Page 76 of Until the Stars Fall

Remain in your room.

Have breakfast with me.

Pretend to be my bride.

Groaning, I threw the pillow off me and sat up to find the girl was actually a fae, her pointed ears peeking out from waves of dark brown hair that complemented her olive complexion perfectly. I must have looked as awful as I felt, because she seemed to be trying hard not to giggle at me. At least Connor hadn’t assigned Lola or her sister to attend to me. That would have added to my already unbearable humiliation.

“I’m Gretchen,” she said, dipping her chin before flitting across the room to a small wardrobe I hadn’t noticed last night—Mother’s wardrobe. “I used to tend to the queen, you know. But since she passed, I’ve been assigned to look after any guests who visit the palace.”

She busied herself with pulling my mother’s old clothes out of the wardrobe, examining the items one by one, only to put them back with a wrinkle of her nose. I was about to defend the garments when she finally stopped and whispered, “Aha!” and whipped around with a simple blue dress in hand. “This one. This one for sure,” she said.

Gretchen ushered me out of bed, and I sluggishly obliged. She pointed me to a large folding screen in the corner beside the fireplace.

“There’s a fresh bath prepared for you just behind there. Do you need help?”

I shook my head but couldn’t find any words. As I plodded across the room, I glanced around, realizing it was much larger than I’d thought last night. Passing the wardrobe and chest of drawers, I noticed a door leading to a parlor that seemed similar to Brennan’s front room. Had they really put me in the royal wing? Or was this just another guest room?

I stepped behind the screen where a claw-footed porcelain tub had been set up. We didn’t have anything so fancy in the staff privy. Just a metal basin that we had to fill with water heated in the kitchen.

Gretchen called from the bedroom, “Is the temperature all right, miss? Sometimes it is hard to get just right.”

I dipped a hand into the steaming water. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

As I undressed and slipped into the bath, I released a long sigh and listened to Gretchen’s pleasant prattling.

“I heard you suffered quite a nasty fall last night. Some of the staff thought it must have been embarrassing for you to faint in front of all those guests, but if the prince had just announced to the world that he was engaged to me, I’d probably collapse from shock too.”

I cringed at the thought of what everyone must have thought of me. How embarrassing indeed. She continued to chatter as I worked the rich vanilla-and-rose-scented soap over my skin and hair, but I couldn’t be bothered to listen to any of her words. My thoughts instead drifted to the wild, unexpected events of last night. I still couldn’t quite fathom how any of this was real.

Before I knew it, Gretchen was handing me a fresh towel from behind the screen.

“He’ll be here any moment, Miss Berg,” she said.

Taking it, I thanked her and stepped out of the bath. I peered down at the water and asked, “How do you drain it?”

A giggle tickled the air. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. You just get dressed.”

Wrapping the towel tightly around me, I did as directed, nodding to her as I passed by. As I walked across the room, I heard wood scraping and turned to find her sliding the screen closed. When she snapped her fingers and the tub vanished, water and all, I nearly ran into the foot of the bed.

“What?!?” I breathed.

Gretchen peered over her shoulder and shrugged as if this was as normal as baking bread or picking flowers.

“Get dressed,” she said, pointing at the blue garment lying on the freshly made bed. “I’ll be back later today, but if you need anything before then, just let me know.”

She was out of the room before I could ask how I should contact her. For all I knew, she could hear me from anywhere in the palace. That thought made me freeze, and I suddenly remembered all the childish, improper, and untoward things I’d uttered within these walls. I certainly hoped that wasn’t part of her fae abilities.

Whether it was fae magic or just a lucky coincidence, I didn’t know, but the blue dress Gretchen had selected fit me nearly perfectly. It was a little big in the bust, but not so much that I would be risking an embarrassing wardrobe mishap. Having a breast spill out in front of Connor might prove to be more humiliating than anything else I’d endured up to this point.

The ring stared at me from the small table by the bed. Did I dare leave it there and risk his wrath?

He did say to put it on when I’m ready.

That could be never though.

Gingerly I picked up the box and turned it this way and that, watching how the sapphires caught the sunlight. It truly was beautiful. I slipped it from its resting spot and set the box back down on the table. What was the likelihood it would even fit?

If it didn’t fit, I could at least use that as an excuse not to wear it.

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