Ashes of Roses (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms Book 4) (18 page)

BOOK: Ashes of Roses (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms Book 4)
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And I fled out the back door, heading for the noisome little outhouse that Janks and I shared. The other ladies of the house used chamberpots, but of course such niceties were too good for the likes of me. However, I did not go to the outhouse, but instead hurried into the stable and shut the door behind me as quickly as I could.

“I would give your stepmother a piece of my mind about how she is always delaying you, but after tonight I suppose it will not matter,” said my aunt as she emerged from her normal hiding place in one of the far stalls.

“Oh, no, and we must be quick, for the only way I could think of to escape was to pretend a griping of my belly. I do not think anyone will pursue me to the outhouse — at least, not right away, but — ”

“I understand,” she said, and her eyes twinkled a bit. “But thank you for that piece of intelligence, for now I can make sure to be wan and dragging and look thoroughly ill when I am pretending to be you. But in the meantime — ” She broke off, smiling, and then uttered the words of her spell, the syllables this time sounding even deeper and richer, as if the enchantment she was casting was far greater than any she had done before.

The air seemed to shiver around me, and it was as though I felt thousands of glimmers of light pass over me, somehow
through
me. And when I looked down, I saw I wore a gown so magnificent I was sure its like had never been seen before, not here in the courts of Sirlende or anywhere else on the continent.

For it seemed almost as if I had been clothed in a dress of molten copper, the fabric glinting every time I moved, and yet somehow also light and airy. I was sure it would swirl most beautifully around me as I danced. And the sleeves were worked with copper bullion and topaz and golden pearls in designs so intricate I could hardly guess at their patterns, with that same pattern repeated around the low neckline of my gown. Echoing the color of the dress itself, only a shade or two darker, my hair spilled over my shoulders in heavy curls, gleaming like a new and rare metal.

“Gods…” I breathed, and my aunt clapped her hands together in delight.

“Oh, good. I hoped you would like it. I’ve been dreaming it up the past two days.”

“Like it?” I repeated, and shook my head. “I could never have imagined anything so beautiful ever existed.”

“Well, to be fair, it doesn’t
really
exist, you know. Now, turn around so I can make sure everything is perfect.”

Dutifully I spun for her, the gleaming copper skirts swirling around me with a whisper. As I had thought, the fabric moved beautifully.

“Yes, that should do,” she said after she made a careful inspection. “I don’t see how the Emperor will be able to look at anyone else once he catches a glimpse of you in this.”

“But that’s just it — he won’t be looking at anyone else. We’ve already promised ourselves to one another. We were merely waiting until tonight to make the announcement.”

At that revelation she beamed and pulled me close so she could crush me in a fierce hug. I began to open my mouth to protest, but then realized of course she could do no damage to my hair or gown, so I shut my mouth just as quickly and returned the hug.

“Ah, then, I suppose the dress does not matter so much. Still,” she added, looking me over once more, “I am glad that you will be this magnificent when the Emperor reveals to everyone that you are the choice of his heart, for I cannot see how anyone could not believe the right of such a decision. You do look like an Empress.”

Her eyes teared up then, and I made some sort of concerned sound. Aunt Therissa waved a hand and shook her head, saying,

“Oh, I am happy. I just wish — I wish my poor sister could have seen the lovely young woman you’ve grown up to be. She would be so very proud.”

Those words brought on a tightness in my own throat, but I swallowed and told myself this was no time to weep. After all, I did not want to go to Torric with reddened eyes and a swollen nose. “I am glad you think she would be pleased. I will do my best to make her proud.”

“I know you will. Now go! It is one thing to be just late enough that you make a fine entrance, but after that it is just rudeness.”

Didn’t I know, after having to sneak into the musicale the night before. So I kissed my aunt once again and gathered up the gossamer glinting fabric of my skirts, then hurried out into the night. This time I did not take any great care at concealment, but ran to the back gate and let myself out. Janks was nowhere to be seen, and so I was safe, this last time I must escape my stepmother’s house.

