"I'm sure the interrogation room is a comfortable place to talk," Lexine said, frowning settling her eyes on Thomas'. She was patient enough waiting for important things, but dealing with an overly curious Thistle Knight was starting to become draining. Worse than that, he wanted to leave the area and close any window she had of actually finding the people she needed to be looking for. Which was, of course, simple desperation following the knowledge that Karl Leid was most certainly no longer within their influence after that initial search effort that morning had failed. In fact, with how much they had done before resorting to combing crowds like idiots, it was absolute certainty in her mind that the Keilauds were the only ones with the facilities to shut them out, or at least the only facilities they respected enough not to break into on a whim. That wasn't quite right either, because she was standing at the king's party armed. She sighed, ignoring the threat of arrest and addressing the man's offer. "It's not safe in there either. Lead on Sir Knight, let's fix your curiosity." She nodded towards the palace.

---

The dance was underway already, and that was fine by him. It had been a weary day and he didn't relish the thought of speaking as soon as he arrived at his own feast. It was the midnight feast, at least, so the expectations of formality would be significantly lower. Either way, the king had appeared and it was likely that few at the party escaped noticing the small entourage of knights and followers who joined him at the table. It would have put minds at ease if his presence didn't herald only further silence, a poor word for the chaotic din of the party. It may have been the late hour, but the king had begun his day looking tired and he looked considerably worse for wear at this hour. Well groomed as always, but there was only so much cosmetics could accomplish on an unwilling canvas. He looked on at the dancing blankly, seeming more lost in thought than anything else. Despite his lackluster and even inappropriately quiet entrance, a few members of the growing crowd returned to the tables as if waiting for something to be said. In truth, some had simply yet to present their gifts, a prospect full of politics that the king was once again simply not looking forward to.