Maray pulled her hands out and threw her arms around Pia, who didn’t understand what had caused Maray’s sudden emotion.
“It’s just a dress,” Pia said, patting Maray’s shoulder.
Maray laughed and cried at the same time. “I know. Thank you, Pia.” She pulled away from her handmaiden and friend and wiped tears off her cheeks. “Promise me you won’t just disappear once I start settling into my new life. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Promised.” Pia lifted one hand the way they did when people were sworn in, in court in the other world.
“Let’s try it on, then,” Maray suggested, for now, able to push everything away that was awaiting her after the moment she crossed the threshold of the grand gallery tonight.
The sun was setting behind the afternoon clouds, and they had less than an hour to change and meet with Laura and Gerwin in their chambers.
Pia laid out everything Maray needed to wear under the dress, which wasn’t much.
“Are you sure that’s all?” she asked as she picked up lace panties and silk tights.
Pia nodded and shoved Maray through the bathroom door. “Call me when you’re done.”
Maray dropped the stuff onto the carved shelf on the side then stripped out of her clothes and switched on the shower with a flick of her finger. She had gotten so used to this low-effort type of magic—switching on the lights, the basin, the shower, basically everything everyone else who didn’t have magic needed a bracelet for.
She brushed through her hair and was about to step into the running water when she noticed her hair was still full of Jemin’s scent. It sent goosebumps over her skin, and she stopped. Jemin could be with her tonight even if he was just a layer on her skin, an extra layer of protection—protection of her heart. She flicked her finger again, and the shower turned off. Maybe his scent would even repel the suitors. Maray frowned at her own wishful thinking and slipped into the panties and the tights, then she slid into a bathrobe and brushed her teeth before returning to Pia.
“That was fast,” Pia commented, not unimpressed, then wrinkled her nose. “You didn’t shower at all, did you?” she guessed correctly.
Maray shook her head. “Call it my personal little rebellion.”
Pia winked at her knowingly but didn’t say anything else. Instead, she sat Maray down on a chair and went to work on her hair before she grabbed the endless layers of fabric from the chair and held it out. There was velvet on the top part, but the bottom seemed lighter—satin with layers of tulle, maybe. Maray didn’t consider herself an expert on textiles. But this particular combination didn’t offend her.
“Drop the bathrobe,” Pia instructed, and Maray turned around and pulled off the soft robe to throw it onto the chair where the dress had been a moment ago.
Maray lifted her arms overhead the way she was used to when she got ready with formal Allinan clothing, and Pia let the fabrics slide over her head, and then pulled and dragged on the top part until the skirt fell down over her hips. A bra sewn into the bodice kept everything in place, and much to Maray’s surprise, she found pockets in the abysses of tulle and satin.
“Wait until you see the rest,” Pia commented and stretched the long sleeves down to Maray’s wrists before turning her around so she faced the mirror beside the bed.
Maray wanted to say something, but she was just incapable. The dress had a Sabrina-neckline and a thin satin belt where the velvet top ended. It ran together in a sash at the back of her waist where the dress left her back uncovered in a wide V-shape from the shoulders down. Maray gasped. “No corset.”
Pia shook her head.
But what was more shocking than the effortlessness of moving in the gown was that when she looked into the mirror, with her hair braided up on her head and pearls woven into the dark layers, she looked like a wintery version of Rhia. It didn’t offend her anymore to associate her appearance with the Queen’s, but she could imagine that each of the suitors would have a hard time figuring out if she actually was Rhia—all except for Heck.
“You did a great job, Pia,” Maray praised the girl. She herself would never have thought of this.
“I thought we could play it to your advantage. No one would ever dare hurt the Queen of Allinan, and one day, you shall be Queen. We might as well remind them now who they are messing with.”
They giggled, and as nice as it was to mark down a win in this moment, to play with the guys’ minds, Maray was aware, wouldn’t solve anything in the long run.
