Scarlet had pulled the sides of my hair back and into twists she’d interwoven together. The rest of my hair flowed down my shoulders and back in soft ringlets.
“Amazing,” I breathed.
Scarlet stepped in front of me again. “You’re ready for the ball.”
Gripping her wrists, I pulled them away from my hair. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
Scarlet’s doe-brown eyes warmed as she grasped my arms. “Anything for you, Lery.”
When tears burned my eyes, she tsked before releasing me to wipe them away with her thumbs. “No tears. It will make your face blotchy.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d die. That’s what you’d do. You’d go out there and get yourself killed with your recklessness.”
I laughed as I blinked away the tears; Scarlet handed me a tissue.
“You’re probably right,” I agreed.
“I usually am.”
“I don’t want to see Ryker. I don’t want to seeanyof them.”
I’d told her all about what happened with Ryker in the tree house and afterward while she was helping me dress. She’d listened like always but didn’t condemn me for my bad choices.
The idea of seeing Ryker again was bad enough, but knowing I would have to deal with the duke and king made my stomach churn. The sheriff would most likely be there too, which only made things worse.
Scarlet squeezed my arms. “It will be tough, but youwillget through this.”
I took a deep breath and lifted my chin. “I will.”
I didn’t have any other choice. Scarlet studied me before releasing my arms and going to gather her things. I took anotherlook at myself in the mirror. I may not have felt very stable or regal right then, but thanks to Scarlet, I at least looked the part.
Iwouldget through this even if it killed me.
When I turned to face Scarlet, she had her battered sewing basket in hand. The sheriff’s men had dumped out all her supplies and stomped over them while searching her home, but she’d managed to save a few things and had glued the broken pieces of her basket back together.
“Thank you so much for this,” I told her.
She waved a hand absently through the air. “Try to have fun and not think about all this for a bit. Have a drink and dance with someone for me.”
“I’d like to have ten drinks for you, but I’m afraid of what I’d do if I got drunk.”
She chuckled. “Probably fall flat on your face or stab someone, so I think just one is the best way to go.”
“So do I.”
“Come on, my mother’s probably about done helping yours get ready. It’s time for you to go.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ellery
Unlike the king’s coronation,most immortals arrived via a portal at the earl’s ball. The earl’s castle wasn’t as big or sprawling as the palace; it would have been impossible for him to house all the carriages and horses.
Besides, if the earl tried to show the same kind of pomp and circumstance as the king, it would have angered Ivan, and none of the nobles were willing to piss off the spoiled brat. I was happy about traveling by portal as we could get there faster and leave earlier.
Dusk was descending when my mother and I emerged from the portal she’d created outside the castle’s walls. With a wave of her hand, she closed it behind us.
