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The new man surely was boring - he just got a room and went in there. Sereth followed him quietly, and found herself thinking about his limping. It was weird he did not lean on any stick. Sereth's first thought was that the man was faking his limp, but then she thought that if you were faking being lame, it would make much more sense to have a stick (basic theatre, Sereth, basic theatre! the lame and the old are recognised just because of the stick!). Proud of her thinking, she followed the man until he went to his room.
There was a soft thump - maybe some baggage falling on the floor - and then another, louder thump, combined with the creaking of the bed. Okay, so he just went to bed. How uninteresting, Sereth thought. She noticed, though, that the man had forgotten his door ajar. Poor him! He needs to get up and limp here to get it closed. It must be very hard for him. So, quickly, she pushed the door closed and retreated.
She was walking back to the direction of the common room when something bumped into her.
"I'm terribly sorry!" the something said in a girl's voice. "I didn't see you! I was playing that this is a palace, and I'm the princess, and I was dancing and not looking around. I like playing these making-up games! Do you want to play with me? You can be the princess too! We'll both be princesses! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself - I'm Thiliel. The landlord here is my Uncle Ingold. What is your name?"
Sereth was left quite speechless. The stranger was a girl of her age or maybe a bit older, dressed in bright-coloured clothes and looking very happy. But - playing making-up games? Princesses? Dancing around?
"I'm Seri," Sereth said after a silence that was a tad too long to be comfortable. "Or Sereth, actually, Seri is just a nickname. I am an actress of The King's Players."
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