A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 13 - Exploration

Lyrani was the only elf in sight, but she wasn't alone.

The darkness surrounded her, thrumming with purpose as she crept up the stairs.

She had lost track of how many flights she had ascended. All she knew was that the exertion pressed in around her chest. She stopped to catch her breath.

Lyrani's eyes followed the stairs as they spiralled around the tree trunk and up into the sky. Each step warped the shadows cast by the moonlight, turning them eerie to a person who didn't belong within the darkness as Lyrani did. Inhaling deeply, she put one boot in front of the other and continued her path up to the royal family's apartments.

Not for the first time on a mission, Lyrani thanked the stars that Lord Dundor had insisted on extra fitness training. It had been nearly impossible to get herself to ECISI in time for those early morning sessions, but they had been worth it. Missions had a way of presenting one with unexpected challenges.

Not all adversaries carried weapons. A never-ending staircase was a tough opponent if one was unprepared for the possibility.

Lyrani looked up to see the starlight glinting off the buildings nestled in the top branches of the tree. Being square-shaped, they reminded Lyrani of bird houses. That was if bird houses sparkled in the night like jewels on a king's crown.

The royal apartments were only one flight away from where Lyrani stood.

She set her jaw. She could do this.

As expected, Trelle had argued with Lyrani earlier after hearing that she would be going to the dance alone that evening. It took a mention of their deadline for the senior agent to silence her protests.

Lyrani had never been a lady and a secret agent. To her, they were two separate lives that had never collided.

For Trelle, it was different.

Socialising was second nature to her in the same way spying was, and she loved it. Lyrani saw it in the way her eyes lit up when a new acquaintance struck up a conversation with her. She saw it in the hours Trelle spent getting ready for a formal event, humming to herself all the while. It was more than an act for the mission. It was who she was.

It was who Lyrani was, once, but that girl was in the past now, along with the manor where she had grown up and the title she had once held.

In the end, they had agreed that Trelle would attend the dance to cement her connection with King Nash. Lyrani would go off on her side mission.

Perhaps it was better that she stayed out of Trelle's way. Both agents knew that the king had paid too much attention to Lyrani the previous night. Just the thought of him sent little flutters through Lyrani's stomach, even though she knew that it shouldn't.

King Nash was only supposed to see Trelle, not Lyrani, if they wanted their mission to run smoothly, and Lyrani wasn't supposed to be this bewitched by her target.

She shook some sense into herself, but it took a few moments for that image of him sitting opposite Trelle with his big hands clasped on the table to disappear from her mind.

As much as Trelle was distracted by the mingling and dancing, she hadn't lost sight of their goal. The big ball for King Nash's twenty-fifth birthday was the next night.

It was the event of the season for those privileged enough to earn an invitation. If the celebration didn't keep the other guests busy, their hair and the final alterations on their outfits would. That was why it was the ideal time to end the king's reign of terror.

The problem was, Lyrani didn't have a plan yet. She had an inkling, one she had Benje to thank for, but she didn't know enough about the players and the stage of the next night's drama.