To my utter delight, when I go bay room, I find Vizs there putting up owels. I excitedly beg her to take me on a tour of the castle, and it seems that as my attending servant, my requests supersede her other duties. She's more than happy to show me around.

  The castle is rge and sprawling, but not too hard to navigate where the main rooms are ed. I'll definitely be wanting to spend a lot of my free time expl some of the more winding and voluted offshoot hallways, though. Su old castle must have a host of secret passageways to find.

  Vizs shows me the way to the main foyer, out to the stables, around dining rooms of various sizes, through two libraries, briefly into some ceremonial chambers, and down some hallways lined with the rooms of various nobles, including Khysmet's, which I hope I never o remember how to locate. But most importantly of all, she shows me how to get to the kits.

  The royal kit is huge and bustling, the air swirling with a cacophony of the most delectable sts I've ever had the pleasure of smelling. I knht away that I'll be spending a lot of my time here, provided I mao avoid being underfoot. The st thing I want is to bump into someone ahe tents of one of those burning pots and pans spilled all over me.

  The cooks turn out to be extremely friendly, too. Despite my ing right at the end of lunch, and their being busy with up, they are more than happy te up something for me to eat. They're not particurly polite, either, which I find to be extremely refreshing after spending all day overhearing people badmouth me in the most tactful ossible. I ask as many of their names as I , pnning to go bay room and add them to a notebook that I started st night.

  Not long after the end of my tour, a young man approaches me with arms full of sheet musibsp; I thank him and drag Vizs with me bay room so I look it over.

  "There's so many," I mutter while perusing the massive stack I've been handed. "I'm excited to have so many options, but I'd really like to pick out some of the most well-known songs to start with. Vizs, could you help me out?

  Vizs has retur oasks that I interrupted earlier, but she happily puts them on hold again to help me pick out songs.

  "For Want of the Moon is a pretty well-known folk song," she says, pig some pages out of the stack to hand to me. "Sh a Thousand Tongues is popur, too. Oh! Beh the Tomei River is one of my favorites!"

  "Then you must sing it for me!" I and with a power stand dramatic flourish, then pick a fancy lick across the strings of my lute.

  She emits a flurry of ughter so nervous I would call it panicked and shakes her head vehemently.

  "Not a ce, Cat. I barely sing when I'm alone. There's no way I'm singing in front of anyone else."

  "Well how else am I supposed to know how it goes?" I throw up my hands in exaggerated exasperation.

  "You have the music right in front of you!"

  "What makes you think I know how to read this?"

  The look she shoots me is positively withering, so I make a pg gesture and back off.

  "Okay, okay. But I'm going to be sight reading here, so I might get some things wrong. If you hear me make any mistakes, feel free to correct me."

  Sight reading is one of my more developed skills, but I of course still make mistakes. I make sure to add some extra ones in, though, and make the same ones over and over to try and goad her into singing.

  Eventually, she 't help but correct my egregious errors. She is a lovely soprano, and while she's not alerfectly on key, her voice is absolutely haunting. Before long I have her ughing and dang a little as she goes about her chores. She teaches me some other songs she knows, too, ohat I'm not sure I have in my stack of sheet musid I'm having a lot of fun ad libbing some apa.

  "I have to go bad report to Mr. Marahk," Vizs says a bit sadly when she finishes up. "It's getting close to diime, so you should head for the kit a something to eat."

  I groan and flop face-first onto the freshly made bed.

  "Vizs," I ment, "I don't want to go get gred at by a bunch of aristocratic wet bs who hate my guts because I don't have a tail."

  She looks at me with pity aively pats me on the back.

  "It'll be okay," she soothes. "Give it time – they'll e around to you eventually."

  I sigh deeply. "I sure hope so. I've got enough to worry about with his majesty trying to think of as many ways as possible to piss me off."

  Her hand pauses. Right away, I'm kig myself for speaking ill of her king, but when she speaks again, she doesn't sound angry or tense.

