Sly

Chapter Thirty One

I rested my hand on the arm of my escort, gloved hand resting lightly on his sleeve. It wouldn't be proper for a lady to dine alone in one of the finest establishments Sunset District, after all.

Master Bricker cleaned up well. Where he got his silk tunic and shiny new riding boots was beyond me, but I had borrowed the soft pink dress from Orchid's closet so who was I to complain? If helping the prince was going to have me forever dressing up like this I would need to buy my own gown. Orchid was beginning to tire of me taking her dresses, though none of the muses ever seemed to grow wary of playing with my hair.

I had practiced dinner etiquette with River until she could pass eating in the Gilded Swan. A follow-up lesson from the Harvest meal she readied me for. She didn't ask why I needed to know all this, and I didn't offer.

Bricker also got a quick rundown of escorting a lady and he would take his lead on how to eat by imitating me later. He didn't have time for the full lesson but he was such a charmer that it shouldn't be hard for him to cover up any mistakes he made. He could also help listen. I just told him it was something I wanted to do, to listen in at one of the most expensive restaurants in Unays. For all he knew it was because of the maps we were working on before, and that may have been partly true if anyone mentioned buying properties or raising rents, but I wasn't ready to tell anyone about working with Rorik yet.

I had posed as my own maid the day before to make a reservation. The way the staff turned their noses up at me then was starkly different than how we would be treated now. Besides making my reservation, I also spent some time in a few pockets around Sunset District to make sure I could actually afford to eat here. As Bricker led me to the entrance, the host led us to a table in the middle of the room.

"Isn't there a more, romantic corner for the lady and myself, good sir?" Bricker winked at the host and tucked a silver bit in the man's pocket. I almost groaned out loud at how expensive this was getting but I didn't want us to be spotted by anyone I'd met at the castle, and a darker corner would go unnoticed.

"Certainly, sir." We were led to a corner with a table for two. The room filled up quickly after we settled in, a prime hour for nobles, apparently. Hopefully, it would also be a prime hour for gossip.

Light conversation buzzed. This estate just bought a new horse, that Duke has a mistress, some cousin from Raastad sent a wedding invitation. I had gotten a lot of practice this week sorting out voices so I could concentrate on one conversation at a time.

I wasn't sure if Bricker was hearing anything useful or not but he was able to keep a good appearance of paying attention to me and ignoring the rest of the room. He smiled and held my hand over the table, pretending to gaze at me. I saw the lack of sight in his eyes though and knew he was just staring blankly, focusing on his hearing.

I wondered for the dozenth time if he was too flashy to bring to dinner, but he would be able to do the job and he thought on his feet. Grahm would have been good company but wouldn't have been able to play the part of a noble escort and wouldn't be able to disguise his eavesdropping. Dirk would have been better for information gathering and sneaking around but there is no way he could have been made presentable as if he was of a higher class. And Jexa . . . just, no. No.

There was no ordering from a menu here, you sat down and the courses were already determined by what the cooks had been preparing that day. A hot tomato and herb soup was the first thing to come out along with a loaf of bread with nuts in it. An entire loaf just for two people. My mouth watered at the smell, even as my stomach churned at the excess of it. I delicately picked my soup spoon up and made eye contact with Bricker to make sure he saw which one I'd grabbed. He nodded slightly and lifted the correct one.