Pia painted a hint of raspberry pink onto Maray’s lips before she pulled a second, more simple robe from a bag she had brought, and a pair of silver pumps. She left Maray to slip into them herself while she changed in the bathroom then returned, a vision of burgundy and black.
“Ready?” she asked and guided Maray to the door.
Maray wasn’t ready. She was certain she never would be, and yet she let Pia shove her along the corridor, followed by gasps and whispers as they passed the guards. Goran and Pete were at their heels, both of them commenting on how breathtaking Maray’s gown was. It was only when they entered her mother’s room that her stomach began clenching again. It was time. The sun had set, and the guests were waiting, all of them eager to witness how the suitors for the Princess of Allinan introduced themselves at court.
“You look gorgeous.” Gerwin broke into a smile of pride when Maray entered the room.
“You really do,” Laura agreed and held her hand up, gesturing for Maray to spin around, and as Maray did, “Beautiful. And clever. Where did you get that dress?” Laura tugged uncomfortably on her gown, which had, like any other Allinan ball gown, a corset, and judging by Laura’s tiny waist, she must be pretty uncomfortable right now. Given that her smile was even more impressive.
Maray herself was, despite the freedom of her lungs and stomach, unable to feature that upward curve of her lips. Too much was at stake. Too many troubles lay ahead with or without the ball. Too many dangers and fears.
They moved into formation quietly with a sense of finality, Laura in the front, Gerwin and Maray in the back. Pia behind Maray, tugging the seam of lace along the back of the dress in place.
“You are invincible, Maray,” she whispered as she ran her hands over the sleeves of Maray’s dress, smoothing out any wrinkle. “You will survive this, as you have survived everything before.”
Maray wanted to turn around and hug Pia. She was really making good on her promise to be there for her and help her through the ball. Never in her wildest dreams had Maray believed a thirteen-year-old could take so much of her burden from her, but Pia could. Pia did.
Laura set in motion, and Gerwin took Maray’s arm and led her down the hallway the way a father would lead the bride to the altar. Everything about it felt wrong; this wasn’t a wedding. She wasn’t a bride. And she was determined, whoever she faced in that room that lay at the end of the corridor, she would remember Jemin’s words. She belonged to no one but herself.
“You can do this,” Gerwin encouraged as they arrived at the now-closed double doors. Maray studied the golden ornamentations on the white panels of wood, ignoring the stares of the guards who were about to open the doors for them.
There weren’t any words Maray could say. Anything that lay on the other side of the doors was a duty she would gracefully endure, and she had Pia to help her through it along with Heck. All of a sudden, the prospect of him as the one seemed like an excellent choice—not that she could ever love him the way she loved Jemin, but at least, she considered him a friend and ally, who would gladly give his life for her and for Allinan.
When the doors opened, a voice, not unfamiliar, elevated itself above the murmurs of curiosity in the room. “Stand for Princess Laura, Crown Princess of Allinan, and for Princess Maray Elise, the Jewel of Allinan.”
The murmurs grew louder with people cocking their heads to get a glimpse of her as they crossed the threshold.
“Jewel of Allinan?” she whispered to her father, b
ut he shook his head.
“I’ve never heard that one before,” he admitted so that only Maray could hear it. “This must be something coming from the people of Allinan. A nickname so to speak.”
“Is that common?”
“Your grandfather was King Almein the Gentle,” Gerwin said with a smile.
Maray grinned absently. “What’s Rhia’s?”
Gerwin pursed his lips. “Let’s focus on the matter at hand, shall we?”
At his words, Maray turned her attention to the grand gallery. What had looked like a gilded snow paradise this morning was now tinted in candlelight, giving the room a brilliant and elegant finish. Wherever Maray looked were candles—on the tables, on the chandeliers, on the walls and windowsills—and they reflected in the mirrors on the walls and columns. Even through the windows, she could see an ocean of flames on the huge balcony. Maray didn’t look at faces out of fear she would not be able to keep it together. Instead, she followed her mother, and led by the arm of her father, she made it to the other end of the room without stumbling or her composure slipping even once.