  "King Khysmet is not a cruel man, Cat. He might tease a bit, but he's not going to let anything happen to you."

  "I… I believe you," I cede, though I'm still not pletely sure I do. I sit up and heave a sigh. "I just wish he didn't get off so mu telling people what to do."

  Vizs blushes furiously at my ent, whether at its tent or just at my sustained a Khysmet, I'm not sure.

  "What do you mean?" she asks with genuine curiosity. "He's always been very kind to me, and to everyone who works here. I've never gotten the sehat he… that he likes giving orders all that much."

  She doesn't see it then? I know it's not just me, but I'm not going to tradict her now.

  "It must just be my imagination," I say. "Anyway, I'd better go eat." I grab my lute and head for the door. "Wish me luck!"

  ******

  I show up, lute in hand, to the dining hall at seven, as instructed, and it’s already rather packed. The many tables across the very spacious room are overflowing with the most amazingly delicious food and drink – I know it’s amazingly delicious because I was just i snagging some before it went out. And around all the delicious food sits the dozens of aristocratic wet bhat I am going to have to talk to tonight.

  Immediately, I run into the same problem as I did this m. Everyoo the door when I walk in looks at me like I am a pieoldy cheese. The disgust pours off of them in waves. It’s palpable in the air, and I already feel myself starting to choke on it. Though I have mixed feelings about the man, I find myself searg desperately for Khysmet amidst the crowd. He might be an asshole, but at least he doesn’t seem to viscerally and uniterally hate me.

  I spot him easily at a long, elevated table that spans most of the wall on the far side of the room. He’s staring straight at me, holding a wine gss in hand and waiting for me to meet his eye. When I do, he gestures with a slight tilt of his head to the empty seat to his left. An invitation that I am more than happy to take him up on. I try to walk at a natural and normal paot meeting anyone’s disgusted gres, fog on the empty chair that is my goal. Walking around the back of Khysmet’s long table is the worst part, since most of the people there are old and well-dressed, which I’m pretty sure means they’re high ranking snobs like the guy who pined about me in the great hall. The hatred here is thicker than anywhere else.

  When I sit down, though, Khysmet at least greets me warmly, seemingly indifferent to the vitriol radiating off of his nearby advisors. I hat he has pulled my chair closer to his own than to its neighbor oher side.

  “How was your tour this afternoon?” he asks.

  “It was nice," I reply somewhat hesitantly. "I had Vizs show me around.”

  “Sad I missed out on it," he ments. "Oh well, I’ll have plenty of opportuo spend afternoons in your pany during the ing months. Did you get the sheet music you wanted?”

  “Yeah, I did," I say. "There’s definitely a lot of it to sift through. I'll have my work cut out for me trying to memorize as much as I . I've practiced a couple songs already, after we fihe tour.”

  “Well," he says with an enciure, "let’s hear it, then.”

  I scoff. “You sure? I might have picked up the melodies, but I guarantee I’m going to butcher the lyrics.”

  “I am dying to hear your renditions, Miss Catarina," he purrs.

  I squint at him. I 't tell if he's being sarcastic or not. Even if he isn't… I gnce around the room for a sed. I don't think that anyone here wants any additional remihat I eve. I know that this is the reason that I'm here, but I 't help but hesitate at the thought ing more hostile attention upon myself.

  "Don't pay attention to anyone else," Khysmet ands authoritatively, drawing my eyes ba. "Only look at me. I don't care if there's somebody out there that doesn't want to hear it. I want to hear you py for me."

  My face heats up a bit at his words. Part of me is mentally deriding him for how egotric that demand is. The other part is grateful for the encement I so desperately needed. Both parts are flushing uhe iy of his gaze. I sigh and shrug.

  "Okay," I cede, "but you have to correct me when I get the words wrong."

  "I do that."

