& sixth

[quu]

With the essentials arranged and the party more or less outfitted, Joffrey led them from the armory. And as they departed, he nodded to his darkling lieutenant, who stayed behind. Evidently she had some words to share with the guards.

"I think it is unwise to rouse any further suspicion," he declares, not to anyone in particular. "We shall have to disguise you, if you are to leave the city unhindered. A troupe of actors, perhaps. Or merchants. Your transport awaits outside."

Attentive members of the team may note that for some reason there are very few persons of any sort wandering the halls in Joffrey's wake. Either he is leading them into a less-used portion of the palace, or perhaps it is only the late hour that was to blame. The torches and candelabrae struggle against the cool black syrup of the night; footsteps echo louder, and the sinister penitent hissing of night-beetles creeps in through the windows.

Eventually a rough stone gallery opens before them. In the overhang outside, the party might espy an empty carriage of six seats, and a team of horses whose color was lost in the low light.



A crisp, brisk thrill hangs in the air: the promise of adventures to come.

Joffrey draws the group into a rather musty little room and shuts the door behind them, which plunges them all into pitch blackness.

Comments

Re: FIRST STEP

[yowokomete]

Shonagon knows how poorly she will fail, if she attempts to disguise herself as a mere commoner. She snaps up a few of the showier pieces and layers them over the robe she'd chosen from the armory. A merchant's daughter, or a scholar's, she thinks, with pretensions towards standing. That should be an easy enough role to play.

She'd collected a few tiny knives from the armory, and now she tucks them about her person: in her sleeve, in a padded sheath in her bosom, at her ankle. She slips a long, sharp metal rod into her hair, pinning the lengthy tresses up.

[quu]

Joffrey nods approvingly, though he does reach for and carefully arrange the neckline of her robe. To better hide the knife.

"An interesting selection."

[yowokomete]

"Ah, thank you." She smiles wanly. "I thought that knives seemed a bit easier to learn than most else on offer."

[quu]

"I meant the robe, my lady. It is sure proof against fire."

[yowokomete]

"Where I come from, fire is considered very dangerous," Shonagon says. "Our palaces are built on wooden frames, with paper stretched over them. Our floors and blinds are woven from reeds. I am inclined to take precautions against it wherever possible.

"Would you have chosen something different for this journey?" She's genuinely curious--knowing so little about the land, her choices had played to the fears and expectations she'd been socialized with, and until now she hadn't stopped to think that such preferences might not suit.

[quu]

He listens with an absorbed expression, and concludes, "Your surest protection is to stay close to Varrå. If I foretell the future aright," (He shares a wry smile with her.) "You will be the sole diplomat, and what you say will be ever so much more important than the enchantments you wear."