shapeshifter there. My aunt used to serve her and I loved coming in here when she asked for my help. To think I finally get to stay here. It will be wonderful.” Lotis busied herself with pulling frocks out of a standing wardrobe.
“Stay?” Amelie asked, puzzled. She had little experience with palace life other than a short childhood but she could never remember quartering so close with the servants. Even with Henna’s hovering at Draeden’s castle, the chambermaid never actually roomed with her charge.
Lotis turned in her work to briefly send Amelie a puzzled look of her own. “Of course,” she answered. “I’ll be in the cove off to the side over there.”
Amelie turned to look where Lotis gestured to and saw behind a set of silk curtains a hint of space where she thought more windows had been at first glance. The room wound around slightly to the right creating a thin privacy between the cove and the rest of the chamber.
“I won’t ever be in the way,” Lotis said quickly. “I know a small chant for a silencing wall if you ever need to entertain guests. All the soulgaurds do.”
“Soulguard?” Amelie’s voice filled with tremors.
Lotis nodded with furrowed eyebrows. “Yes, miss. I’m your soulguard.”
Chapter 13
Amelie
Amelie was still shaken a few hours later as Lotis dressed her for dinner. Memories of her mother haunted her, watching her soul slip out of her so Amelie could once again be whole. The thought of witnessing that exchange for life a second time made her sick to her stomach.
Lotis nearly cried when Amelie insisted she be freed from her duty.
“I don’t need a soulgaurd,” Amelie insisted.
“I’ll be demoted back to the kitchens for angering you,” Lotis sobbed. “What I have I done wrong?”
There was no comforting the girl. Apparently, it was a privilege to stand ready to forfeit one’s life for another in this realm. Amelie relented to appease the young girl and allowed her to begin dressing her hair. The activity put Lotis in much better spirits. Amelie would just have to take care that she didn’t cross a dark fate. Not with someone’s life in her hands.
Lotis chattered about the eligible mages as she worked curls into Amelie’s hair. Though it had grown considerably longer in the last year, it wasn’t the flowing mane the women here typically liked to keep and Lotis kept pausing in her assessment of handsome males to mutter curses at a wayward ringlet.
“Everybody’s been talking about you,” Lotis said around a mouthful of hairpins. “You will have plenty of dining cards to choose from for each course.”
Amelie sighed. “So which course is the most important?” she asked.
Lotis had explained how dinner would work tonight. Leading up to the White Court Ball, the queen hosted a series of banquets, each several courses long. The men requested the company of the women through the presentation of dining cards in each course. Lotis was trying to coach Amelie on which courses to be polite and accept any dining card presented and which courses to maneuver out of unwanted company.
“The first course, the dinner course, and the final course,” Lotis reviewed patiently. “The first course sets the tone for the night. If someone powerful requests to dine with you, the mages can’t help but shove each other for the biggest conquest. The dinner course is the longest, so choose someone you are actually considering to mate at the White Court Ball. To mate with someone else’s dinner partner is frowned upon. And the final course is the one who escorts you back to the Throne Room at the end of the banquet. Many times it’s the same mage you sat with at your dinner course, but not always.”
“Well, this is all very helpful information for someone but of little use to me. I couldn’t begin to tell you who is worth dinner and who should be demoted to soup.”
“I will not be far from you. I can help you. Her majesty is the only royal in the land.
“Stay?” Amelie asked, puzzled. She had little experience with palace life other than a short childhood but she could never remember quartering so close with the servants. Even with Henna’s hovering at Draeden’s castle, the chambermaid never actually roomed with her charge.
Lotis turned in her work to briefly send Amelie a puzzled look of her own. “Of course,” she answered. “I’ll be in the cove off to the side over there.”
Amelie turned to look where Lotis gestured to and saw behind a set of silk curtains a hint of space where she thought more windows had been at first glance. The room wound around slightly to the right creating a thin privacy between the cove and the rest of the chamber.
“I won’t ever be in the way,” Lotis said quickly. “I know a small chant for a silencing wall if you ever need to entertain guests. All the soulgaurds do.”
“Soulguard?” Amelie’s voice filled with tremors.
Lotis nodded with furrowed eyebrows. “Yes, miss. I’m your soulguard.”
Chapter 13
Amelie
Amelie was still shaken a few hours later as Lotis dressed her for dinner. Memories of her mother haunted her, watching her soul slip out of her so Amelie could once again be whole. The thought of witnessing that exchange for life a second time made her sick to her stomach.
Lotis nearly cried when Amelie insisted she be freed from her duty.
“I don’t need a soulgaurd,” Amelie insisted.
“I’ll be demoted back to the kitchens for angering you,” Lotis sobbed. “What I have I done wrong?”
There was no comforting the girl. Apparently, it was a privilege to stand ready to forfeit one’s life for another in this realm. Amelie relented to appease the young girl and allowed her to begin dressing her hair. The activity put Lotis in much better spirits. Amelie would just have to take care that she didn’t cross a dark fate. Not with someone’s life in her hands.
Lotis chattered about the eligible mages as she worked curls into Amelie’s hair. Though it had grown considerably longer in the last year, it wasn’t the flowing mane the women here typically liked to keep and Lotis kept pausing in her assessment of handsome males to mutter curses at a wayward ringlet.
“Everybody’s been talking about you,” Lotis said around a mouthful of hairpins. “You will have plenty of dining cards to choose from for each course.”
Amelie sighed. “So which course is the most important?” she asked.
Lotis had explained how dinner would work tonight. Leading up to the White Court Ball, the queen hosted a series of banquets, each several courses long. The men requested the company of the women through the presentation of dining cards in each course. Lotis was trying to coach Amelie on which courses to be polite and accept any dining card presented and which courses to maneuver out of unwanted company.
“The first course, the dinner course, and the final course,” Lotis reviewed patiently. “The first course sets the tone for the night. If someone powerful requests to dine with you, the mages can’t help but shove each other for the biggest conquest. The dinner course is the longest, so choose someone you are actually considering to mate at the White Court Ball. To mate with someone else’s dinner partner is frowned upon. And the final course is the one who escorts you back to the Throne Room at the end of the banquet. Many times it’s the same mage you sat with at your dinner course, but not always.”
“Well, this is all very helpful information for someone but of little use to me. I couldn’t begin to tell you who is worth dinner and who should be demoted to soup.”
“I will not be far from you. I can help you. Her majesty is the only royal in the land.
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