Lily scowled. “Summer Sun! Could this be any more confusing? If the letters make different sounds, why didn’t someone come up with different letters?”
Gabriella smiled, not taking offense at the girl’s irritation. “I don’t know. That would seem to make more sense, wouldn’t it?”
Lily was not assuaged. “Maybe my father was right, and I’m too stupid to learn,” she muttered. “Maybe working in the orchards is all I was ever meant to do.”
“Don’t say that.” Gabriella leaned forward to take Lily’s hands. “Don’t ever say that. You aren’t stupid at all. You’ve already come so far in just a month.”
“This is all useless anyways,” Lily said. “No job I can do needs me to know reading or writing.”
“Perhaps not the jobs you’ve done in the past,” Summer agreed, “but what about all the other jobs you’ll be able to do once you learn to read and write?”
“Like what?” Lily lifted her black brows. Her skin was a much darker brown than Summer’s, tanned a deep, rich tone by a lifetime spent outdoors in Summerlea’s orchards, picking fruit and pruning trees. Her eyes were a warm shade of chocolate brown that sparkled in the sunlight.
“Like teaching, for one. Or working in a shipping warehouse, helping with inventories and stock reports. Or even running your own seamstress shop—just think how much easier it would have been this week if you’d been able to make a list of what we needed instead of calculating everything and remembering it all in your head.”
Lily sniffed. “That wasn’t hard. Lots easier, in fact, than all this.” She tossed her book on a nearby desk.
“You thought that was easy because you’re smart and you have an amazing memory,” Gabriella said. “I couldn’t have kept all those fabrics and yardages and whatnot in my head for two minutes, let alone several days, like you did.”
Lily’s scowl faltered a little. “Truly?”
“Yes, truly. I was very impressed... and more than a little envious.” Lily’s mouth fell open. Clearly, it had never occurred to her that a princess of the realm could envy her anything. “What I’m saying is that reading and writing opens all sorts of doors. It will give you many more options to support yourself and your baby.” Gabriella hesitated, then added softly, “That’s what you want, isn’t it? To make a safe home for you and your baby, and give yourself options enough that you won’t ever have to stay in a bad situation again?”
Though Lily never had much to say about her life in Summerlea, Gabriella knew something bad had happened back there. The girl had constantly flinched and cowered at sharp noises when she’d first arrived, and constantly glanced over her shoulder as if expecting to see someone hunting her. There were scars on her wrists, back, and arms that she kept hidden beneath long-sleeved gowns. Gabriella only knew about them because she’d come to the school early one morning this past week and walked in on Lily getting dressed in the school washroom.
Lily flushed and glanced down, biting her full lips. “Yes,” she admitted in a hoarse whisper. “That’s what I came here for.”
“Well, I promise, I will help you do that as best I can. You learning to read is an excellent first step.” She knew Lily had really come here hoping to wed a Calbernan, but Lily found the big, bare-chested Seafolk a bit intimidating. (Who could blame her?) She hadn’t worked up the courage to approach one yet, and because there were so many other women who’d flocked to Konumarr for the opportunity—many of them widowed or orphaned by the war—that meant she hadn’t yet caught any Calbernan’s eye. More than once, Gabriella had found her staring out the window, sighing at all the laughing, happy women walking out with their foreign suitors.
“Do you really think I can do this? Learn to read?”
Gabriella gave her a quick squeeze. “Of course I do. You were determined enough to get here all on your own, weren’t you? I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“No,” Lily agreed.
“Well, if you could do that, you can do this, too. You’re smart. You’ve already picked up so much in the short time you’ve been here. You just need to keep at it and don’t give up.”
“No, ma’am. I mean, yes, ma’am.” Lily grimaced and took a deep breath. “I mean, thank you, Your Highness, for all your help. I never knew a lady so kind as you.”
Gabriella smiled. She’d come to care about the plucky young girl. Lily was good-natured, hard-working, and kind: qualities to be admired wherever they were found. And in Lily’s company, especially this last week, she had found a measure of genuine peace. Even the sight of Lily’s unborn baby kicking and moving in her belly didn’t rouse the beast the way it had two weeks ago—probably because the beast had locked its focus on Dilys Merimydion and her sisters.
“Let’s finish this page and make it an early night,” Gabriella suggested. “I understand there’s going to be dancing in the plazas tonight. I think you should go.”
Lily cast a longing glance out the school windows, where the sound of laughter from courting couples wafted in through the open panes, but then her wistful expression closed up, and she said, “Oh, I don’t know. It’s been a long week. I was thinking about just catching up on my sleep.”
“Don’t be silly. Go. You’ll have fun.” Gabriella hated for Lily to be stuck here, holed up in the school, when she really wanted to be out in the village, dancing and meeting handsome young men.
“Er... well, maybe I will,” the young woman muttered.
Gabriella, who’d made prevaricating her life’s work, could smell even an accomplished lie from a mile away—and Lily wasn’t close to being an accomplished liar. “That means you won’t.” She held up her hands to forestall any insincere protests. “At least tell my why you won’t go when you clearly would like to? It can’t be because of the baby. There are at least a hundred expectant mothers here looking for husbands.”
Biting her lip and blushing a little, Lily admitted, “It’s just that... well... I don’t know anyone. