In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 6: Pips and Pints~

A/N: Here's a much longer update in apology for having taken so long! Aha. Enjoy... Please... ;)

FYI: Pips are the name for the dots on a di, like the ones pictured. :) Dice were used more traditionally to gamble as opposed to cards (think Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest when they gamble on the Flying Dutchman)

The sun had set for that evening and everyone was turning in to their houses and quarters to prepare for bed... except Kalysta. This was prime time for the kind of work that needed to be done. On a Friday night with newcomers to the city, the taverns would be full of gossip and some of it would be worth listening in on.

"Delia, I'm going out tonight," the Princess said as she applied her heavy makeup for the role she would play tonight.

"Oh, come, milady you need your sleep tonight!"

"No," Kalysta refuted. "I need to gather information and you know what that takes; a little risk. There are newcomers in town and they always let their tongues betray their intents and political standing when they've had too much to drink."

"Very well," Delia sighed. "Send Bill my love."

"Tell him yourself," the Princess said. "You get the night off. Go see your love."

"I am 40 years old, milady," Delia admonished. "I can't shirk my duties simply to go be with my gentleman friend."

"Send him your love, but he's just your "friend"?" the Princess teased. "No matter the duties, take the night off! You deserve some time off for yourself and if I have to hear William complain another night to me about not seeing you often enough then I will personally shackle you to his bed for a weekend!"

Delia narrowed her eyes.

"I mention bosoms and you blush, but then you talk of shackles in a bedroom," she tsked. "I don't know what to think of you, milady."

"Then don't try," the Princess laughed. "Just go see William. You will need to arrive before me, so make it quick.

"Besides," she continued, "I only blush when you talk about my bosom. That doesn't mean I'm not fully aware of certain matters."

Delia huffed.

"Do you want help with your makeup?" she asked a moment later.

"Yes," Kalysta said eagerly. "I always need your help with that, but I need it tonight especially. I cannot risk any of the Bradians recognizing me in the common room."

"They wouldn't believe their own eyes if the resemblance occurred to them," Delia assured her. "Or they'd just think an unacknowledged bastard of your father was their server."

Kalysta shook her head in exasperation.

"Just make sure no suspicions come to their mind, please," she ordered.

"None will, not with the wig and the rouge on your cheeks. Not even the worst princess would allow herself to be seen with rouge and color on her lids... or so they assume."

"I feel like there's an insult in there somewhere," Kalysta teased.

"I'm just reminding you of their point of view, milady," Delia answered. "Rouge doesn't make a prostitute or common room wench. It's the attitude. We know that you know that in particular."

"Yes, I do," Kalysta sighed.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The blonde hair of her wig had already begun to itch as she stepped carefully out of the south gate. She was glad for the secret passages in the castle. Her parents and a few more trusted servants knew of them, but not many were privy to the information, so the Princess used this escape every time she went to gather information at the local inn in town. Everything would be ruined if people found out who Lyra the barmaid really was.