The Season (Season Series #1)

Chapter 5.3: Stable Bound

Once we'd made it back to our rooms, Ella and Emily running in separate directions to pull our their riding clothes in anticipation of tomorrow's hunt, Rosanna and I hesitated in the sitting room. I'd wracked my brain for an excuse to hurry down to the stables and beg for a horse as I would likely pull my hair out strand by strand if I had to sit through not one, but two afternoons of brainless chatter and needlepoint work. My head was already aching in anticipation of the afternoon, my longing to go out riding almost painful.

"I'll go attend to Ella," Rosanna said, absenting herself before I had the need to blurt out whatever excuse I'd come up with. I hesitated for a moment, debating whether I should tell anyone where I was going, only to have Emily's whispered comments from my first night replay in my head. I rehearsed my lie a few times in my head, tugging a few of Audra's strategically placed pins out of my dress to open a gash along the bodice before I knocked on Ella's door.

"I have to return to the seamstress as my dress has popped a stitch it seems," I said, walking in as I studied the gash, the withdrawn pins buried in my skirts.

"Already?" Rosanna asked, dropping one of Ella's many riding habits onto the bed as she looked my way, "That is utterly unacceptable. See to it that they don't pawn you off on an apprentice, you need nothing less than the best they can provide,"

"Hurry, Libby," Ella said, emerging in half deshabille, a pair of leather riding leggings under a slit petticoat she was tying on over her corset, "For you cannot risk being late for the queen's salon,"

I left without another word, wondering how much trouble I'd be caught up in if I happened to miss the queen's sure-to-be-dreadful salon. The hall filled with the noise of all the debutantes and their ladies as they prepared to spend an afternoon with the queen. Mary Marquette was singing warmup scales, probably in preparation to dazzle the queen with her voice. From another room, a violin could be heard. I snorted despite myself, wondering if these girls viewed impressing the queen as a way to "win" the prince.

I hesitated at the top of the main staircase, my hand lingering on the banister. Had it not been for the trio of maids polishing the marble entrance hall floor, I would have eagerly slid down the incredibly inviting banister. I settled instead for taking the steps two at a time, skirting the glittering floor as I made my way for the back door to the gardens.

Once I was outside, I tipped my face to the sky, savoring the fresh air. I was of half a mind to forget the entire afternoon and spend it wandering the lushly landscaped gardens. My brother Xavier had once told me there was a hedge maze so large it could take you hours to find your way out of it. I doubted as much was true, but I was sorely tempted to see if there was indeed a hedge maze of some sort.

"Pardon me, but which way to the stables?" I asked the first gardener I came across. She paused in her pruning of the crab apple tree to point with her shears around the back.

I followed her direction, forced up onto the ballroom terrace by the hedgerowed gardens. It seemed that the stables were around the back of the older part of the palace, with the towers and turrets. The grand ballroom joined the old and new palaces together, the newer palace being used as the suites for the debutantes. During the off-season months, the debutante suites would be used to house foreign dignitaries and relatives of the royal family.

The old palace was where the royals resided when in Highcastle and where the king held his council meetings. When Rosanna had given me a quick verbal map of the palace, she had neglected to mention any hallways connecting the new and old palaces, but thanks to my wanderings the first night, I knew they were linked by at least one secret hallway. I couldn't help but chuckle at the fact the royals kept that bit hidden, surely to keep overeager debutantes from "stumbling" into the royal residence.