Page 63 of Of Glass and of Gold

A cacophony of excited giggles climbed the stairs from the girls a floor below, and I knew I couldn’t procrastinate any longer. So I tossed off the covers and made my way downstairs.

Each step reminded me of the grueling tasks at the tavern, my muscles and joints tense with every movement. I winced and whined silently, wishing I could return to bed and sleep until sunset before reaching their floor. My sisters flitted about the dressing room, as if dancing to a tune only they could hear.

Their experience at the ball would be much different from mine, and I needed to be careful. Keeping my true intentions a secret from those at the castle would be one thing, but I couldn’t let Melody, Kenzie, or Eucinda suspect anything either. Which meant my act had to start now. If I expressed how much I truly loathed this day, then suddenly acted interested and bright at the ball, Melody would pick up on it.

So, instead of rolling my eyes or grumbling, I let another kind of mask fall over my features. “Good morning,” I greeted, sounding only fractionally less than happy. Slapping on too much of a pleased expression would also indicate something fishy.

Eucinda scoffed at my use of the word “morning”. They’d all been up for hours, and she turned her nose up at my unladylike sleep schedule, blatantly ignoring the fact that I did it to work the night shifts required to pay the debt to keep this house.

“Nora! Mother finished our dresses, and I found the perfect hairpiece to go with yours!” Melody pulled out a blue crystal studded piece resembling a treble clef. My father used to play beautifully, but the piano and his collection of sheet music was one of the first things Eucinda sold.

“Oh, dear, are you quite sure? The blue would bring out your eyes,” Eucinda countered. I saw the way her eyes sparkled at the elegant clip, and the mere thought of it being wasted on me grated on her nerves.

“Nonsense. It would clash with the soft pink of my dress, and Kenzie’s green. It’s best suited for Nora.” Melody crossed the room with effervescent grace, picking up my hand and placing the clip in my palm. “It’ll look beautiful on you.” Her smile lit up the already bright room.

Beyond Melody, Eucinda’s lip curled into a snarl before turning her attention back to Kenzie’s curlers. We spent the next hour preparing, until finally we left the house, making our way down the streets to the market where a string of carriages waited. Before I was ready, we pulled up to the castle.

There were more guardsmen this time around, and the energy in the air sizzled. It wasn’t until we were escorted to the ballroom that I figured out why.

This room was much more grand than the one where the luncheon took place. Draped cuts of ivory and blue fabric hung from the ceiling, glowing from the massive candle lit chandeliers framing the room. They sparkled, almost like the night sky, and billowed down to the floor where they pooled. Despite my dread, I couldn’t help but feel enchanted.

Ballgowns of every color and shape moved across the floor, like the current of a flowing river, effortless and mesmerizing. Even the chaperones were barely discernible, dressed in their finest wear.

Towering bouquets umbrella’d each table perfectly positioned around the room, in between the circular columns that stretched to the high ceiling. Candelabras taller than men with intricate ironwork lined the walls. Dapperly dressed staff in black tuxes with long coat tails and white gloves dotted the room, and I almost wondered if they served a purpose more than added decoration. It wouldn’t surprise me if the prince thought of his staff as anything more than objects, which would explain why he never cared about the condition of his people. Resentment started broiling in my gut, and I wrung my gloved fingers together, reminding myself to keep my composure.

A trumpet sounded, calling everyone’s attention to the dais at the end of the ballroom. We hadn’t had a chance to take more than a few steps into the grand room before the official welcome speech.

“Welcome, young ladies, to this stunning and exciting event at Highcrest Castle. These walls, while sitting above the city, stand tall only to serve each and every one of you.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my face neutral.

The cherub-faced, gray-haired man continued his address, adjusting his clean white suit with golden stitching and trim. “To say our kingdom is lacking would be untrue, but a great man recognizes that with a great woman by his side, things will only become better. Tonight, as you dance and mingle, hold your heads high, and present yourself as if on this very night, you have this crown placed upon your head.”

He gestured beside him in a graceful sweeping motion, and a staff member appeared, holding the crown of the former queen. The audience released a collective sigh of amazement. Beside me, Kenzie clamored to grasp Melody’s hand, almost overcome with the idea.

While all eyes in the room gawked over the sparkling diamonds embedded in the silver crown, my focus was on the staff, counting how many were in attendance. Servers, stationed staff, guards. I noted how many there were and where they seemed to be placed.

Already, I started assessing how I could casually stumble upon one of them and strike up an innocent conversation. Most of the guards wore full armor, helmets and all. I doubted they would be very chatty. The fashionable staff seemed equally poised as the guards. I’d have to bump into one of them to see if they had been instructed to be silent.

Then there was the kitchen staff, mostly women, constantly flowing in and out with trays of food and drink. They used the front doors to enter and leave the ballroom. Based on the number of guards posted in the halls, attempting to skulk around beyond this room may not be an option, though an idea was already churning.

“Please join me in welcoming the reason we are all here. A man who lives to set an example, graceful and kind, with a strength to rival the lions in the western plains…”

My calculating ceased, and my throat dried as I snapped my attention back to the stage. Heat raced over my stomach, and I placed my hand overtop it to steady myself.

“Prince Nicholas Charmant of Highcrest.” The cherub-faced man stepped aside, leading the round of applause that echoed off the polished stone floors. A rumbling grew with the force of a stampede of wild horses, shaking my already wobbly nerves as I waited with bated breath, keenly focused on the side of the stage I knew he would emerge from.

He appeared, and my tense muscles turned to goo. All I could do was watch the way his golden hair settled perfectly behind his ears, the way his jaw cut the air as he walked, the way his broad shoulders carried the weight of his sapphire embedded crown with ease. He faced the crowd, raising his hand in greeting, a smile spread across his perfectly tan face. The depth of his entirely blue outfit pulled me in like an expanding black hole.

I shook my head, breaking the trance, telling myself I only noticed those things because I knew his time was limited. That I would be partly responsible for his end. Concern wrapped its anxious fingers around my stomach over why I spent any time taking in his beauty when I knew I should feel nothing but hatred toward him. I cursed myself internally, having hoped that the last time he’d affected me this way was only because I’d never seen a royal so close.

But now, we weren’t close at all. In fact, being one of the last of the attendees to enter the room, I was one of the furthest away. Flashes of memory from the moments we’d spent near the food table reminded me of the beautiful hue to his ocean eyes.

I almost swore I could see the darker rim of his irises even across the sea of people between us. The material of my dress suddenly became constricting, the heels on my feet too unstable.

I looked ridiculous. I felt ridiculous. The only saving grace I had was that he probably wouldn’t even see me amongst all the admittedly stunning women and gowns. Being here satisfied Caine’s demand, but I didn’t need to actually interact with the prince. No, I was here for another purpose, a purpose that would lead to liberation.

A flutter of disappointment caught me by surprise when the prince didn’t make a speech and address the room. Instead, he slipped off the stage, and his announcer explained the duration of the evening. We were to be divided on opposite sides of the dance floor and asked to participate when one of the suited staff along the walls requested a dance. The floor would feature about twelve pairs of dancers. The prince would float around the room, requesting dances as the mood so struck him, but the rest of the time we should all be focused on presenting ourselves with precision and poise.

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