“Do you know magic?” Lorenzo asked. “Your father said you hadn’t apprenticed with a guild. That you were planning to marry into nobility.”
He had asked Father about me? Why would he care about that unless-
“Of course I don’t know magic! I just- This dress reminds of the night of the ball. I’d rather not remember all that.”
My face turned red, and I wished I hadn’t reminded him of the corset incident. Prince Lorenzo winked at me.
“Let’s forget it then. It doesn’t count as working magic here since we are already in an illusion.”
He snapped his fingers and turned his suit to a dark green that matched my dress.
“I’m having another ball tomorrow night,” he said. “This treaty won’t work if people are afraid of the Salarians. A successful event should ease the guild’s worries.”
“Do you think they have a reason to be worried?”
He stared out at the garden.
“I don’t know what to think. The admiral has offered a very generous trade agreement, but he is not willing to give us any of the colonial islands back. I don’t think we need them. We would keep our port, and the islands aren’t good for much else. But someone slipped a rumor of that to the guilds, and they nearly rioted. The exploding soap cart hasn’t helped matters.”
He slumped against the railing. I leaned closer to him.
“You’ll figure it out,” I said. “You can make this work.”
“If I fail, it will cast a shadow over my entire reign as king.”
He looked so sad. I reached over and took his hand.
A golden spark of magic exploded between us and pushed us to opposite ends of the balcony. I nearly toppled over the railing again.
“What was that?” I asked.
Lorenzo laughed.
“Our magical chaperon. The Rosas Rojas enchantment lets couples get to know each other, but not too well. It won’t let us touch each other.”
“Oh!”
My face burned with embarrassment, but I laughed.
So did Lorenzo.
“Come to the ball, Alma,” he said. “Dance with me again without magic keeping us apart.”
I edged closer to him. We stopped a safe distance away, neither of us eager to set off the magical chaperon again.
“I want to,” I said. “But last time-”
“We’ll be prepared this time,” he said. “I’ll have guards watching for magical attacks. Seeing you are well will help calm the guilds.”
I pictured myself walking up the stairs, entering the ballroom, everyone looking at me.
My stomach churned.
“I don’t have a dress.”
It was the best excuse I could think of. I was too embarrassed to tell him how nervous I was about facing the court again.
“I’ll take care of everything,” he said. “Just please come. I need you, Alma.”
His voice began to fade. I was waking up.
A door opened somewhere in the dream, and a familiar presence hovered just beyond my grasp. The sound of someone knocking filled the ballroom.
Chapter 17
I awoke to sunlight streaming through my windows. Donna Senona’s seamstress knocked and opened my door.
“Time to wake up,” she said. “I’m to help you into proper dress today. Donna Senona said you deserve a break.”
She smiled at me as if that were good news, but I wasn’t so sure. If my stepmother was no longer forcing me to study magic, she had something else planned.
I got out of bed, careful to keep the Rosas Rojas hidden under my pillow, and smoothed the blanket.
“I can do that, miss,” she said. “You’re supposed to rest today.”
I shook my head.
“Donna Senona wants me to learn responsibility.”
And she didn’t want me to have a Rosas Rojas.
The seamstress shrugged and snapped me into a pink gown. I glanced at the mirror, decided I looked presentable enough without brushing my hair, and hurried to breakfast.
Rodrigo was the only footman in the dining room when I entered. He pulled a chair out for me.
“The others ate already,” he said. “Incredibly rude. I tried to stop them.”
“You did your duty,” I said. “You cannot prevent the rudeness of others.”
He nodded and stepped back.
Donna Senona entered just as I finished eating. She held a piece of parchment decorated with ornate golden swirls.
“We have been invited to a ball at the palace tonight,” she said. “All of us.”
She gave me a pointed look
“I don’t have anything to wear,” I said.
Donna Senona handed me a second envelope.
“A special note for you from the prince. He offered to hire a seamstress to prepare a gown for you. This is very improper, Alma.”
I studied the paper with alarm. Apparently Lorenzo meant it when he said he would find a way for me to attend. Donna Senona’s expression softened.
“How is your magic progressing, Alma?”
Behind us, Rodrigo grimaced. Donna Senona waved her hand to dismiss him.
“I washed a tub of laundry and shopped at the market. I’m practically a servant now.”
“Your fabric magic,” Donna Senona insisted. “Are you able to protect yourself? Could you prevent another attack?”
“I watched an apprentice wash sheets. A powerful defense.”
She sighed.
“Forgive me, Alma. I forget that your education has been shamefully neglected. If you haven’t learned enough to defend yourself yet, perhaps you shouldn’t return to the castle.”
I stood to my full height, tilted my chin up, and looked her in the eyes. At least, I tried. Really I was looking up her nose.
“Just because I’m not a donna doesn’t mean I’m a servant. I am well educated in all the graceful arts. Forcing me to learn magic will not demean me. It will not help your position.”
Donna Senona’s eyes narrowed.
“Protecting yourself is not demeaning, Alma, and you’re too young to make these decisions. You’re too young to be so focused on marriage.”
