Page 29 of Pretense

Jalissa huffed and looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. But at least she no longer had that tight expression marring her features.

Chapter Ten

Essie adjusted the bodice of her dress to make sure it lay right. “Farrendel, can you tie the laces for me?”

She glanced over her shoulder as Farrendel stepped behind her, his Escarlish shirt still unbuttoned and hanging loose, giving her a glimpse of his chest.

He gathered her hair, then held it out over her shoulder. “I do not want to tie your hair into the knot by accident.”

Holding her dress to her with one arm, she took her hair with the other. “Remember, make sure it’s snug.”

Farrendel’s deft fingers worked on the laces, and Essie took shallow breaths so that he could get her dress tight enough to stay in place. The last thing she needed was a wardrobe malfunction. That would not help them in public opinion.

He tied a knot and tucked the laces into the top of the dress. “How is that?”

Essie let go of her dress and took a few experimental breaths. “Perfect.”

She was wearing the same dark green dress with an Escarlish, structured bodice and a flowing, Tarenhieli skirt that she had worn to the recent ball in Tarenhiel. That was the advantage of attending events in two different kingdoms. She could re-wear dresses in the same year without causing all kinds of gossip about it.

As she turned, Farrendel finished buttoning his shirt. He reached behind him and picked up two Escarlish neckcloths. “Which one?”

Essie studied them as he held up first one, then the other. The one neckcloth was a pure white while the other was a light gray. Against his gray shirt and dark gray-blue Escarlish coat, the light gray one was too subtle. “The white one.”

Draping the light gray neckcloth over the chair’s back once again, he set to work tying the neckcloth just as quickly as he did the laces on her bodice.

As Essie returned to her dressing table to pick out her jewelry for the evening, a knock came at their door.

Essie halted and glanced over her shoulder as Farrendel reached for the door. They weren’t expecting anyone before they left for the ball tonight.

When Farrendel swung the door open, Jalissa was standing there, wearing her gown for the evening. The white bodice had light blue embroidery while the skirt was overlaid with a light blue, sheer fabric that floated as Jalissa moved. A light blue cape edged in gold flowed down from Jalissa’s shoulders, lending her an even more regal, elven air.

Jalissa clasped and unclasped her hands in front of her. “Elspetha, would you give my hair an Escarlish style for tonight? It likely would be best, given…the courtship.”

Essie grimaced. Jalissa and Edmund claimed they were courting, but there was something off about the way they spoke about it. They weren’t acting like two people falling in love. Essie should know, after all, what that looked like.

Still, Essie smiled and steered Jalissa to her dressing table. “Here, sit. I’m not skilled enough with a curling tong to get your hair to curl the way it should for most hairstyles. But I think I can manage a few braids and pinning it up.”

Jalissa’s shoulders remained tense as Essie gently brushed her hair, avoiding touching Jalissa’s scalp with the brush. Essie set to work braiding sections of Jalissa’s hair. Once she had a bunch braided, she gathered the rest of Jalissa’s hair into a chignon at the back of her head, then pinned the ends of the braids into the chignon. It wasn’t as fancy as a maid with training would be able to do, but it looked nice. And, as per Jalissa’s request, it was clearly an Escarlish style.

“You’ll definitely turn my brother’s head tonight.” Essie lifted the lid of her jewelry chest set to the side of the dressing table. It took a moment, but she found the slim tiara set with tiny, sparkling diamonds and a few sapphires that would work perfectly with Jalissa’s hairstyle. “Here, you can borrow my tiara. I think I have some brown thread to sew it into your hair.”

“Sew it into my hair?” Jalissa turned in her chair, eyes widening.

“Yes, that’s how we keep tiaras from falling off.” Essie located some brown thread in the sewing kit for gown emergencies. It took her a little longer than it would have a maid, but she soon had the tiara securely attached to Jalissa’s hair. “An Escarlish tiara completes the look.”

Jalissa nodded, then she reached up to touch the tiara. It must feel strange, since elves tended to wear circlets, crowns, and diadems that went around the forehead rather than tiaras.

“While you’re here, you can help sew my tiara in place.” Essie picked out the tiara she had planned on wearing. This one was set with diamonds as well, though a few emeralds accented the piece. She held out the tiara and the red thread that matched her hair to Jalissa. “I was going to ask Farrendel to do it.”

“That would have been a disaster.” Farrendel shrugged into his Escarlish coat, adjusting how it fell across his shoulders.

“You would have managed. Or I would have tracked down Miss Merrick.” Essie swapped seats with Jalissa, then held still as Jalissa set to work.

Farrendel picked up his swords. “Once you are finished, I need you to clip my swords in place.”

“You’ll have to take a look, Jalissa.” Essie kept her head perfectly still. “The Escarlish tailor did a masterful job with Farrendel’s coat. The straps for his swords are underneath the coat, and it is tailored to hide them. But there are four places in the back for the sheaths to clip to the straps, and they entirely disappear once the swords are in place. It looks very smart and dashing.”

Jalissa made a hmm noise in her throat. Then, she tied off and cut the thread. “I believe your tiara should stay in place.”

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