“You may go if you like. I completed enough work today that I won’t need you to sit again.”
“You finished so quickly?”
He smiled at me.
“It will take more work, but this portrait is easy. I only have to copy what has been created by someone else. I will have it finished and framed in time for your quince.”
I hesitated in the doorway, reluctant to leave now that I had permission to do so. I wanted to stay in this room full of light and color. To work on my wedding gown design. To weave strands of blue and silver and capture the ocean in fabric.
I wanted my magic back.
The weight of that realization made me lean against the door in shock. Alessandro kept painting. Did he even realize that I was still here?
I looked down the stairs and decided I wasn’t ready to face them yet. I walked around the room instead, studying the panorama of Castana and beyond. Watching my portrait take shape beneath Alessandro’s brush. The unfinished face on the canvas belonged to a stranger.
I walked back to the door, but still couldn’t bring myself to leave.
“May I visit you?” I asked.
Alessandro shook his head.
“I paint portraits every day, and I must have quiet to complete my work. I have no time for visitors.”
“Surely you’ve earned a rest.”
He looked up from the canvas and stared at me with his piercing gray eyes.
“I don’t want to rest, Donna Alma. I want to paint.”
He turned back to the portrait. I watched him work for a few moments longer, then began my downward climb. The torches cast my shadow onto the walls in flickering, ever-changing shapes. Going down was easier than going up. Or maybe I was adjusting to the charm. When I reached the bottom, I stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind me.
I wandered through the castle, unsure where to go. People stared at me and whispered to each other, but no one offered to help. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
I stopped a servant in the next corridor.
“Excuse me, where is Prince Lorenzo?”
“In council, Donna. He can’t be disturbed.”
She curtsied and hurried away.
I found a familiar hallway and followed it to the stables. Donna Senona had already taken our carriage back to the house. I approached the guard at the gate.
“Excuse me? Would it be possible to borrow a horse?”
He turned, and I recognized Eduardo. Once again, he didn’t seem to recognize me.
“I wish I could help, miss, but I’ve gotten in a lot of trouble this week for loaning things out. You’ll have to ask the stable master.”
“Where can I find him?”
“He’s in the market meeting with a don. Said he’d found a bargain on horses he couldn’t pass up.”
I had a good idea which don that meant. At least he would be easy to find.
Chapter 32
The market was much less crowded in the evening. The crowd of shoppers had thinned, and most of the merchants were packing up their carts. I had no idea what the stable master looked like, but I had a pretty good idea who he was meeting.
I circled the marketplace searching for Don Diego, but I saw no curled mustaches or horse’s tails. The buildings cast long shadows in the setting sun, and the other shoppers stepped around me as I walked. I had been invisible as a servant. I was untouchable as a donna.
Across the market, Tullio packed up his soap cart. It still had a few scorch marks from the attack, but he had repaired most of the damage.
A horse with a curled tail stood beside the cart. I hurried towards it. That horse could only have come from one place.
But the man holding the horse’s bridle wasn’t Don Diego. I blinked, certain my eyes must be playing tricks in the fading light.
“Carlo?”
He jumped in surprise.
“Alma? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for a ride home. What are you doing?”
“Negotiating a deal. Tullio’s rose-shaped soap is very popular in the colonies.”
He nodded to the soap merchant.
“You can have the shipment ready in time? I know the attack destroyed some of your stock.”
“It will be ready.”
Tullio bowed to both of us, but didn’t seem to recognize me. Not surprising since he had been focused on Renata the last time I saw him.
“I can take you home if you don’t mind waiting a few more minutes,” Carlo said. “Mirella should be finished soon.”
“Mirella’s here?”
He nodded towards the shadowed alleys across the square. The Dark Market.
Mirella emerged from the shadows clutching a small basket. A cloaked figure walked with her. I hurried towards my friend. The woman in the cloak retreated when she saw me, but I recognized her wrinkled face before she disappeared into the alley.
“Be careful what you buy from her,” I whispered when I reached Mirella. “She’s the one who sold Tía Teresa the fairy corset.”
I scanned the dark passage between the buildings, but the woman was gone. Mirella raised an eyebrow.
“What are you doing here, Donna Alma? Shouldn’t you be at the castle preparing for your royal quince?”
She hurried away, and I jogged to keep up with her.
“Donna Senona took the carriage, so I need a ride home.”
“I’m surprised the prince didn’t provide you with one.”
“He’s busy with the Salarians.”
Mirella sniffed.
“What a shame he couldn’t take the whole day off to honor you, Donna Alma.”
“Mirella, what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
She tried to hurry away, but I stepped in front of her. She glared at me.
“I’m your best friend, Alma. You should have told me that you were getting a title.”
“I didn’t know. Honest, Mirella. I didn’t know what was happening until he announced it at the ceremony.”
She glared at me a few moments longer. Then her features relaxed into a small smile.
“Donna Alma. How does it feel?”
