Henrill fashions were ideal for sneaking around.
Rellenora slipped out of the White Jade Palace with a dark blue cloak around her figure. Her soft leather shoes made almost no sound as she slipped out of a low window on the first floor. Avoiding the somewhat tired guards that stood around, Rellenora hopped and ran on all the pathways and bridges.
One of the palace gates was connected to a wide road that led to the capital. Rellenora wasn't planning on going to the capital. She was hoping to sneak out of the gate and run to the left, which would eventually take her to the woods. Once she was at the gate, all she'd have to do was wait for it to be opened. Day and night, it didn't matter. That gate was usually opened for deliveries, especially food. The occupants in the complex didn't normally go shopping in the capital, but they needed to eat.
A nightly delivery of food just happened to be coming through the gate when Rellenora arrived. The guards were busy watching the carriage. They didn't notice her sneak through the gate. She was tempted to stop and look at the glowing city in the distance, but her mission was more important. She needed to be herself.
She ran and ran.
But ... she didn't think about the guards outside the walls.
Loud, masculine voices, dark figures rushing to her. Rellenora tried to flee.
Something whizzed at her, something heavy and light all at once. Rellenora happened to move to one side, and something painfully grazed her left cheek. It stung. An arrow?! Was she bleeding? She felt like it was bleeding. Maybe if they knew she was a woman, they'd go easy on her?
She screamed in the most delicate, feminine way she knew how.
Fortunately for her, men were protective of women ... generally.
No more arrows were sent her way, but she was caught by a few men. She was lifted up and carried off through a gate. They were probably going to interrogate her. Maybe they thought she was an assassin. Rellenora chose not to kick and squeal like a pig. She let the men hold her with more ease than they probably expected.
She was taken straight to a room hidden inside one of the thick walls that protected the complex. It was dark in there. It smelled like alcohol, sweat, leather, and iron. Someone lit a few torches. She was put on a rustic bench of wood.
The men's voiced turned surprised. When they felt around her body for any signs of weapons, all they found was a pouch full of tinderboxes. Rellenora didn't have her writing materials tied to her clothing because when she left the White Jade Palace she didn't think she needed them.
It didn't take long for her to realize that she had been very stupid.
One man took her chin in his gloved hand and pushed her head back. Rellenora looked away at a sack of broken weapons. That man's breath smelled fairly nasty. Was one of his teeth rotten? It didn't matter, though, did it? She had almost died this night, and here she was, thinking of rotten teeth. She felt like more of an idiot than usual.
But hey, if these men didn't kill her, then maybe the Emperor would find out about this, announce that she truly was more stupid than he had thought, and divorce her.
More confusing words that she didn't bother thinking about ... but she thought Henrill was mixed in there ... somewhere. Did they notice that her clothing matched what their Empress used to wear when she was only a princess?
For her own safety, Rellenora decided to say something.
"Sorry."
She used her least offensive, most girlish voice.
She was kept in the room a few minutes more. She was able to understand some of the questions. "Who are you? Why are you dressed like that? What were you doing out there?"
Damn it. Maybe she should have brought her slate, after all.
She managed to say one thing. "Rellenora." Then she said with a very contrite tone, "Sorry." She even got down on her knees, put her hands down, and put her forehead on her hands, the humblest apology one could give in this empire.
The men laughed at her. Did they believe her? At least they weren't beating her up.
Someone's strong hand went to the back of her neck and pulled her torso up. It was nearly enough pressure to make her dizzy. They didn't believe her. If they did, she wouldn't have been touched that way.
She stared at her knees and wiggled her fingers. A heavy hand reached down to pick up one of hers. Her hand was soft and ladylike. Her fingernails were beautifully painted. While the thumb's nail and the first two fingernails on each hand had a small length, the last two fingernails were very long. They were also painted. There was even a bit of gold colored lacquer there. It wasn't real gold, because that seemed to be far too wasteful, but the elites in Zenthia loved to at least appear to have gold or silver on their nails on some days.
Another man reached for her hair, her curly, sweet smelling hair. Curly hair wasn't unheard of in Zenthia, but Rellenora hadn't seen many women inside the palace walls with hair exactly like hers. It was very, very pale.
She was pulled to her feet. Then someone poked her back with the blunt handle of a dagger, urging her out of the room. She was escorted through the complex and to the Imperial Palace. They led her through a side entrance, and then all around the interior, until they were at a tall door with carved designs of birds and insects. A guard knocked on that door.
Rellenora believed the person who answered was the butler. There was recognition in his surprised voice. He got to his knees and gave the greeting, one of his hands lingering on the handle of his door. Rellenora horizontally waved her hands back and forth and said, "No, no. Up, up." The butler got up.
Soon, Rellenora was led to a reception room. Then she was left alone. She perched herself onto a chair. Her legs were tingling. Her throat was oddly cold. She tapped her fingernails together and listened to the tile-like noises they made.
The door opened, and the first person she saw had damaged hands. His voice was strained, like it would fall apart. Prince Yban? He was loosely dressed, as if he had rushed to get his clothes on. Rellenora watched him enter the room and get on his knees. As he gave the greeting, Antonai walked into the room. His clothing was similar to his friend's, barely even on him.
And he was yelling.
Antonai made broad, furious gestures. His tail was straight behind him and vibrating. His voice shook the whole room. It made Rellenora feel like ... a child that had ran away from home. Or ... rather ... Rellenora was almost literally that. She was a childish creature that had ran away from what was supposed to be her home. She had been planning to come back, of course, but goodness did she make herself seem doltish!
