And her name is…

I…. I’ve been making it up as I go. When I approach the tall wall encompassing Kheliq’s main city I start counting the guards and their patrols. It is going to be interesting getting in, but I use my new teleporting skills to start a fire a ways off from one of the gates. I make it look like a hunting fire had gotten out of control, but drain the life from enough around it that the fire spreads very quickly. Even if none of the guards care enough to move into the woods to check it out, they would look, they would watch, they would be distracted, and the other gates would get busier with a fire blocking this one.

I am able to slink in with a family at one of the smaller entrances, my hood drawn up but I make myself appear to be a lot younger, like one of the children. I follow them for a while before branching off down another road. I’m already in my dress, so I keep the cloak drawn in tightly to conceal the bright colour. That’s the easy part, but the second inner wall will be more heavily guarded. I walk toward it, seeing the wall I almost climbed over once before. I wrinkle my nose at the memory. Climbing over now would be literally impossible, but my glammers are apparently a skill others don’t suspect.

The guards inside the wall are all much closer than the rest. With them working and eating together every day, they would notice a difference in each other if I were to change into any of them. I have the faces of my guards basically memorized, but I never asked Wulfric which of them had been blamed for my escape. It’ll be just my luck to change into one that had been hung or beheaded…. But Wulfric. I can picture every single line in his face and feel every curve of his body. I can draw him with my eyes closed. So that’s what I do; I change my outer appearance to look like him. He’s much taller, and more daunting than I am, but I only needed to get inside and they’ll have no reason to touch me. Changing my size a little is easy, but height and physical touch is not doable like straight to curly hair.

I have an extra roll in my bag from my last night at the inn and take it out. I take a big bite as I approach the gate, giving the guard there a small nod as I pass.

“General? What were you doing in town?” The man asks.

I hope the mouth full of food will disguise my voice enough for him to not think about it as I mutter, “errand.”

The man nods and doesn’t press, so I head for the stables. They will be empty on this side, all of the occupants won’t be going anywhere, and I put my bag in the corner under a bunch of hey. If it’s ever found it has Wulfric’s name in it, and if it’s returned to him he will find a letter in an empty peach jar.

I’ll wait around for a while and use a shovel in the corner that I can almost see myself in. I can’t use the same red head of hair or Wulfric will figure it out immediately. Instead I darkened my skin tone to a deeper tan like I’d been lying in the sun all month and give my hair a pink bubblegum colour but kept it the same length. I check myself over before I slip out of the stables. I skirt the side of the property, finding a group of ladies outside drinking while men smoke a little way further away. I join their party, barely noticed by them for several minutes.

“Hi, I’m Amon,” one of the women greets me.

I hug her, knowing girls feel immediately closer to you with physical contact. “I’m Chel.” I hadn’t thought of a fake name and the old one slips out.

She smiles and then looks over my face. “Are you going in plain face?”

I blush, not even considering makeup. “I forgot to pack it… I was just so excited for the trip that I…”

She smiles warmly. “First big party?” I nod and she claps her hands. “Ladies, we have work to do.”

They giggle and all start to introduce themselves to me. I wasn’t planning on makeup, honestly I could have used my superior glammer abilities to make it look like I was wearing some if I had. Still, it is probably for the best that I now have the names of these kind ladies in my head to remind me not to go crazy once I see Kheliq. They lead me inside to a powder room where other ladies are also touching up their makeup. They work quickly with my face, and it is an effort to maintain my glammer with the face paint. I can’t see what they’re doing and making it all match up is easily the hardest glammer I’ve ever pulled off. I have to let small things slip to keep it all straight, letting things like my eyes slip when I wash my face and my lips return to their fuller shape as Amon colours them with a bright red. A girl named Zuri paints my eyes while the other girls chat with each other.

“Are you here with anyone?” Zuri asks while she licks her thumb to fix a line of mascara.

I shake my head. “Not right now. But I’m hoping to meet up with someone later.”

“Anyone we’d know?” One of the girls says coyly.

I smirk. “Probably, but I won’t tell.”

They giggle and tease me, begging for details but my lips are sealed.

“I can’t wait to see Wulfric,” one of the ladies coos and I stiffen. “He always looks so handsome at these things.”

“Yea but he’s so cold,” another girl says like she actually feels a shiver up her spine.

A small smile pulls at my lips. “He’s not so bad,” I return dreamily, almost reflexively, and it takes me a minute to realize they’re all staring at me. “What?”

“You sound like you know him,” one of the girls gapes.

“ Likeactuallyknow him,” remarks another. “Intimately.”

Just like with my mom, I can’t help a small smile and they all gasp, “how?”

“I can’t tell,” I reply, trying to reign in my smile but can’t. “He’d be sure to punish me if he knew I was here.”

They gather my gist and start fanning their faces as they blush. “So… he’s off the market?” A girl in a pink gown asks.

My face falls. “My life is forfeit, he deserves better.”

“An arranged marriage?” One of them gasps.

I don’t look at her, just to my hands in my lap. “Don’t tell him what I look like, he can’t see me tonight.”

I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder. “… but if you love him, you should..”

My head turns to her so quickly she stops talking. I know my eyes are glowing when she takes a step back and I take the opportunity to stand up. She looks scared and I take a little of the energy from everyone around me.just a taste.

“He can’t see me tonight. If you hurt him, not even death will stop me finding you, are we clear girl?” She is definitely under a hundred because she nods vigorously, as do those around me. “Good. Thank you for your kindness.”

