Page 5 of The King's Queen

“A Tesslari delegate. Your father will explain more at dinner.” She plucks a single comb from the box before setting it down beside the rest of her kit. The maids begin scrubbing the dirt from my arms, and one has taken to plucking the splinters from earlier out of my palms.

“Can’t you tell me who? Or what it’s about?” Tanja freezes before shaking her head.

“I don’t know any of the details, just what I’m to prepare you for. And as much as I love you, Vera, I’m not going to risk my head to satiate your curiosity.”

“I suppose you do have too pretty of a head,” I muse, and she affectionately taps my nose with a smile on her face. I’m not sure what to consider Tanja. She is definitely a friend, or something of the sort, but a friendship between a maid and the heir to the throne is imbalanced. I could never take her to the villages just for an afternoon off or to the bathhouses in the inner circles of the palace. Anything we do together, she would be bound to wait on me and protect me. Some days even I question if our friendship is real or bought by the crown. But I love her dearly, and if I were allowed to have one, I would call her my friend.

“Don’t frown, it causes wrinkles.” Tanja’s willowy fingers find my face, pressing and massaging some rich lotion into it. She pulls the corners of my lips back into a smile, and I swat her hands away.

“Tonight I think we do away with that braid and pin your hair up in curls like mine.” The maids giggle as she lathers a thick shampoo into my hair and piles all of it atop my head. I pucker my lips in a pose before shaking my head, spraying her with bubbles. “Do what you’d like so long as you promise not to stab my scalp with those pins this time.”

“Hmm, I can’t promise that.” Tanja considers before shoving my head underwater. I come up sputtering and glare at her, surely resembling a wet rat. She gently pats my head like a puppy before the maids yank me to my feet and roughly scrub me dry.

“The king has requested you wear this gown tonight. He had it tailored for the occasion.”

“Laei, who is this delegate?” I gasp, gazing at the long black gown. It has a modest sweetheart neckline that fades into a sleek angel sleeve. The silk thing hangs sultry across every hollow and curve, with a long, thin golden belt hanging loosely around my waist. The lustrous fabric shimmers between shades of silver and emerald when it catches in the light, the colors of the Tesslari empire.

“Not what I would’ve picked,” Tanja tuts instead of answering my question, “but it will do.”

She begins to set out bejeweled jars of ointments, paints, and oils, carefully examining each one under the torchlight. Once satisfied with her selection, she dismisses the other maids, leaving us alone. She slowly uncaps the first jar.

“Do we have to do all the paints and powders tonight?” I groan, noticing the pouf in her hand. She pats my hand sympathetically with a small grimace and nod. Sighing, I resign myself to sulking in my chair as she begins her work.

The tapping of the pouf against my forehead drops the downfall of powder across my cheeks and eyelids. I scrunch my nose in distaste. It’s so itchy. Tanja hums while she works, ignoring my complaints.

Outside, the sun has begun to set, tinges of pink and gold fighting for dominance over the auburn sky. The sun herself rests atop the lake outside my window, the last of its golden rays catching on the lithe branches of the weeping willow. The heat is unfaltering despite the dying sun. The last of the summer days are the hottest here in Krycolis.

Tanja dips her paintbrush into the only black oil now and ever so carefully darkens my lashes, then my eyebrows. I’ve always found this part ridiculous, considering my hair is already black, but trying to argue with Tanja is like trying to argue with my father. They both are always right.

“Stop sighing like this is the end of the world. It’s one dinner.” Tanja roughly smears the rough across my cheekbones and the bridge of my nose.

“It feels like the end of the world.” I groan as she slaps more cosmetics across my cheeks. She frowns.

“Your face gets red so easily.”

“Shut up. I know.”

“Just be grateful the king is letting you socialize after the last incident. How is Duke Gadsden doing anyway?”

“I haven’t received any more marriage proposals, so I would say he’s doing well. Finally,” I grumble as Tanja runs her hands through my hair, plucking pieces to pin back into place. She hums contently while she works, careful not to pinch my scalp.

“I’m going out tonight while you’re at dinner with that other maid, Ruby.”

“Aren’t you supposed to ask me these things first?” I laugh. Tanja places her hands on my shoulders and leans forward, locking my eyes through the mirror.

“May I go on a date with a beautiful maid while you languish in a political dinner?” I roll my eyes. “Thought so.”

“And who will keep me company when I have to complain about said dinner?”

“You could always call in that captain of yours.” She spins away from me, striking a dramatic pose in the doorway, her hand pressed to her heart. “Oh, Blaine, I simply cannot bear my royal duties any longer. Let’s run away together and start a farm. We can have some cows and chickens, and you could do all the work because I couldn’t bear to get dirt under my fingernails-“

“Enough!” Tanja giggles as she dodges my expertly thrown pillow. It nearly knocks a poor maid over as she enters the doorway, all the color draining from her face.

“Pardon me, the king requests the princess.”

Tanja blushes and straightens her skirts. “Of course. I will send her out in a moment. You may leave us.”

“By the Laei, was that Ruby?” I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively, and know I have my answer when color blooms in her high cheeks. “She’s pretty.”

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