“Tomorrow,” Sasha agreed. His brown eyes lit up and I noticed that they contained specks of gold.
I smiled at him and turned to head out of the stable.
Victor looked impatient as he leaned against his car waiting for me.
“What were you doing?” he asked.
“Just helping out,” I said.
“You are such an American,” he said, laughing in a way that felt almost cruel.
“What do you mean?” I said, getting in the car.
“You try and help with everything, even if it isn’t something you should concern yourself with.” He slammed his driver’s side door shut with more force than was really necessary.
“You think I shouldn’t concern myself with taking care of the horse when I’m done riding him?” I asked.
“That’s not it,” Victor said, rubbing his forehead. “I just mean that you’re royal and you have staff to help you. It’s the help’s responsibility to—”
“They have names,” I cut in. “Petra and Sasha. And I don’t consider them the help, I consider them friends.”
There was an awkward pause. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, in Evonia, we have all these unwritten rules, especially for people with noble backgrounds.”
“Well,” I said. “I’ve always believed some rules need to be broken.”
“I’m sure you do.” He seemed to be really thinking about this and quietly drove his car away from the stables.
Victor smiled at me as we pulled up to the front of the manor. “Maybe it’s about time that someone like you shook things up. I just hope . . .” he paused, as though he wanted to choose his next words very carefully. “I hope that nobody tries to take advantage of you and your willingness to help others.”
I gave him a quizzical look as I stepped out of the car. Why does everybody feel the need to give me advice about how to handle all of this new royalty stuff? I thought.
I told him that I couldn’t play tennis—that I had to do something with my aunt.
“Thank you for a beautiful lunch,” I said as I got out of the car.
Victor opened his mouth to respond, but then his phone began to buzz. He pulled it out and seemed eager to answer it, so I gave him a little wave and turned to go inside. As I went up the front steps, I heard him say, “Good afternoon, Jaqueline,” in a slightly snooty voice. “I’m on my way to my tennis lesson, so I’m afraid I can’t really talk.”
But when I got inside and looked out a front window, I saw that Victor was smiling as he drove away, the phone still pressed to his ear.
20
That evening, my aunt asked me to join her in the sitting room after dinner. “I thought you might enjoy looking at some old photo albums,” she said as we sat on a sofa together. “This one is full of pictures of your mother and me from our coming-out balls.”
I could tell we were both thinking about how our last conversation about the ball ended up.
But since it seemed like my aunt was trying to make an effort, I figured I should too. I sighed. “I’ll go to the ball if that’s what you would like, Aunt Caroline.”
She beamed at me.
“But,” I added, “I’d like to be introduced as Grace Valmont-Diaz. I think it’s important for people to recognize that I belong to both families. Even if Evonians have the wrong idea about my dad.”
The smile on Aunt Caroline’s face faltered for just a second. “I suppose I can live with that,” she said with a short nod.
Together we paged through the pictures in the photo album.
“Do you still have your dress?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s packed away somewhere.”
“Is my mom’s dress still here too?” I asked, looking at a photograph of my mom. Her gown was elegant and simple with no unnecessary frills.
“I think so. I’ll have Duncan look for it.” Then she smiled at me and said, “Tomorrow, a dozen dresses are being delivered from Paris. I know you’ll find just the right one.”
“Wow,” I said. “Thank you.”
But I wasn’t confident that any dress flown in from Paris would be my style.
***
The next day the dresses arrived, and so did Lisle and Jacqueline. Aunt Caroline thought it would be fun for them to help me pick out a ball gown for the big event. She apparently hadn’t picked up on the awkwardness between Jacqueline and me.
The girls sat at a table drinking tea while I went into my walk-in closet to try on the first gown. Two staff members had to help me into the gown and zip me up. The dress was heavy and scratchy, and I felt like a giant marshmallow. I didn’t want anyone to see me in that dress, but the women helping kept telling me how beautiful I looked and hustled me out of the closet.
“Oh, turn around,” Lisle said. “Give us a twirl.”
I did, and the dress swirled around me.
“Now move around the room,” Lisle directed. I did as she said and Jacqueline started to laugh.
“What?” I asked.
“Hasn’t anyone taught you how to walk?” Jacqueline said. “Chin up. Shoulders back. You act as if the dress is dragging you down.”
“It weighs a ton,” I pointed out, but Jacqueline still looked critical.
“And what are you wearing on your feet?” Lisle asked.
“Socks,” I said.
“You need to wear heels,” Jacqueline said.
“I don’t have any,” I said, lying.
Jacqueline looked at me in confusion. “That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Lisle stifled a giggle but then got up and came over to me.
“Here,” she said and placed a book on my head. “Balance this as you walk.”
I practiced walking around the room and Lisle pretended to be my escort, but the book kept falling and every time it slid from my head, Jacqueline laughed.
“So,” Jacqueline said as I passed her, the book still on my head. “Is Victor going to be your escort?” She was clearly trying—and failing—to sound casual about the question.
The book fell from my head and landed on the floor with a thud.
