By the time Tobias got back to his quarters that evening, he was dead tired - but thankfully not dead. When Penelope walked out on the meeting with King Renholm he was slightly concerned that the King might just kill him, and was relieved when the King instead forgot about him entirely, and tore from the office himself moments later shouting for Prince Reginald.
The relief, unfortunately, didn’t last very long. Toby may have escaped the fire, but the frying pan was cast iron and taking its time to heat up. It was just going to take a few weeks to heat up; the few weeks in between now and the Blue Moon Festival, with its corresponding ball.
Tobias spent the intervening hours between escaping the King’s office and retreating back to his quarters, studying in the library in a vain attempt t
