Heartless

❆ Nineteen ❆

Nineteen

It was something of an oddity standing before a mirror and not being able to recognize the person staring back at me. One of those moments that you read in fairytales of princesses and the lucky girls who get to become them. But I wasn't a princess, and if my life was any evidence, I was far from lucky.

    The gown spilled around me in a rippling sea of dark crimson, gold diamonds encrusted on the bottom in the pattern of intricate swirls and arches left to shimmer and sparkle in the candlelight. Mrs. Potter, ever the motherly figure, had lathered me in shampoos and helped to clean myself up. My hair was left to tumble over my bare shoulders and down my back in thick, dark curls that grazed the small of my back. Back in Kinnot, looking like a girl never truly came up on my list of priorities. It wasn't on any list. The only things that mattered were my brothers and how we would make it to the next day. Maybe Bromm had been right. Perhaps I did need a life.

    The great grandfather clock chimed, nine thunderous echoes bouncing off the walls of my room. Beast's room, I reminded myself. Not mine. Time had been all too eager to pass and skip to the main event, a part two I was excited and terrified to find out. My pulse raced a bit faster just beneath my skin.

    A pair of solid gold heels sat in front of the door, waiting for their share of attention. I hesitated at the threshold. Unsurprisingly, I'd never worn heels— ever. I never cared about fashion; I only made sure that my feet wouldn't freeze and break off. How I would manage to walk in them and not fall flat on my face made my throat tighten.

    A knock sounded at the door, making my heart flip inside its cage. I snatched up the shoes and jammed my feet into them, sighing at the comfort and size. Lumea truly was brilliant.

    "It's nine o'clock," Hendric's voice boomed on the other side. "Are you ready in there?"

     I paused, feeling my heartbeat thrum in my temples. I slid my feet along the floor. "Don't laugh, okay?"

     "Okay."

    "Promise?"

    He chuckled. "Pinky."

    I sucked in a breath and opened the door.

    His shoulders turned to face me, brown eyes widening and his goofy smile faltering into a stunned look. "Ada, you..." A short burst of breath escaped him.

    My cheeks burned. I lifted my foot and edged toward him. My ankle gave out almost immediately. I toppled forward, tripping on the cloth of my dress and falling faster. His hands clamped down on my arms and wrenched me upright inches before I met the ground. I dusted myself off and stood straight. "I'm good, I'm good."

    He smiled. He held out his arm for me to take. He waited for me to steady myself before he spoke. His footsteps kissed the stone floors with gentle whispers; meanwhile, mine sounded like someone bashing a hammer against glass with every footfall. I caught him hiding his snorts and dug my elbow into his side.

     "So," he drawled, "how was your day with Lumea?"

    I smiled. "Dazzling is the word I would use, I guess. It's the first time I've seen so many people in one place. There's so much to do here and nobody looks at you like they're wishing for your name to be drawn as a sacrifice." I shuddered. "They're happy."

    I caught him nod. "Can you believe that we're actually here? All those years of listening to Papa go on and on about this place and now— here we are. The scavenging for money, the hunts at the crack of dawn just to sell the furs— all of it, Ada. And now we're here." He blew out a breath of disbelief. "We got out of there."