“I don’t know, you wouldn’t necessarily be someone they knew. The Elven Kingdom is very large you know.”
“I’d rather be made head of planning this crazy event than be paraded around in dresses for your parent’s entertainment.” He looked at her with that look he got when he was trying to gauge her ability to do something. “Oh no you don’t!” She told him sternly. “If you make me in charge of planning this insane ball I will kill you myself.”
“Was that a threat of treason?” He asked lightly “and why not? You’re probably the most capable. Elves are organised, punctual, and Hana would never forgive me if I gave her more work to do. You would get up until the ball ends off of your regular duties and it wouldn’t be hard to find someone to fill in for you.”
“You’re not seriously thinking about doing this?” She asked.
“I just did. Congratulations Romana, you’re in charge of organising this ball. Who are you going to select to be on your council?” Verbal wonder that she was, she just gaped at him. “Perhaps you’d like some time to think it over.” He suggested.
“Some time would be nice.” She replied meekly.
“Don’t tell me I’ve shocked the un-shockable elf.” He mocked.
“You’ve just put me in charge of ‘the biggest social event of the year’ and I’m supposed to be okay with that?” She replied “Where do you even start planning for that sort of thing?”
“With the guest list.” He replied, handing another piece of paper to her. “On there are the names of all the guests, the number of guards they’ll have, their mode of transport and the amount of servants they’ll bring. That gives you the starting point when it comes to accommodation, food and the orientation banquet. If you need any more help, just ask Hana or myself, anything to do with the guards ask Captain Yates. The palace is your oyster here; ask for something done and it’ll happen.”
“What about asking for the conference to be cancelled for another few years, when maybe I’ll have something ready for you.”
“Not a chance. Oh, and by the way, I’m calling in that favour you owe me, I want you to take the position offered to you as well as being the woman to ‘postpone the inevitable’.” He casually turned her own words against her.
“What did I ever do to you?” She asked “I don’t suppose I could beg you to reconsider your choice.”
“I doubt it, but you could try.”
“No thanks. I’d have to be one hundred percent sure of success to even consider it.” She replied.
“Look at it this way; you know what size to get the dresses made now.”
She gave him an evil glare before walking back towards the servants’ quarters.
“I have to go; I have a conference to plan, and you have some spies to remove from my rooms.”
He didn’t argue with her this time, and she stomped into her rooms, closing the door softly only because Katelyn was asleep. Even then there was a childish temptation to slam it.
She waited until all the men had left the passageways before changing for bed. No lesson with Leigh tonight; in her current mood she might just end up doing something she regretted.
She checked in on Katelyn, who was fast asleep, and then followed the little girl’s example.
She woke to another knock on her door.
She changed at elvenspeed and answered it. It turned out to be a message runner.
“A letter here from the prince.” she told her “I’m to be sent back with your reply.
She nodded and unfolded the piece of paper to find a list of nominee’s for her board. People who’d put their names down to help her and been backed by another member of staff. And she had to interview each one of them. There was a challenge at the end.
Bet you can’t interview everyone in one day.
She walked back into her rooms and found another piece of paper to write her reply.
You’re on. Please inform those on the list that the interview times will be posted outside the entrance to your study.
The throng of people gathering there to see what time slot they were booked into would get on his nerves. Oh well, she needed to make sure he didn’t try this again, and reiterate a fact that he had clearly forgotten: she was a woman with whom one did not mess.
She handed the small square of paper to the runner, who took off immediately, then began sorting through the list, allotting five minutes for each interview, and a ten minute gap between each one in case one over ran. With fifty applicants for a board of ten, she would get through it in approximately twelve and a half hours, providing the punctuality of the interviewee, which was part of her overall assessment. The interviews were allocated according to the tasks that the staff were doing, which had come with the list.
The logical process calmed her, as she finished and went to wake up Katelyn, who, surprisingly, was already awake. Her teacher, Miss Rebecca, was on the list she recalled, and she wrote Katelyn a note to give to her.
“What’s this?” Katelyn asked, as Romana tucked the note into her little schoolbag.
“It’s a note for your teacher.” She replied.
“What about?” She asked.
“She wants to be on a council to organise something the prince put me in charge of, this is the time of her interview.”
“Will you let her on it?” Katelyn asked.
Romana thought about it, the woman was literate, something she required if they were going to organise anything, and there were plenty of other teachers that could fill in for her. “The chances are good for her.” She replied “But I can’t just pick her because you like her.”
On her way back from dropping Katelyn off at school, she posted the list of interviewees on the prince’s study door, as promised, and grinned at the thought of how annoyed he was going to be.
She walked back to her quarters at normal speed, bumping into Hana outside her rooms.
“I’m glad it’s you doing this and not me.” She informed her, “I’ll help any way I can, but organising it all, I know one woman in Grenov who actually died under the pressure.”
“Well lucky you, you’re on my council.” Romana told her. “You’re in charge of making sure the castle in general is perfect for the conference, but there are specific people I had in mind for certain rooms.”
