Roslyn had two problems: her mountain of schoolwork, and an impending disciplinary probation.
Tonight, she was supposed to be finishing her sacred geometry schoolwork and studying for her Rhetoric in Poetry exam, but this evening was the closing night of Dragon of the West. It was Roslyn’s favourite play, and much to her chagrin the tickets cost a small fortune. A fortune that Roslyn did not have. This left her with two options, miss the play entirely, or sneak into the Eilian Seff Theater to see it; and of course, she took the latter. Although she did have that impending disciplinary probation from the handful of times she had snuck out past curfew, and that one time she accidentally incinerated the greenhouse, but other than that Roslyn though that the play was well worth a potential suspension. For Roslyn it was a no brainer really, she was already the top of her year, first in most of her classes, and her tutors at Quadrivium, the Academy of Liberal Arts, would forgive her for a late assignment or two.
This was why she found herself buttoning up her navy tunic in the dim light of dusk. Her black trousers and boots were so immaculately clean, that Roslyn almost regretted wearing them that night. After all, they were still new, and if Roslyn wore them that night, she knew that either her trousers or boots would have a stain or two by tomorrow, and she really didn’t like being told off by the matron at uniform check. Nevertheless, she donned her knee length jacket, smiling at her roommate.
“Well, I am ready to go. Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” Roslyn inquired smugly.
She knew how uptight Calliope got whenever she broke the school rules. However, silent rebellion, was the foundation of their friendship, however, this was finals week and Calliope had more on the line than Roslyn. Looking over at her friend Roslyn saw the forced frown that was tacked on Calliope’s face. Sitting at her desk across the room with her papers and books were strewn haphazardly, a well of ink on the desk, and a pen in her hand, Calliope’s sparkling silvery eyes snapped disapprovingly to Roslyn.
“Yes, I am sure. I quiet like being a student at Quadrivium, and would very much like to graduate,” cocking an eyebrow at Roslyn she dissolved her frown onto a smile. “Besides, I already have my quota of citations and detentions, one more and I’ll be expelled. Remember?”
Knowing that this conversation was a losing battle Roslyn replied, “Okay, okay, fine. You’ll still cover for me, tonight right?”
“I’ve kept all of your secrets so far haven’t I? What should make this any different? Look it’s getting late, you should go.” Calliope gestured towards the window, “I’ll see you in the morning, sober and awake. I wouldn’t want you accidentally starting a fire or brawl without me” pointedly looking at Roslyn, “Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” Roslyn retorted, laughing as she climbed out of the bedroom window, and down the trellis of the boarding house. Merging with the rush-hour foot traffic of the streets Roslyn smiled to herself, she was going to enjoy tonight, schoolwork be dammed.
Picking the lock of the basement door was harder than Roslyn has imagined. Glancing around every once in a while, for guards, she jostled and jimmied the lock picks the best she could. Cursing herself for not paying attention to how Calliope picked locks, Roslyn let out an exasperated sign. Letting frustration get the best of her, she switched her focus to the hinges. Gently prying the lynchpins from the mechanisms, Roslyn slid into the small opening of the door. After she covered her tracks and erased any evidence of entry, she quietly padded down the basement steps towards the service tower staircase that led to the rafters above the auditorium seating.
The dimly lit hall had dark alcoves that were used to store props and set pieces from time to time, and the stone walls did nothing to make the space any less ominous. At the moment all the alcoves of the passageway were mostly empty, and Roslyn vaguely wondered why there no guards stationed down there. It was also too quiet considering that this was a royal theater, but that’s when she heard footsteps racing towards her. Panic surged through Roslyn’s veins, as a thought bolted across her mind; had she been seen? Ducking into the nearest nook she was concealed in shadow, holding her breath as she saw the guards race by. The clinking of their armor would have made Roslyn giggle under any other circumstance; but now was not the time. If she was caught, she was definitely going to be suspended and enrolled into summer classes. A hell she had no interest in going to.
With her heart threatening to break out of her chest, Roslyn nearly jumped out of her skin when one of the guards came careening around the corner, swinging into the nook that she was in, and landed on her foot. Shock jolted up her mind in realization; he wasn’t one of the guards, he was running from the guards. In a poor attempt at stifling her squeak of pain, Roslyn leaped backwards, hitting her head on the wall. This particular alcove was already small as it was and with the two of them in there it was tight. With mere inches of space between them. Looking up at her fellow intruder Roslyn knew that there was only one way forward, cooperation. Stars above did she despise teamwork of any kind, but if she wanted to get up to the rafters, they would both have to stay silent. Tilting her head up she saw that the person in front of her had sharp eyes that widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw the scowl on her face. The stranger was surprised and didn’t do a good job of hiding it. He opened his mouth to say something, but Roslyn quickly shoved a gloved hand up, covering his mouth.
