Avril was unable to make out a word of the exchange from her position on the balcony, but she could see their expressions and those of around them. Clearly Lambert was at it again, bothering poor Alessandra. She wondered what in his mind made his think she liked him. She'd only met him at these affairs once or twice, but he seemed to think he owned Alessandra, or at least that she should be grateful for his attention.
She kept her eyes upon them as she crossed the balcony to head down the stairs, but she was too late, her friend already heading away from the boy. She'd been too slow.
She paused on the stairs, but unfortunately that was a bad move.
“Your majesty,” came a voice, which belonged to one of the boys who had been talking to her before. He was flanked by 2 others, all of them smiling in a friendly way, and seemed to think this the time to speak with her.
“Will you attend the hunt tomorrow?” the one on the left asked, which was quickly answered, not by Avril, but by his friend.
“Don’t be stupid,” his friend said with obvious annoyance. “She’s a lady. Ladies don’t do anything like that.”
There was no need for her to speak, for the 3rd interjected, saying that ladies could hunt if they liked. It was the problem with groups of boys like these. They heard each other but never noticed that the female had not uttered a word.
She found herself stuck, unable to go after her friend, nor to do anymore beside politely smile and hope that it would be over soon enough.
All through the palace gardens, there were scattered guards, holding candles like those on the path to the palace. They were still and silent, like statues in their black uniforms for their evening dress. They wore blue in the day, but even with their candles, they were often over looked them. However, if a higher ranking officer, or a member of the royal family had asked them, they would be able to advise if a guest had left the party. They had never really been asked by anyone else, so there was no way to now how they'd react to anyone else.
So whilst Alessandra might have been alone in a sense, eyes watched her make her way from the party into the warm and pretty night.