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“This one will look lovely,” she said, holding up the gold ribbon for me to see. “And I think the prince will like it, don’t you agree?”
“It’s very nice,” I replied mindlessly.
Brunhilde nodded in satisfaction and began to weave it into my hair.
My gaze strolled across the vanity, catching on one ribbon in particular. It was thinner than the rest, but the color of it was what caught my eye—
Black.
My heart leapt a tick. It reminded me of Von.
I picked it up, and asked Brunhilde, “What about this one instead?”
“My apologies, my lady, I’m not sure how that one made it into the pile. Black is reserved for times of mourning.” She continued to braid the gold ribbon into my hair.
“I know. I think it would look lovely.” I raised it for her to take, lifting my gaze to meet hers in the mirror.
We stared each other down until finally, she huffed and said, “How about you wear both, my lady?”
“Alright,” I sighed, meeting the stubborn housemaid halfway.
She snatched it from my fingers and began to work the black ribbon in, alongside the gold. I chalked it up as one small win.
A short while later, there came a knock at the door. Both Brunhilde and I turned towards it. Quickly, she tied the remainder of my braid and rushed over to the door. Swinging it open, she efficiently bowed and said, “Good morrow, Your Royal Highness.”
“Good morrow,” Aurelius’s accented voice greeted her as he stepped into the room, his gaze swiftly meeting mine. Knee-high leather boots stretched up his strong, sturdy calves, sitting overtop of his fitted—and I meanfitted—breeches. He wore an unbuttoned leather jacket that was tailored to his mid-thigh, showing off the white tunic beneath. A gold livery collar was slung across his wide shoulders, the square bezels holding blue stones too light in color to be sapphires. He smiled at me with his perfect, white teeth. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you,” I said, standing up. I didn’t know if I was to bow or not to bow or what was expected of me. All of this was still quite new.
“I was just wondering if you cared to take a walk with me?” he asked.
I thought it over for a moment, deciding a walk wouldn’t do much harm. Besides, I might be able to fish out some details about the king.
“Sure,” I replied.
As we departed my chambers, Brunhilde said, in place of goodbye, “Don’t forget, you have another appointment with the dressmaker at one o’clock.”
Oh goody.
The stiff fabric of my underskirts brushed abrasively together as we walked down the length of a spacious corridor. Columns, chiseled from pale stone and about half of my height, checkered one another on either side of the room. There were dozens of them, each one housing a meticulously carved head.
I glanced at Aurelius. “Are we going somewhere?”
“We are,” he answered with a hint of a dashing smile, his face set forward.
“Where?” My gaze caught on a sculpture that looked as though it had seen better days—in particular, the nose, which was missing.
“It’s a secret,” he said, a hint of mischief steeped into his perfect, proper tone.
I gave him a quick, questioning glance as we rounded the corner, but I didn’t press any further. “It’s nice to be without the guards,” I mused happily—purposefully.
Me changing the topic was a bit calculated—the guards followed me whenever I left my chambers, which posed a bit of an issue with my plan to kill the king. If I could convince Aurelius to stop them from accompanying me everywhere, that would only help to further my cause.
Speaking of causes, it had been well over one week since Arkyn left. The longer he took to get back, the more anxious I felt. Like I wasn’t doing enough to save Von.
“I apologize for them,” Aurelius said. “I know it may not seem like it, but they are for your own protection.”
“The first guard didn’t exactly seem too keen on protecting me,” I countered.
