While Kim wasn't one to spend much time in concert halls for symphony orchestras, she didn't mind listening to Samantha play the hard. Maybe it was the fact that this was a different world and so, the cultures were different, which in turn would have an effect on the songs that would have been written, but Kim found herself enraptured by the haunting melody that played off the strings of the harp under Samantha's fingers.
Samantha had played at least three songs, that Kim could distinguish, though as far as she knew, they were all part of a single piece. It was just that there were significant pauses in between each of them, so she couldn't be sure of her assessment.
She even almost didn't notice Elmo when he appeared in the room. It almost had felt like he'd merely appeared right next to her. Though, she took a deep breath so the sensation of being startled wouldn't affect her enjoyment of the music.
She still didn't like Elmo, but she could tell that he hadn't intentionally startled her. It happened because she'd allowed her entire focus to be on the music, so her senses didn't pick up on the door opening like they would have under normal circumstances.
Kim couldn't say for how long Samantha played, but it felt like an eternity and five minutes at the same time. So, when Samantha stopped playing after a while later, it took Kim a while to even realize that the music had completely stopped. She kept waiting for it to start again.
When she was able to reboot her brain and realized that Samantha had stopped playing, and had even walked away from her harp. The king, the king's son, and even Elin had already gone up to talk with Samantha. Likely to compliment her on her playing and the like. Which wasn't something Kim would do.
Although, she had wondered where the king's son had been, since she hadn't seen the kid since the night before. As such, she'd assumed he'd gone back to the palace, but now it was clear he hadn't quite done that. Not that she probably would know unless she asked. Which she knew she wasn't likely to do, since she really didn't care enough to do that.
Instead, she remained where she was, content to just replay the music in her mind. If nothing else, this was a welcome distraction from what she'd been doing with the competition they were stuck in. Which Kim couldn't help but wonder if the others in her group also felt the same, or if some were even aware they probably needed such a distraction.
As Kim heard the door open, she glance in the direction of it to see Jonas entering the room. He wasn't moving fast, so Kim merely assumed that he'd gotten bored of following the duchess around. She couldn't imagine how entertaining following that hag around would be, but she did accept each person would find different things interesting, so she didn't plan on trying to talk with him about it. Besides, it wasn't like it really was any of her business.
She watched as he walked over to the king, tapped him on the shoulder and said something softly, which was drowned out in the other noise across the room. She didn't really care what Jonas was saying to the king, but she felt the need to move around, so she turned to head out the door, but stopped when she heard the king's response.
"Sure. You can go right ahead to the palace. I'd already let the guards know that you're free to enter and for the servants will already have prepared each of you a set of rooms. Your other companions that helped you stop the attempt on my life had all left for there earlier this morning and afternoon."
Kim resisted the urge to yell at the king about him not telling them about that sooner, since she couldn't deny the fact that she hadn't asked, so it wasn't like she'd have had reason to know about that previously anyway.
Still, she left the room and was a little surprised to see Elmo following her. At first she thought it was that they were merely heading in the same direction, but when she'd taken a turn that she knew wouldn't lead to anywhere that she'd care to go, she was surprised when Elmo made the same turn.
So, she stopped and decided to confront Elmo right then and there. She doubted the kid had any ulterior motives. He most likely wanted to ask her something or other. Not that she was averse to discussing things with him. Whatever it might be. She just didn't care to spend much time on it, and couldn't tell if this would require that or not.
"What do you want?" she said, shortly before he had a chance to say anything.
"Um, well, uh," Elmo stammered, "I was wondering if maybe, uh, you would be willing to, uh, help me with some of my skills?"
Kim regarded Elmo carefully. She wasn't sure what it was exactly that he was asking, but she had a feeling that if she said no right off the bat that it might negatively affect him, as well as the group's overall performance. She didn't care to have to deal with that, so she merely waited for him to continue without saying anything. She didn't plan on making this easy for him, but she also didn't care to make this take longer than necessary either.
