I looked in the mirror and sucked in a gasp at my reflection. The dark circles I expected to see. What alarmed me most, though, were the cuts that appeared on my cheeks. They were small, more like paper cuts than anything, but they were definitely noticeable.
What in the world?I gently touched my cheek, and the cut stung. It had stopped bleeding but was recent. I wracked my brain, thinking of nothing during the day.
The dream. The forest in my dream.
I swore under my breath. Yet another thing to add to my dream questions, not that they would ever be answered.How was I going to explain these to Mother?
I turned from my bathroom and padded back to my bed where I kept my journal, quickly scrawling the basics of my dream and the lingering questions I had this morning while trying to think of a clever excuse for the marks on my face.
My nails. I cut myself in the middle of the night while scratching my face. That was at least plausible. She would, undoubtedly, have the salon cut my nails shorter than I liked, but it would keep her from prying further.
I sighed as I absently squeezed the water from my hair.
It was not like I didn’t have enough stress this week to begin with. Now I was having dreams that were coming to life? Right before my Awakening Ceremony? Nothing about this felt right and I had a distinct knot in my stomach. Hopefully the meeting with my parents this morning wouldn’t bring more stressors. Though, judging by the fact that it was a private meeting, I felt that was a fool’s hope.
Chapter 12
Ellowyn
This morning was a disaster.
A complete andutterdisaster.
After waking at the brink of dawn and dealing with the strange dreams, Pip was late to help me prepare for the day. Contrary to what she said last night, she was rather clueless regarding every task necessary as my personal maid. The worst offense was her inability to style my hair. She knew less thanIdid, which I thought was impossible. After about a dozen attempts at a simple chignon, I angrily waved her away and then spent the last fifteen minutes trying to get my long, thick hair to dosomethingand coming up blessedly short. It was currently just down, a crime against humanity according to my mother.
As if the lack of knowledge regarding hair styling wasn’t enough, Pip also had zero clue what to pull from the closet for me to wear. She stood stock-still and stared at my enormous wardrobe, overwhelmed by the sheer number of dresses I owned. Different occasions warranted different styles of dress, and it was incredibly clear that Pip was out of her depth. Sighing, I reached around her still form and selected a random dark-grey dress with a boat neck, and a pair of sable-colored leather boots. I was comfortable, but my selection would not meet Mother’s expectations.
To top it all off, I had to skip breakfast this morning because Pip was late to my room and fumbled through her chores.
I was annoyed.
More than that, I was tired, frustrated, hungry, and absolutely dreading this meeting with my parents.
I padded quietly down the stairs to my father’s study and knocked three times before stepping back, my hands folded at my waist. I would have to be on my very best behavior today to make up for my appearance.
Ugh.
My father opened the door shortly after I knocked, his frame filling out the opening. He wore relaxed clothes today, just a simple deep-blue tunic and dark-brown pants with boots like my own, and the sight of him home and safe made me happy. I smiled, moving to embrace him, but he stepped out of the door frame before I could give him a hug.
My smile fell a bit at the action, but he patted my back on my way into the room in condolence. As I entered his study, I noticed that everything was in a bit more disarray than it was last night, like my father had stayed up well past the normal hour poring over maps, charts, and letters. I turned slightly so I could look at his face and, sure enough, his normally bright-grey eyes that held laughter and joy were dull and lifeless. His skin was paler than usual and there were dark circles under his eyes. As I watched, Father rubbed his face like he was still trying to wake up.
No doubt the stress of last night’s dinner and my upcoming Awakening put an undue toll on my father.
Then maybe you shouldn’t have brought a Keeper here . . .
A quiet sigh in the corner of the room jolted me from my thoughts and I noticed my mother for the first time. Her appearance was such a sharp contrast to both my father’s exhaustion and my own ragtag ensemble. As usual, Mother looked extremely put together, not a hair out of place in its plait down her back. What little makeup she had on was flawlessly applied, and she wore a much more embellished gown than my own. She looked every inch the Lady of Hestin.
At best, I resembled one of the merchants in Katiska, and at worst, a servant in our own home.
I tried to inconspicuously smooth down my hair but quickly gave upwhen my mother’s eyes tracked every movement with a hawklike intensity. I folded my hands in front of me again to keep from fidgeting.
“Good morning, Mother. Father,” I said quietly. If I made myself seem smaller, quieter,maybeI could avoid her wrath over my appearance.
“What happened to you, Ellowyn? Why do you look like . . . this.” She gestured with a hand at my general appearance, her voice full of distaste.
My annoyance from the morning and lack of sleep resurfaced with a vengeance and I snapped back before I could control myself.
“Maybe because I’m stuck with an unAwakened teenager who has never served a day in her life! She knows less than I do andthatis saying something. My floors are cold, I have no hot water to bathe, and she has no clue how to do hair or pick a correct dress. She can’t even look at me naked! How is she supposed to help me if she can’t even look at me?” My tirade sounded immature and spoiled even to my own ears, but I was tired, cranky, and frustrated that I was serving penance for an improper appearance when I had no control over the situation.
