She reached across the table, pushing a small, burlap sack across to Natalie. "Throw this over your clothing, it should be enough to pass in the marketplace."

Natalie tried not to comment on her use of the word "should", which was not overly confidence inspiring. Still, she took the sack from the table and dumped its contents out on the bench beside her. It was a billowy purple coat all made of silk, with tails in the back. Natalie's mouth dropped open, and the princess laughed.

"Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. And ordinarily yes, that would stick out like a sore thumb, but trust me, you've never seen anything like this market. They're legendary. This will be tame next to a lot of the outfits you're about to see. Plus it has to be good silk, or we won't be believable."

Natalie ran one hand over the coat, impressed out how smooth the fabric was. She grasped the material carefully, turning it around until she found which way it went, and slipped her arms into the sleeves. It felt wonderfully sleek against her bare skin, so smooth and cool that it felt like someone had spun her a jacket out of water. She couldn't help smiling just a little bit at the sheer sensation of it. She'd never felt anything like that before.

"Do you like it?" Kira gave her a sly smile. "It's the best grade silk there is, I promise you that you won't find anything like it in—" she cut herself off, blinking, "um, where you're from."

Natalie glanced around nervously, glad that the other girl hadn't actually said "the human world". It didn't look like anyone was paying attention to them in the slightest. The bar was packed, every table taken by men drinking and laughing and singing, and bar maids wove through the crowds balancing giant platters of steaming mutton and pitchers of yellow beer and ale. There were a few black-coated soldiers in the bar, but they appeared to be in good spirits, passing tankards of ale and singing loud drinking songs by the fire. They didn't seem to be looking for trouble.

And yet, nothing in this world turned out to be what it seemed, so she no longer trusted first appearances.

She buttoned the front of the coat, struggling a little with the stiff brass buttons, and when she was done Kira made a noise of approval. "There, you look like a proper silk merchant now. No on will guess the difference." She pushed her mug away and began to slide out of the booth. "Come on, let's get going. I just saw the others go past so if we're fast we might actually get you back to the room before they get back."

Natalie trailed after Kira, out of the bar and into the streets, which were just starting to get dark as the sun dropped below the mountains. As they made their way through the crowds, it became evident that most of the people out on the streets were heading the same way they were, and many of them were dressed in a similar fashion to Natalie and Kira—who had abandoned her black robes for a gaudy pink cloak made of the same silk material as Natalie's. There were horses pulling carts of wares, and men and women dressed in long, colorful robes, some even had elaborate venetian style masks on, with swinging gold tassels or thick curling horns. Up ahead Natalie spotted a pair of men walking on stilts, and a woman towing a large brass trunk on a set of wheels, upon which a slight young man dressed in black perched, his hands a constant blur of movement as he juggled a set of chiming gold balls.

She stared around in awe, her eyes wide, struggling to take it all in at once.

"Everyone's heading for the market." Kira had to lean sideways as a man in a bright yellow leotard stepped past her, laughing at something his equally brightly dressed companion was saying. "Some of these people would curse the queen's name with one side of their mouth and sing her praises out the other, just so long as there's something in it for them." She frowned. "Not to mention, if you're one of the bigger merchants you had better at least look like you're showing up at the market, since the queen herself has organized it."

Natalie's stomach grew more and more sour the closer they got to the towering palace. It had seemed unreal and deadly from a distance, while she was safely inside looking at it out the window. But now, as they walked toward it, it was all too real. She felt relieved that they were at least lost in the crowd. Even if she hadn't had the disguise of the ring on, they would be hard to spot in this crush of people.

The palace was far larger than she's realized, and strangely enough, it was darker too. Even in the daytime, the stone of the walls seemed strangely black, smooth and glossy and absent of any light. No, she thought with alarm, it was like the surface of the palace was sucking in the light around it.

"Bloody eerie, isn't it?" Kira kept her voice even lower this time, so that Natalie barely heard her. "I've been this close multiple times, getting my information. And yet, it never gets any easier. Or any less creepy."

Natalie had to swallow past the tightness in her throat as she tilted her head to take the tower in. "Have you ever been inside?"
Kira shuddered. "Gods, no. I'm not looking forward to that either." She bit her lip. "And honestly I don't fancy staying long. Like I said, once I get you in I'm gone, sorry girl."

"No, that's okay." Natalie tore her eyes away from the spectacle of the palace, her stomach was churning, and she tried to concentrate on the cobblestones of the road just ahead of them instead. She was so nervous she felt sick. "I understand. I just appreciate you helping at all."

Unlike Sam, she wanted to add, and then once again felt a surge of guilt. Sam was just cautious, it wasn't fair to expect him to risk himself for a stranger. Though she agreed with Jewels, the "wait and see" approach didn't seem like a great way to go, with what she'd heard about the king. It didn't seem like the negotiations were going to go particularly well.