When they arrived at the only long table in the room, Laura marched up to the seat in the middle, and Gerwin led Maray to the chair on her mother’s left before he returned to Laura’s right. Servants pulled out the chairs for them, and they sat, Laura first, then Maray, then Gerwin.
A small ensemble of musicians started playing in the far corner of the room as an armada of servants entered, each of them carrying a tray of dumplings. Maray glanced at her mother anxiously.
“I’ve had Scott make sure none of the dumplings leaves his people’s sight for even one second,” Laura reassured Maray. “Nothing is going to happen.”
Maray focused on the free area in front of her, where the dance floor was supposed to be, and waited for things to happen. The gilded china in front of her filled with dumplings as the servants reached their table. Then they ate, each of them, several dumplings, and nothing happened. No poison, no messages, no attacks, no screaming. All that happened was that Maray’s stomach filled up with food, and she was eternally grateful for Pia’s interference with her wardrobe.
Maray had successfully made it through an entire dumpling dinner when the music stopped and the voice from before rose again, announcing that it was time for the suitors to introduce themselves. The warmth of the dumpling dough suddenly didn’t provide any comfort, instead it lay in her stomach like a stone, dragging her down.
“We all have been waiting for the day when the Jewel of Allinan steps into this room to be set into a golden ring.”
While some of the people in the room gave appreciative murmurs for the poetry in the man’s words, Maray suppressed gagging. It was nice of the people to call her a jewel, but setting her into a ring sounded too much like prison. They might as well lock her in the dungeons with Rhia. Maray stifled any display of emotion on her face. She had to.
“Five candidates have arrived, some from near, some from far. For the one Our Princess picks, the hearts of Allinan stand ajar.”
Maray couldn’t help but finally look at the crowd at the tables, eyes searching for Heck. He had to find this as taunting as she did.
“Suitors, it is time for you to reveal yourselves to our Jewel. Step forward as you are called by your names, and present what you have to offer for Allinan.”
Oliver Gerenhoff was the first familiar face she found at a nearby table. He was sitting with a man and a woman, both with grey hair and sour expressions on their faces. He didn’t notice her looking, and Maray led her glance away as quickly as possible, anxious to find her ally.
Heck was sitting in the far corner of the room, near the musicians, at a table with Sara and Emir Brendal, his parents, all three of them looking darker in the candlelight than usual. Heck was gazing right back at her. She couldn’t actually see his eyes, but she could tell from the way he straightened up that he noticed that she was looking at him, too.
The first to be called forward was Leander Unterly, and as Pia had described him, he was more boy than man. He seemed quite uncomfortable as he stepped in front of Maray and her parents, and he stuttered about merchant trade routes and wealth. Maray smiled and inclined her head the way she was supposed to do, but hardly heard what he said. Her mind was drifting off. She thought of how easy it would be to just run away with Jemin and how hard it would be to keep running for the rest of her life.
Tadaeus Hartwend was a short and rather corpulent young man with a strikingly handsome face despite the roundness of his cheeks. He had a smile, brilliant as the white snow outside, and eyes which were black as the starless night. But Maray couldn’t care less how he looked. He could have been a supermodel, and she would still be comparing each of them to Jemin with his bright-blue eyes and caramel locks, his gentle hands and his somber gaze. And what could someone tell about a person’s heart by seeing them for two minutes?
And while Silver Feldworth didn’t show at all, bringing shame on his family and probably losing them their seat on the council, Oliver Gerenhoff gladly stepped up to tell everyone that he would never stand up his future bride. Maray felt how her composure threatened to boil away as she felt the urge to slap Oliver for his boldness. He bowed to Maray, not unlike the first time they had met, and winked at her, and while Maray managed to not comment on the inappropriateness of his gesture, Heck, who had moved up to the side of the table as he would be next, balled his fists. Oliver rambled on about the influence of the Gerenhoff family due to their lands and alliances in the east and the west of Allinan.
