Page 111 of A Monarch's Fall

“I fell in the pond,” I said, in a way that I felt sounded convincingly embarrassed, probably helped along by the fact that I actually was.

“Name?” he asked.

“Uh, Edward,” I said, feeling off balance by how long I hesitated.

“Have you been drinking tonight?” he asked, and I heard the amusement in his voice.

“Not really,” I said and tried to sound like I was trying not to slur my words.

The guard laughed.

“What’s your room number?” he asked.

“Uh, up the stairs,” I said, pointing upward.

The guard picked up a clipboard I hadn’t seen behind him.

“I’ve got to get you to sign in, you need to put your room number, come on, kid, you know this, it’s been the script for the past two weeks,” he complained.

“Sorry,” I said. At that moment, a warm, solid head bumped hard against my leg and caused me to step forward. I looked down. “Loki!” I said happily and rubbed behind his ears. Loki turned to the guard and growled.

“That damn cat hates me. It knows I don’t stay here and keeps trying to intimidate me,” the guard said gruffly, all his attention on Loki.

“I’ll take him in with me,” I offered and reached for the door.

The guard reached to block my hand until Loki growled angrily, and he snatched his hand away and back to his side.

“Good idea. Get changed out of those wet clothes and have a glass of water before bed. You’ll regret it in the morning if you don’t,” he called behind me.

I waved back at the guard as Loki and I climbed the stairs towards Edward's room, the big cat choosing to continue somewhere else. I wondered why there was a guard stationed at the servants’ quarters and hoped that using Edward’s name wouldn’t cause any trouble for him later.

I knocked on the door that I knew was Edward’s, but there was no answer. I tried again, this time louder and heard a loud thump on the other side before it swung open, revealing Edward with a t-shirt on backwards and one leg in a pair of trousers.

“I’m not on until tomorrow morning,” he said as he opened the door, before he looked at me and his eyes widened in astonishment.

I pushed us back into his room, scared that he was about to announce me to anyone who was listening, which might have been the guard downstairs.

I placed my finger to my lips in the universal sign to be quiet.

“Is it really you?” he whispered and finished pulling on his trousers to rub at his eyes. “Percy?” he asked.

I removed my hat and let my hair fall down past my shoulders.

“It’s me,” I said.

“What are you doing here, and what happened to you?” he asked, looking me up and down in distaste at my appearance.

“A two-day journey on foot across House Maria, two days by train and a trek through the Dark Mountains,” I answered.

He nodded as if that made sense.

“Does the Princess know you’re back?” he asked.

“No, that’s why I’m here. I made a deal with Arvid to get me out of House Halvorsen. He warned me to be careful who I trust, and with everything I’ve learned, no one can be trusted. I had to sneak it —”

“How did you manage to sneak into the castle grounds?” he asked a little too loudly.

“Shh — we’ve got to be quiet. I need you to tell Selene that I’m here. No one will be suspicious of you; you can speak with her alone. She’ll know what to do. I don’t want anyone I don’t know and trust knowing that I’m back before Selene does.”