A Fool's Tale

Chapter 34 - Sleight of Hand

All night I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation Talia and I had overheard. The horrible plot kept replaying itself in my mind, taking away my ability to rest. Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined the pale hand of Serpen Rose reaching forward with a vial of poison and emptying the contents into King Roland's jeweled goblet. And yet, despite my lack of sleep, I bound out of bed at the first rooster's cry, nervous energy coursing through my limbs. I hurriedly dressed, washed my face, and crammed a piece of day old bread into my mouth before rushing to the king's hall. I needed to find Gilles and convince him I was ready to perform.

As expected, Gilles was sitting at his desk in the front foyer. He was perusing some papers and there were dark pouches under his eyes. I wondered if he'd been working all night.

"Can I help you?" He glanced toward me when I entered.

"I wanted to let you know that I feel strong enough to perform at the feast tonight." I straightened my back, trying to radiate confidence and good health.

He studied me then looked back to the document on his desk. "I think Pickles will be sufficient. You appear to be a bit pale."

"But Pickles can only cover half the room. Wouldn't it be better if we kept all the guests entertained?" I argued.

He pushed the page aside and gave me a tight smile; a rarity from Gilles. "I must admit, it's encouraging to see such dedication." He stroked his chin. "And what you say is true. It's a large audience for one jester to handle. Very well, but do tell me if you feel unwell."

It was the first time Gilles had ever shown any worry for my welfare and I was grateful for his concern. "You won't regret it." I hurried away before he could change his mind.

On the way back to my room, I ran into Kyla on her way to breakfast.

She regarded me critically. "I see somebody got new clothes."

I blushed, knowing that Kyla was well aware I wouldn't have been able to afford them on my own. "Yeah, my old ones were falling apart."

"That's true." Her mouth tightened and she appeared to be on the verge of saying something negative, but then her features relaxed. Perhaps she realized it wasn't such a bad thing that I'd received something from the Brimstones. "I haven't seen you lately. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I meant to tell you that I talked Gilles into letting me perform at the feast tonight."

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh, you're a real go-getter, aren't you?"

I could tell Kyla was curious about my motives, and wanted to know why I was so eager to entertain, but I kept my expression flat and responded with a curt, "That's me."

"Do you want to do the same performance as last time?" she asked.

"Um, mostly, but I'd like to be the one at the head table tonight." I was prepared to be stubborn about the request, although I was hopeful that Kyla would be happy to give up the task, seeing as she disliked royalty so much.

She regarded me suspiciously. "Why?"

"I just think it would be good practice to have a tougher audience," I replied weakly

Kyla continued to assess me. I was pretty sure my lie hadn't fooled her, but eventually she shrugged. "Well, it's all yours if you want it. I see enough of them as it is, so I'm not going to complain."

I breathed an internal sigh of relief. It was the reaction I'd been hoping for.

I returned to my room, another item ticked off my checklist.

It was too early to get ready for the feast, but I needed to sort through my costumes and pick one that had easy access to a hidden potion. I now had three jester outfits thanks to Sabrina. I examined them. The pants were all tight fitting, but there was one purple tunic with yellow slashes like lightning bolts that had a small decorative pocket sewn into the left hand side. It was just large enough for me to slide the truth potion inside. Better yet, the pocket had a small button, so there was no danger of the bottle slipping out during my acrobatics.

The rest of the morning I honed my sleight of hand. First, I took an empty glass and placed it on my dresser, then I unbuttoned the button of my pocket, removed the stopper from the bottle and pulled the potion free. I then passed the bottle over the glass on the dresser, pretending to let a few drops fall into the cup. To add to the complexity, all of these maneuvers needed to be completed rapidly, while keeping the bottle concealed from any nearby guests. To say that it was difficult would be an understatement.

After my first few attempts, I realized it was too hard to do everything at once. Perhaps if I had more than a morning of training, I could become adept at the motions, but there wasn't time. I switched tactics and focused on getting the bottle from my pocket into the palm of my hand, and from there, working the stopper loose. Once it was in my hand, I merely needed to wait for an opportunity to pour the potion into the cup. It seemed to be a better technique. I watched myself in the mirror and eventually became fairly proficient at keeping my actions concealed, though I may have been deceiving myself with false hope.

By the time I needed to dress for the feast, I could smoothly get the bottle free and unstopper it with one hand. As for getting any of the potion into Serpen's cup without being seen, I didn't have a plan, and could only hope a good opportunity presented itself.

Phoebe didn't arrive to help with my make-up. Talia was likely too busy to think of it, or perhaps she figured I could manage on my own. I did my best, starting with the white layer of paint. After the foundation was complete, I drew simple dots on my cheeks and triangles stretching above and below my eyes in red paint. Then I colored black lines from my mouth to make my lips look thin and long. Although the triangles were a bit crooked, the over-all effect was quite good. Looking in the mirror, I frowned. There was one item of concern. My tunic had a circular bulge where the potion was concealed. Perhaps it was only unsightly to me because my gaze was automatically drawn to that spot, but I couldn't think of any way to conceal the lump short of wearing a long robe or coat, which would badly limit my sleight of hand. I could only hope nobody noticed. The preparations had been a good distraction, but once I was done, my nerves started jangling and my stomach flipped as if it were a tumbling fool.

All the way to the king's hall, my hands trembled. I kept nervously sticking a finger into my pocket and tapping the truth serum, as if worried it would disappear. The performers were gathered in the foyer, and as with the first feast, Gilles addressed us and set similar directions to where he wanted us positioned. It wasn't until that moment I realized he wanted me and Pickles to stay in the small side room during the cocktails portion of the evening.

A bolt of fear shot through me. What if Serpen struck while I was away? I considered what I knew about the feast. During the cocktails King Roland would be carrying his drink in one hand because the guests wouldn't be seated. Would Serpen have an opportunity to poison his wine without being seen? It seemed unlikely, but anything was possible. Gritting my teeth, I walked to the dining room with Pickles. It couldn't be helped. I had to trust Talia to keep an eye on her father without my help.