“SHH!” She hissed.
Prying her small hand away from his face he replied, “Get your hands off me.”
Roslyn reciprocated with her favourite vulgar gesture, that resulted in a staring competition between the two.
After a few minutes of silence, Roslyn peaked her head out into the hall, and listened. Nothing, it was quiet. Leaning back into the tight nook she looked back at the stranger and huffed a breath. Taking one last look at him she vaguely thought that he looked familiar, but quickly dismissed it. She was never good with faces and would not put it past herself to have forgotten that she had met him before. Afterall she did keep questionable company around on occasion. Giving him one last look of annoyance Roslyn then slipped out into the hall, dashing towards service staircase. Snatching one of the costume cloaks from a nearby rack to blend in, she didn’t look back.
Whilst strolling down one of the busier hallways Roslyn couldn’t help but wonder who the man from earlier was. He was clearly in his mid-twenties and hopelessly oblivious. Keeping a low profile as she weaved through the sea of backstage actors, stagehands and staff, Roslyn heard a commotion beginning to brew to her left. Peeking around a pillar she saw that it was the same hazardous stranger from earlier, being yelled at by a dainty ballerina. How pathetic she thought to herself, he could not even blend into the crowd; truly he had no business intruding into a royal theater if he could not stay hidden. She was chuckling to herself, when without warning, she felt a hand grab her.
“Play along, or we both get caught,” a low voice whispered.
Snapping her head up, Roslyn saw that it was the stranger from before. His eyes pleading for cooperation. Deciding that this was not the place or time to make a scene, she listened.
“Sweetheart there you are,” his enveloped her in a hug and Roslyn did her best to not squirm.
Returning the embrace Roslyn spotted the two guards from earlier and made sure to hide her face and project her voice, “Adam! I thought I told you to meet me in the lobby, I wanted to surprise you!”
With a sloppy smile he supplied, “Well I couldn’t let my best girl go on stage without a kiss for good luck.”
At that Roslyn recoiled and giggled sweetly, “You’ll ruin my makeup, how about later?”
She shoved her hands against his chest keeping the distance between them open in case he got any ideas. Looking around the stranger she saw the two guards shake their heads and walk back to their posts in the basement. Good, she thought, she got rid of the guards, now time to lose this stranger. Roslyn continued to play along with her lie and made a good show of pointing towards the lobby and then the make-up room; before swiftly slipping out into the hall and dashing up the staircase to the rafters. Taking the steps two at a time Roslyn heard the slow opening of the royal orchestra, soft and magnificent.
Sighing in relief, Roslyn had finally reached the rafters. A relic from original structure of the building that was rarely ever used. They were however cleaned whenever a new play was put on and as a result, the polished metal railings and rough metal surface were clean but warm to the touch due to the heat of the lights below. Roslyn took off the costume cloak and spread it underneath her so that nothing would snag her new trousers. However, when she examined her boots, there were small scratches in the leather, and to her dismay she had some sort of black gunk on the toes them. Well there goes uniform inspection. At the very least, her trousers were still clean.
Leaning against one of the beams, she had an undisturbed view of the stage. The melodic music of the orchestra filled the air. Sweet and tender, the opening score of Act I settled into her bones as Roslyn watched the actors fill most of the stage. The air smelt of worn leather and vanilla as Roslyn watched in awe at their performance until she hears creaking footsteps.
Shooting her head in the direction of the sound Roslyn saw that it was the stranger from earlier, and began to laugh, “Are you following me?”
“No but I could ask you the same thing,” he smiled, taking a seat next to Roslyn. Sitting cross crossed on the floor, he extended his hand to her, “My name is Theo. Thank you for pulling me out of that by the way.”
“Roslyn,” she replied, taking his hand with affirm shake, “And you are insane by the way. If you’re going to break into Eilian Seff Theater you should at least glance at the schematics of the building beforehand. Also, I would advise you learn how to keep a low profile.” Grinning from ear to ear, Roslyn burst into laughter at the situation beforehand. Her friends often made fun of her for breaking into exhibition to see the art or theaters to watch plays, but here he was. Another conspirator sitting next to her.
“Right. The schematics, those could be found at…?”
“The Royal Museum,” she chuckled, “What? Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a museum.”
