Chapter 41 Chapter 39

Chapter 41 Chapter 39
”Mornings and nights are like birds in flight”

Marina

“You have not changed your mind?” Quala said as she walked into my room after knocking. Fully dressed and just in time for me to wrap up my preparations.

I was tying up my hair.

Since I would be putting on a hood for disguise, there was no essence trying to make it look pretty.

“You do not want to go?” I asked, feeling sorry that I was forcing her against her will under the King’s orders.

“Yes. The Lightroom house is such a crowded place with a lot of sweat and bodies making contact on the benches. Not a very pleasant place for me. I do not like individuals that much.”

Now that I think of it, Quala could be Hilra’s daughter. A young and not yet vile version of the woman. I had never asked.

“Are you by chance related to Madam Hilra?” I asked. The sooner I soothed my curiosity, the better off I would be.

“How did that question come up? Is Madam Hilra among the performers at the Lightroom?”

“No… I was just wondering. A random thought.”

“Oh… okay.” she said and picked up my ankle length hood from my bed then handed it over to me.

“So, are you?” She had still not answered the question.

“Of course not. We do not even have any features alike.”

That was a true statement. 

I was done with preparing and I now slipped on the cloak over my black dress but let the hood down for now till I got to the carriage.

“Let’s go.” I said to her and literally ran out of the room and down the hall.

The sun was setting and that was when the good shows began according to Saliel.

At the exit, the King stood with his high adviser and I would have had to squeeze between them to pass through or call their attention so they could make room for me.

“You highness. Sir.” Quala greeted them both with a bow and called their attention. Immediately, the King stepped aside and permitted her passage.

My turn.

I walked closer till I was just two feet away. “Your highness. Sir.”

The king briefly exchanged a glance between me and the party outside where I could see Saliel and Quala standing. Saliel was not in his uniform today. Just a casual tunic, trouser and a leather belt around his waist.

“Quala does not want to go, could she stay behind?” I asked when I saw how perturbed her face looked from a distance.

He pulled the hood of my cloak over my head “No. Be back in your room by ten pm.” 

Resigning to his instructions, “Sure thing my lord” I said with a bow and ran past him. If I was expected to be back by ten then I needed to leave soon so I could make the most of my four hours.

At least I tried to make Quala stay. I think.

“You look mysterious.” Saliel said as he pulled the reins of a horse while Quala took hold of the second one.

There was no carriage. We were going by horse.

“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.” I said as I watched both of them mount each of the horses. “Who am I riding with?”

“You get to choose.” he responded. There was not much to choose from, so I lifted my hand to him and he helped me climb on behind him.

“Stay close” he said and whipped his horse who began galloping forward. The sound of hoofs from Quala’s horse  also followed us behind.

And we rode into the evening.

The place was not as far as I had remembered it to be. A twenty-five minute ride and we were there.

It really matched its name ‘The Lightroom’. Its external illumination was so that you would think you were stepping into daylight.

There were men close by that were performing the duties of registering each horse with its owner. We rode towards them and got down. They tagged the animals and handed my companions their own lookalike tags too.

“Try not to throw it away.” Saliel said as he handed me his own tag. Then took my hand and led the way. We could hear Quala grumbling directly behind us.

“I feel bad for her.” I said, but the only response I got was an hmm of indifference.

Ignoring it, we got into the extremely large tent with a sitting capacity of about a thousand people. The murmurs of chitchat filled the air with a unique buzz of laughter that I had never really felt before.

Unlike the pub where the atmosphere was charged. This one felt electric, almost contagious.

“Tickets?” A man at the entrance asked and panic soared through me because I had not thought about the fact that we needed tickets for the event. And neither had Saliel mentioned it either.

I tugged at his arm to ask what we were going to do, but he did not look nearly as worried as I expected. He inserted a hand into his pocket and pulled out a gold plated card. “For the three of us.” Gesturing to himself, Quala and I.

The man only observed the card and gave him a nod. “Welcome to the Lightroom.” he said, giving us way.

