Shay's escape plan worked without a hitch - it was easy enough to find a large bush in the Gardens she could hide behind while she re-materialized, and then no one was the wiser about what she had just accomplished. Joining in with the workers, merchants and artisans leaving the Ducal Estates, she was waved through after a cursory glance by the guards at the gates - they were mostly concerned with people trying to sneak out with the Duke's silverware, and the empty-handed Shay was among the least of their concerns. She hitched another ride back, this time with a food vendor who had just finished a delivery to the Estates, and who wouldn't stop yakking about weather and rains and storms and how they affected farming and fishing and how in turn the price of food fluctuated and on and on...<br/><br/>It was afternoon when she returned to Seahurst, where there were still a few hours of daylight left.