“Wait,” I cut in sharply. “Who was that last one?”
She blinked. “Prince John?”
“You said the Duke of Austria?” My nerves jangled. In that letter we’d found, the Duke of Austria was the man who had captured Richard. Of course Prince John would invite him to a big tournament.
“Oh! Yes—Leopold the Fifth,” Aalis chirped. “And his son, Leopold the Sixth. I don’t really know anything about them, though, except that they are rich and titled.”
This was it. The opportunity I’d been waiting for. There was no need to go rummaging in the hopes of finding clues when the source of the information would be right in front of me.
“I changed my mind,” I said quickly. “I’ll go. You convinced me.”
Aalis squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh, Izzy! This will be so much fun! Agnes has trunks of old dresses from rich ladiesat court. We’ll help each other get ready and do our hair and everything!”
“I don’t know how to do any of that,” I confessed. “If you’re hoping I can style your hair, you’ll be disappointed.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure, sure. You’re pretty enough already that you probably don’t ever bother with dressing up and doing your hair. You could wear a potato sack and look glorious.” She beamed. “But we’ll make you even more beautiful. This will be a day to remember!”
I barely recognizedthe girl staring back at me from the lone mirror in the servants’ quarters. Every day since coming here I was unarmed save for the small dagger strapped to my thigh, but now I utterly felt ridiculous and even my knife was inaccessible. Aalis had laced me into a corset so tight that my waist shrank to be unnaturally slim and it took a great deal of convincing to get Aalis to relax the strings enough so I could breathe more deeply. I didn’t want to be oxygen-deprived while hunting for information.
I looked back at my clothing and tilted my head. Impractical didn’t begin to describe this.
Even after Aalis had relaxed the corset strings, my bodice still strained with every breath. My sleeves pinned my arms close, preventing me from lifting them above my head. My shoes, narrow and pointed, crushed my toes so running would be next to impossible. Even reaching my dagger would tear the gown apart.
And then there was my face.
Aalis had worked every snarl from my hair, painted my lips and cheeks, and darkened my eyes. I looked much too conspicuous. I’d been right—I’d be more like a peacock on parade. I had hoped to quietly slip in and out of the crowd. True, looking so unlike my normal self, my identity would stay safe, but still…I felt like no matter where I went, a spotlight would be following me, and that unnerved me more than anything else.
Aalis covered her mouth. “Oh, Izzy. You’re beautiful.”
“I can’t breathe.”
“Who cares?” she laughed. “You look stunning. Everyone will want to dance with you.”
Stunning was one word for it. Torture also came to mind.
“We have to dance too?” I groaned.
Aalis fixed me with a stern look. “No, wegetto dance.” She pressed her hands to her heart. “I hope Conrad asks me to go with him.”
“Conrad?”
“The one with the stormy eyes and rippling muscles,” she sighed. “Conrad, who’s in love with me but is too shy to say.”
“The stable boy?”
“Yes.” Her face softened into an expression so sappy that I couldn’t help but smile. Aalis’s eyes shone. “He’s very handsome, isn’t he?”
“Sure,” I said politely.
She narrowed her eyes suddenly and her smile vanished. “Don’t you dare try to steal him from me after all I did to help you get ready. You can have any other man there, but not Conrad.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. He’s not my type, anyway.”
“Oh?” Her smile snapped back. “Whoisyour type?”
I thought of Leopold and of all the information he would be able to give me. “Rich and titled.”
She giggled. “With your face and figure, you’ll have your pick.”
