Page 63 of Carousel

I instantly regret my decision.

Then remember that if I can’t change it, I have to take ownership of it.

I stand taller. Avert my eyes from them all as I spin on my heel and trudge towards my cabin.

“Are you coming, Cosmer?” I call behind me.

CHAPTER 12

The Captain’s Dinner

In my cabin, the first thing I notice is the dress. It’s been laid out on my bed along with a pair of heeled, buttoned boots and a note.

Cosmer, following me into the room, takes one look at it and grins.

“Do I get a dress, too?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Shame. What does the note say?”

I pick it up.

A gown to borrow for your first proper night on board The Emperor, as our special guest at dinner.

Underneath, a sentence is scrawled, as if done in haste, I know you’ll make the right choices.

It’s signed by Dezeeves.

I hold the dress up to me.

It looks like it may have been tailored for a woman curvier – and much better endowed – than me. But if pulled in tightly, it should fit well. And…

It’s lovely. I wore similar dresses in the Palace. It’s obviously Rhavnan-made, with its tight bodice, longer sleeves and flowing style, a skirt that cascades outwards. Sheer, midnight blue fabric that catches the light as if reflecting the night sky.

Where would Dezeeves have got a dress like this?

Cosmer intakes a breath. “They seriously want you to wear that? They’re already pretty old. The shock you’ll give them will put them out like laser lights.”

I pull the dress to me tighter. Is that a joke, or a compliment?

Either way, it nettles me.

“In Rhavnan culture,” I say, “It would be polite to wait until after the girl is in her attire to make a compliment. Otherwise, she’ll think you’re just complimenting the dress.”

“Firstly,” he says, sort of stretching out his arms, “I was just complimenting the dress. And secondly, in Hevallan culture, if we want to say something, we just come out and say it. We could be dead by the time she puts the damn thing on.”

He’s smirking.

I most definitely hate him again.

“Look away now,” I state.

I face the wall by my bed and start slipping out of my clothes. I can feel and hear him behind me, getting changed by his own bed.

I step into the dress and hoist it up. Then I hesitate. Most corsets are elasticated now. I will struggle with the old-fashioned ribbons in this.

“Cosmer?” I ask, after a beat.