“Strange. I suppose I’m still getting used to it.”
She studied me.
“It suits you. I always thought it would feel different to be noble, but you look different as well. What beauty treatments did they give you?”
“Nothing. I’m just happy, I guess.”
That excuse had worked on everyone else, but Mirella wasn’t fooled.
“Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll have to find out about it through servant’s gossip like everyone else.”
She tried to walk away. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. There was one piece of information sure to distract her from Divinia’s charm.
“You were right about the prince. He wants to call on Father after my quince.”
“What!”
Mirella dropped her basket and grabbed my shoulders.
“When? Alma, oh my goodness! How long have you been courting?”
I picked up the basket and handed it to her.
“Quiet, Mirella. We have to keep it a secret until after my quince. He couldn’t officially ask since I’m not of age, but he did hint very strongly.”
“Oh, right. Of course.”
She hugged me, loosely so she wouldn’t wrinkle our gowns, then pulled me towards Carlo’s carriage.
“I want all the details. Tell me everything. Is it because you saved his life? How did that happen?”
“I’d like to hear that story as well,” Carlo said.
He helped us into the carriage and ordered the driver to take us home. They both looked at me with wide, curious eyes as we drove away from the market.
I swallowed. Of course they would ask for the only story I couldn’t tell.
“Who attacked him?” Carlo asked. “It seemed strange that he didn’t say what happened during the ceremony.”
I swallowed again. What could I say?
“Was it the Salarians?” Carlo pressed. “Is he trying to cover something up?”
Mirella gasped.
“You think the Salarians attacked him, Carlo?”
“It is possible. The guilds have been suspicious of them since they arrived.”
“It wasn’t the Salarians,” I said.
“Then who was it? What happened?”
They leaned towards me, eager for more details. I shook my head.
“I can’t tell you. Lorenzo swore me to secrecy.”
Mirella’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re really not going to tell? Alma, you can trust us. We’re your friends!”
“I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Carlo leaned back in his seat and studied me.
“Rosa and Ethan were there, though? They were involved somehow?”
I nodded. That seemed a safe enough admission since they had also received medals.
“I thought you didn’t like Rosa,” Mirella said. “What were you doing with her and the prince?”
“And the Salarian?” Carlo said. “You have to admit the situation is odd.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you.”
I met Mirella’s gaze, willing her to understand, but her expression hardened.
“Should we expect an invitation to your quince, Donna Alma? Or will it be for nobility only?”
The hostility in her tone made me wince.
“Mirella, please don’t. Of course you’re invited to my quince. You’ve been helping me plan it for years. If I do have it at the castle, I’ll need your help to make plans for the new venue.”
She relaxed a little. I smiled with relief and kept going.
“You’ll have to spend lots of time at the castle while we prepare. There will be plenty of eligible dons desperate to meet you. And Don Diego is still eager for a bride if you want to settle down quickly. You’ll be a donna in no time!”
She stiffened.
“I don’t need your rejects, Donna Alma. I’m perfectly capable of catching my own husband.”
“Mirella, I didn’t mean it like that.”
She looked out the window and ignored me. Carlo gave me a sympathetic smile.
“This all caught us by surprise, Alma. We had no idea you were being considered for a title. We had no idea you’d grown so close to the prince.”
“It all happened so fast. You’re the first people I would have told if I had time. You know you are.”
“I understand that, but it is strange that you won’t tell us how you saved the prince’s life.”
“He swore me to secrecy! What do you want me to say?”
Carlo raised his hands in defeat.
“Of course you must honor your oath.”
Mirella sniffed in disapproval. We sat in silence for a moment before Carlo continued the conversation.
“What do you think of my new carriage? I’ve been wanting to show it to you.”
I glanced around to be polite. It was a decent carriage, but it smelled a little horsey. It probably had been kept in a stable before Carlo bought it.
“It’s very nice.”
Carlo seemed to be waiting for more praise, so I searched for something else to say.
“The seats are comfortable.”
“They’re leather,” he said with a smile. “I negotiated the price myself. Between this carriage and the horses from Don Diego, I got quite a bargain.”
“How long do you think it will take their tales to uncurl?”
He laughed.
“A month at least. I’ve never seen so much magic poured into horse grooming.”
“Don Diego certainly does love curls.”
I smiled at Mirella as I said it. She didn’t turn from the window.
Chapter 33
I jumped out of the carriage and waved goodbye as soon as we reached their estate. Carlo waved back, but Mirella still wouldn’t look at me. The sun sank behind the trees, and a blaze of color decorated the sky.
I ducked through the hedge between our estates and ran through the gardens. As soon as I reached the house, Tía Teresa flung the door open and pulled me inside.
“What’s happened? Is everything alright?” I asked.
“Hurry, Hija! Where have you been?”
She dragged me to my room and slammed the door shut without waiting for an answer. A mannequin draped with red fabric stood near my bed. The dress was one of last summer’s gowns, but Tía Teresa was reworking it. She had removed the sleeves and added a layer of ruffles around the skirt.