Theo looked sheepish as he pulled a small bag out of his coat pocket, “No, I haven’t, but since you saved my hide out there, here” he handed Roslyn the pouch, “it’s a bag of-”
“Sherbet suckers!” she mused, a smile lighting her face. Holding out her hand she took the bag gingerly “Thank you! These are actually one of my favorites! I guess great minds really do think alike! So why did you break into the Eilian Seff Theater,”
“Is it not obvious?” he grinned “I came for the view.” He was clearly joking, but Roslyn didn’t really care for the truth. Gesturing towards the stage he continued his tale, “Not even the royal box has a view like this”
The unlikely pair settled into a companionable silence watching the play, from their perch in the rafters. Exchanging jokes and occasionally sticking up easy pieces of conversation during the intermissions. As time wound on, Dragon of the West eventually descended into its final act, and the main character was weeping over the body of his wife. The audience held their breath as the actress began to glow and float, eventually flying onto the air; transforming into the might Dragon of the West. Impressed with the actresses shapeshifting skills and special effects, Theo began to clap. The crowd below erupted in cheers and Roslyn had an ungloved hand over her mouth as stray tears fell from her eyes.
“You really love Dragon of the West that much?” Theo question.
Realizing that she was crying Roslyn wiped away her tears, “Yes, it’s one of my favorites. Is it not one of yours?”
“I am not really one for the theater” Theo confessed, “but the music scoring was beautiful.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” Roslyn’s eyes glinted as the bright lights reappeared, the curtains closed, and the actors and actresses made their final encore. The performance alone was worth her abandoning her schoolwork for the evening, and her unexpected friend was just an added bonus. Roslyn used the term friend loosely, because she didn’t just sneak into a royal theater, hide from the guards, and lie for just anyone; there was something about him that seemed too familiar to be coincidence.
Standing Roslyn dusted herself off and extended an arm towards Theo, and asked “friends?”
Taking her arm and hauling himself up, laughing back, he replied, “Yes, friends.”
“Since you followed me up here, I am going to assume that you don’t know your way back to the street, huh?”
With a shake of his head Theo motioned to the door, “Nope.”
Following Roslyn down the staircase and through the obscure passages of the theater, Theo thought about the fact that Roslyn reminded him of his brother, silently wondering if the two had ever met. Eventually Roslyn guided them to an empty service entrance that opened on the street level. The night market was in full swing, the soft glowing lights made the endless dark feel just a bit less lonely.
“Great, guess I see you next time?”
“We’ll see” Roslyn crooned, a smile creeping across her face.
“Please,” he flirted “this was meant to be.”
And while Roslyn wanted to keep stringing him along, she decided to be honest tonight, “We’ll see, who’s to say what the future holds” replied with a flicker of a smirk.
The two strangers turned unlikely friends waved each other a farewell, each of them vanishing into the bustling crowd. Roslyn had never been a people person, but her encounter with Theo had been pleasant enough. She wouldn’t seek him out, but then again, she wouldn’t run from him. Wishing that her Rhetoric in Poetry exam didn’t exist, Roslyn climbed back up the trellises to her dormitory room. Tapping at the window for Calliope to open it, she spun onto the excuse for a balcony with a sigh; Dragon of the West was truly a work of art.
Humming the opening score of the play to herself, Roslyn listened to Calliope’s rant about the house matron until there was a knock at the door. The two girls chatted as they got ready for bed, it was already past midnight. The moon was full and the wind shook the rickety windows just as Roslyn was about to turn off the lights; a knock sounded at the door. How strange, they both thought, neither of them was expecting anyone and the matron certainly didn’t allow visitors after dinner. Swinging open the door, Roslyn was met with the sight of one of the other girls at the board house. She was clearly already dressed for bed, but she was holding up her portscreen to Roslyn’s face.
“Look!” she whispered excitedly, “the Crowned Prince just announced his engagement to the Cynthia Zahava!”
Grasping the portscreen Roslyn zoomed in on the picture of the news article and stars above, Roslyn thought she was going to pass out. Quickly dismissing the girl, making up an excuse as to why she couldn’t chat more, Roslyn locked the door. Her back bracing the wood as if it were the only thing keeping her standing, and maybe it was.
“What’s wrong with you?” Calliope asked.
Pursing her lips, eyes wide, “Do you remember how I told you about that guy Theo from the theatre?” Roslyn replied.
Calliope nodded in response.
“Well…” Roslyn continued, “It turns out that he’s the Crowned Prince Thomas Theodore Calder Soren Ascelin VII. I spent an entire evening talking, joking and watching Dragon of the West with the Crowned Prince; and I didn’t even know it!”
Scrubbing her face with her hands, and letting out a groan of irritation, the two girls burst into laughter at the outrageousness of it all. It was truly ridiculous! Absurd even, because who would have thought that the Roslyn, the rebellious liberal arts student would ever meet the Crown Prince? Much less, become friends with him. The irony was not lost on Roslyn, as she laughed whole heartedly into the night.