“By a few days.”
“Weeks. And fifteen is still too young.”
“Less than two weeks, and try to stop me! I’ll legally be an adult then!”
She crossed her arms.
“I am trying to help you, Alma, but you seem determined to make a fool of yourself. I think it would be best if you don’t go to the ball tonight.”
“You can’t keep me from going!”
“I certainly can. And don’t think I haven’t noticed the missing Rosas Rojas. Only two of the men caught your fancy? You’re too young to flirt with the entire court?”
“Two?”
I must have looked genuinely surprised, because Donna Senona’s eyes softened.
“Didn’t you- Wasn’t it you that took them?”
Surprise turned to anger. Someone had stolen my Rosas Rojas!
I crossed my arms and planted my feet. Trying to be taller was getting me nowhere.
“You shouldn’t assume things, Donna.”
I stomped to my room and sat on my bed, clutching the Rosas Rojas beneath the pillow. She wasn’t going to let me go to the ball.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to go anyway, but now I didn’t have a choice.
Someone knocked.
“Go away!”
The door swung open. A wooden cart full of fabric, ribbons, and spools of thread entered first. A woman wearing a dark cloak came in after it. I stared for a moment.
“Tía Teresa?”
She put a finger to her lips. I jumped off my bed and hugged her.
“Your prince is quite resourceful,” she said. “He found me in the Dark Market and hired me to make a dress for you. I couldn’t refuse a royal request, even if I am banned from this house, but no one can know I’ve been here!”
She held me at arm’s length and examined me.
&
nbsp; “There isn’t much time, but I’ll have you ready for the ball.”
“I can’t go. Donna Senona won’t let me.”
“Nonsense! I’ll send a message to your father, and he’ll talk sense into her. There’s no way he’ll keep you from a ball when the prince wants to see you.”
I smiled.
“I can help. Teach me more fabric magic, and I can help make the dress.”
“Oh no, Hija. Don’t let that woman get to you. You are a donna!”
“But I’m not. I’m just a girl going to a ball to meet a prince. And to do that, I need to look fantastic.”
Tía Teresa considered this.
“It is dangerous, Hija. If anyone found out-”
“They won’t. You can’t make a ball gown in one day by yourself, Tía.”
She pursed her lips, studied me for a moment, then nodded once.
“You may try small tasks, but that is all. I’m afraid you’re developing a taste for magic, Alma.”
“That’s ridiculous. I just want to look presentable.”
She seemed to accept that and began to rummage through the supplies on her cart.
“Now, your dress. It should look-”
“There isn’t time to make something new. I’ll have to wear my quince gown.”
“Hija!”
“We only have a few hours, and it is nearly done. I’ll wear something else for my quince. I can buy it from you in the Dark Market.”
Tía Teresa shook her head.
“It is a good idea, Alma, but I’m sorry it has come to this.”
She waved her hand and pulled my quince gown out of the wardrobe. The green fabric glistened in the sunlight.
“I want to curl the ribbons more,” I said.
In the Rosas Rojas dream, I had curled them.
“You can prepare the ribbons, then. I’ll finish everything else.”
She pulled a spool of green ribbons from her cart.
“You must shape them so they hang just right on the skirt,” she said.
She set the spool on my bed, created a soul loop, and pulled the ribbon into the air with a wave of her hand. As she kept waving, the ribbon twisted into curls. She snapped her fingers. The ribbon fell to the ground, but the curl remained.
“Don Diego would be proud,” I said.
“Oh, Hija, you’re not still thinking of him? You can do much better!”
I laughed and held the curled ribbon to my lip.
“He has a mustache like this, Tía. And I saw him trying to sell horses with curled tails in the market.”
She shrugged.
“Mustaches were very popular when I was a girl. You should focus on the prince though.”
“Why, Tía? The prince must marry a donna.”
“Your status as his favorite will make every don in Castana curious about you. You’ll have your choice of them.”
I sighed. It had been exhausting enough dealing with a few dons at the first ball. Sorting through all of them did not sound appealing.
I pulled a spool of ribbon from the cart and set it on the bed. If Tía Teresa was willing to let me help, I was determined to do my part well.
I focused on the memory of playing with Mirella in the rose garden until I felt a gentle motion in my chest. Energy moved through my body and settled into a loop. The ribbon floated a few inches off the bed when I waved my hand. I snapped my fingers, and it fell down.
Uncurled.
Tía Teresa was too focused on her work to notice my struggle. I gritted my teeth and kept trying. By the time she was ready to fit me into the gown, I had curled two ribbons. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I collapsed into a chair, exhausted. Tía Teresa chuckled as she examined my work.
“Maybe I worried too much about you learning magic. If this is the best you can do, we’re lucky you decided to become a donna.”
I glared at her and then turned my anger to the ribbons. It had taken all the strength of my soul loop to curl them. Magic was hard work.
Tía Teresa wiped the sweat from my forehead with a scrap of fabric and curled the rest of the ribbons with a single snap of her fingers. She added them to the skirt while I caught my breath.
Then she pulled out a corset. I shook my head.
