In the kitchen, Ashlynn quickly assembled a plate that included everything from minced onion pie to smoked venison sausage and a handful of small jammy tarts, ducking out with only the briefest explanation to Otis before he could scold her. As she left, she heard the head cook rounding on Ollie for an explanation.
"Sorry Ollie," she said under her breath as she made her way up the stairs of the villa to the east tower where the fake Ashlynn should be staying with Owain. Hopefully Zedya's implication that she was Marquis Bors' illegitimate daughter would prevent Otis from getting too upset at her and taking it out on the gangly kitchen boy for peeping at the feast when they should have been working.