“Look,” Lisle said impatiently, turning to Jacqueline. “If he wants to go with Grace, let him go. She’s going back to the States soon anyway.”
“Where she belongs,” I heard Jacqueline say under her breath.
I bent down to pick up the book. I wished I could just disappear. This was becoming almost unbearable. And to make the situation even more uncomfortable, I wasn’t even sure how I felt about Victor. Or about how he felt about me. I thought back to how his face looked when he was on the phone with Jaqueline the other day.
“Oh my,” my aunt said as she stepped into the room. “Look at you!”
“I feel like it’s a bit much,” I said. Then I quickly turned my back on the girls and headed for my walk-in closet. My aunt followed me.
“We’ll find something,” she told me with an encouraging smile. She helped me pick out the next dress to try on. Even though all I wanted was to put on my hoodie and a pair of jeans, I agreed.
I tried on all twelve dresses and they were all just as terrible as the first. I wanted a dress like the one my mother had worn for her ball, but everything I tried on was bedazzled or covered in mountains of lace. When my aunt asked which one was my favorite, I didn’t know what to say. After a few awkward seconds I finally said, “They’re all so different from what I’m used to. I can’t decide.”
“Don’t worry,” Aunt Caroline said. “You have a few days to think about it.”
My aunt left to go to lunch with a friend, and I retreated to the closet to change into my normal clothes. Lisle poked her head in and said, “That first dress wasn’t so bad. And my mother’s seamstress can work miracles. I can send her over, and she’ll tame the dress down.”
“Thanks,” I said, grateful for the offer.
Then I added in a hushed voice, “I think Victor should take Jacqueline. I don’
t want to create any trouble. Really, I don’t.”
“But he wants to take you,” she said.
I didn’t know how to tell her that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it anymore, so I just said, “Tell him it’s okay to take Jacqueline. If he already promised to take her, he should. I don’t mind going alone.”
“You can’t go alone. You just can’t,” she said.
“I could go with Sasha.” I don’t know what made me say it, but it just jumped out.
“Who?” Lisle said.
“Sasha,” I repeated. It was too late to go back on it now, and besides I didn’t really know anyone else. “He helps out in the stable.”
Lisle looked horrified.
“Go with my brother,” she said. “Don’t worry about Jacqueline. She has a million boys who would love to be her escort.”
“We need to get going, Lisle,” Jacqueline called from outside the closet, cutting the conversation short.
As Lisle headed back to the table to gather up her things, Jacqueline came up to me and whispered, “No matter what you wear, you’ll still never be true royalty. Your father took that away from you.”
She turned and walked away before I could think of anything to say.
21
Even after the girls were gone I was still shaken a little bit from what Jacqueline had said. How could anybody behave like that? I thought to myself. And why the heck didn’t I defend myself? I walked down to the stables as a distraction. I needed to get away from all that lace and silk and nobility for a while.
Petra and Sasha were feeding the horses. “Need any help?” I asked. They told me how much food to give each horse and taught me how to clean out the water troughs.
As we worked, I said impulsively, “Would you two like to come over for dinner tonight? My aunt will be away, and I hate the idea of eating all alone in that great big dining room.”
“Oh, poor you,” Sasha teased.
“Come on,” I said. “Please.”
And after much begging, the two of them agreed to join me up at the house that night.
***
When Petra and Sasha arrived I couldn’t help but laugh. They were both dressed like they were going to a cocktail party. Sasha was wearing a tie and a suit jacket that was too small. Petra was wearing heels and a dress.
“You didn’t need to dress up,” I said, showing them to the dining room. “We’re just having pizza.”
“Whoa,” Sasha said. “Pizza on china and with candlelight.”
“Ordering the pizza itself was my first act of rebellion,” I said. “I don’t want to throw the manor into complete chaos.”
After dinner, I took them both up to my room and showed Petra the racks of ball gowns. She admired each one.
“They’re all so beautiful,” she said, turning to me. “But none of them seem very . . . you.”
“I know,” I said, still thinking about my mother’s dress. Suddenly I had an idea. For the first time since I had arrived at the manor, I walked over to the phone and dialed zero. I felt embarrassed doing it, but I wanted to know if Duncan had found the dress. He appeared moments later.
“Good evening, everyone,” he said, nodding to each of us. “How can I be of service?”
“Did you find my mom’s ball gown?” I asked.
“I did,” he said. “I found both your mother’s and your aunt’s. They are airing out right now.”
“Do you think I could try on my mom’s dress?” I asked.
Duncan smiled. “I will bring it right up.”
He left and reappeared carrying a garment bag much smaller than the ones that had contained the dresses I tried on earlier. I thanked him, grabbed the bag, and headed for the walk-in closet. Slipping on my mom’s dress felt perfect. I took a deep breath before stepping out to model it for Sasha and Petra.
“That’s the one,” Petra said, beaming.
Sasha didn’t say anything. He just stared at me.
“What do you think?” I asked him.
“I think you look great,” he finally said.
I blushed and knew in that moment why I’d told Lisle that Sasha should be my escort, not Victor.
22
I changed out of the dress and when I walked back into my room, Petra and Sasha looked up in surprise and stopped talking immediately.
