"Thank the Gods we found you, we thought something terrible had happened!" The knight, the one with the long mahogany hair tied back into a severe braid was not quite hysterical, but it was certainly relieved. I could taste it in the air between us, my tongue still forked for the moment. I sipped the ale, the one almost the same color as the knight's skin, focusing on the structure of my tongue, merging the muscle back together. Raising a gloved hand to the salt and pepper goatee the king favored, I wiped my mouth, trying to buy some time.

"Why would you think that?" I went a little deeper than the king's normal speaking voice and winced internally, hoping the knights were too focused on having found the King to notice my slip.

"Majesty, you do remember what happened the last time we lost track of you?" the second knight, the one whose skin was the color of freshly tilled earth with storm-cloud eyes asked, leaning forward. Her scent was inquisitive, a cat inspecting a mouse's hole. Her hand rested on the pommel of her sword, fingers ready to curl if I as much as breathed wrong.

"The incident with the Pleasure Gardens?" I asked, looking down, inspecting the nails of my left hand, seeing the flecks of dirt and blood trapped beneath them. "We did pay the Madam quite generously, and besides..."

"Sire, even if you can do what you want, you can't afford to lose even more of the public's good will. With the new elections for the High Council coming, you have to be on your best behavior," the first knight chided me. I let out a put upon sigh, one I had heard too many times to count. Both of the knights relaxed slightly.

I raised my left shoulder in a half-shrug. "Alright, alright, I will come back to the palace with you, just let me finish one more tankard of ale?" I pleaded. My idiot half-brother would have to be finished with the stable boy by then. Being able to take any form I liked had gotten him out of many troubles since my talent had manifested, but one of these days I was going to have to ask him to respect my time and my limits.

"Fine sire, but make it a quick one," the second knight all but commanded.

"You have my word," I promised, raising my hand, silently praying my half-brother would finish soon and that we wouldn't have yet another groom or squire in the palace, dogging his footsteps.