“Naw.” He smiled charmingly. “Fitted clothes aren’t for the likes of me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone deserves at least one set of new, well-fitted clothes.” It was this belief that had first driven me to pick up a needle at a young age. Without my own efforts, I would likely never have had clothes that fit.
The boy shook his head. “You have some funny ideas, miss, but you seem like one of the right sort.”
“The right sort?” I shifted uncomfortably. What exactly had he seen while he was watching me?
He rocked back and forth on his heels as if gathering his courage. “I heard what you said to them people before.”
“Which people?”
“The ones who were complaining. When you lot first arrived.”
Those people. My eyes narrowed. If that was what he meant, perhaps he hadn’t seen what I feared.
“And I saw you earlier with the prince. He gave me an oat cake with his own hand.” He shook his head again. “Well, it seemed to me that you grand folk might be interested in what I saw.”
Grand folk. If that was what he thought of me, I was surprised he had come to me at all. He shifted on his feet, watching me with wary eyes, and I wondered if he intended to bolt without sharing his information with me after all. I bit my lip. If he had approached me, it must be important. More important than my desire to keep my past to myself.
“I like to walk the streets at night,” he said in response to my look of inquiry. A defensive edge entered his voice. “It’s safest to be on the move, plus I like the quiet.”
He paused, apparently reconsidering continuing. I drew a deep breath and crossed both arms across my chest, fists clenched. “Ain’t that the truth.”
His eyes widened, and a slow grin spread across his face as he returned the universal street urchin salute. “I knew you were a right one! Wouldn’t have picked you for one of us, though.”
“I’m not,” I said quickly. “Not exactly, anyway.”
“But you once were.” It wasn’t a question.
I shook my head. “Not exactly.”
He grinned again and shook his head. “Full-sizers. You can never give a straight answer when you could give a round about one instead.”
I rolled my eyes, but offered no further clarification, unwilling to go into my full past with this stranger. “So tell me, what did you see?”
He frowned. “Normally my nighttime walks be real peaceful like. It wasn’t peaceful last night, though. Not once someone started ringing the fire alarm bell. Really going at it, he was. He rang the tempo to get the whole town up. For a raging fire out of control. Which was a funny thing.”
He paused again, so I prompted him. “Funny how? It was a raging fire, sure enough.”
“Aye, but not at that point it weren’t. I hadn’t even smelled any smoke yet. Not a whiff in all my strolls. Nor seen no flames neither. But the people started pouring out the doors, of course, and it must have been seconds later and the whole place was ablaze. Every building in the town.”
He shifted on his feet. “And it seemed to me that maybe no one got a real good look at whoever it was rang the bell. They were all too busy running for their lives at that point. ’Cept for me.” He chuckled darkly. “I ran for my life, too, o’course. But I was just around the corner when the bell started, and I took off sprinting toward it, I can tell you. I got a good look at the man. Hadn’t seen him before which struck me as odd. But I seen him since. He was the man you stared down earlier. And a right good job you did, too, miss.”
I blinked several times, struggling to get my head around his revelations. Had he just suggested the fire had been planned in some way?
“This sounds too big for you or me,” I said. “Would you come talk to the prince? Tell him your story?”
The boy shook his head and began backing away into the crowd of tents. “Talking to royalty? Surely you know better’n that. Urchins don’t stay out of trouble by mixing with royalty.”
I tried to protest, but he had disappeared behind a stretch of canvas.
I had almost forgotten the treasonous talk from the morning while I was busy sewing. But it seemed my dilemma had been solved for me. I couldn’t keep what I had heard from the royals now.
Chapter 4
Night had fallen, however, and despite their assurances of friendship, I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I tried to gain entry to any of the royal tents in the dark. My news would have to wait for the morning. After my almost nonexistent sleep the night before followed by a full day’s work, I could barely keep my eyes open to track down the steward. I eventually found one of his assistants and learned that I had actually been remembered this time. My assigned cot was in a shared tent with several other young women, and I collapsed gratefully onto the bed that someone had kindly assembled for me.
I didn’t even stay awake long enough to worry that I might have nightmares and call out in my sleep, disturbing the other inhabitants of the tent. And, indeed, I turned out to be so tired that I slept without stirring until the rising sun woke me in the morning. The other women had already departed, their cots left neat and tidy, so I did my best to straighten up my appearance and follow them. Someone had delivered my personal bag to the tent at some point which made the task a great deal easier.
I joined a line for porridge and ate quietly, standing among a group of strangers. As soon as I had scraped the last morsel from the bowl, I went back to my work site of the day before. Most of my assistants had already assembled and begun work, and I greeted them with a pleased smile. Most called back greetings of their own, though no one spoke of a good morning. How many days or weeks would it be before one of them forgot for long enough to issue the traditional salutation?
Once I had seen they had no need of me, I reluctantly turned my steps in the direction of the royal tents, easily recognizable from the flags that flew above them. I would have much preferred to spend the time sewing, but I couldn’t put off delivering my intelligence any longer. I wasn’t sure how much good it would do, when I didn’t even know the name of the man in question. But I only had to picture Frederic’s face to know he would want all the information he could get.
Thankfully I found both princes outside their tent, saving me from the task of convincing the guard at the entrance to let me through.
“Evie,” said Frederic, a small movement almost like a smile touching his mouth. I bobbed a quick curtsy.
“My brother has told me of your excellent work,” said Cassian. “We thank you.”
“You are the ones who brought me here and who pay both my wage and the cost of the blankets, so the thanks are truly owed to you.”
“A gracious thought,” said Cassian with an inclination of his head.
I took a deep breath. “But I haven’t come to discuss clothes, I’m afraid. I have something rather unpleasant to impart.”
Frederic’s eyebrows lowered as he examined my face. “In private, perhaps?”
I nodded reluctantly. It didn’t seem like the kind of conversation to have where anyone might overhear.
“What’s that?” A bright young voice spoke from just behind me before Celine popped into view. “A private conversation? My favorite kind!” She smiled sweetly at her brothers. “You weren’t planning to leave me out, were you?”
Frederic weighed her with his eyes. “No, indeed,” he said at last. “I suppose you had better join us.”
Celine smiled with satisfaction and led the way into the tent shared by the two princes. Cassian followed while I hung back, ready to enter last. But Frederic held the flap open for me with a courtly gesture, so I gave him a small smile and entered the structure.
“You know, I’m surprised the Duchess of Sessily isn’t with us,” Celine was saying to Cassian. “It’s almost as if Father thinks we’re safe to be let out without our minders.”
Frederic, coming in behind me, raised his eyebrows. “Somehow I don’t think it was you he felt didn’t need a minder.”