Again there was that uncomfortable bout of silence as Irina remained knelt before her lady, her icy-blue eyes averted to the wooden floor below her and not daring to lift once, but damn was this quiet moment such a burden upon the woman's shoulders, perhaps a deadening weight more cumbersome and heavier to bear than her own mail and plate. She couldn't tell whether the Princess was forgiving of her misgivings or still offended by the very news Irina uttered earlier, of course hastily but the knight was excited by this and she figured the girl would be as well. Nevertheless it was the opposite. Quietly and ever suspenseful she awaited judgment to fall upon her. Now she was not the Royal Attendant of Princess Crystal, but rather the scrutinized fugitive before her almighty judge, sentence awaiting to be passed after committing her crime. 

A sharp gulp rattled her throat as the girl's hand seized her by the chin and tilted her eyes to face hers, scrutinizing and stern as ever they seemed. Really...Irina couldn't make heads or tails of the eyes that stared down into hers blankly. Were they eyes of anger? Sincerity? Disdain? What were they? Then came the Princess' smile, still a bit uneasy to Irina, as the smile, though possibly forgiving, was more of an insolent sneer, a sneer that further bewildered the lady knight. Still, she was at least forgiven. Her lips were parting to reply to the young girl, but at the mention of her fair Princess...shedding clothes, Irina quickly pursed her very lips and kept eyes averted to the floor in due respect. But....perchance a small...peek wouldn't have hurt, but too late for that now as she heard the wardrobe door shut with an echoing slam. [i]Aye me.....she's a sharp one, that lass.[/i] Irina thought, a bit of a sly chuckle to herself. Those two numbskulls Pindel and Versetti were right about the Princess being a rough one to handle. Already first day and Irina was being put through the ringer by this charming, but certainly devious young girl. That smirk said it all to the woman....there was gonna be trouble in the long run. [i]I might as well get used to it though. I mean....I can't mess this up, otherwise there goes my only true chance at knighthood.[/i] And Irina be damned if that ever happened.

Quite a while had the Princess been in her wardrobe, and Irina was beginning to grow concerned. "M'lady?" Soon followed a noise in reply, quick to the ear it was and....very odd. it was like...a wall had been moved or something. "Princess?" Rising to her feet, Irina hesitantly approached the closet, her hand slowly, gradually reaching for the brass knob and turning it carefully, all while her other hand rested upon the hilt of her longsword, should the need arise to draw it. "M'lady, are you alright?" She asked again, and again still no reply. Now her concern...was twisting knots of dread into her stomach, painful, uncomfortable, tense knots. Something was dreadfully wrong, and Irina could feel it deep within. Wasting no time, she wrenched open the door and.....the Princess was gone!! [i]No! Lady Crystal![/i] Out the door she went, but stopped midsprint in her swift and frantic departure from the room. The Princess was gone....but what about [i]that noise?[/i] 

[i]What? No....couldn't be! That's...that's preposterous![/i] But she best make sure. She approached the closet again, not with fear now but scrutiny. Something about that very sound she heard before the Princess [i]vanished[/i] and this wardrobe linked together, but what exactly. Her eyes scanned back and forth the hollow room, only finding dress after colorful dress that belonged to her lady. Then, her scrawling glance fell upon the candelabra sconce at the very end of the wardrobe. [i]Could it be....?[/i] She wondered, instantly making her way to it. Her hand carefully felt of the candles, noticing they were all affixed to their place and never once were they lit, no bumps of stray, dry wax evident amidst their silky smooth texture. Why, these candles were practically new, and as soon as Irina felt the last candle, she figured out why. The candle tilted forward, stick and all with the weight of her gauntlet against it, and to her very surprise....the wall opened with that very same noise, and just as she pieced together the mystery of this wardrobe....she too discovered how her Princess had pulled off her little vanishing act. [i]W-wha-? Why that little.....Ugh!![/i] 

She had been had, and by Crystal no less. What a fool she was to underestimate that vile sneer of deception. A scowl now permanently affixed to her face, she stormed out of the Princess' chamber and down the halls towards the stairs, all the while passing...who else. From the corner of her eye as she trudged bitterly in her sabatons to confront the girl, she noticed the two bastards about to have their giggles, the fat one nudging his slender mate with his elbow and chortling, [i]"I think she knows now, Versetti!"[/i] And soon began the laughter, but Irina would deal with those two later. Right now...she had quite the words for their [i]fair[/i] Princess.