Chapter 40 - Absolutely Strange

"Get out!" I shouted towards the door as it creaked on its hinges and swiftly lifted the bedsheet on top of my head. "Get out, get out!"

The door stopped its creak midway and for a moment, everything was still. Then I heard a shuffling sound and then a voice.

"Your Highness, it's just me."

Slowly, I peeked over the sheets and was relieved to see a confused Reynard standing behind the door.

"May I come in…?" he asked when he had confirmed I wasn't going to lash out again.

Embarrassed, I nodded and he took a step in before closing the door.

"Okay so," he began, "I brought you some clothes..." And then he looked up at me and then did a double take. "What in the God's name are you wearing?"

"Oh this?" I said as I peered down at my clothes. "Yes, this is the result of what you may call 'a lack of my own clothes'. So what have we got?"

"O-Oh yeah," he stuttered, caught off guard. He was holding a rucksack which he pulled open and brandished from it a pile of scrunched up fabric. "I made a quick trip home and managed to sneak out a couple of Rosa's dresses. Here, this one's supposedly for casual wear...and this blue one can be worn outside, I think...and this-"

"But won't your sister notice?" I broke in as I grabbed garment after garment. "Won't she ask you where you took all her stuff?"

"Oh, rest assured," he answered after processing my question. "She's rarely home so she'll never notice. Besides, she usually wears this one dress."

While I checked through the clothes, I asked, "Why isn't your sister usually home?"

"She's an artisan, as they call it. Quite a well known potter here, if I do say so myself. You might even run into her stall at the Market."

"Oh I'd like to meet her very much!" I said as I put down a grey blouse. "I've heard quite a bit about her."

"Oh really?" he asked, his forehead creasing. "Where from?"

"Just...here and there."

He shrugged and handed me the rest of the clothes and a pair of of shoes similar to the ones I was already wearing. When the handover was done, I broke it out to him.

"Cael saw my hair."

"What?" asked Reynard, flinching.

I pursed my lips, observing his reaction as he registered my words. His eyebrows furrowed several times before he looked at me and opened his mouth to speak.

"Did he match the pieces?"

I shook my head. "I don't think he's ever seen me before. The first thing he said after looking at my hair was that they looked like that of a unicorn's."

"Why a unicorn?"

I shrugged. "But don't worry. I talked him out of it," I said as I got up and went to check up on the bonnet. It was slightly damp but I put it over my head anyways after curling my hair up in a makeshift bun. "I think we're in the clear right now, so we needn't worry much. Anyways, I meant to ask..."

He gestured to me with his hands to go on. 

"How's the situation up at the palace? What's become of Zoie?" I completed it slowly. "She's fine, right?"

Reynard shifted his weight from one leg to the other as he answered my query.

"Don't fret," he said. "She's perfectly fine. Though she would be when she never went to the ballroom anyways." He mumbled that last part but I still caught it.

"What do you mean 'she never went to the ballroom'? Wherever else did she go after we departed?" 

He opened his mouth to answer but closed it. Then he opened it again, like a fish. "She knocked out the guard and made a run for it."

What the hell. "She what?"

"Like I said, she-"

"SHE KNOCKED OUT THE GUARD? ZOIE DID?"

He nodded in confirmation.

I flopped down on the bed, a hand on my forehead as I thought about what I had just been told. Little, frail Zoie had knocked out the guard who was supposed to escort me back to the ballroom. She had, like, knocked him unconscious. But how? And then she made a run for it??? What in the world…

I looked up with alarmed eyes at Reynard who was rubbing his hands along the side of the table, looking at it with all his focus. When I called him, he startled a bit as he removed his hands and stood up straight to answer me.

"So how are things looking for my Father? Has he successfully yet my absence? But I dare say that won't be quick since he wasn't at the ceremony in the first place."

"You're right," Reynard said as he pulled out the chair and sat down. "It hasn't officially been announced that you've disappeared yet. Your maid..."

"Martha."

"Yes her, Martha. She's in hysterics. Lady Sumner has been trying to soothe her, reassuring her that you might just be hiding within the palace perimeter. Guards have been- erm- looking for you, though they still haven't come down to the the streets yet."

