He glanced over at the bolts she’d indicated. “I like that silk.” He pointed to a bolt of golden yellow watered silk. “The color would become you.” His brows drew together in a frown of concentration. A surge of powerful magic burst from his hands. Half the bolt of cloth disappeared. “There,” he said when the shininggreen Earth threads faded. “You have a dress now, in your room upstairs. And don’t bother with your hair. Kieran will fix it for you when you come back downstairs.”
She shook her head. Now she was the one bewildered. “You just finished arguing with me about how I should not change myself for members of the court.”
“That was before you expressed your fear of being shamed. As your mate, it is my duty to protect you in all ways. For the pride of the nobles, I care nothing. For yours, I do.” He shrugged. “Go,shei’tani, don these garments you think you need. We Fey will tidy your home and wait for this Master of Graces.”
She went. Upstairs in her room, laid neatly across her narrow bed, lay an exquisite gown of saffron silk. She tried it on, not surprised to find it a perfect fit. But as she regarded her stylish reflection in the long mirror inside her wardrobe, her pleased smile faded. Despite her angry claims this morning that she was the same person she’d always been and always would be, Ellysetta knew it wasn’t true. She’d already begun to change, and she would have to change still more. Fast. Because when he faced the nobles this Kingsday evening, Rain Tairen Soul would need a queen by his side, not some naive, graceless gawk of a girl.
Precisely as the city clock tower rang fourteen bells, Master Gaspare Fellows, the queen’s Master of Graces, arrived at the Baristani home. He stepped across the threshold, threw back the edges of his satin-lined demi-cape, and executed a perfect court bow before Ellysetta.
“Ah, My Lady Feyreisa, a pleasure to meet you.” He straightened and cast a swift, appraising, hazel gaze around the interior of her family’s home. Ellie was glad the Fey had tidied up, because she had a feeling the Master would describe everything he saw in the minutest detail once he returned to court.
Master Fellows concluded his perusal and cleared his throat delicately. “Very quaint.”
What was she supposed to say to that? “Thank you for coming, Master Fellows.” The slender, elegant little man stood almost a full head shorter than Ellysetta, but despite his small stature, her stomach was still tied in nervous knots. This man was the chief authority on the noble graces to which all members of the royal court adhered.
“Hmm.” Master Fellows subjected Ellie to as thorough a gaze as he had the house. Even though she knew she looked her best, her knees were all but knocking as she waited for his approval. “Turn, please,” he commanded, wiggling one finger in an impatient spiral. “Hmm,” he said again. “Well, I see I have my work cut out for me if I’m to impart some meaningful modicum of the graces to you over the next few days.”
“Master Fellows.”
“Oh!” The man gave a start as Rain stepped from the shadows behind him.
“I am Rainier vel’En Daris, the Tairen Soul.” No hint of welcome softened Rain’s expression. Less than half a bell earlier, Ellie had thought him the kindest of men, but now he looked downright frightening. His steel seemed to gleam brighter—and more menacing—than usual against the darkness of his leathers. Apparently, Master Fellows thought so too, because the little man backed up several paces. “What graces, exactly, do you think a Celierian could teach the queen of the Fey that she does not already possess?”
“Uh.. ahem...” Master Fellows cleared his throat again and backed up yet another step, only to bump into the equally imposing figure of Bel, who’d come to stand between Master Fellows and Ellie. The Master of Graces swallowed. “No insult was intended, My Lord Feyreisen. The graces are an art. The manner of comportment, of speech, the language of the fans and flowers... they take a lifetime to master.”
“I see.” Rain nodded. Then he smiled, showing teeth. “You have three days.”
Master Fellows gasped like a beached fish.
“I suggest you start with the things she’ll need to know for the palace dinner we are attending this Kingsday evening. I’m sure you’ll find the Feyreisa a quick study.”
The palace dinner was to be a formal state affair where the heads of the noble houses would gather together for a reception followed by a banquet. As Master Fellows explained, that meant he had three appointments of four short bells each to teach a completely untrained woman the graces of court greetings, bows and curtseys, polite conversation, deportment, flatware, and dining.
At first, Master Fellows talked so fast he barely took time to breathe. But after he survived the first bell without being skewered on a Fey blade, he calmed down a bit. By the second bell, he had regained his composure, but his patience had begun to go missing.
“If you are to be treated like a queen, My Lady Feyreisa, you must comport yourself as one. If you think of yourself as regal, others will too. You have a lovely neck, my dear. Like a swan’s. Hold your head high. No, not that high. Let them see your lovely eyes, not your nostrils. Yes, like that. Now, spine straight. Shoulders back. No, not so far back that your shoulder blades touch one another. You’re a queen, not a prize hen.” He started to take hold of Ellysetta’s shoulders, but the hiss of Fey steel leaving scabbard froze him in place. All five warriors of Ellysetta’s quintet had unsheathed their blades. “Sers,” he complained. Ellysetta’s quintet just stared blankly at him. He turned to Rain. “My Lord Feyreisen, really. I’ve tried, but I simply cannot do this without touching her.”
“I agree,” Rain answered. “You cannot do it.”
Master Fellows’s expression—which had started to brighten with triumph—fell once more. “This no-touching rule of yours is ridiculous! You would not let me guide her through her curtseys. You would not let me show her how to use her hands in polite conversation. And now, you will not allow me to adjust the way shecomports herself. How do you expect me to teach her the graces if you hobble me at every turn? This is impossible!”
“Do you shrink so easily from a challenge, then?”
“A challenge, no. But you, My Lord Feyreisen, are setting me up for disaster. Is that what you want? For me to fail and your queen to become the butt of Celierian jokes?”
Every spark of warmth fled from Rain’s eyes. “Mind your tongue, Celierian.”
“Or what? You’ll cut it out? Go on, then! You might as well. My life will be ruined in any event if Lady Ellysetta falls on her face before the entire court. They all know it’s I whom the queen tasked with tutoring her in the graces!” With a great flair of drama, Master Fellows yanked open his silk coat, baring the pristine white linen shirt below. “Go ahead, Tairen Soul! Do your worst! Slay me! Drive one of those poison Fey blades through my heart! I’d rather die than live with such shame.”
Rain’s irritation melted away. It was impossible to stay irritated while trying hard not to laugh. He didn’t like Celierians. He’d always found them to be arrogant, false, and weak. But one thing he could respect was a man who took pride in his life’s work and had the courage to defend it. Even if he was a dramatic, posing little prat.
“Let him use whatever methods he thinks are best to teach me,” Ellysetta said. “I don’t want to embarrass you or my family when I’m presented to the court.”
“You could never do that,shei’tani,” Rain replied. “But neither can I allow him to touch you.” Silently, he admitted,«Until our bond is complete, the tairen would never permit it, and I don’t want to kill this man, if only because I would regret the loss of entertainment.»
She looked shocked.
Behind her, Bel smothered a smile.«You like him.»
