The Debutante (Season Series #2)

Chapter 26: Queenly Quandaries

Brenna woke me earlier than usual the next morning, but I was happy to oblige when I smelled breakfast. If there was something that I would choose over sleep, it was always food.

"You have a visitor as well," Brenna warned as she helped me into my dressing gown. I frowned, not expecting anyone, but this Season was turning out to be full of surprise visitors. When I emerged into the sitting room, I fully expected the rotten Millie to have returned, but the woman waiting for me turned out to be someone else entirely.

"Audra!" I grinned, moving to greet her with a hug. But the seamstress wouldn't meet my eyes, instead politely denying me my hug by dipping a curtsey.

"I'm here to take your measurements, my lady," she said formally. I leaned back, frowning.

"My lady? Since when do I not have a first name?" I asked her. I realized with a sinking feeling that she still wasn't meeting my eyes as she dug through her basket to pull out a roll of measuring tape. When she didn't answer my question, I looked back over my shoulder towards Brenna, who merely shrugged before she returned to my bedroom to prepare the day's attire.

"Audra," I said quietly, when the two of us were alone, "What's the matter?"

She glanced up at me quickly as she wrapped the tape around my hips, something guarded in her eyes.

"I'm very sorry if I did something to offend you," she said curtly. I reached down to still her hands, forcing her to look at me.

"Offend me?" I repeated, frowning. Her jaw was set as she faced me.

"I'm no longer to be your seamstress," she said, "You've been assigned to someone with more experience."

"More experience? Why? I never asked for a change," I said as she pulled her hands from mine, busying herself with something in her basket.

"You don't have to lie to me, Libby," she said, her back turned, "I knew it was too good to be true."

"Audra," I said, coming up beside her so I could lean over to look up into her face, "You must believe me, I never made any such request. I don't want another seamstress to attend to me, I want you!"

She looked over at me warily, searching my face as if debating whether I was telling the truth.

"You're my friend," I said, "That hasn't changed, has it?"

She chewed her lip before she dropped her gaze.

"All I know is that the head seamstress came to me last night and said that she was going to be in charge of your wardrobe from now on and that you were having several new dresses commissioned. I'd assumed..." she started, only to trail off. I felt a pang of pity as she looked away, ashamed. But the pang was overshadowed as I realized what must have happened.

"That damned queen," I muttered, earning a shocked look from the seamstress.

"Libby-" she started, clearly about to chastise me for such language.

"I know, I'm sorry," I said massaging the bridge of my nose, "It's just that I think I know what's happened and I'm livid. That meddlesome maid of the queen's didn't like anything I have in my closet, which is why the queen has likely commissioned me a set of new dresses. She's also most likely the reason that I've been assigned to someone else."

"The queen is commissioning your dresses?" Audra asked, her eyebrows jumping with surprise. I made a face.

"Unfortunately yes," I said, collapsing onto my loveseat, the smell of breakfast now more nauseating than appetizing.

"So you didn't request another seamstress?" Audra asked, twisting her hands around her measuring tape. I looked up at her with a sigh.

"Do you really think I'd ever do that?" I asked, "After all that you did for me last Season?"