The Ring Master's Fair

PART 10

The Ring Master's Fair - Part 10

"Lar-Lar!"

"Hmm?"

"I wanna play Knight In Shining Armor with you and Ry-Ry."

Lark chuckled at the little boy's nickname for Rylan.

Torrance was Riva's 5 year old grandson. Since his mother died last Winter, King Alkis was more than happy to give Torrance shelter here at the palace. He was a sweet kid. A troublemaker, but helpful when you asked nicely.

"How about you go find 'Ry-Ry' and we will meet in front of the garden fountain?" she asked the little boy, tousling his shaggy brown hair. "I need to do something really quick."

Torrance nodded his head excitedly. "See you there, then. And don't forget your wooden sword!" He scurried down the stairs, nearly tripping over his feet in the process.

"Careful!" she called to the clumsy kid.

Turning back to the book, she found a blank page. "What the?" she whispered to herself.

Lark could have sworn this page was filled to the brim with words about slavery when she first looked at it. Invisible ink? Nah, only the King's spies have access to that. And besides, why they need information on slavery to stay hidden?

Magic maybe? It was the most logical answer. There were plenty of people who had access to strange and unusual magic. Not to mention, during her many visits to this library, Lark had stumbled upon multiple books with hidden codes and disappearing text.

But why? Why did this one book have to have disappearing words.

Lark shook her head disappointed. But she still clutched the book in one hand and made her way down the stairs to the second floor of the library.

"I found a book," she called, approaching Ezra's large desk.

Ezra looked up from her gardening catalog. "No need to check it out, Honey. You usually come back with the book if not the next day, then the day after."

Lark blushed sheepishly. Even though she was a slave, and slaves didn't get an education, Atticus - during some of his good moments - taught her how to read. Therefore, she had the tendency to hole up in her room with her nose buried in a book. She sometimes even stayed up all night reading. "This one is surely going to last at least a couple days, if not a couple weeks."

Ezra just waved it off. "I still trust you. "Go on now, take the book and scat."

Lark grinned. Clutching the book to her chest like it might suddenly fly out of her grip, she headed down the last of the library steps and out the heavy door.

"Lar-Lar! Your here! Now we can play Knight In Shining Armor!" Torrance giggled from where he was on top of Rylan's shoulders.

"Seems like you got a horse there, little buddy," Lark couldn't help but smile at the two boys.

"Sadly," Rylan chuckled.

"Where's your sword?" Torrance frowned.

"Ah, you see, a fearful dragon attacked Lark and scared her so much that there was not much she was able to do. But she managed to stab the dragon in the roof of the mouth with the sword. But, sadly, her beloved sword got lost in the process; a small price to pay for her own life."

The story was a bit of an over exaggeration. Instead of losing the wooden sword in a battle against a fearful dragon, she lost in a game of tug-of-war with a guard dog named Slasher.

Torrance stared wide eyed at Lark, mystified by the false story. "I will go get you another sword then!"

Rylan set Torrance down. He ran towards the fountain, where a pile of wooden swords in various sizes lay scattered.