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“Good morning!” A bright voice cut through my sleep, and I blinked awake. Someone threw open the curtains at the window and sunlight flooded the room. Apparently, it’d snowed in the night, and the light was blindingly bright as it reflected off the landscape outside and into the room. I cringed and squinted.
“Hope you slept well, milady,” the young pup who had thrown open the curtains chirped. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen, with curly auburn hair barely tamed by a strip of fabric, and a bright, buck-toothed smile. “I’m Rue, this is Amity. We’ll be your ladies-in-waiting for the course of the Choice.”
Amity set down an immense platter of food on the cleared table—they must’ve been in here cleaning up my dishes while I was still sleeping. Amity’s hair was long and black, styled in twin braids falling over her shoulders. They both wore simple canvas dresses with white aprons.
“Lovely to meet you,” I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
With the platter deposited on the table, Amity hurried out of the room, and then back in, this time with her arms laden down with huge, fluffy towels. She went into the ensuite bathroom and I heard the water start to run.
“If you’re hungry, there’s breakfast,” Rue said. “Best to have your strength up at the start of the day, that’s what Lady Glennis says.”
“I agree with her.” I was still half-asleep. In Daybreak, I didn’t see my maids until I’d readied myself. These two teenage balls of energy were different, but not entirely unwelcome. “Smells good.”
Breakfast, Rue revealed, was sausage, eggs, crusty bread, and hot coffee. I was almost relieved—part of me had been expecting a raw leg of deer or something. Maybe that was what the king had but wasn’t going to subject his guests to it quite yet. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and found a plush pair of slippers waiting. As soon as I’d slipped my feet inside, Rue hurried over with a fine robe and pulled it over my shoulders.
“Good, good,” she said. “Eat first then we’ll help you prepare for the day. First impressions are the most important, you know.”
I sat down at the table, and Rue briskly fixed my coffee with fresh milk and a touch of honey.
“Thanks,” I murmured. “Just the way I like it.” After the first sip, my brain started to slowly rouse into wakefulness. “How did you know?”
Rue just winked at me. “In two hours, Lady Glennis has requested your presence in the Solarium. You’ll be introduced to the other suitors of the Choice before all five of you are introduced to the king.”
The easy pleasure of a good breakfast dissipated quickly as reality set back in. “What will that entail?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, Lady Glennis doesn’t provide us with details, milady,” Rue said. “Only what’s necessary for Amity and me to ensure you make the events as scheduled.”
“Right,” I sighed. “Well, that’s better than having to figure it out all on my own, I suppose.”
Rue smiled again. As I ate breakfast, she made the bed and fluffed the pillows, then stoked the hearth, so the room was just as warm and welcoming as it had been when I’d first walked in. Admittedly, I was surprised by the skill and warm demeanor of the maidservants so far. I’d expected things in the Nightfall court to be a little… rougher. Certainly not completely feral—that wouldn’t be good for the king’s reputation especially considering what had happened to his father—but I’d certainly thought the place to be a bit more animalistic.
It was a comfort but it didn’t make the thought of facing the king any more welcome. If anything, it made me more nervous. I was even less sure of how I needed to behave to ensure I was respectful, but not what he desired.
If this was how he was running his court, what exactly did he desire?
After breakfast, Rue guided me to the ensuite bathroom. It was a surprisingly large space with a large bathing pool built into the floor and connected to plumbing. There was a large window of pebbled glass which lit the room in warm sunlight, so brightly the torches remained unlit. The large vanity in front of the mirror had an array of bottles and soaps and various bathing tools. A dressing screen decorated with a pack of wolves running through a forest stood in the corner, though I doubted I’d be using it.
As was custom for the Choice, the maidservants undressed me carefully. It was nice to be tended to, but this wasn’t just for me—I knew Rue and Amity had been tasked with ensuring I had no physical markings the Lady Glennis and the king should know about before the Choice began. They weren’t just helping me look my best to meet the king. They were looking for scars—signs that I’d fought other wolves—or stretch marks that suggested I’d birthed pups before meeting the king. Neither of those applied to me, of course. Rue and Amity were joining a very short list of other wolves that had ever seen me naked. There were no marks or blemishes on my pale complexion, just a smattering of freckles on my shoulders, and a birthmark on my calf.
They guided me into the delightfully warm bath and my skin turned pale pink from the heat almost instantaneously. Amity tied my hair up in a towel, keeping it dry. As I washed, she hummed to herself and picked through the makeup on my vanity.
“How do you typically prefer to present yourself?” she asked.
“With makeup?”
“Yes,” Amity said. “Do you wear a bold look, or more subtle?”
“At home, I rarely wear makeup at all,” I admitted.
Amity clicked her tongue. “Not surprising with a complexion that looks like yours.” She smiled. “We’ll do something subtle.”
“Did you have a gown in mind for the meet and greet?” Rue called from the bedroom.
“Um,” I said. “No? Did you unpack my trunks?”
“Of course, milady,” Amity said. “This morning. You’ll find all your things in the wardrobe.”
“Thanks.” It did feel like a minor invasion of privacy—but that was the way things were done in Nightfall, and I had to adhere to their rules. It was only a week, and then I’d be back home.
