Page 12 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

“I have every faith in you,” I reply as she hauls me inside.

“Every faith in my ability to turn back time to avoid you being over anhourlate to the ball? You’re going to get me dismissed!”

“I had to steal theollea! It was my one chance! I’m not going to be back at the Nothril Court for a month!”

“I should have known it would have been over something stupid.” She shoos me up the stairs and into my room. “Hurry! We’ve got no time at all!”

“Stupid?Olleawill be invaluable. Ever since I learned fae with sensitive noses use it to dull their senses, I knew I needed to steal some for my raids. I’ll be practically invisible with it. And besides, no one will care I’m late to the ball! I’m a walking fortune! I could come in a potato sack, and everyone would just say it adds to mymystery. I’ll start a new fashion trend.”

“You can think that.”

I roll my eyes as she helps me strip and step into the tepid water of the tub set up in my washroom. “It would probably be in my best interest to wear a potato sack. Some of these men are so insistent I’m not sure what they wouldn’t do for my fortune. And with Agatha working against me, I’m not sure I’ll manage to stay unwed before my birthday!”

Mary scrubs my skin until it stings and clucks over the sorry state of my hair. “Maybe if you would actuallytalkto the young men, you would find someone you liked who could help you.”

“Impossible.”

“Kat.”

“No, really!” I step into the towel she holds for me and dry off as fast as I can make my limbs work. Then it’s time to pull on the undergarments and lace up the stays. “These men want my money, and they will pretend they care about me and act like they’re in love with me until they have it.”

“Then just explain to your favorites that you need their help staying single until you’re twenty-one so you can claim the fortune for yourself and not have to hand it over to him. If he agrees and stays with you, you know he’s here for you, not your money. But if he tries to persuade you away from that, you know he’s only after your money.”

“That sounds like the perfect way to get the provisions of my father’s will into the paper’s gossip columns. Then it’ll be even worse as men flock to make their proposals before it’s too late!”

“You could manage. You always find ways to get out of your responsibilities.” She says this while shooting a dour look at me through the mirror as she picks dust and leaves out of my hair. “Your freckles are standing out especially stark today!”

I smile sheepishly at her. “I’m sorry I’m late, Mary.”

She pauses her work long enough to whack me with my comb. “You should be glad that I’m very good at what I do.”

“The very best.”

She rolls her eyes, and I try to help by applying my own cosmetics, but she bats away my hand and bids me sit still. I watch her working hands, then frown.

“Did you burn yourself?” I ask.

She immediately hides the hand. “No.”

“Mary! Let me see it!”

“It isfine. We have much more pressing things to worry about.”

“Well, since Agatha is gone, I’ll raid her creams before I leave. It will be healed by morning.”

“I dare not touch the mistress’s creams! She will have my head!”

“Yes, well,Idare,” I say—and before she can stop me, I leap up and rush to Agatha’s room. She keeps it locked, but I snuck a spare key years ago. It used to be my mother’s room, after all.

I work fast, checking the full drawers of Agatha’s vanity in the dark. I hate coming in here now and avoid it whenever possible. But I won’t let Mary suffer when the remedy is within reach.

It is only a few minutes later before I return, a large dollop on one finger, holding it out to Mary. “Suffer no longer, my friend!”

Her mouth thins as she looks at the glob. Then she swipes it off my finger and rubs it into her burn. “I shouldn’t let you do this, but thank you.”

It is a record-breaking forty-six minutes of preparation before I’m ready. The gown Mary chose for me is pale green with elegant half-sleeves trimmed in long lace. I glance in the mirror at the towering updo strung with pearls she managed. What a feat! Mary is unstoppable. “Am I ready?”

“Just one moment,” she replies, her lip caught between her teeth as she fusses with the back of my gown.

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