Play of Shadows

00.6 Masquerade

Ann pressed her ear to the door. She held her breath, straining to pick out the lightest shift of sound from the hallway outside.

"I think he's gone," she whispered.

"That's what you said last time," K said, not looking up from where he was leafing through a worn book, "and the time before that."

Ann puffed up her cheeks in embarrassment. "Nothing happened, did it?" she grumbled.

"That's true. You should try again," K told her.

Ann turned away from the door with an offended glare that was, sadly, lost behind her smiling mask. Her first attempt at an escape had ended as soon as she took a step out of the door. Who could've known that the butler hadn't left yet, or that he was so particular about the castle's guests staying put? A single look at his empty smile had Ann beating a hasty retreat.

The second time... Ann shuddered. The butler had been right at her doorstep, so close Ann very nearly smushed her nose into his neatly-pressed cravat. There was no smile on the man's face this time. When he asked Ann if she needed anything, the words were garbled under the heavy grind of his teeth.

"Are you that bored?" she asked K.

"Yes," K said simply. A page flipped over, the crisp sound of paper like the hiss of laughter.

Ann only just kept from stomping her foot in irritation. She glanced at the door again, then made her way toward the table with a petulant sigh. There was only one chair, but the table was low enough that she could lean against it without too much trouble.

"What're you reading?" she asked.

"A story," K said. "It's not very good."

Ann leaned over, intrigued. The book K was holding was bound in old leather and had no title. Many of the pages were smudged and the lettering had faded, either with time or due to poor printing. "What're you, then? A bard?"

"A teacher," K told her.

Ann nodded, thinking that the occupation fit with the setting. Towns needed priests and teachers, whatever their size. The characters of the visiting nobles also had their own connection with Lona. Only she stuck out like a crooked nail.

"Tarah's task has something to do with the ball tonight," she said. The girl's reaction to the news of the event at dinner had been telling.

K let out a hum of agreement. Ann took that as permission to continue thinking out loud.

"Her room at the inn – it was number 1, wasn't it?"

"Don't remember," K said.

Ann nodded to herself, ignoring the man's disinterest. "I bet it was. Looks like there's an order to completing the instance. What's your task?"

K looked at her. His eyes seemed to hide a smile, and not a very nice one at that. The candle flickered between them. Their shadows danced over the walls, bigger than their physical bodies.

"Find volume two."

K waved the book in his hand. The pages fluttered this way and that, a few sticking out like ruffled feathers.

Ann let out a breath she was not aware she was holding. "You- we were in room 5. So you've got time, probably."

K watched her, expression unreadable. Ann shifted so she was more firmly on her feet. The back of her neck tingled unpleasantly.

A sound broke the quiet. Ann flit to the door, recognizing the whine of old hinges – a door had opened. She hesitated with a hand on the doorknob. Tarah had likely left her room. Was it safe for Ann to follow now that the instance had begun?