Petra excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Sasha and I looked at each other for a moment.
“I have something to ask you,” I said to him.
He cleared his throat nervously. “Me first, okay?”
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
He looked at me for a minute and then burst out, “Is your dad Miguel Diaz?”
I blinked in surprise. “Uh, yeah.”
“The famous musician?”
“I don’t know about famous, but you have his album, yeah. I heard you play it the first time we met.”
“I knew it! I’ve been wondering about it ever since you mentioned your last name.”
His strange look at the open mic night made sense now.
“Your dad was incredible. Does he still play?”
“A few songs here and there. But he doesn’t perform, not anymore.”
“I’d really like to meet him. Will he be coming here?”
“Ah, no,” I said. “He didn’t have the best experience over here.”
“Well, I’m really hoping to go to America, but I’d need a work visa. Maybe your dad still knows some people in the business? I’m willing to intern or do all the grunt work at a record label or anything to do with music. You could let him know I’m a hard worker and then maybe he could hook me up with some people in the music scene . . .”
He trailed off as I looked at him.
“Sure,” I said, my heart sinking. “I guess I can call him tomorrow.”
“That would be incredible!” Sasha looked relieved. “Now, what was it that you wanted to ask me?”
Victor’s prediction about people trying to take advantage of me for being nice was ringing in my ears. I just would never have imagined that kind of behavior from Sasha. “Nothing. Never mind.” I gave Sasha a weak smile just as Petra returned from the bathroom.
“Did you ask her?” she said to Sasha.
“I did,” he said, grinning.
“Oh, thank you,” Petra said to me, without even waiting to hear what my answer had been. “Sasha wants to go to America so badly! He doesn’t have any chance of being noticed in Evonia, but I know he can make a music career there.”
She turned to Sasha and added, “And then you could be closer to Courtney again.”
Courtney? Who is Courtney?
My stomach did a sickening flip. Not only was Sasha using me to get connected with my dad, but he had a girlfriend.
“Do you want to join us for a ride tomorrow?” Petra said as they got up to leave.
I swallowed back the bitter taste in my throat. “I think I might have plans.”
23
For the rest of the week I spent a lot of time in my room, avoiding both Victor and Sasha. I passed on my dad’s contact information to Sasha and texted with Victor a little about the arrangements for the ball, but that was it. My aunt came by a few times to help me decide on details for the night of the ball. How we should do my hair. My makeup. What shoes I should wear. I tried to go with the simplest versions of everything she offered and for the most part she agreed, although she did manage to convince me to wear an old Valmont family pin in my hair.
At one point, when she was showing me the dozens of pairs of shoes she’d had sent to the manor, she asked, “And have you decided on an escort?”
I sighed. “I guess it’ll be Victor.”
Aunt Caroline looked at me, her expression soft and understanding. “My dear, if you don’t want to go with Victor, I’m sure we can arrange something else.”
“No, I’ll take Victor. It’s fine.” I was pretty confident that I didn’t like Victor as more than a friend, and that he didn’t really like me as much as
he liked Jacqueline, even if he wouldn’t admit it. But I just wanted to be done with these ridiculous ball arrangements in the easiest way possible.
My aunt stared at me and I avoided her gaze. “You know, I never did thank you for agreeing to all this,” she said in a quiet voice. “I understand that this is a lot to take in and that it isn’t for everyone. Your mother didn’t like it. I don’t think I realized how miserable this life made her until she met your father and I saw her completely happy.”
I couldn’t hold back the tears in my eyes, and when I looked up I saw that neither could Aunt Caroline.
“I should’ve mended things with your parents a long time ago,” she whispered. “And I’m grateful you’re giving me a chance to start. Life’s too short to stay angry at the people you love.” Then she kissed me on the forehead and left the room.
***
The night of the ball, I stood on the front steps of the house with Aunt Caroline, waiting for Duncan to bring the car around for us.
“I’m glad you chose that dress,” Caroline told me. “It really suits you.”
“Thanks,” I said. At this point, I just wanted to get this whole thing over with. Then I could go home, where I was just ordinary Grace. Being a nobody again sounded very appealing after all I had been through over the past couple of weeks.
A limousine pulled up in front of the house. I walked down the front steps toward the car as the driver got out to open my door. Suddenly I froze, surprised that the driver wasn’t Duncan.
“Sasha,” I said, “I didn’t know you would be here.”
“Duncan said to tell you he’s feeling a little under the weather tonight,” said Sasha. “He asked me to fill in for him as your driver.”
“Well, thank you for stepping in on such short notice, Sasha,” said Caroline. “Go on, Grace, get in the car. It’ll take us half an hour to get to Alaborn, and we don’t want to be late.”
“You look wonderful!” Sasha told me as I climbed into the backseat.
I blurted out, “So do you.”
He smiled at this. So did my aunt.
24
At the royal palace, before the ceremony began, Caroline and I joined about a dozen other girls and their mothers. We were in a private sitting room with a lot of mirrors. Lisle and Jacqueline came over to greet me.
Royal Treatment Page 5