“Who were you planning to put in charge of the ballroom, because if I were you, I’d do it myself. I wouldn’t trust another maid to get it right.” Hana told her “I’m fine with the general palace, because there are some places that the gentry wouldn’t go if you paid them, and those can be left mostly untouched.”
“Thanks for the advice.” Romana told her. “Interviews start in fifteen minutes. You, head servant James and Captain Yates are the only three with fixed places on the council, everyone else has to be interviewed.”
“I can guarantee that any of my girls will do their jobs perfectly.” Hana told her. “Good luck.”
“I also need you to find someone to teach me how to be a lady.” She told her, outlining the situation the prince had put her in.
“I’ll teach you.” Hana replied, “I know everything about being a lady from how to walk to the finer points of riding. In my youth I was maid to one of the ladies in the court of Grenov. You should ask the seamstresses to make your dresses now; it takes them a long time to do ball gowns for the aristocracy at normal parties. For the prince’s lady at the annual conference, they’ll need all the time they can get.”
“Thanks.” She called as the head maid speed walked down the corridor.
When she reached her rooms, she brushed her hair and splashed some water over her face before turning to the list. Surely it couldn’t be that hard to fix up a ball.
Chapter Fifteen
JUST ANOTHER CHORE
Three weeks later and she was exhausted. She’d resumed training with Leigh, but often her nights were so fully booked with work to do that she ended up neglecting to sleep, or not having enough time to get to the caves. Over the last three
weeks she’d redecorated over half the palace, had another block built into the city barracks for the large number of guards and hired every inn in the city for the number of servants that the nobles were bringing with them.
In addition to that, there were twenty women somewhere in the palace finishing the buttonholes of her dresses, none of which were finished yet due to the fact that they’d had to ship extra materials and gems in from the dwarves for the designs they’d come up with. Another problem was that nobody knew what the designs looked like, because the seamstresses were refusing to tell anyone, even Romana, what they looked like until the day.
The list went on and on. The ballroom paint was only just finished, and was now drying, while the best silver hadn’t been polished properly. The only thing that had gone right was the interviews what seemed like years ago.
She could hear the yelling of chefs in the kitchens, and knew they were angry because they hadn’t yet received all the ingredients for the banquet, which was tomorrow.
She flopped down on the bed, hoping for a good night’s rest, only to hear another knock on her door no more than seven hours later. She groaned, but went to answer it anyway. It was the maids, who wanted her to go for her dressing.
She freshened up quickly, before following them to the seamstresses’ workrooms which, now she finally saw them, were huge.
They ushered her over to a corner, and made her strip down to her underwear, while they played around with material in the room next door.
First on was a lavender corset that was different to any she’d seen before. It clung to her figure, looking like a second skin, easy to breathe in even though it was stiff and forced her to stand at her full height. Next on were her shoes, she caught a flash of lightest lilac, before she was ordered to step into them.
The lack of mirrors frustrated her, even as a silk petticoat in a matching colour was lowered over her head. The petticoat was sleeveless, and hooked onto the corset in several places, clinging to the shape before falling in a slight flare to her ankles. A second petticoat fell over her head a second later, shorter than the other, but in the same colour, and style.
She was rewarded with another glimpse of lavender out of the corner of her eyes before she was ordered to look forwards. Over her head dropped a dress that was surprisingly light and, she looked again, surely not.
The dress was made of lavender net, but the net was so fine that she could think of no likeness.
“It’s from Elvardis.” One of the women murmured in awe, as she dragged two pieces of material upwards from where they hung to her waist and twisting them behind her neck in a halter. “The latest style for women there. The prince ordered it brought so you were authentic.”
A silver necklace so intricate she’d never seen its like was added to her, armbands set with purple sapphires were slipped up her arms and matching drop earrings were fixed into her ears.
When it was done the women stood back to look at their handiwork, and one audibly sighed.
“Perfect.” One whispered.
“The best work we’ve ever done.” One agreed.
“Would you like to see?” Another asked, considerately.
“Yes.” She replied, knowing that nodding was not acceptable for a lady, thanks to Hana.
She was led into a room with mirrored walls, and for a second she didn’t recognise what she was seeing.
The halter was modest, even as it managed to look devastatingly attractive. It conformed to every curve in her body. The shoes were sandals made of plaited purple leather straps. The silver matched her eyes, but didn’t outshine them as she’d always thought it would. Not that she’d ever worn silver before now.
“What do you think?” One of them asked.
“I don’t even recognise myself.” She replied honestly, even as one started on her hair, which had grown to shoulder length in the time since the Slave Shop.
“It suits you.” The woman told her, pulling two brown strands back from her face and plaiting them to the back of her head, before joining them and beginning a plait down the middle of her nape. The result was that her hair was down, but kept out of her face. Then they started spraying something in the air.
“It’s just a type of glue.” One explained “It’ll keep your hair from messing up, and give it shine. Don’t worry, it washes out.”
