Cecil hid behind a potted plant in a sunny tea room in the palace. The walls of the small room were peach and it hosted twelve ladies at a wooden table in the center.
“That's right. And after she divorced him, Erlina married Etward. No more than six months later, she gave birth.”
A flutter of gasps filled the room.
“Who do you think the baby’s father is?”
A third voice piped up, “Not Etward. He would have to have had relations with her before the divorce. And we all know what a tightwad Lord Trann is.”
The conversation devolved into smaller conversations about the newest piece of gossip.
After some trial and error, which had taken much longer than he had originally expected, Cecil had finally found one of Madam Wyntrop’s meeting places. She didn’t, as he had found rather quickly, that she didn’t invite people to the personal room she taught him in. And she was fast. Shockingly so.
His efforts at tailing her had been foiled on several occasions simply by too many people being in the corridor for him to see where she went. Asking around didn’t help either. She had the social life that he only knew existed from his worst nightmares.
And on top of that, she had multiple rooms that she frequented for meetings and gossip sessions.
The first room he had found a hiding place in, went unused for three days straight. He had assumed that she had stopped using the room for some reason or another, and had gone to a different one. Only to hear later that she had used the room the day he switched.
It had taken two weeks before he was able to eavesdrop. And while the information covered more than the social lives of courtly figures, he was no closer to solving his question. And almost a month had passed with a mere seven meetings he had listened in on.
Things came to a head while he and madam Wyntrop were sharing tea one day.
“Cecil dear, why do you insist on trying to crash my meetings?”
He choked on his tea, “hmm?”
She sighed. “Look. I understand youthful curiosity, but I have had to reschedule several of my important sessions in order to avoid a certain pair of ears listening in. Whatever you are trying to learn, please just ask.”
He opened his mouth, but she glared at him, “And don’t even dream of lying.”
Cecil gave her a look, “I'm not Tavv thank you very much.”
“And Tavv wouldn’t hide in ladies rooms to listen?”
Point taken.
“Maybe he would, but that’s besides the point.”
“And what would that point be?”
Cecil looked over her shoulder at a large painting of a black haired young man and woman and shifted in his seat, “I wanted to see if you and Talmage exchanged information.”
She laughed.
She was laughing.
He crossed his arms, “Its not funny?”
She dabbed at the corner of her eyes with a black handkerchief monogrammed with silver MW as she collected herself. He knew for a fact Tavv would go wild to get his hands on it, and it was tucked away safely even as the thought crossed his mind.
“Cecil, there are many questions you can ask that cannot, or will not be answered depending on who you ask them of. And whether or not I spend my teatime with Talmage on occasion is not something I have a reason to hide.” she tapped the side of her head lightly, “You really should consider what people are willing to give freely before resorting to convoluted schemes. Even if they will not give it for free, paying a small quantifiable cost up front can often be cheaper than dealing with the hidden costs of subterfuge later. Especially when it could end up giving you information you did not want nor need. It leaves you in a vulnerable position that could have been avoided, all for the sake of information you didn’t want.” She topped up her tea cup, “All of this to say, get out of your head once in a while. Solutions are often corporate affairs, and doing things alone can often lead to wrong and deadly assumptions.”
She pinned him down with her blue eyed stare, “Promise that you will confer with others next time you run into something like this?”
He gripped the edge of his sleeve. What she said made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, the last time he had asked for help and knowledge, the only option had been for him to scheme and take it for himself. And that had become a habit. Habits could be deadly.
Cecil looked back at her, “I promise to at least consider it seriously.”
She held that pose for several seconds longer before relaxing. It seemed that she was satisfied with his answer. And conversely, he had been able to satisfy his curiosity. This sudden state of freedom left him to revisit the other things on his to do list.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
…
It had been a month since his loving sister had imposed her restrictions. And it was high time he tested the limits, or even if she had forgotten them.
…
That afternoon he decided to start off lightly. He opened the door to his room quietly, thanks to the oil he religiously applied to it, and looked into the corridor.
Hmm. It was entirely possible that she would figure out his movements, then follow him. But, there was no trial without error.
Cecil turned towards the kitchens, the ready excuse of sleeplessness on the tip of his tongue. But he went there and back without issue.
When he returned her lights were still on.
...
The next day after classes he tested the limits of the garden. Cecil walked in a meandering pattern, as he slowly edged closer to the forest to see if he would be allowed to be in the haunted house.
The answer?
No.
He got caught soon after he had passed the statue. She had chided him for breaking their agreement. But he had begged off, saying he didn’t know that their definition of “close to the castle” were different.”
