Page 10 of A Heart Too Tender

Colette

It was the worst night’s sleep I ever had, and I was once stung by a silvertongue on my rear and had to sleep on my stomach with a cabbage leaf over the wound. Nasty little buggers, those silvertongues, with six long legs and pincers the size of their oval-shaped bodies. Yet, last night was worse than that.

It must have been my nerves. I was in a new place, in a trial for the hand of a handsome prince, and had been very, very late. The only small benefit had been meeting Julian. His face was kind, despite the violent scars, and he didn’t seem at all put off by my appearance, that of a drowned creature wrapped in a cloak of mud.

The room they had set up for me was infinitely grander than my rooms at Silver Hill, but not nearly as cozy. I missed my featherbed and silk sheets, the way the mattress molded to fit my body. All the fabrics in this room were varying shades of green, much like the rest of this land.

Unlike Silver Hill, the coastline of Wimberley was so rich in flora and fauna. It had me eager to explore. Especially since we were so near to the sea. I closed my eyes and imagined dipping my toes in the ocean.

The door swung open and a tree nymph, with willowy limbs and evergreen hair, swept in.

“Good morning,” she trilled, her voice like the rustle of leaves, “I’m Maude. Your lady for the trials.”

I pressed a palm to my temple and forced a smile onto my face. “Morning,” I stifled a yawn. “I’m Colette.”

She halted midway through the room, just between the four-poster bed and the colossal armoire. “Did you sleep well?” She looked me over once, and then twice, before I could answer.

“May I be frank?” I whispered, looking at the open door.

She turned on a heel, shutting it, before facing me again. “I am your lady, and everything between us—stays as such.”

I nodded, relief coursing tiredly through my veins. “I don’t think I slept at all. This mattress—it’s much firmer than mine back home. Would it be possible to—” I cut myself off, realizing how spoiled I was about to sound.

The king and queen had welcomed me to their summer palace with the chance to wed their only son. I should be nothing but overwhelmed with gratitude.

“I must be homesick.”

Maude pursed her lips and tapped one long brown nail on the pout she had formed. “What kind of mattress do you have at home?”

I ran a hand along the crushed velvet blanket. “It’s an old, and very lovely, feather mattress.”

Maude’s eyes brightened, and she gripped the poster of my bed. “It sounds lovely. And I’ll see if we can switch your mattress out. The royal family would be distressed to know that one of their guests isn’t comfortable. It’s of paramount importance.”

I grinned, my nose crinkling, as the tired, anxious energy ebbed away. “That would be wonderful.”

“We must get you ready for the day. The first trial isn’t until tomorrow, but today you hear the rules and meet the other contestants.”

The idea of the first trial coming up so soon had my heart fluttering chaotically beneath my rib cage. I clutched at the lace-trimmed neckline of my nightgown. I had yet to hear what the trials would be, and that alone had fear dampening my palms.

“Do you know what the trials are?”

Maude shook her head, and I caught a glimpse of dragonflies dangling from her earlobes, and what appeared to be a ladybug on the pointy tip of her left ear. “They haven’t told us anything either, just who we would be waiting on.”

She tugged on the comforter and gestured for me to get out of bed.

“You mustn’t be late, and I have work to do!” She trilled, waltzing into my bathing chamber and turning on the water. Shock had me springing from the bed. We didn’t have running water in Silver Hill, and I marveled at it, running my fingers under the tap.

“It’s … warm,” I whispered.

“Of course it is,” Maude snickered. “Cold baths are appalling.”

I shared that sentiment, but having had only cold baths except on very special occasions, it was something you got used to.

Maude helped me slip off my nightgown, and I slid into the tub. She scurried off, and I could hear her rifling through the armoire.

“So many beautiful choices,” she hummed, “I think this shade of green would suit your complexion.”

She showed me the dress through the doorway, and I grinned as soon as I laid eyes on it.