his pocket. One I caught a glimpse of titled,The Bargainby Thiely Devonport, if my eyesight didn’t fail me from a distance. He opens it every time he finds himself alone, even when walking from one point of the castle to the next.
He is the first person Chana instructed me to follow after our observations in the sanctuary. Leading up to dinner, after the fox hunt, he had wandered the grounds and had one lengthyconversation about Farella Isle with a man I discovered to be Rolley.
Rolley’s role here has remained a secret, that is, until I opened Iann’s letter.
Truthfully, invading someone’s privacy left me feeling guilty, but my fear of the Queen is a stronger emotion. The letter had gone on about a brother who is missing, but judging from the tone, he is a bit of a drifter—the odd one out in the family, who will eventually turn up when he needs something, or perhaps runs out of money. The King never mentioned any of that, but I felt it there, between the lines.
Another reveal, and one of the utmost importance, is that Rolley appears to be the King’s confidant. His very own Fox of sorts, within Haymel’s castle walls.
Chana says she will be the one to watch Rolley and my next target is Eli, the individual seemingly closest to Prince Iann.
Once Iann leaves with Marcel to the sundown room, I sneak back into Iann’s room and tiptoe across the floor, pressing my ear to the bath chamber door. Footsteps draw closer, and I fling myself back just in time, before Eli swings the door open and nearly crashes into me.
“Lady Ariah,” he says startled, and rushes to shut the door behind him. “I thought you went with the Prince.”
“No.” I point my hand aimlessly at the exit. “He left with Prince Marcel already. I was just about to go.”
He squints, and I watch his eyes drift over my frame. “Hm. If you’re not too busy, can you do me a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Do you have any parchment and lead? Or even a pen. Anything will work.”
Just his luck, I dig into my pocket and find lead and a scrap of parchment. It was meant to be for the Queen’s sketch,having been the only dress I can’t seem to envision, but now the supplies are his.
“You just carry these around?” He takes the items and gives me that same cautious glance.
“I am the Queen’s seamstress and designer on occasion.” I give him a little fib. “I’m prepared at all times. “Do you need anything else?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “This will do. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” I dip my head and take my leave, feeling his eyes on me from the moment I walk away to the moment I get to the doorway, I turn back one last time. “Oh, I almost forgot. You and Benny are invited to a party tonight. I’m sure the Prince will tell you more about it later.”
“You got Iann to go to a party?” A smirk stretches upward and I’m uncertain if he’s realized that he addressed the Prince so casually. “Maybe I do like you after all.”
“Did you not before?” I squint, wondering what I could have possibly done to make him dislike me.
“I’ve never thought highly of a person from Haymel, including the women, and I love all women. You might be different though.”
Insulted is what I should be, but his comment forces out a laugh. “I’ve never trusted a Saden man, but one has proved to be most kind, and now it looks like there might be two of you.”
“We’re full of surprises.” He tosses me a wink and pushes the door open with his foot. “Us Saden men will see you tonight for a party.”
