Page 25 of By Mistake

"You'd make a terrible doll. You'd boss around all the other toys in the chest and take over the nursery inside of a week. Probably arrest the tin soldiers for destroying the toy block castle."

"Destruction of royal property is a capital offense," Oresti said severely.

Andrus laughed.

"Now is probably not the time to admit I used to pretend my favorite toy soldier with the green jacket was the captain of the guard always defending the dollhouse from evil brigands who hid in their toy block fortress and tried to kidnap the king or queen."

"Did the noble captain woo the king or queen?"

"No, the leader of the brigands who had a change of heart after meeting the captain of the guard," Oresti grumbled, cheeks heating slightly. "I think I got the idea from a story my nurse read me a few times."

"You're adorable, and certainly had a goal you more or less stuck to. Though I'm not a brigand, alas."

"I mean you illegally—"

"One more word and you'll be eating dinner alone."

Oresti grinned, mischievous and shameless. "Empty threat. Shall we be off?"

"I suppose it's too late to abandon you now."

Outside, however, was not the carriage he was expecting.

Instead of his carriage, it was obviously a royal carriage, crest and all, though not one of the flashy ones used for official visits and such.

"I am never going to get used to this," he said with a groan.

"My neighbors must be buzzing with gossip.

They're all going to think I'm wealthy now because I've behaved like an absolute strumpet for you. That I'm just a little toy—"

"Oh, my gods, stop creating the rumors for them," Oresti said with a strangled laugh. "You're ridiculous. Come along, strumpet, into the carriage."

Laughing despite the absolute terror trying to overtake him, Andrus obeyed and got settled on the softest, most comfortable bench he'd ever sat on in his entire life.

Not that he'd really ever been in carriages before now.

Only cheap ones when an odd job required it, and more often he sat on the driver's bench.

"So where are we eating? What brought this on?"

"I want to take you to dinner; do I need more motive than that?"

"Of course not, but you're also clever and always up to something, and why not accomplish several things at once, Your Highness?"

Oresti smiled faintly. "You calling me clever is rich. Not even your personal assistant can compete with your mind." Andrus only lifted his brows. "Fine, fine. I knew word of my suit would spread after the garden party, so I figured there was little point in trying to be subtle."

"You're only subtle when you're on the job anyway," Andrus said teasingly.

"I would protest, but my siblings never let me forget for a moment that I am in fact the 'flashy' one."

"You aren't garish enough to be flashy, but it's true you catch the eye.

Even when the eye is a pauper and knows better," he added with a sigh, staring out the tiny carriage window as they came to a stop—and hastily looking away again at all the gawking faces.

"Why are they staring so much? Surely a royal carriage going about the city isn't that remarkable? "

"It's my personal carriage, and I rarely ever use it. Normally I walk, sometimes ride, but usually walking works best for my job and getting around the city in general."

Andrus looked out the window again as they resumed moving, then back at Oresti. "That reminds me of a question: how does no one recognize you? Surely, at some point, there are people who would see Inspector Kalhan and go 'wait one minute.'"

Oresti laughed. "The last time I attended a royal function, I was in peacock blue with green and gold accents and gold shimmer in my hair.

For the upcoming ball, I'll be in scarlet.

I have three coats made of materials that shift color depending on angle and light.

Who is going to connect all that with a dull inspector asking them annoying questions?

The best disguise is other people's assumptions.

On the rare occasion I do have cause for concern, though, I have a minor glamor spell I carry around ready to activate.

I've used it maybe three times my whole career. "

"Certainly worked on me. I even knew your first name, and I still missed the obvious."

"In your defense, there are fifteen people that I know of so far named Oresti, in honor of me, who has never done a single thing for any of them a day of their life," Oresti said dryly.

"You should see how many people are named after my eldest sister.

One is named after my mother, which I only know because she wrote me a letter to tell me so not long after my mother died.

Her handwriting was too ornate for my twelve-year old self to read, so my father read it to me. "

"That was really kind of her."

"It was. I—"

The carriage came to such an abrupt halt, they were nearly thrown from their seats right as Andrus registered, "Stop in the name of the king!"

Oresti went from easy, happy prince to Investigator Kalhan in the blink of an eye. "Stay here." He threw himself out of the carriage. "What's wrong?"

Ignoring the stupid edict to stay put, Andrus climbed out after him. He hesitated a moment, then curled his hand around Oresti's arm.

"Your Highness, His Majesty requires your immediate presence pertaining to an emergency at the palace."

"I'll come at once. Andi—"

"Let's go, I can get home from the palace. It'll save time."

Oresti nodded and they climbed back inside, and were racing through the streets at a teeth-rattling pace just moments later.

"What do you think could be wrong?"

"Death," Oresti said grimly. "Someone is dead who should most definitely not be, and likely by foul means.

If Father or one of my siblings was hurt or is dead, there are different protocols.

No, someone has been killed, or nearly killed, and I bet it's related to the murder I've been investigating. "

"Mercy."

"Shimari," Oresti said softly.

Moments later, a familiar cat appeared in the carriage beside Andrus.

"You cannot be serious," Andrus replied. "Taking a demon into the royal palace? A demon we should not have? You realized he was a demon the moment you walked into the room!"

A sharp meow, and then Shimari was in his human form. "That was because I wanted him to know. There was no point in trying to hide me from your beloved. I remained undetected for quite some time with Sendrus and Kolik, remember?"

"Keep him safe," Oresti said. "I don't know what is going to happen, but I know that Farthing is at the root of all this."

"Just let me kill him."

"I'm nearly at that point. Right now, though, I need him alive to see how far the rot spreads. Your time will come."

Shimari huffed and turned back into a cat as they passed through the gates to the palace.

This was not how he'd wanted to meet Oresti's family. Someone was likely dead, though, so his personal anxieties would just have to wait.