The Pyramid Waltz Read Online Free PDF Page A

said.
    Starbride halted, but when she glanced up, Katya’s cheeks quivered with a suppressed grin. She pointed to a pair of enormous double doors. “The library.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Quite welcome, Miss Meringue. See you at the Courtiers Ball.” With that, she departed.
    Starbride turned to the doors of the library, thinking at the last second that she should have asked for directions back to her room. With a deep breath, she tried to put the fact out of her mind that she’d treated the Princess of Farraday like a regular person and walked into the library to search for what she needed.
    Every so often, she thought of Katya. Katyarianna Nar Umbriel, she reminded herself. The princess had laughed with her; more importantly, the princess hadn’t laughed at her, but someone so important wouldn’t have time for friends. Still, while researching Farradain law, Starbride also researched the royal family, just to see what the history books had to say. She couldn’t find much, given that Katya (Katyarianna Nar Umbriel, her inner voice corrected), was nineteen, just one year older than Starbride.
    Why would a princess not admit her identity right away? Starbride could think of one reason to hide it: to have an amusing story to tell about the provincial, ethnic, possibly spicy courtier with the odd hair, ridiculous dress, and absurd name. No, she reminded herself, the princess had laughed with her. She was certain of it. Or was she? In that last moment, Princess Katyarianna did seem to be having a good time at Starbride’s expense.
    Starbride shook her head. Those were all questions for later; now, she had work to do. She dove into her law books, losing herself in research.
    Dawnmother found her sometime after midnight. “I was beginning to worry,” she whispered in the cavernous room.
    Starbride yawned as she stretched. “So was I. I thought I might have to sleep here.”
    “Better here than lost in the halls. I remember the way back. Come, it’s late.”
    “How did you find the library?”
    “Servants know how to get knowledge from other servants.”
    “You must teach me one day.”
    “Servants must have secrets, too. Now, to bed. The library will be there in the morning.”

    Starbride should have returned to her studies the next morning, but she spent the time making a map and lingering in the halls. Gossip about Princess Katyarianna wasn’t hard to find at court, even to a person with no friends. All she had to do was be at the right time and place to listen.
    Katyarianna Nar Umbriel was more than a princess. She was a legend, especially where courtiers were concerned—female courtiers, in point of fact.
    A light went on in Starbride’s head. The princess had been flirting with her. A flattered feeling tingled over her scalp, but she tried to wave it away. With her reputation, Princess Katyarianna probably flirted with everyone, and the use of the familiar name Katya was a ploy, probably a well-used one.
    But there had been something in the princess’s eyes when she’d apologized for not owning up to her identity, as if she enjoyed being anonymous for just a little while. Suddenly, the lothario princess cut a lonely figure, and Starbride was tempted to pity, but she warned herself not to fall for that. By the time of the Courtiers Ball, Katyarianna Nar Umbriel would have forgotten all about the new Allusian courtier.

Chapter Three: Katya
     
    Katya had dreamt of rich brown eyes and dusky skin and a smile like a starry night. As she finished dressing in the morning, she had to shake her head to clear it. She had traitors to unearth and a court to fool. Even so, Starbride’s pure laugh lingered at the edge of her thoughts.
    After grabbing a lantern, Katya toggled the latch at the top of her long mirror, and as it swung silently outward, she stepped into the secret passageway behind. She ignored the symbols carved at the junctions, so used to the dark, cramped tunnels hidden between the palace walls that