All during the carriage ride I made myself breathe deeply, to calm myself as best I could. This was the last event of five; I should be an old hand at appearing in front of so many people by now. I had survived unscathed so far, and only a few hours now separated me from my engagement to Torric and the start of a new life. Yes, that was exciting and nerve-wracking in its own way, but at least I could at last banish the fear that had been dogging me for the greater part of a week, the worry that sooner or later I would be revealed for the fraud I was.

Yes, it was late, but not horribly so. As the carriage slowed to a stop inside the palace gates, I saw that mine was the last coach to arrive, but several still lingered there as well, indicating their passengers had only just alighted a moment or two before. Heartened by that observation, I waited with a heavily beating heart as the coachman came around and handed me down, then bowed.

“Truly, you do look like a princess, miss,” he said.

“Thank you,” I replied, realizing I had never asked his name, as I had always been in such a hurry when coming and going from my aunt’s house. “I think tonight you will not need to wait for me.”

“Ah,” he replied, and nodded knowingly toward the palace and its myriad windows gleaming like gold in the darkness. “Have high hopes, I suppose. Well, I’ve been paid to stay here until needed, so I think I’ll do that. You can always send word at the end of the evening if things should turn out otherwise.”

He seemed determined, so I nodded my agreement and then hurried off toward the looming front doors of the palace, which now stood open and let out a flood of light and the distant sounds of music and the murmur of many people’s voices. It was still difficult for me to believe that this imposing edifice would soon be my home.

With that thought to propel me, I made my way down the seemingly endless main corridor, past the ranks of men who stood guard there, and on to the ballroom. There I paused just on the threshold so I might peer inside and gain my bearings, and it took everything within me not to gasp out loud in delight.

For while I had noted how sumptuous the decorations had been for the previous four events, they were as nothing compared to the fairyland I saw before me now. If there were any roses left in the gardens of Iselfex and the surrounding towns, I would have been very surprised, for it seemed there must be thousands upon thousands of them gathered in the ballroom, swagged on every wrought-iron chandelier, hanging from every sconce, festooning the dais where the musicians played, gathered into sumptuous arrangements on the tables that held the food and drink. The scent of all those massed flowers was almost overwhelming, and I blinked, attempting to get my bearings.

But everywhere I looked there was something else to catch my attention, from the cunning little candles set amongst the roses, making them almost seem as if they glowed from within, to the bewildering color and variety of the attendees. Everyone had turned out in their finest, and it seemed the Emperor must have put out the call for all noble gentlemen between twenty and forty to be here as well, so that no one should have to lack for a partner.

Girls in scarlet and azure and coral gowns moved in the slow, stately steps of the
linotte
, while their partners, dressed in soberer hues of black and gray and deep blue and green, kept the pace with them. Jewels glistened from ears and necks and wrists, and shoes spangled with discs of silver and gold peeped out from beneath gleaming silk and luxurious velvet.

I stopped just inside the door, scanning the crowd for Torric, but I did not see him. Perhaps he was on the dance floor, continuing the charade for just a while longer.

“Good gods, what a gown!” came Gabrinne’s voice from over my right shoulder, and I turned toward her, glad beyond measure that she was there to greet me.

“Oh, Gabrinne,” I breathed. “Isn’t it all wonderful?”

“Yes, it is,” she replied at once, staring at me in amazement. “Where on earth did you get that fabric? I have never seen its like!”

Luckily, I had anticipated a question such as this, and had concocted a story during the drive to the palace. “It was a gift from my aunt. She has traveled extensively, and bought it in Keshiaar many years ago. They do wonderful things with textiles there.”

“I wish I had your aunt!” Gabrinne exclaimed, eyeing the dress with some envy. “Then again, I am not sure I could carry off that color, whereas it suits you most astonishingly. A lucky purchase!”

I lifted my shoulders. “Well, my mother — her sister — had hair the same color as mine, so my aunt already knew it should work quite well one day. Besides,” I added, casting my own admiring glance over her gown of deep emerald damask, with trim of silver and peacock-hued pearls, “your dress is very beautiful, and looks wonderful on you.”

She dipped a mischievous curtsey, a dimple showing in the corner of her mouth. “Thank you for the compliment, Ashara! I will admit that Lord Senric did praise it quite excessively when he first saw it.”

