Chapter 13
"Try to make a good impression on the girls today. These women will inherit the country. You need to make sure they like you." Josephine loved to talk with her hands, making flamboyant gestures to punctate every word. She looked rather like she was swatting away a pesky fly as she gave me those instructions. I smiled as the ladies pinned layers on to me, zipping the outer layer of my skirt, an extremely full, roused number of thick white and robins egg blue damask material. They then attacked my top half, making sure my breasts were adjusted just right before sliding the matching printed top over my arms. The sleeves approached my elbow, and the neck was a simple scoop cut. One of the ladies latched a strand of pearls around my neck, a simple faceted blue diamond resting on my chest. I saw my hair had been woven with strands of pearls as well. I shifted uncomfortably as the top of the dress was fastened to the skirt, slowly turning the two pieces into one.
"I'll let them finish you up." She said. "Keep the makeup simple, Charlotte, maybe a hint of rogue on her lips, a simple pink, and the mascara, but that's all." Charlotte, a servant who was rather like my mother, nodded from where she arranged my skirt. "The ladies are starting to arrive, I'll greet them." I nodded, letting her slip out. I heard her voice a moment later.
"Welcome, Lady Catherine, is this your daughter Victorie?" She sounded every bit a perfect hostess. I groaned, straining against the dress. Charlotte stood.
"No!" She ordered poking me with her finger. I laughed, and the others giggled, but she glared at them.
"Lips," She said, making me open them like she had taught me before. I let her paint them then let her attack my eyelids. "Now we just wait until you are summoned my lady." They fluttered around me, pulling on the dress to finish it off. My head felt heavy as I tilted it from side to side. The strands of pearls they had laced through it had little gold tear drops that glittered in the dark curls.
Charlotte waited until the clock struck three fifteen, fifteen minutes after the salon was supposed to begin. She decided that I was fashionably late enough and shooed me off my platform. My toes felt pinched in the gold slippers I was wearing, but Charlotte reminded me to smile, and that beauty was pain.
"Well the dress even fit through the door?" I whispered to her, making her roll her eyes, but smile softly.
"Yes, now remember, these ladies want you to like them as much as you want them to like you." She said in a whisper as two ladies opened the wide doors. I glided out, my hands holding my skirt up just enough for me to walk, not enough to show my feet though, All the ladies stood, a collection of about twenty five arranged on the sofas and lounges across the room. I smiled, heading to wear Josephine stood, an empty place in the large chair beside her.
"Sorry for keeping you all waiting, Charlotte just can't make me look acceptable enough to be your Princess." I got an appreciative giggle from a fair skinned girl with unruly red curls that were escaping her braid. I smiled. I liked her already, she had a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Oh Avalyn," Josephine laughed. "You are a mess, my dear." Her words were measured, said through gritted teeth as she delivered a stern look. I sat, everyone following my lead. Josephine nodded approvingly when I arranged my skirt to fall elegantly around me.
The tea was served, the older ladies making small talk with Josephine, who had moved across the room to a gaming table, and was shuffling cards for the older ladies so the girls could chat. They had all cleverly moved to sit in a circle around me, watching as I stood and headed to the large book cases to pick a book. One of the girls, one who looked like she had been suddenly overcome by a bad scent, turned to me elegantly sipping from her tea cup. When she moved, so did a herd of about six girls, three of which I spotted quickly as her direct subordinates, girls she declared worthy.
"Your majesty, how are you finding our lovely home." I smiled, drawing a burgundy volume off the shelf.
"Well, I find my parent's palace beautiful, but very large and confusing. I was trying to find my way to the gardens and wound up in a little room full of nothing but rusting armor." The girls caught my dig, and she turned slightly red.
"I've resided here almost my entire life. My father is the most powerful Duke in the land, Duke Kitting." I had met the Duke briefly; he'd made nasty comments about how I would make strong boys. He'd advised me to marry so that I didn't have to strain my pretty little head about how to run a country. I told grandfather I wanted him out of my business, as efficiently as possible. His daughter, light haired and annoying, was cut from the same cloth.
"Oh yes, I've met him, I believe I've met you as well." I said simply, returning to my seat.
"Yes your majesty, I'm Lady Harriet, I believe we rather got off to the wrong foot on our first meeting." She said smiling, revealing her perfect white teeth, "I was a part of the King's Ward of Royavieve's cabinet when she came to visit. I'm highly qualified to help you rule our great land... and advise you on everything from the ways of men and..."
"Lady Harriet, you remind me very much of a girl I used to know in the village," I cut her off, but She smiled, not realizing the implication of my statement.. "The viceroy's daughter. She thought very highly of herself too, and loved to bully others. I appreciate your offer, but I will not be needing your services, just like I decided by my second day here a week and a half ago."
It seemed like a year ago, a life time ago, the first time I was put in a frilly dress and made to play pretend. I was not made to play politics with people I did not like, sadly no one seemed to realize that yet. I'd been pretending to be a Princess, to be the granddaughter and leader Henry thought I could be, or the strong, independent leader all the noblemen were coming to think I was. I was just a village girl, and Harriet, with her perfectly trimmed hair and rogued cheeks, could see through all my draping of royalty, and for that reason, along with her superior attitude, I knew I couldn't let her in my life, because I could see through the pretty face she presented. She was a snake in the grass, who would do anything she could to gain power. The minute the words left my mouth, I could see the gears of her mind turning, and I knew in that moment, she would do everything in her power to destroy me.
YOU ARE READING
For King and Country
Historical Fiction"What do you want, Cora?" He snapped, slamming his fist on the table, making me jump slightly as he looked at me with his wild eyes. "You spend so much time now worrying about everyone else, but for once, will you please just ask yourself what you w...
