Page 29 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

With that, Brebie called to my room a flock of maids to help her, and I hurriedly shoved some food into my mouth before they took the tray away.

“You have to forget about your modesty, Sparrow,” Brebie lectured me in a voice that disallowed argument. “Stop worrying about your privacy. It’d be highly inconvenient for us to work with our eyes closed—we’d never get anything done. Just take your robe off and let us do it properly.”

If my future in this kingdom depended on tonight, cooperating with Brebie’s efforts was in my interests. Besides, after having been closely inspected by Voron, I found undressing in the presence of the women much easier.

After they had thoroughly cleaned me and rubbed every inch of my body with something slick and smelly, they placed me on a stool by the fire.

A tall woman with lime-yellow wings arrived, carrying a pallet of paints and a small bucket of brushes over her arm. She lowered herself onto her knees in front of me.

“What should I paint on her?” she asked Brebie, not me. “The king’s name?”

“No.” Brebie waved her hands at the woman. “That’d be too presumptuous. And bad luck, too. The king hasn’t claimed her yet. Just paint something pretty. But no words or letters.”

Tilting her head, the woman stared at my naked breasts like an artist would look at a clean canvas envisioning the picture they were going to paint. Feeling self-conscious, I moved my hands to cover up, but she batted them away without raising her eyes to my face.

“Well, she has lots of space for me to work with,” she said, taking out a brush from her bucket.

Lots of space?

That must be a reference to the size of my breasts, which were quite large compared to the fae I’d met so far. The woman’s voice didn’t sound like she was insulting or judging me, though. So, I chose to ignore her remark and said nothing when she put her brush to my skin.

She painted quickly, in skilled, confident strokes. Her brush tickled my skin, but I tried to hold still. Only when she dragged it over my nipple, I jerked away.

“Isthatpart really necessary to be painted over?”

Brebie leaned over my shoulder, leaving one of the maids to take over braiding my hair. “What’s that, honey?”

“What’s the point in painting the parts of my body that will be covered by clothes, anyway?” I shielded my nipples from the brush with my hands.

“Oh, but she isn’t painting where it’d be covered.”

My anxiety spiked at Brebie’s words. “Are you saying my breasts will be fully exposed? Am I going to the ball topless?”

“Not exactly.” Brebie dismissed my concerns with a vague hand gesture. “Sparrow, honey, please let the woman do her job, so we can finish on time. We all wish for King Tiane to like you, but the king hates to be kept waiting. He’ll be furious if we’re late.”

I kept my hands in front of my chest. “Brebie, what is going to happen at the ball?”

“How am I supposed to know? I’ve never been invited to one. The royal balls are for highborn only.”

But I needed the answers. “Is everyone going to be naked tonight?”

“Don’t be silly.” She shook her head, tossing her golden curls between her horns. “No one will becompletelynaked. You will be wearing a dress. The paint is a decoration, just like the jewelry. If anything, it actually hides your bits, covering them up.”

“Is this really the only way? Why can’t I have something like what you’re wearing?” Her pastel-colored dresses were pretty but also provided decent coverage in all areas that mattered, including the chest.

She walked around the chair and crouched in front of me, shouldering the painter aside.

“Sparrow, the king gives beautiful parties. The highborn of the royal court love them. I’m sure you’ll learn to love them, too. But you need to fit in to feel comfortable. Clothes like mine won’t help you with that. We will dress you in the court’s latest fashion. Trust me, no one will have a bad word to say about your outfit.”

There’d be plenty of other reasons for the court to scrutinize me, I imagined, feeling every bit an outsider that I was. Maybe Brebie was right. I did need any help I could get to navigate the world I knew so little about.

“Fine.” I removed my hands from my chest and flexed my jaw, allowing the woman to continue with her painting. She calmly twirled the brush around my nipple, laying swirls of gold paint in intricate designs on my bare skin.

So many things were out of my control here. Even my body didn’t belong to me. I felt swept into a twister, carried to a destination unknown. Both Brebie and Voron had told me I had no choice. But there always was some, wasn’t there? I could choose to drift along with what other people planned for me. Or I could fight it.

I could shove away all these brushes, jump off this chair, mess up my hair, and refuse to cooperate.

But what would that gain me?

---