Page 38 of Renaissance Bear

"Whoa!" Jasmine's head popped up from behind the computer screen. "Whoa, whoa, what! Two days ago you were like 'no, nay, never!' on that topic! He must be a really good lay!"

"You are totally gross. And he totally is. But even if he wasn't, I just…I kind of really like him, Jazz."

"Well, far be it from me to advise caution, but once that cat's out of the bag it's out for good. A secret known to three people is only a secret if six of them are dead." Jasmine squinted over the screen. "Or something like that."

Alis said, "Yeah," slowly. "It's just that he also told me something kinda big?—"

"La la la la la la la I can't heaaaaar you I don't waaaaaant to know about his big things?—"

Alis, laughing, gave up and went to Faire.

The whole RedCourt was in a dither when Alis arrived. The Red Queen, Tamira, backstage, fell on her with a hug of relief. "Alis, thank goodness. Princess Cecilia is out?—"

"Wait wait what! The princess? That's a huge role!"

Tamira froze. "You said that was okay, though?"

Alis hadn't said any such thing.Jasminehad said it was okay.Jasmine, who didn't have tobePrincess Cecilia.

Alis was going to keeeeeel her. Keeeeel her with knives, or at least a very sharp tongue-lashing. "No, right, sorry, I just thought—I thought I was stepping into a lady-in-waiting position and one of the ladies was stepping up."

"Oh, but no, no." Tamira's huge brown eyes got even bigger. She managed to not quite wince, but got very quiet. "Let's just say they're never going to make a living as actors, okay? But I've seen you at the lists."

Alis's stomach dropped. The Red Queen couldn't possibly have seen through her disguise as the Black Knight. Or could she? Maybe she could have. Or?—

"You're great at cheering the knights on and making them all think they're your favorite," Tamira went on. "And I know you can memorize lines. So, please? Is that okay?"

It was amazingly not okay. It was way out of Alis's comfort zone. But she'd kind of already promised, so she found herself nodding. "Yes, of course. I just didn't realize what I was getting myself into. Okay, but—oh, God." She stared at Tamira. "The princess is being courted by somebody from the Silver Court,right? Who? I have this storyline building with the tavern owner, one of the minstrels?—"

"Oh, I've seen him," Tamira said admiringly. "The one with the knee brace? Super hot."

"No, the other one. Even hotter. It's a good storyline," or at least a good real-life romance, however brief, "and I don't really want to disrupt it…"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. You shouldn't have to drop that. Shelly should be back tomorrow. I think. I hope. She thinks it's food poisoning but whatever it is, she says she's sick as a dog." Tamira made a face. "It's probably that perfume she's been wearing, though, my God. I guess her sister makes it so she feels obliged, but…Anyway, the poor thing said she tried to come in today because the show must go on, you know? But she said she threw up three times in the car and thought even if she could make it to Faire, people weren't going to want to see a puking princess."

"Yeah, no, she's right about that. And if it's not food poisoning the rest of us don't want to get it."

"Exactly!" Tamira beamed at her. "So hopefully just for today, okay?"

Alis nodded. With any luck Shelly would be fine tomorrow and Alis could pick up Lady Alessandra's storyline and get back to the in-story romance with Jon, but until then, she needed to know: "Okay, but who is it I'm supposed to be flirting with? Cecilia's future husband, I mean? I know I should know, but I haven't been paying that much attention."

"Well, at least that's not going to be a struggle," Tamira said with a knowing smile. "It's Lord Argent, the Silver Knight."

Yup. Alis was going tomurderher sister.

Tamira obviously saw Alis's face fall, and her own lit up with alarm. "Oh, no, am I wrong? Is it going to be a problem?"

"Gaaaah. No. It'll be fine. He just kind of got on my nerves at the lists the other day." Bycheating.Alis took a deep breath and shook her head. "It'll be fine. It's just for today."

"Great. Thank you. The other reason I hoped you would do it is that you and Shelly are about the same size, so you can wear her costumes."

Alis squeaked. "Oh, but—" All her costumes had matches so Jasmine could easily switch places with her. They obviously didn't have any of Shelly's much more elaborate princess gowns copied.

Which wasfine, Alis told herself. It would only be for today. She didn't fight again for another couple days. "Mine won't do?" she asked anyway, but Tamira laughed.

"Come on, hon. Yours are very pretty, but they're nowhere near fancy enough. Let's get you dressed, and I'll let the Silver Court know you're playing Cecilia today." Tamira sent a text, and got down to the business of helping Alis climb into a genuinely gorgeous red and gold gown with a long corset and full skirt. Unfortunately, Tamira was right and Shelly's perfume really clung to the dress, cloyingly sweet and sickly stinky at the same time. Alis held her breath as somebody settled a glittering rhinestone ruby tiara into her hair, but she couldn't hold her breath all day. Once her hair was dealt with, the hairdresser stepped back and applauded.

"Princess Cecilia is ready for court."

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