[B][I]"As much as it would please me even further to hear another of your songs, I will let you to your rest. Thank you, my lady."[/I][/B] The King replied. The fair maiden nodded and bowed once more, excusing herself. As she walked back over to her seat, she noticed the young man, Kester as he was called, stand up from his seat. He suddenly jerked slightly in spasm of surprise, and then began to look around himself as discreetly as he could for something. 

The fair maiden sat down in her seat, her eyes still set on the young man curiously, her face passive and gentle as she rested her lute in her lap. Kester had then looked up at the King's table and looked as though he had found what he was searching for, lowering himself into his seat. The maiden closed her eyes and sighed quietly, before drawing eyes upon what Kester had seen. Once she had a bare glance of Evelyn, she had closed her eyes and massaged her neck softly, as if she had a slight tickle in her throat that she tried to clear afterward. She then glanced at the 'gentleman' that was in Kester's interest before looking shocked, the courtier who had a little too much to drink.

She looked over to Kester slightly, and could see the thoughts in his face. She looked at her lute and shook her head, before standing to her feet and pushing her chair in. Every movement she made was committed to with care, even the slightest aversion of her eyes or turning of her gaze. She knew that in a court, especially one where the court mage watches like the raven who waits for the slightest mistake or slip-up that could be used to her advantage. The maiden knew this from experience, as it was something she did once from mission to mission. There was no question that the court mage had no dulled senses, but neither was there a question of the maiden's own perception nor skill falling short of Evelyn's own. 

The maiden murmured her excusing to the other courtiers who noticed, and then left the hall with lute in her arms like a sleeping babe, her face remaining like a serene sculpture, all the way to her quarters.