She clarified her terms, told him to just ask next time, and left after hugging him tightly.
It was strange to have his conversation with Madam Wyntrop echoed in Eriss' words. Much abridged yes, but enough of the core to notice the similarities. He didn’t think that wisdom knocking twice was a coincidence, but he also had good reason to act in this way.
So, he turned back to the castle to push the boundaries one more time… to the library.
…
That night he started his adventure the same. He waited until the castle was mostly asleep, then left his room. Eriss’ door was right across from his, and a thin sliver of light shone under it. Which meant she was awake. Unless she kept the lights on for fear of the dark or something.
Then he followed the same route he took to the kitchen, all the way to the last turn, then turned left instead of right.
The library was close to the kitchen not because it was handy to study and have snacks nearby, but for its role in the castle itself. Just as the kitchen was integral to smooth operations, the library was seen as an important thing to have near the king at all times in order to consult other people's ideas when making important decisions. But sometime after the castle had been built, the council had been established. It was done in a time of constant war and the threat of societal collapse. It was deemed unrealistic for any one person to be able to make decisions on their own if they didn’t have time to read books to temper their decrees with. This led to the council members embodying the ideals of a diversity of books, and be the living council that could convene with thousands of years of history, and condense that knowledge into a short meeting. It also helped that said council members wielded their own power to help stabilize the kingdom, and had a reason to uphold the current system that granted them extra power and prestige over their fellows.
When he reached the double doors of dark wood, he passed them. Cecil didn’t want to be discovered inside the library he had no access to.
No, no.
He was just wandering the castle tonight because of his restless legs. To that end, he went up and down stairs, through halls, and past ballrooms. He pased a few guards here and there, but they knew him on sight and didn’t ask questions. Besides them there was no one.
It was as if an ilusion had been placed upon him. The whole world was asleep as he wondered empty halls full of shadow and silence. His only companion the moon, and the wandering shadows of men who were placed to guard the castle.
He breathed in a full lung of air and sighed in satisfaction.
How perfect was the night in all her glory?
She was a cool peaceful balm upon the people's weary soul. And she hid those few who went about in her domain under a veil of darkness only unveiled by her moon.
When his eyes grew heavy and his steps slowed, he wandered closer to his room until he stopped in front of the bedroom door. Behind him, a small sliver of light hit the back of his shoes.
Then he went into his. Inside, Fanny stood from her rocking chair where she had been waiting and walked towards him with crossed arms, “you’re past curfew.”
Oops.
He had thought that she was asleep before leaving due to his excitement to get things started again.
He had to be more careful.
She may have been visiting that guy of hers, and he had taken her absence for sleep. Assumptions like that would get him caught. He needed to be more patient. But he also had a contingency plan.
He held up a random book from his bag, “I needed a book for a project and just went to the library for it.” Then he set a book from his bag on the table and grabbed his night clothes from the bed.
“Cecil. I know you can get focused on things, but sleep is important for growing boys.”
He frowned. It sounded like Fanny was gearing up for a long lecture that would make his trip back to the library even longer. But, he had been saving up a little tidbit for a day like this. He just had to set it up properly…
“I’m old enough to stay up a little later.”
She crossed her arms “Eight is not that old.”
“Sure. But you’re only eight years older than me and going to get married.”
“I’m not getting married yet” she hurried to correct him, her face suddenly red.
“Don’t you like Brons?”
“No! We’re just friends.”
“Well, when I’m in the kitchen, he talks alot about a lovely redhead with blue eyes…”
“Just go to sleep!” Then she fled to her adjacent room and slammed the door.
Cecil mentally patted himself on the back.
Mission accomplished.
His success flooded him with adrenaline, not just from his talk with Fanny, but the lack of response from Eriss.
Tonight was the night he would continue his infiltration of the library.
He threw his nightclothes into the wash room and made his pillows into a convincing lump of himself. Then, with infinite caution, he snuck out the front door. No siblings witnessed his escape as he jogged back to the library.
The next few nights became a routine. He even made friends with one of the guards on duty at night. His name was Artt. He was working the palace graveyard shift because of how much money he got paid. It was a position that most guards hated, or used the time to sleep and get paid. The former avoided shifts and did a poorer job at it, the latter were fired on the spot. The extra money was to incentivise a few specialists who would want to spend this time to get good at the job. That extra money was enough for him to commit to the job. Especially when his wife was pregnant with their second child. His son was a year younger than Cecil.
And after several days of the same routine, Cecil thought he was reasonably safe to continue his main project. Breaking into the second floor of the library.
( ?? · ? ?)
/ づ? I love you