They all move out of my way and I head to the door, pressing my magic against it to stall them as I walk away. I turn the first corner I find, discard my black cloak behind a potted plant and change my hair to a brown on top that moves into yellow and orange, like a sunflower.

I move around the edges of the party, sampling food and drink. I spot two of my guards up at the front, and between them is Wulfric. The ladies were right, in his best dress he looks ravishing. I barely stop myself from taking a step toward him, instead turning to a server and taking a glass of wine. The dramatic in me spots the drink dispenser they likely used to add my blood to, and I’m tempted to sneak some in to put everyone that knows on edge. It’s obviously too risky and I move further on to join a conversation in a minority dialect. I know doing this will make them form a connection with me and I can waste a lot of time with them. As an added bonus, talking with the accent should distract any of my guards that wander behind me from recognizing my voice, and I’m far enough from Wulfric he won’t hear.

None of the people I’m standing with are big fans of Kheliq, and though they speak nothing but his praise their faces say it all. Me and the other ladies giggle as we catch it all, and I’m sure the men think they’re being subtle. Still, even the men quiet when Kheliq comes out, halting their fake love of the king. He stands in front of Wulfric like he isn’t there and it’s only the vision of him withering away that slows my rising anger.

“Welcome!” He announces. “I’m so glad to have you all here. I’d like to take this opportunity to personally congratulate a good friend of mine. It seems we have someone new this time around,” he grins over the crowd as they hush conversation about who it could be and I hold my glammer around me like a blanket. “King Helion has brought his wife-to-be!” Another pause while people discuss and Kheliq grins wickedly. “Come on my good friend, where are you and your Chel.”

My skin turns to ice but I smile and clap, looking around with everyone else until I see the two stand and approach the front. Chel, or presumably Pretta, is wearing a vail and I start changing my plan on the spot. I’ve changed Noryth’s plan nearly two dozen times since I left the house, but I know they’ll all stick to their roles.

Someone in the crowd shouts for the couple to kiss and I look at them quickly. If they were closer I’d have zapped their energy before the chanting from their group could bring. Kheliq is still smiling, looking over at the veiled woman like he is excited himself. It appears as though he still believes I’m below that shroud, and I sigh a little in relief.

Kheliq eventually calms the crowd and excuses Helion from the stage with a remark that he’s sure they want to save it all for the honeymoon. Helion is supposed to lead Kheliq to the garden for a private conversation after he’s done his speech when the food is refreshed. The longer the party goes on before we act, the greater the chance of something else coming up is. So, I focus on Helion, waiting for him to approach Kheliq again but he wanders off with Pretta.

What is he doing.

I glance at Wulfric to see if he’s noticed, and I see his eyes follow the pair off with marked suspicion. He nudges one of the guards at his side and seemingly instructs him to follow Helion because he starts off after them before Wulfric returns his eyes to Kheliq. He’s circling the party, greeting his party guests one by one. When he get’s a ways away from Wulfric him and four other guards move to follow him. I see other guards moving into the room and standing near doorways like they are keeping anyone from leaving during this process.

My heart threatens to stop in my chest as he get’s closer to me.Not now. I can’t kill him here, not in front of everyone. Not with his guards so close. Not in front of Wulfric. But as he gets closer I wonder if I’ve changed enough of my appearance to not be recognizable up close. All of the guards with Wulfric were previously mine, and look like they’re waiting for someone to make a move so they can take them out.

Once Kheliq reaches the group I have joined, me and the other ladies dip our skirts to him and wait for the men to speak. A moment of panic comes over me when I realize all of these women are paired up with one of the men and are being introduced by their partners. I see the men edging towards their ladies to present her to Kheliq, and move toward the single men of the group, gripping one of their hands. He looks down at me and I plead with my eyes for him to play along. He leans over and kisses the top of my head just as the couple beside us finishes talking.

He intrudes me as his missus, using his first and last name, and Kheliq doesn’t care enough to ask my first name before moving on.

As they walk away the man leads me away from the others a little and smirks at me. “Is there a good reason I committed what the king would consider treason for you?”

I grip his hand and squeeze it. “There is, thank you.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

I shake my head but smile. “I’m just not looking to be recognized yet.”

His eyes seem to shimmer when he looks at me again. “Who are you?”

“I.. I’m no one to be worried about.” I say instead of the sarcastic response I had been thinking. “But really, thank you, if there’s a way I could repay you…”

“Dance with me?” He interrupts.

“What?”

“Dance with me.” He says again with a smirk. “It would be stranger if we didn’t.”

I don’t know that I believe him, but I let him lead me to the dance floor and he spins me around. I catch sight of Kheliq as he continues around the room, and I keep tabs on him as we spin around and around the space. For two passes he hasn’t moved further along and my eyes move to Wulfric. Our eyes meet and I see the light behind them. He’s furious, and I can only delude myself into thinking it’s something Kheliq has done or said for a moment before I realize he’s picked me out.

“Fuck,” I mutter but my dance partner catches me.

“What is it?”

“I’ve been recognized,” I return.

“By who?” He tries to spin us around so he can look but I change our direction and turn us away from him.

“Don’t look. He’s not the forgiving type.”

“What do we do?”

I laugh a little because ya, whatdowe do. There’s nothing much I can do trapped in here. I can’t change too much at this point because my dress will be the same. Glammering fabric, especially a dress that moves and flows so much is so much different than hair that is a part of you. I chew on my lip for a minute but catch a drink off a waiter’s tray and drink it quickly.

“Nothing,” I conclude. “He can’t do anything.”