“No, Tía. What if I’m attacked again?”
“The prince assured me that you will be safe. The gown won’t fit without it, Hija. You’re a bud, not a twig.”
I sighed and stood so she could snap me into it. There was no use arguing with her when she took that tone.
I watched in the mirror as she made the alterations. Normally I would focus on the gown, but today I watched Tía Teresa. Her technique was different from Renata’s laundry magic. The movements were more precise and refined.
I was so focused on memorizing her gestures that I didn’t notice she had finished. She stepped back, and I twirled in front of the mirror.
My quince gown. I had dreamed about it for years, and here it was.
Except, it didn’t quite look how I had pictured it in the dream. That ribbon should be a little higher.
I started to copy Tía Teresa’s movements to adjust it, but she put her arm on my shoulder and broke my concentration.
“No more magic, Hija. Save your strength for dancing.”
She returned the gown to the wardrobe with a snap of her fingers and packed the extra ribbons and fabric onto the cart.
“Do you have to leave so soon?” I asked.
“I’m not supposed to be here, Hija.”
She snapped me back into the pink dress, and I hugged her goodbye.
“Thank you. For everything. I’ll talk to Father at the ball and convince him to bring you back.”
She nodded, pulled her hood over her head, and pushed her cart of fabric out the door.
I waited in my room to give her time to make her escape, then hurried down to lunch. Apparently working magic worked up an appetite.
Chapter 18
Rosa and Ethan were already seated at the table, and they had started eating without me. Rodrigo glared at them each time they took a bite.
“I don’t understand where it could be,” Ethan said. “No one in the laundry has seen it.”
“No matter,” Rosa said. “I have one you can borrow.”
They stopped talking when I entered.
“Are you ready for tonight?” I asked Rosa. “We’re invited to another ball.”
She shrugged.
“You’ll need to be fit for a new gown,” I said. “Maybe they’ll put pockets in this one so it will be easier to carry your books.”
“The last one had pockets. The tailor put all those ruffles on the skirt to cover them up.”
I stared at Rosa. She had worn a gown that ugly on purpose? Just so she could carry books?
“How did you convince him to do that?”
“I told him I needed to have a mirror with me at all times to make sure I looked acceptable.”
Ethan snorted. I raised an eyebrow, and he grinned at me.
“Sorry. But who would believe that she wanted to carry a mirror to the ball?”
It didn’t sound like such a bad idea to me. Certainly more useful than books. Rosa looked down at the table and coughed.
And kept coughing. She went on for so long that Rodrigo stepped forward and gently patted her on the back.
“Are you choking?” I asked.
She shook her head. Her face was red, and her eyes watered.
“Suddenly I don’t feel well.”
“Should I send for a doctor?” Rodrigo asked.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Rosa said. “But please cancel my gown fitting. I’d best stay home tonight.”
I stared at her.
“You’re not going to the ball? You must feel terrible.”
She shrugged.
“No point trying to dance if I’m ill.”
“You didn’t dance when you were well. Maybe one of Ethan’s salt charms can heal you.”
“No!�
�� Rosa and Ethan said together.
They stared at each other, then looked down at their food.
“I’m going to bed,” Rosa said.
“Don’t you want to finish lunch?” I asked. “All you’ve had is soup.”
“I told you, I don’t feel well.”
She hurried out of the room rather quickly for someone who was ill.
“What was that about?” I asked.
Ethan shrugged.
“She hasn’t felt well all morning. I think some rest will be the best thing for her.”
I glanced at Rodrigo, who looked as confused as I felt. While my head was turned, Ethan took a roll from the bread basket and tucked it into his tunic sleeve.
Why was he stealing food?
I looked out the window, pretending to examine the rose garden. When I looked back, the bread bowl was empty. I wasn’t the only one who had noticed. Rodrigo stared at Ethan in horror.
Maybe it was a Salarian thing to take a snack for later.
I needed to talk to someone with sense. I excused myself from the table and walked across the garden to Mirella’s estate. Before I reached the house, Carlo waved at me from the stables.
“She isn’t here,” he said. “She’s in the market picking new trim for her ballgown. I took her there in my carriage.”
“Oh, you found a team of horses, then?”
“Yes, I got a deal from Don Diego. He assures me their tails will uncurl eventually.”
I laughed. Carlo watched me, as if waiting for me to ask more about the horses. When I didn’t, he cleared his throat.
“Inconvenient of the prince to have the ball at such late notice, isn’t it?”
“I suppose.”
“Have you been well, Alma? Is everything alright at your house?”
Had Mirella told him about Donna Senona punishing me? I did not want that story to spread.
“Everything is fine. Just fine.”
“And your Rosas Rojas?”
I blushed. I had forgotten that Carlo had given me a Rosas Rojas. He must be wondering why he had not appeared in my dreams.
“Donna Senona took them,” I said. “All of them. She’s locked them away.”
Carlo’s face fell.
“I see. Are you going to the ball tonight, Alma?”
His gaze was intense for such a simple question. He seemed to be looking for something in my reaction.
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