Chapter 45: Spill that tea!

Trace sat at dinner, eating with open ears as talk and banter flowed freely amongst the servants. Gossip wasn't hard to come by, but the kind he wanted wasn't being offered up at the moment. So he smiled, and laughed, and was attentive and as likeable as he could be.

To probe would surely be suspicious, so he had to let the information come to him, if it would. Here in the servants' quarters of the palace kitchens, the staff were apparently in the habit of enjoying a lively meal before the royals ate dinner.

Trace learned after a few minutes that magic users ate separately, as one of the chambermaids was speculating that they got finer food.