(OOC: If this isn't OK, you just let me know! I'm taking some liberties here!)
Before Audric could quite make up his mind what to do -- or, apparently, for Leif to even notice him -- the pair were joined by a third.
Audric saw the figure before Leif did, and he could scarcely believe his eyes. The Grand Duchess herself, still in her wedding gown though now with her hair unwoven and curling about her shoulders, had arrived. She moved almost silently, looking ghost-like in the white, poofy dress. If that wasn't surprising on its own (where were the guards and her maids? where was Calent?), the bow she held, arrow at the ready, certainly would have done it. (and where did that bow come from?) The dress aside, she looked as though she were stalking a deer through the forest...
Great. Now what was he supposed to do?
Kathryn stopped then, training the bow on the outlaw from, perhaps, twenty feet away. There was a certain no-nonsense about her tone and posture that spoke both of a willingness and the knowledge to use it with some accuracy. She cleared her throat in announcement, in a most ladylike manner, in spite of the situation. "I believe this wing of the palace is a dead end. I suggest you put down your weapons, Masked Mordecai. The guards may be too stupid to see what's under their noses, but my husband is no fool. He will find you as easily as I have."
And how, on earth, Audric wondered, was it she had done that?
Kathryn watched the masked man sharply. Although the arrow remained nocked, she lowered the bow to toss a roll of cloth in the bandit's direction. Even before it hit the ground in front of him, the bow was already back up and pointed in his direction threateningly. "Bandages. You're bleeding all over my house. I assume you cut it on the broken glass from the window."
Well, well, well. It seemed the Grand Duchess was a very capable woman indeed. How she had slipped by the guards, however, remained a somewhat troubling mystery! Rather than make his presence known, Audric remained in the shadows, simply watching the drama unfold and wondering what the cat would do with the mouse, now that she had it cornered?