“What did you show him?”

“The palace access card. The King handed it to me while you were preparing. Like I said before, the castle has some privileges that you might as well utilize.”

The king had given us an access card. I made a mental note to thank him for that later.

Saliel kept leading the way till we got to a bench seven lines away from the floor.

“Best angle to watch anything.” He said proudly as he took his seat. 

“And how do you know that?” Quala asked, settling beside me and keeping me wedged between herself and Saliel.

“Been here a couple of times. Look over there.” He points to an open entrance at one end of the tent. “The acts come in from there. Now, most people would sit directly opposite that door because they believe they would be facing the acts directly when they arrive. Unfortunately, the acts face our angle, keeping their sides to the door because that is how they rehearse. So from here, we would make direct eye contact with the performers.” 

The explanation came from a wisdom of experience. When he said he had been to the Lightroom, I had guessed probably twice or thrice. He talks like it has been a lot more.

“How many times have you been here?” The lights of the hall were dimmed. The show was about to start.

“I don’t know. Maybe forty? Fifty? I’ve lost count since I was a kid.”

“Same here. My last experience here, the event was so crowded. My brother developed claustrophobia and vomited all over my dress.” Added Quala after Saliel.

Now his surprise to me not attending a show and Quala’s disinterest in tagging along made more sense.

Apparently, I was the only one who was excited for the experience. It was just another regular day to them.

My excitement suddenly turned into embarrassment. 

But thank the gods three women in a costume whom I believe were the first acts, had begun speaking. They took all the attention away from me and my question.

I did not want them noticing that.

Xanthanius 

I was still massaging the balm on my aching wound when he knocked on my door again.

“Anthonier just come in, you literally left here a minute ago.” My shirtless reflection in the mirror was a little sweaty from my temperature that was starting to rise.

The scar was hell bent on being stubborn today.

He knocked again and angrily walked towards it and flung it open without sparing him a glance. I went back to the mirror.

“If you’re still here to mention the Quinestra, I would strike you in the guts.” 

“Good evening your highness.” someone replied.

No, not someone. It was Marina. She had just walked into the room and shut the door behind her. Still clad in her cloak but had brought down its hood.

She was the one knocking.

“Apologies. I had assumed it was my high adviser who was at the door. I do not usually answer my door in such manner.” Even though there was no good reason why I should be explaining myself.

Courtesy anyway.

Her eyes were struggling to make contact with mine though. I noticed she tried to look me in the face but couldn’t. Then lowered her gaze to my chest but that would have been inappropriate because I was shirtless. She stared at the scar for a bit before deciding my feet and the floor were better options.

“It’s no problem.” She started and cleared her throat after because the words almost came out like a squeal. “I wanted to say thank you. Saliel told me about the access card.”

She came to say thank you?

“Is that why you came?” 

Her eyes flicked to mine but went back to the floor as soon as it happened. “Yes. It may slip my mind by tomorrow hence I decided to show my appreciation today. So I don’t seem like I have an attitude towards someone who has only been nice to me. That’s why I went looking for you and they said you had retired to bed. I was a bit worried that I’d wake you.”

The explanation was a bit too… kind? Something was off.

“Did you enjoy the evening?”

There was a fraction of delay. “Yes. I did. Thank you.”

Yes, something was definitely off.

“Did anything happen?” I asked.

“Anything like?”

“Anything awkward? Off? Weird?”

“No. Nothing of sort. The evening was fine.” Her words were shaky. 

“Look at me.” She froze at the instruction yet slowly obeyed. Her green eyes met with mine and I asked the question in a different format. “I would rather silence than a lie. Now, I ask again. Did you enjoy the evening?”

She nodded slowly.

I asked the next question. “Did anything happen?”

Her lack of response was all I needed to have my answer.

“For the ticket, you’re welcome. You may go to bed now. It is late.”

And with a curtsy, she left my room.

But something strange had also occurred.

The scar on my chest had gone numb. It was no longer hurting.