The Silver Crown

34.

Two months after Miri was killed and the pain of her absence wasn't so fierce, I could actually wear the stupid shoes that pinched. I was able to read simple books without drawn out pauses and Marek had finally started to treat me like someone he could trust. I was beginning to adjust to palace life and so a ball was proposed.

The queen, who I still could not bring myself to call mother despite the need to keep up this ruse, summoned me to her chambers. I had not been in the royal suite and I had not planned to set foot inside it, but the queen's word was law.

I was led to a sitting room on the outskirts of the suite. I sat in a cream colored cushioned chair, sweeping my skirts out like Maurice had instructed so as not to wrinkle them. I may have adjusted more to palace life but I still insisted on plain dresses that were easy to move around in. My hair was styled in a simple knotted braid down my back as usual.

Queen Dionisa entered a minute later. She paused in the doorway to look me up and down and I straightened my spine, another thing Maurice had told me to do. "Ladies sit with straight backs and level shoulders and their feet together, if not crossed." The older woman had said. Maurice would be the death of me.

"Alyssandra, my dear," Dionisa finally said, sitting down with perfect posture and etiquette and diction and everything else that Maurice was always saying I needed to learn.

She gestured to a slave standing in the corner and the young girl came over to pour tea into tiny china cups. I murmured my thanks and the girl shot me a timid smile.

"I have heard good things from your instructors and from the guard captain." Dionisa sipped her tea. "Your brother and Daivon have also had many nice things to say. Ergo," She let the word hang, "I believe it is time for a ball."

Dionisa paused and looked at me. She must have been expecting some kind of an excited reaction. In reality I was imagining the idea of a ball and trying to hold back a shudder. Fancy dresses, dancing, noble men and women; what was there to look forward to?

"It will be in two weeks time. Invitations have already been sent across the kingdom and I am expecting that most houses will attend. It will be an excellent evening for your debut. To prepare you for the ball, your afternoon lessons are now dance lessons. You have no choice but to be ready in two weeks. We cannot keep this secret from the country any longer. Rumors have already spread across the provinces," Dionisa sighed and crossed her hands in her lap. Her delicate fingers looked nothing like my own.

"My darling," She said. I snapped my gaze back up to her eyes. The queen continued, "I am incredibly happy that you have returned to us. I know that we have not had much of a chance for mother-daughter time but I will make time for it. Right now, I must act as a queen first and a mother second. And as queen, my first duty is to prepare you to be the heir and to reintroduce you to the people, so they will gain confidence in their future ruler."

Dionisa stopped and studied my face. I tried to keep it impassive but she must have found something because she said, "I know that it is tough, my sweet. But I need you to be patient. You will adjust, you already have begun to adjust."

"Thank you," I said, when the silence became to great. I was always extremely uncomfortable around Peter and Dionisa—my so-called parents. It was hard because I think that I could have liked them had they not been the sovereigns of Arovia.

An opening door called our attention. Dionisa and I turned to look at the same time, grateful for the distraction. A butler bowed and addressed the queen, "Your Majesty, Lord Orwen of Clear Lake has arrived for your luncheon. The king awaits you in the Pearl Dining Room."