Chapter Nineteen

Clarice, being the capricious urchin that she was, requested evening lessons today, so I was left free the entire afternoon. But I didn't want to be free. I wanted to be as busy as was humanly possible. Anything to keep me from thinking about what Mayra told me yesterday.

So I rolled up my sleeves and decided to perform summer cleaning on my house before the ball. By the time I was done, I thought even a glorious king would dirty the expertly cleaned hardwood flooring of my house.

I smiled and wiped my hand across my forehead. Unwittingly, I touched the pendant pinned in my hair. I whipped my hand back down. There was a reason it was in my hair and not on my blouse. I couldn't be thinking of what Mayra told me.

I slapped my forehead to clear my thoughts. It was almost time for Clarice's lesson, and I had no intention of being late.

After cleaning myself up, I gathered my things together and headed out into the cool evening air of Aria. Things had settled down after Fallon's assassination, but the tension and anxiety was still present. As I walked up the main road to the castle, I couldn't help but feel exposed. Not only did my job at the tribune set me apart from everyone else, the fact that I was the tutor for Clarice Faretra made me unique in every way. I did not like being unique.

"Ah! Get out of my head!" My eyes widened when I realized I said that out loud. I slapped a hand over my mouth and walked at a quicker pace. Shopkeepers gave me strange looks as they packed up for the evening. Great. Now they probably thought I was insane.

The palace was in a state of its usual pandemonium before the ball. Servants rushed to and fro, preparing decorations, making plans, and other such things. I saw Philippa immediately upon entering the castle. She was speaking to Maddox, her head lowered urgently with the bulky man.

When she spotted me, a motherly smile lit up her features. "Hello, Lannie. You're rather late for Clarice's lesson, aren't you?"

"She requested evening lessons for some stup—" I caught Maddox's raised eyebrow before I spouted the profanity. "—for some reason."

Philippa nodded, an amused glint to her eyes. "Very well. I will see you later tonight, yes?"

What did she mean by that? I didn't have anything scheduled. "Er. Yes. Yes, you will. Maybe. I have to go now." Bowing to the queen and Maddox, I made my way up the staircase and to the lesson room.

On my way there, I passed the hall to Odelia's meeting room. I would have kept going, but I stopped short when I saw Odelia and Cicero talking together in hushed whispers.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the fervency in their whispers bothered me. What was that snipey old man saying to her?

I ducked back into a hall when Odelia glanced in my direction. I didn't need to hear what they were saying. I had other things to attend to. I continued walking, ignoring the nagging feeling that something wasn't right. Cicero was Odelia's emissary. Of course they would be talking with one another.

When I arrived at the lesson room, I turned the knob and opened the door.

But what I found on the other side made me want to bolt in the other direction.

"Oh, no you don't!" Clarice grabbed my arm before I could escape.

"Yes I do!" I struggled against her, but the sixteen-year-old in front of me had been expertly trained with a sword against her mother's wishes. Compared to my weak arms, she was ten times stronger than I was. Clarice yanked me into the renovated lesson room and slammed the door behind us. I backed against the wall, my eyes widening in horror at what was before me. The dressing screen and the pile of ball gowns were enough to create anarchy within my nervous system. "No," I pleaded. "Don't— I can't— Not again—"

A chaotic light illuminated Clarice's eyes as she stepped towards me.

There was no hope for survival.

                                                ————————

"Come on, Lannie," Clarice chided. "It isn't that bad."

"Isn't that bad? Isn't bad?" I flung my hands to indicate the monstrous...thing on me. I wasn't even sure to call it. I felt inhuman amongst all the silk and ruffles.

"We'll try another dress," she said, acting nonchalant with the entire situation. She began rifling through the pile of remaining dresses on the lounge, holding several up for inspection, then discarding them with a dissatisfied

Didn't she realize this was torture for me? "We've been through at least twenty dresses, Clarice! I am going to your stupid ball."

The duchess' daughter looked at me with a firm glare. "Yes, you are." Her lip curled in that way when she was threatening me. "I can always tell my mother about all the heinous things you've done to me."

"Heinous things?" I had been tutoring her for long now? What an ungrateful brat! "What did I ever do to you?"

"For starters, you yell at me whenever I say things to you and—"

"I do yell at you!"

"—give me extra homework that you don't even grade."

"It's called bonus work, numskull!" I clenched my fists.

She was ticking the items off her fingers as she went on. "You call me names."

"If you weren't such an idi—" I cut myself off, realizing that I was falling into her trap. "Just stop it!"

Clarice was on her fourth finger. "And you are very close with Titus. I could easily spread a rumor about you two, and my mother wouldn't even take a second glance before firing you."

My cheeks warmed. "What are you? A two-year-old? Who starts rumors and—" I remembered that she was sixteen, and what sixteen-year-old girls did best, I'd heard, was spread rumors with their friends. Instead, I snapped, "You have no grounds to say that, Clarice. Knock it off!"

"Oh, and you order me around—"

"" I disappeared behind the dressing screen and all but ripped the dress off my body. "I order you around because I'm your tutor."

"Yeah, whatever." Her voice took on a tone of concentration, and I knew she was looking at dresses once more.

I was about to put on my blouse and trousers when a squeal came from the other side of the dressing screen. Soon after, something flew over the screen, silk and all. I pulled the garment from the edge and marveled at its beauty. It was a sleeveless dress in a deep shade of red with a gathered satin skirt. I couldn't deny that it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It was simple, but so...pretty. Then again, I hadn't seen many pretty dresses.

"Put it on! Put it on!"

I gulped. I had to be strong on this one. I had to remind myself that I hated dresses, no matter how beautiful they were. "No. I am going—"

"I swear, if you don't do it now, I'll come in there myself and you do it."

I sighed and pulled it on. I waddled out from behind the dressing screen, feeling like a newborn foal. I never felt comfortable in dresses.