She stood still while they worked, then was led out to another room, where they filed and shaped her nails into perfect round shapes. One of them drew around her eyes with a pencil and followed by a brush, where Romana had to blink at the right time. Another gave a prayer of thanks that her complexion was already flawless and didn’t need time spent on it. They smeared something on her lips, and arranged the jewels against her throat.
When she was done, they carefully arranged her skirts and told her to wait and be as still as possible, before running out of the room.
She stood and looked at herself in the mirror. Kohl rimmed eyes with long dark lashes framed familiar eyes. Her lips were pinker than usual, with a slight shine. Her hair hung straight down her back, while jewels sparkled from various places. She felt strange, but the familiarities she could see were reassuring.
“Romana!” A girlish exclamation from the doorway, as Katelyn ran up to her, but stopped just short. “You look like a princess.” The little girl said solemnly.
“No, I’ve seen a lot of princesses,” another familiar voice came from the doorway, “they’re nothing special. Romana however…” The prince walked around to face her. “You’re perfect.”
“Thank-you, your highness.” She replied, using the formal title and curtseying.
He looked shocked for a second. “Who are you and what have you done with Romana?”
“Don’t get used to it, when the week is over its back to normal.” She replied.
“Oh my goodness!” Hana exclaimed from the doorway.
“What, did those girls fetch everyone I know?” She asked.
“Romana, dear, you look gorgeous.” The old woman breathed. “Why I haven’t seen anyone look this wonderful since the Queen’s wedding when Queen Hira and her daughter were invited.”
“What did the queen look like?” Romana asked.
“Oh she was nicely dressed of course.” Hana informed her, “But it was the princess of the elves that everyone agreed looked the best there.”
“I wasn’t aware there was an elven princess.” She said, curious.
“Oh, heaven knows what happened to her. She hasn’t been seen for all of eighteen years. Come to think of it, the last anyone heard of her was that wedding. The elves maintain she’s gone to another world with help of their magic.”
Romana would’ve liked to ask more, but then a message runner burst into the room panting.
“The royal procession,” He gasped “We can see the royal carriage.”
“That’s our cue to get moving.” The prince told her, “Katelyn, you have to do something for us. You can’t tell anyone that Romana is dressed up like this okay? You can’t even wave if you see her this week. Hana is going to take care of you though, okay?”
“She’s not going to the dungeon though?” The girl asked.
“No. She’s not.” He reassured her.
“Okay then.” Katelyn gave her a big squeeze. “Can you come visit me at elvenspeed? Pretty please? No-one will see you.”
“I’ll try.” She replied. “Run along now.”
Hana took Katelyn’s hand, and led her out, while the prince offered her his arm.
“Time to go parading.” He told her.
“I’m going to pretend it’s another chore.” She replied, taking his arm.
He led her out to the front door, past gaping maids and wolf whistling guards, who she had to silence with her finger to her lips. They were all in on it, but understood that they weren’t to say anything, due to the presence of the five elven ambassadors, and the six dwarves, who, although with lesser senses than elves, still had fairly sensitive hearing.
&
nbsp; Perhaps the most nerve racking thing was being in earshot of five dragon priests. They were humans that worshiped the dragons and were their spokespersons among the other races, going in their stead to important occasions that involved them. Understandable really, seeing as most dragons wouldn’t fit in a ballroom. But the scariest part was that apparently the humans voluntarily allowed the dragons to maintain a telepathic link, so they were only vessels. The dragons spoke and heard through them. And apparently they could access their magic in the human’s form as well.
They reached the front doors, and waited, Oliver ran up with the prince’s crown in his hands. He refused to meet her eyes, probably uncomfortable with the whole scene. The prince took the crown from him, and put it on his head. It was a thick gold circlet embedded with diamonds that sat on top of his hair.
Then trumpets blared from the gates, barking out to the world that the king and queen were arriving in the city. From beyond the gates she could hear people cheering, and flowers being thrown on the ground as horse hooves made clip-clop sounds on the cobbled streets. Then the groans of timber as the huge front gates were opened.
The first to come through were the mounted guards, the first four carrying the gold on blue royal emblem on flagpoles. This was followed by another five rows of four and then the royal carriage, followed by ten more rows. The King had had another forty guards that had left at the city gates to be lodged in the barracks. But that wasn’t on her mind as the golden carriage pulled up at the end of the steps.
The prince began a descent down the steps and she followed behind him, sucking in a breath as the carriage door was opened by a squire and the most radiant woman in the world appeared before them.
While Romana’s dress was very elven in style the queen’s was so traditionally human that the difference was startling. She wore a heavy velvet dress with long sleeves and a square neckline. The skirts were so puffy that the amount of net underneath had to weigh a ton. Her bodice was boned so stiffly that she didn’t appear to be breathing. Her hair was piled gracefully on top of her head, and a crown was nestled in it, the gold the perfect contrast to the inky black of her hair.
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