“Tell me everything while I work,” she said. “I heard you became a donna! Did you sit for a portrait with Alessandro?”
“Tía, what is the hurry? We have plenty of time to make a new gown before my quince.”
“But the ball is tonight.”
“The ball?”
She wrapped a measuring tape around my waist, clucked to herself, and adjusted the gown with a snap of her fingers.
“They signed the treaty, Hija! There’s a ball to celebrate tonight. Your first ball as a donna.”
“Tonight?”
I sank onto my bed. This was turning into an exhausting day. Tía Teresa attached new sleeves to the dress as she spoke.
“Are you hungry, Hija? I sent for dinner. Now tell me what happened at the castle today.”
The mention of food cheered me up. I smiled at Tía Teresa.
“I had breakfast with the prince, just like the invitation said. He, well, he hinted that he’d like to call on Father after my quince.”
“By the roses!”
Tía Teresa dropped the sleeve and wrapped me in a hug. I laughed.
“Nothing is official yet, Tía. He wants me to think about it.”
“Think about it? What is there to think about?”
Someone knocked on the door. Tía Teresa claimed a tray of food from the maid then turned back to me.
“What else?”
I filled her in on the day’s events while I ate. She listened but never stopped working. The red dress took shape as she waved her hands.
“Mirella seems angry,” I said when I had finished my story.
“She’s probably jealous. I wouldn’t worry about that, Hija.”
“But she’s my friend.”
Tía Teresa raised an eyebrow.
“She’ll forget all about it the first time you invite her to the castle. Now let’s see how this dress looks.”
I eyed the mannequin.
“I’ll have to wear a corset, won’t I?”
“The prince sent a note with your invitation. He will have trained guards protecting you. Don’t worry about a thing, Donna Alma.”
“His guards haven’t done much good so far.”
I swallowed my nerves as she laced the corset over my chemise. It wasn’t as comfortable as the fairy-enchanted one. Would it be safer?
When she had finished, Tía Teresa snapped me into the red gown. We both studied my reflection in the mirror.
“The lace doesn’t look quite right,” she said.
“Maybe if you layered something under it? I tried that in a design for a wedding gown, and it worked well.”
“Already thinking of wedding gowns? We need to get through the ball and your quince first.”
There was no way to tell her I had been designing a wedding gown for the Salarian princess without explaining the fairies.
“It doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Can we try it?”
“I don’t know, Hija. I’ve never seen lace layered like that.”
“Which will help me stand out. Let me show you.”
I grabbed a gold ribbon and tried to slip it under the red lace on my skirt. I couldn’t bend far enough in the corset to do it.
“Snap me out of the dress so I can show you.”
“Hija, we don’t have time.”
“This is my first ball as a donna. I want to make sure my dress is perfect.”
She sighe
d and snapped her fingers. The red gown appeared on the mannequin, and I stood in my corset and chemise. I slid the ribbon under the lace, but it still wasn’t right. I needed to sew the fabrics together.
I needed magic.
I reached for the fairy necklace and slid the charm back and forth on its chain.
“I could help you, Tía. I’ve trained a little.”
“You can’t, Alma. You’re a donna now.”
“No one has to know.”
“It isn’t worth the risk.”
I held the fairy charm and tried to think how to explain the curse to her without betraying Lorenzo’s trust. Tía Teresa took my silence as agreement and snapped me back into the dress. I dropped my hand away from the charm. If I took it off now, I would expand and destroy the gown. I wouldn’t have anything to wear to the ball.
“You could layer more fabric into the sleeves to make them fuller. We can take apart another gown for fabric.”
“Hija-”
I ignored her and pulled open my wardrobe. I couldn’t use magic, but I could still help with the design. I rummaged through the silk petticoats folded in the bottom drawer until I found one with golden fabric.
“Something like this.”
“What’s gotten into you, Hija?”
But she snapped her fingers and lined the sleeves with the new fabric. I checked my reflection.
“Should the skirt be fuller to balance the sleeves?”
“Yes, but-”
I reached into the bottom of the wardrobe and pulled out another underskirt. Something fell out of it, and I gasped.
A Rosas Rojas glittered on the floor.
“You hid it with your undergarments,” Tía Teresa said. “Very clever.”
“I didn’t put it there. Lorenzo’s is under my pillow.”
I lifted my pillow and showed her. Tía Teresa frowned.
“That is not such a good hiding place, Hija.”
“I’ve been making my own bed. They have no reason to look through my sheets.”
“You’ve been doing what? Oh, Alma!”
The Rosas Rojas on the floor looked like all the others. I picked it up and twirled it around. A faint aroma wafted out from it. Tía Teresa wrinkled her nose
“It smells like a stable,” she said. “But how did it get here?”
“There was someone in my room.”
I swallowed.
Lady Alma Page 23