Maray sat through it, biting her tongue until it started to hurt and keeping those lips in a smile as false as pretending it was summer until Oliver ended his speech and Heck took his place in front of the table.
Heck bowed to Maray’s parents first and then to Maray.
“I have been thinking,” he opened, and Maray wanted to smile at him, not because protocol demanded it but because Heck thinking before he spoke was as likely as him being serious when the world came to an end. “All the candidates—except for the poor gentleman who never turned up—” Heck grinned at the room instead of Maray, “—have valid points, each of which should impress the Princess. They most certainly did impress me, and I’m not easily impressed. My family does trading with the Unterly family, and we get parts of our crops from the Gerenhoff lands. The Hartwend family has been in loyal service to the crown by serving in the palace guard and on the council, and each of them must be valid and good choices for our Princess if they made it to the list of suitors.” He turned back to Maray and gave her a long look, which Maray couldn’t interpret, before he continued speaking to the room. “But who am I to use my parents’ achievements as reason to be good enough for the Jewel of Allinan?”
What was he doing? Maray wanted to stop him. If he wanted to have a realistic chance to be chosen in a way that couldn’t be disputed, he couldn’t talk himself down.
“So I come to you, people of Allinan, nobles of Allinan, and to you, Princess Laura and Ambassador Johnson, to tell you that I in no way can compete with those candidates if I look at my own achievements. Who am I but a soldier?”
Murmurs of outrage had started in the back of the room, not unlikely coming from Heck’s family itself. Maray was about to whisper to him to stop it when Heck turned to her directly and gave her a warm, chocolate look.
“I have had the honor of guarding the Princess since her first hour in Allinan. And my personal achievement is to see her for the courageous and wise person she is and to be able to get a glimpse of the Queen she will one day—hopefully—be.”
Maray’s heart warmed at Heck’s words. This was beyond anything she could have imagined funny and joking Heck could be capable of. He was putting everything at risk to give the people a chance to see what he saw. Had it been Rhia sitting there instead of Laura, she would probably have him executed for the way he was speaking, but Laura inclined her head in approval.
“And if I am lucky enough to be chosen, I
will gladly be whatever she needs in order to fulfill her duty to Allinan.” With those words, he bowed and left his stage, and with it, the room, to a shamed silence.
For a long minute, no one spoke, not even the man who had announced the suitors. Then, Laura clapped her hands— “Music.” —and the musicians started to play.
Maray’s mind was still replaying Heck’s speech when it became time for her to dance with each of the candidates, and she ground her teeth and went through it, knowing that at the end of the queue, a real partner was waiting for her.
Maray’s head was spinning as she left the dance floor, led by Heck who bowed and lifted her hand to his lips to indicate a kiss. “It was a pleasure, Jewel of Allinan.”
It reassured Maray when she noticed he had difficulties keeping a straight face. It meant that Heck was still Heck.
The rest of the room was watching from their tables or from the dance floor, each of them curious whether Maray would choose Heck above the others. Luckily the music gave enough background noise so their conversation couldn’t be overheard.
“Thank you, Heck.” Maray inclined her head as he walked away.
When she returned to the table, Corey, dressed in Thaotine pants and her travel cloak, was standing next to Laura, both of them wearing serious expressions.
“Is anything wrong?” Maray asked and wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer.
Corey glanced at Laura as if seeking permission to speak, and Laura nodded.
“I figured out how to break the spell,” Corey said with an apologetic look, which Maray didn’t immediately understand.
“I will take my leave shortly,” Laura enlightened her. “We are going to the dungeons to get it over with.”
“Now?” Maray couldn’t believe nobody had told her. “I thought you were still thinking about it.”
Two Worlds of Redemption Page 23