As the crowd got closer Natalie could see that there were low, iron-wrought gates surrounding the palace. They were elaborately curled and spiked in places, and the very tops were webbed like bat wings. The effect was both awe inspiring and eerie. There were double gates at the entrance, and as the first few people approached, they began to swing slowly outwards with a ponderous creek. The merchants filed in, slowly at first and then faster, and Natalie and Kira let themselves be pushed forward with the flow of people. The palace grounds seemed to have merged strangely with the field of lavender the castle had appeared in. The purple flowers were all still there, bright and somehow untouched. But there was a black stone fountain in the center, a statue of a woman in a long, flowing dress, her arms stretched above her head, a crown at her brow.

Natalie slowed down as they passed, tilting her head back to stare at the statue. "Is that...?"

Kira raised her brows, nodding, but she said nothing.

So this was supposed to be the so-called queen. She had erected a statue of herself in the middle of her palace courtyard. Natalie pressed her lips together. It was probably wise to keep her mouth shut while they were so close to the palace, but she couldn't seem to help the incredulous expression on her face. Kira nudged her hard in the arm, and they moved away from the fountain as quickly as possible.

There were already tents set up along the wall of the castle, colorful canvas awning hanging over tables, and the merchants were spreading out, choosing the best booths, squabbling over the biggest ones. Kira grabbed Natalie's arm, towing her over to one that was set up in the archway leading to the second part of the courtyard. "Lay out what's in your bag," Kira said, her voice low. "Just to make it look like we're here to sell something. Then we go find my friend."

They wasted a few minutes carefully laying out silk scarves and square bits of fabric that looked like they might be table napkins, along the smooth wooden surface of the booth they'd picked. All the while Kira kept scanning the crowd. Shoppers had flooded in after the vendors, and it was at least three times as busy now. There were vendors and entertainers both. A man in the center square played tricks with fire, the puff and roar of the flames as he blew them up into the air made Natalie jump. The crowd applauded.

Acrobats and jugglers took up another side of the square, men and women in tight, silk clothing in flashy patterns flipped and spun, or walked on tightropes strung above the ground.

It was a riot of color and noises, and Natalie's mouth watered as merchants walked past with trays of sugared scones and cookies, calling out their prices.

Kira was scanning the crowd, her expression more and more frustrated as time went on. "I don't see her," she kept muttering. "Why don't I see her? She usually sticks out like a sore thumb."

Natalie glanced down at her own colorful costume and thought silently that she was hardly surprised to hear it.

"There," Kira grabbed her arm, "that's her brother in the crowd. Let's go."

"But the booth—"

"Leave it, it's worthless scraps."

They pushed their way through the crowd, Kira bullying her way through groups of people that didn't move fast enough for them. She gave a growl of frustration as their target—a tall, fine boned man with black hair and an olive complexion—kept moving away from them. When they finally caught up, Kira grabbed the young man's arm, and he spun around, already flashing them a charming smile.

"Yes, can I interest you in a fine silk—oh." His grin faded when he saw Kira, and then he darted a wide-eyed look up at the towering black palace above them, then back to the princess. "Are you mad?" He took a step backwards, then another, shaking his head. Kira didn't let him back away though, she kept advancing on him.

"Jethro," she hissed. "Stop it. Be less conspicuous, would you?"

He stopped in his tracks, glowering at her. "This is not a place you want to be, Your—Sunshine."

"Don't call me that," Kira hissed. "That's not any better. Look, we need to talk to Darjaling. Can you take us to her booth?"

Jethro's dark brows knit together. For a moment he looked completely stricken, and Natalie felt her heart sink. Then his features smoothed over, and he glanced at the palace again. "You didn't hear."

Kira frowned. "What? What is it?"

Jethro's throat bobbed as he swallowed. "Weeks ago, they found out she was passing along information. The soldiers came for her...th-they broke both her arms."

Kira pressed one hand over her mouth, looking faintly ill. Her voice was muffled when she finally spoke around her fingers. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Jethro shook his head, darting another dark look at the palace. He stepped closer, lowering her voice so that it was nearly lost in the noise of the crowd. "What do you want?"

Kira's expression was distressed. "I—I thought she might be invited into the palace for the feast day vendors, but..."

Jethro's expression had gone even darker, and he was shaking his head again. "Oh, we'll still be there. We've been ordered to be there, since some of the court wants new silks and we're the best in the business. Of course, we're not the best now that Darjaling can't sew." He grimaced. "But I'll be running the booth."

Kira hesitated, then opened her mouth, clearlyabout to ask. Jethro sighed loudly. "Let me guess. You want in." =