Excerpt: The Dreams of Lady Miette

“I’m not going to ask,” said Alexei from nearby, and both of us jumped. “I’m pretty sure it’s something Mother wouldn’t approve of.” I smoothed my skirts and turned to look at him. “I came to see if either of you has seen Spence. He went to talk to Lord Pierre half an hour ago, and Pierre says that he was coming back to me ten minutes back, but he’s nowhere.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for him,” said Tristan. “You might look for Lady Vera, though, she’s probably figured out by now that you’re fond of him.”

“Lovely,” Alexei muttered. “If you see him, could you tell him that I want to speak to him?” I nodded, and elbowed Tristan when he didn’t nod as well, because suspicious as I was that something was afoot, since Spence doesn’t seem the sort to wander off without permission, we didn’t need to upset the Prince.

As soon as Alexei walked away, Tristan shoved himself to his feet. “Milady, shall we go to one of the balconies? It’s a warm night.”

Since he obviously had something to speak to me about, I went with him as soon as I could get my feet under me, and despite the amused looks we got as we wandered trying to find an empty balcony, I managed to keep my face at least somewhat serene. Tristan dropped my hand, which he’d taken, the second we got out on an empty one, and started scanning the landscape below. “At least he’s wearing a light color tonight.”

“Is he in trouble? Danger, I mean?” I forgot about being circumspect and tested as far as my magical range would go when I’m so out of practice. No sign of Spence, or anyone else out in the foliage. “Is that to do with what made you late?”

“Perhaps, but I thought Alexei was in danger, not Spence. We should have thought to protect him, too, just in case the man he recognized knew him as well.” I didn’t ask any more questions after that, just stood there in silence and kept searching. “We don’t even know anything for certain,” he admitted, “but after Spence saw the man, we can’t be too careful, and it’s crowded in that ballroom. Making sure Alexei is safe is a priority at these functions anyway, but especially after recent events, we wanted to be on the safe side.”

“I understand completely.” I remembered at last, as my teachers always told me to do, to scout not only out but above and below as well. Above has always been the hardest for me, but this time I was glad I did it, because above and to my left, I felt two people, one adult and one younger, and the younger one felt like Spence, though I didn’t have the wit to try to get a firm impression of the older. “Hush,” I breathed, and he went still as a statue. “Above, and to the left. Did you hear something?” His shake of the head could have been just a twitch. I was growing more and more certain that I heard something. Not voices, but the rustling of cloth and someone’s boots hitting stone.

I know I felt the movement well before I heard it and certainly before I was what the effect was, and cannot express my gratitude at the paranoia of the time, because when a bright shape went flying through the darkness next to a part of the ballroom with no windows, I held out my hand and stopped the fall before I remembered that Tristan was watching, and that Tristan didn’t know.