“And where is he?” I inquired. “For I would have thought you’d keep him close by your side, what with all these predatory ladies looking for dance partners.”

“As to that, I sent him off for a cup of wine, but then I saw you come in, looking like every princess from every tale I’d ever read, and I quite forgot about the wine!”

“But luckily I did not,” a deep voice cut in, and I looked over to see Lord Senric standing a few paces away, a silver goblet of wine in either hand.

Seeing him up close, I had to say that he was quite the fine figure of a man, although he was a good deal older than either Gabrinne or I, or even Torric. But the Duke of Gahm stood tall and straight, and had a fine hawkish nose and determined chin. There was something, too, about those hooded dark eyes, something compelling, and I began to see why Gabrinne had made him the particular object of her quest for a husband.

He extended one of the goblets to her and the other to me, even though I was sure he must have intended it for himself. I began to demur, and he only shook his head.

“No, my lady, I am not churlish enough to drink in front of you when you have none. It is an easy enough thing for me to fetch another. But I think I will wait, for I have heard the next dance is a
verdralle
, and Gabrinne has promised it to me.”

“Yes, I have,” she said, “and you would hear something of it if you went off and left me alone while everyone else was enjoying themselves. But despair not, my lord, for you and I can share my cup, and we shall do quite well that way.”

He smiled at her, and something in his expression reminded me of the way Torric would gaze at me, and so I saw then that the Duke did have a true regard for Gabrinne. This realization warmed my heart, for I had not yet been able to observe them together, and I had wondered how much of a connection they actually shared.

“This is most generous of you, Your Grace,” I said, and sipped from the wine, for to refuse it now would be quite rude. Besides, a bit of wine might help to settle my nerves.

“You are quite welcome,” he told me, and it sounded as if he actually meant it. “That is a very stunning gown, my lady. You should not linger here by the door, but should go further into the ballroom, so that more might admire it.”

Gabrinne laughed, and her dark curls — which I could tell needed no coaxing from a curling rod — bounced with the movement. “What he really means is that the Emperor is out there now, doing his duty by dancing with the pockmarked daughter of the Earl of Treglende, and if you stay over here, you will not catch his eye in time for him to dance the
verdralle
with you.”

Her merriment was contagious. I smiled and said, “Well, then, I guess we had better move a little closer, for I suppose if I am not hasty, then he will be stuck with the Lady Brinda, or someone even worse.”

“There
is
no one worse,” Gabrinne said darkly. “Senric, darling, hold the cup for me, will you? The floor here is so dreadfully crowded.”

I did not miss the fact that she did not precede his name with “lord,” nor that she had called him “darling.” That familiar? Had he already asked for her hand? I supposed it was possible, although I would have thought she’d tell me such important news as soon as she saw me.

He did not comment on her familiarity, but took the goblet from her as we wove our way through the crowd so that we might be closer to the dancers. For truly, although the ballroom was enormous and could easily accommodate a hundred couples, there were far more than that milling about: talking, eating, drinking, or watching the dancers. I kept a firm grip on my goblet and was glad that I had drunk from it somewhat, so at least it wasn’t quite so full. Even so, I was glad when we more or less made it to the edge of the crowd, and therefore had a better view of those actually dancing.

They moved past, the steps of the
linotte
slow enough that I could make out the intricacies of the ladies’ gowns, or the fine cut of the men’s doublets. And then at last
he
came by, wearing the severe silver and black of his house, but so exquisitely tailored that it seemed to outshine the most elaborate garb there. Diamonds glittered from the white gold circlet on his brow, and he was so perfect in every way that my breath caught at the sight of him, and I wondered how he could be a mortal man and not a god, when he so surpassed everyone there.

His eyes widened as he appeared to see me, and it seemed he almost lost his step but recovered, moving on smoothly as if nothing untoward had happened.

“I have no doubt who the Emperor will be dancing the
verdralle
with,” Gabrinne whispered in my ear, and this time I did not bother to contradict her. Why tell more lies, when in such a short time everyone would know of Torric’s and my true feelings for one another?

BOOK: Ashes of Roses (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms Book 4)
2.71Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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