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This is the wrong building. She could have sworn the RA said "take a left at Emily, first on your right", and Bella did exactly that, and here she is and the rooms in this place don't even seem to be numbered, it's all letters and names. She's not going to find Intro to Subtle Therapy in Room 206 like that. Maybe the RA meant take a left after Emily, not before Emily? Maybe she was supposed to go the other way around the quad and approach Emily from the other direction? She's going to be late.
Bella tries to get out of the letter-named-rooms building to go ask Emily for directions, but that's not a stairwell after all, and there's someone shouting at her not to come in and she flinches back and clonks her elbow on the door and boots or no boots she's down and she -
- is falling -
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subtly_artistic
It would be our honor to aid you in reorienting, then, though I must admit we're mostly occupied at the moment. I can find someone to take you to a room, and then later offer whatever aid you might require?
subtly_artistic
That would be very kind of you. I apologize for interrupting. What a nice king. She is not even slightly executed.
So someone shows her off to a guest room. Before they give it to her they check under the bed and in the spacious closet and in the dressers - We're looking for the King's son.
subtly_artistic
I see.
Is the king nice enough that she will remain not even slightly executed if he finds out that she concealed the prince's whereabouts? Is this a nice enough place that 'don't go and piss off the first person you met, even if he is a toddler' is not a principle of lethal importance? She will go with taking her backpack off and sitting on the bed once they've searched the place and hoping nobody asks her point blank.
Is the king nice enough that she will remain not even slightly executed if he finds out that she concealed the prince's whereabouts? Is this a nice enough place that 'don't go and piss off the first person you met, even if he is a toddler' is not a principle of lethal importance? She will go with taking her backpack off and sitting on the bed once they've searched the place and hoping nobody asks her point blank.
After she's been sitting on the bed for a few minutes there's a knock.
It's the very small child again. He mind-projects intense satisfaction. I thought they'd put you here! They did! And he ducks under her legs and into the room.
No. I know the palace better than them, but there's lots of them, so I have to go places they already checked. And they won't come bother a guest, so now I'll hide here and they won't find me. He looks up at her as if it is occurring to him for the first time that she might object to this. I'll be very small and won't cry loudly, you won't even notice.
subtly_artistic
Do you think your Ata might be annoyed if he finds out that I knew where you were? It was one thing when you weren't in the room with me and nobody asked, but if you're in here - I don't mean to ask this so often but where I'm from annoying powerful people is very dangerous.
Dangerous?
subtly_artistic
If I had landed in the Emperor's palace in my own country I would be (dead already) in very, very big trouble, not sitting in a nice guest room. And if he were looking for someone and I hid them it would be even worse.
You don't live in Valinor, he says, as if this explains everything.
subtly_artistic
And I've never heard of it before today, so I don't know how it works and I don't know what's safe.
I don't want to get you in trouble.
subtly_artistic
I don't either. Do you know if hiding here will get me in trouble?
No. He curls up. But I don't want to leave.
subtly_artistic
Well, this is about the extent of Bella's willingness to attempt to evict a crown prince who prefers to be in a room with her.
He is, as he promised, very very quiet.
After about an hour he creeps out from his corner and watches from across the room.
What's that?
subtly_artistic
The book? It's my textbook for the class I was trying to find when I had my accident.
But what is it, the artist is so precise and it has the same things over and over -