"Anyway, I was thinking that if you could help me with my unarmed combat fighting, I might not be so useless against a doppelganger if we encounter more in the future."
Kim sighed. Maybe it would reduce the speed she'd planned on building her other skills, but she couldn't disagree with Elmo's statement. If they had to deal with more doppelgangers, and it was Elmo who was fighting another one by himself, then it would stand to reason that he would benefit from that. Not that Kim expected him to end up being in a position where that would prove useful, but as they said, it's better to have and not need than to need and not have.
While Elmo wouldn't ever be able to win against her, he at least might be able to reach a point where he might be able to hold his own against a weak opponent with just fighting it.
"Sure, but we'll need to figure out when to do that," Kim said, walking past Elmo, not caring how rude she was being.
She was starting to feel the effects of her stamina being rather low. She didn't care what the reason was, she only cared that she make it long enough with what stamina she does have to get through the evening.
She'd conserved as much as she could through the day, but with the knowledge that they could head over to the king's palace and that rooms had already been prepared for them, she was ready to head over there and rest until her body was fully back. Even if she had to miss any number of meals in order for that to happen.
As she continued on her way out of the building, she noticed Elmo hadn't continued to follow her, so she put him out of her mind. All that she was willing to think about right then was the bed that was waiting for her.
Maybe she had waited too long to rest a little, but she didn't care at that moment. She just knew what she wanted and was ready to do what it took to get it right then.
+++
Elin was aware of Kim leaving, but she wasn't sure she should follow right away. She had an idea that she hoped would help Samantha out, but she couldn't be sure that Samantha would like the idea or that the king would be amenable to it.
She waited patiently for the conversation to die out to the point where she felt that it would be a good time to make the request. She hoped that there wouldn't be an outright rejection of her idea or any complications. She just wanted to help her friend out of a situation she had a feeling was only going to get worse over time.
She couldn't say how long that it took, given she didn't pay attention to the conversation or the time, but eventually she saw her opportunity. The conversation had moved from Samantha's harp playing skills, as well as the pieces she'd played, to what instrument the king's son might be good at playing.
When that topic started to die out, Elin felt that it would be a good time to try, so she took a deep breath and said, "Um, I was hoping to make a small request of you, your majesty," she said politely.
"Another request?" the king chuckled. "Hard to say if you'll end up in debt to me at some point at this rate."
Elin smiled, unsure if he was serious about that or not. Though, she didn't let that stop her from speaking what she had waited to say.
"I was wondering if you'd be willing to have Samantha stay at the palace too," Elin said. "I was thinking that it might be good for your son to have a friend, and I think Samantha would be a good friend for him to have."
The king looked at Elin seriously. The previous light tone he'd had was gone as replied, "You realize what you're suggesting, don't you?"
"Probably not," Elin admitted. "But I think your son would be better off if you had it where he could make friends. Even if you have to invite the children of other nobles to stay at the palace, so it won't come across as you're giving a special favors to one family over the others." Elin paused for a moment before adding a fear she had currently. "Also, I'm not sure if this will be a safe place for Samantha to stay. Especially after the events of today."
"What do you mean by that?" the king asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Elin shook her head. "Just that it feels like something I once overheard the servants of my father's house once talking about. I can't recall the specific details, but this whole situation with Samantha's mother somehow feels similar to that, even if I can't say how."
The king nodded. "Alright. I'll consider it. I'll have an answer for you, and Samantha of course, in the morning," the king replied, then paused as he took a deep breath and let it out. "But first, I need to finish what I was doing here. I don't want to stay here longer than I have to, especially since the duchess has returned. So, I need to finish this before I head back to my home for the day. So, if you'll excuse me?"
Elin and Samantha curtsied as she king departed, his son following him, with a quick glance back at Elin and Samantha.
Elin was happy that she'd at least gotten the request out. Even if an answer hadn't been given immediately.