  I unto the intro to Beh the Tomei River – since Vizs loves it so much, we went over it a few more times than most of the others, so I figure I'm less likely to embarrass myself with it. Khysmet smiles as, quietly listening to my rendition of a Veilsung cssibsp; Sometimes he makes gentle corres to my half-remembered lyribsp; He does not sing, though. I wonder what his singing voice is like, and if I could ever possibly vince him to let me hear it like I did with Vizs. Somehow I doubt it.

  He has me py a couple other songs I learoday, but I remember even less of those lyrics, so he soon asks me to py some of my favorite songs for him, a request that I readily fulfill, happy to slip into my fort zone a little. He asks me questions about the pieces I py for him, where they came from and what some of the more vague lyrics mean. He's being unusually kind, possibly sensing my unease and taking pity on me. It's odd, but I don't mind.

  Twice during my performahe long table shakes, causing all the ptes and gsses to ctter with the vibrations from an advisor smming his hands oable and st off. I falter in my pying, but I try to follow Khysmet's advice (choosing to think of it as advice rather than the and it actually was) and just keep fog on him. It helps.

  Khysmet does not stay at dinner for very long. Maybe half an hour, max. Whes up and motions for me to e with, the dining hall is still nearly full. I imagihat dinners ruy te, with free-flowing alcohol and so many people to talk to. It probably gets pretty rowdy ter on. I'm gd we leave before then.

  When we're alone in the hallway outside the dining hall doors, he makes a suggestion.

  "I might," he says, "have you abstain from perf at dinner after all. At least until the u at your presence has died down. Should some of the more outspoken members of my court have a bit too much to drink, you may find yourself a target of their… unpleasantness."

  I sigh and rub my arms self-sciously, grateful that he's giving me a pass for the near future.

  "You really think it will die down?" I ask.

  He nods reassuringly. "I know it will. You may never be the most popur person in the castle, but most people don't hate your presenuch as they're just ied in sacious rumors."

  I hum and bite my lip. Sacious rumors, huh? I guess that makes sense.

  "Allow me to walk you to your room," Khysmet insists, and I nod and walk with him. "I don't think it's entirely necessary, but I'd like to have a guard tasked with watg you when I'm not avaible. I'd rather not take any ces."

  "What makes you think a guard will have any warmer regard for me than anyone in your court?" I ask.

  He snorts. "I do get regur reports from my serving staff, Miss Catarina. Acc to my butler, Marahk, you seem to already be ingratiating yourself to just about everyone who works here. Even my driver likes you, and he's as taciturn as they e. I'll be selective about the guard I assign to you, but I have no doubt you'll be on their good side within a day or two."

  The ers of my mouth twitch up. Felix does like me? That's wonderful to hear. I wasn't sure if I just pissed him off with all my chatter.

  Khysmet stops outside my door and watches me as I open it.

  "You know, it's still rather early to be going to bed," he says. "If you want some pany, I'd be happy to offer mine."

  I flush a deep red at the suggestion, deeper with how closely he's watg my rea.

  "No, I think I'd just like to take aremely long bath, theo bed. It's been a long day."

  He hums and flicks his to. "I wouldn't mind a bath, too. You sure you don't want pany?

  My mouth goes dry. "Positive."

  He shrugs. "Just thought I'd offer. You should e try my bathtub sometime, though. It's much bigger. Goodnight, Miss Catarina."

  "G- Goodnight."

  I duck through my door so fast I almost sm it.

  Every hair on my body is standing on end. What the hell was that? Sure we’ve had about seven total seds of sexual tensioween us, but isn’t invitio bathe with him a bit mubsp; It takes a long time for my hackles to lower after that one. I keep thinking about it so much that I 't enjoy my own bath and have to cut it short. He was so kind to me during dihat it started to raise my estimation of him a little bit, but evidently he's right back to fug with me when it suits him. It's giving me whipsh.

  This first day wasn't so horrible, aside from being viscerally hated for a few hours, but I 't help but think that part of the reason it was okay was just because I didn't have to deal with Khysmet that mubsp; Unfortunately, I'm not going to get that lucky every day. I sigh as I think about it. I have a lot of headaches to look forward t the six months.