Book 3 : Chapter 11

If nothing else, this ball would be a short escape from that cell which by the evening was already beginning to drive me insane. I was allowed back up to my room where a dress and a maid awaited me armed with a hairbrush and soap.

"Hey," I said after the guards had finally let go of me and gone outside of the room to stand guard.

"I'm Matilde," she said with a nervous wave. "I'm here to..."

"Make me look less like I've spent all day in a dungeon?" I asked looking at my matted hair and dirty fingernails.

"Yeah... I ran you a bath," she replied.

"Thank you," I said as I made my way to the bathroom and took the hairbrush and soap that she held out for me on the way past.

When I was clean, she filed my nails and did some fancy thing with my hair. I then had to get into the dress, which was a light blue, grossly outdated ball gown.

"Don't worry, Miss," Matilde said as she tied the back. "Everybody will be wearing stuff like this and you look beautiful."