88 - Observations

Rowena closed her eyes, and didn’t say a word for minutes. Theo would have almost thought she was sleeping, if not for the fruit she kept stuffing in her mouth. She held onto an intricate glass bowl reminiscent of a snowflake. How it was structurally stable was a mystery.

If she felt Finn’s hand constantly refilling the bowl, she didn’t comment on it, content to continue with the current arrangement.

Eventually, she stopped eating, happy to merely cradle the comforting weight of fruit and glass.

She opened her eyes, looked at Finn, and handed him the bowl, wiping her hands and lips on a napkin.

Rowena clapped her hands.

“Right, if I am obligated to be social up there, I will not be the only one wishing I was here instead. Edgar, come on.”

Edgar, almost through at least the fifth pie that Theo had saw him consume, paused, looking longingly at it, before shoving the rest in his mouth and patting his hands clean. He rose, a man who has had their last meal on their way to the noose, and followed Rowena out the door.

“I’m up soon.” Finn, without warning, dropped the fruit bowl carelessly back on the table, and headed out a moment after they had left. To Theo’s surprise, it didn’t shatter upon impact.

“Ingrid isn’t back yet, so why did he…?” Theo muttered, wondering what was up with Finn.

“It’s been a strange night.” Drew patted him on the back, and he nodded.

---

Ingrid came back looking troubled.

“Hey, did anyone notice anything odd?” The conversation dimmed, as everyone considered her question, most responding with a look that indicated she would need to be much, much more specific with her request.

“Like, out there. I’m getting a few vibes. Some people don’t feel like they belong. Makes me think back to Espionage, and etiquette lessons.” Theo hadn’t noticed anything, but there were a few nodding heads among them.

“There were a few among them that had different, but similar behaviour.” Everett commented, for probably the first time that night (at least, it was the first time Theo had heard her voice). It was cryptic and vague, but it was becoming clear that something was off.

All the bards were quiet, trying to remember what they could from the crowd while they were (admittedly) distracted with performing.

“I’ll go take another look.” Everett walked back out of the rest area.

One by one, bards went out and looked and came back, sharing what they’d observed. Odd quirks, little behaviours, the politics of where people stood in social groups. Eventually, they came to a decision.

“Okay, we need to check this out together.” Theo said, as they all looked at each other, before deciding as one to follow.

Ingrid hesitated before joining them, taking a pastry on the way out.

---

Jenny saw all the bards cautiously leave the rest area, heading towards the ballroom. She scanned for Theo, and when they made eye contact, the question was clear in her eyes.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She fell in step beside him, and he filled her in about the theories that had started to circulate. Someone was saying there were spies among the nobles gathered. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that – it would admittedly make this night more exciting, but it could easily ruin an already enjoyable time.

She followed them up, as gradually every warrior and priest not on duty joined the crowd. They headed up to the guard posts, so to not alert anyone that their presence had increased massively for no apparent reason.

There was some jostling to get a good view. All the bards conferred, pointing out various people.

“See that group?” Everett pointed out a cluster of four, dancing in the middle of everyone else and doing a good job of it. “They keep their eyes on everyone around them, but they’re not talking to anyone else, and they don’t even seem to be talking to each other. They’re acting more like sentries or guards than socialising nobles.”

Theo look at the cluster Everett had indicated, and something struck him as being very odd, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

Bruce shrugged. “Maybe they’re just awkward?”

“No, that’s awkward.” Drew pointed out Edgar, who was almost visibly sweating even at a distance, panic clear in his eyes. “Those are spies. Look at how they dance.”

Theo observed the way their bodies moved, how fluid it was. “The footwork is too loose. Nobody here dances like that.” He saw it. As much as they tried to imitate it, they were missing a snap to their motion (that admittedly had taken Sparrow some time to teach properly, but these were nobles with resources who had no excuse). However, that wasn’t what stood out to him.

“Look at how they move in general.” Simo added. “That’s not a noble, or a wizard. That’s a hunter, an assassin.” They moved gracefully out of the way of anyone that came near, slipping past effortlessly. There was a deliberateness to their motions that was out of place amongst gossiping and drinking young nobles.

Theo clicked his tongue. That was closer, but still not what he noticed.

Apparently, one of their own commenting and agreeing was enough to bring most of the sceptical warriors on side.

“Okay, so what do we do with them? We can’t just attack them with no reason.” Discussion continued, as the group was now tasked with solving the problem they successfully identified.

“We could get the city guards involved and have them arrested?”

Someone scoffed. “Yeah, call them over, explain everything, point out very specific individuals and hope they understand and believe everything you just said with very little proof.”

“There’s very little you can do besides keep an eye on everyone and hope for the best. The only way to avoid this mess would be to identify everyone upon entry and maintain constant surveillance, as well as secure sensitive areas.” Most of the warriors jumped at Felix’s presence, but the bards managed to school their expressions. It was a less abrupt entrance than The Dancing Wind’s idea of a surprise.

“That’s partially my fault. I’ll go check on all the guards stationed away from the ballroom, identify and track the suspects here.”

And with that, Felix left as silently as he arrived. The group looked at each other, then turned their attention back to the ball, and the dancing down below.

Theo kept staring at the spies, wondering what he was missing.

“Okay, so we know those four are our spies. Let’s check how many others there are.” Theo shook his head at Drew’s words, taking his eyes off to see who else there was.

There were two dancing with each other, doing a very controlled circuit around the ballroom. Another four were in a group, acting identically to the initial group that Everett pointed out.

“Ten.” Theo said, returning his attention to the original four.

A chorus of ‘ten’s rang out, which was a good sign that they were all looking at the same people.

What wasn’t a good sign, were the confused faces of Everett and Ingrid.

“I swear I saw around 20 when I came to check.” Ingrid furrowed her brow.

“There were exactly 15 previously.” Everett confirmed that the number had indeed changed.

Everyone tried to count again and again, double and triple checking their numbers just in case the figure would go up because of something simple they’d missed.

“What about those seven wearing dresses in last season’s style?”

“Nah, those are some of the lesser houses who probably can’t afford to keep up to date with the latest fashion. Plus, they’re clearly nervous.”

It didn’t.

It was dawning on people that there were likely spies that had already left the ballroom.

As those around him scrambled to check on all those stationed outside the ballroom, Theo kept staring, still trying to figure out what exactly made them stand out.

One of them twirled, and for a fraction of a second Theo caught their gaze.

It was the eyes.

Theo was transported back to a muddy field on the outskirts of The Woods, staring into the eyes of an archer aiming for his head.

He knew exactly where these spies had come from.