The fact that Martha was so worried made me feel sort of uneasy; I wasn't used to people worrying after me. And now I have another thing to worry about as well. The guards have been looking for me? Well that didn't come as much of a surprise but the fact that they'd soon be roaming the streets in search of the runaway princess made me wary.

"What else..." I mumbled, still a pang of worry in my heart. "How's Yvonne faring? Any other news from her?"

Reynard fiddled with his hands. "She said Good Luck."

That's it? "Is that it?"

"That's it."

"Okay."

For the longest of moments, I had nothing else to talk to him about. Faustine knocked on the door and peeked in.

"Everything alright, dearies?"

I flashed her a thumbs up. "Just talking, Faustine."

She smiled at me and then glared at Reynard who smiled back.

"You," she said to him. "Be nice to her." And then she slammed the door shut.

"You heard her," I said to him.

"What?"

I tilted my head innocently. "Be nice to me."

He coughed and looked away, gazing out the window. Then I remembered something. 

"Reynard," I said. "Hey, Reynard."

He looked at me. 

"Before I collapsed yesterday, you said we'd do something about my hair. What did you have in mind?" 

"Oh..." His eyebrows eased back as he realized what I was talking about. "I thought dyeing it would be a good idea. But I'm having second thoughts now."

"How come?" I asked.

"Because," he made a rounding gesture with his hands, "your hair might play the most important part in the healing process. We don't want to coat your head with dye and then find out that your hair can't do anything anymore."

"Shall we experiment first?" I asked with a smile. "We can try by coloring a few strands and see if they're still able to heal." I had always wanted to dye my hair. I wasn't up much for the feminine lilac tone of the princess's. I desired something more...butch. 

He seemed hesitant to my request but after a bit more pursuing, he gave in.

"Wait here and change into something less clown-like while I go grab some dye from the nearest store. I won't be long. Make sure to cover your head at all costs," he said before he left. This guy had too much time to spare. 

But I didn't. I needed to see if Cael had kept quiet about our promise.

Softly, I tiptoed over to the door to check up on him and Faustine. Cael was nowhere in sight, but Faustine was out the back hanging her own and Cael's wet clothes. She noticed me and called me over.

"Reyn's left?" she asked as she threw a small shirt over the rope. .

I nodded and started hanging up the laundry with her. "He said he won't be long. Just went to grab me some amenities."

Faustine nodded and suddenly launched off in a story about childhood Reynard's adventures which I was so not interested in hearing but I forcefully did and laughed upon every embarrassing detail. Soon the laundry had been hung up and I went to help her in the kitchen.

"Oh no, darling," she said, pushing me out the door. "I'd rather you not. You're still so sick, I can feel it. Thanks for hanging the clothes up with me. Now go rest, go, go!"

Annoyed but not particularly angry, I walked off in search of something else to do while Reynard took his time to return. 

I think that's when I noticed an unfamiliar man peeking through the fogged glass of the door that connected to the outside world. I think I meant to call for Faustine but it came out as a choked scream- as if a dog was whining- which I'm sure she couldn't have heard. 

Nonetheless, Faustine still came running, a wooden spoon covered in gravy in her hands. "What's happened?"

I pointed towards the door and I'm sure Faustine saw him peeking as well because she threw the wooden spoon without any regard to her living room towards the door, resulting in a loud shattering of glass followed by running footsteps. 

I flopped down on the wooden floor. "Did you just-"

"Nah, don't worry," she said as she cautiously stepped towards the door to notice the damage. "Weirdos roaming the street in this part of the city. Got to give them a good blow to make sure they never return."

My lips parted to say something but nothing came out.

Wtf. Just. Happened.

As if nothing had happened, Faustine picked up the spoon and went back to her gravy, right after telling me that I should tell Lennard to install new glass when he comes back. 

I didn't say anything. I was still recovering from the shock she had just given me.

Somewhere from behind, Cael appeared and after one look at the shattered glass, said, "Aw, did momma bust the door again?" and then he left the same way he had come.

Like I said, what the actual hell?