A Guest At Midnight

Chapter 9 - An Escort to Dinner

Gregorio and Bee were deep in conversation. She could hear their laughter ringing through the halls. Prince Sedrick seemed to walk slower than his regular pace, taking smaller strides than he normally would. He was a tall, jovial man, his pace seemed to her benefit.

"You look beautiful this evening." Sedrick spoke as he leaned down to whisper into Eleonora's ear. "I would say just as breath-taking as you looked this afternoon."

Eleonora canted her head and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "We met this afternoon?"

His smile widened. "Actually, no, we did not. I was with Rio, uh Gregorio, in the hall when you walked past with my mother." There was something about his own words or the situation that caused him to blush and clear his throat. "You are a stunning woman. I would have never guessed you weren't a noble by birth."

Prince Sedrick was in the know? So far many she met seemed to know she wasn't Eleonora. It spurred her to ask in a whispered tonation. "Why am I impersonating a noblewoman?" Someone had to eventually tell her, or be carefully convinced to spill without knowing they were sharing things she did not know.

He patted her hand, in a form of dismissing her ask. "The Countess will explain when she sees fit to." The prince stared at her, almost seeming to look through her. "I must say, you look so much like Eleonora Lee. It is as if you were her twin. Hopefully, looks are the only thing you have in common with her."

"I noticed you speak of her in present tense, while others speak of her in past tense. Do you believe she is still alive?" If he wouldn't answer her more pressing question, perhaps he would give her something else. As silence dragged on, the possibility became doubtful.

She started to regret asking.

"I..." He paused. "I believe she may still be alive, even after all these years. We were both quite young and trying to prove ourselves. From our last conversation, I have many reasons to believe she lives." He then cleared his throat again.

Eleonora glanced his way, observing his features. She noticed a glossy sheen in his eyes. Prince Sedrick's quiet display of emotion caused her to wonder if it was a note of deeper feeling for the original Eleonora. The trace of tears hovering in his eyes almost dared to splatter across his cheeks.

The urge to ask what happened between them tugged at her. In the course of the evening, she would find a creative way to approach the subject again. From her read of him, pulling information from him would take time and a level of patience she was not certain she had.

"What do you think of the Triena Palace?" He asked with a plead in his gaze for s stay in a more light-hearted discussion.

Eleonora gave him what he pleaded for, allowing the shift as an applied tactic of building a foundation. What she sought could wait for the moment. "What I've seen has been gorgeous. I look forward to walking through many more halls, especially where you first saw me. I want better look at all the paintings. They tell a story of Triena?" She injected her words with enthusiasm.

"Yes." He chuckled. "After dinner, we can walk the hall together? I can tell you the stories I know."

Eleonora glanced at the back of Gregorio's and Bee's heads before turning to Prince Sedrick. "I would enjoy that, perhaps, Gregorio and Bee can join us?" She hoped they were listening. She was not aligning for an intimate moment with Prince Sedrick. Her play was for information. She also would not mind talking to Gregorio.

"Of course, if that is what you would prefer." The Prince was agreeable enough though the inflection in his voice denoted disappointment.

The walk from her quarters to the Countess' suite took quite some time. There were a few moments of awkward silence between her and Sedrick. In the absence of discussion between them, Sedrick told jokes to the royal guards. Some of which lost their composure. However, the two burly men she was acquainted with earlier in the day were not among those who stifled laughter.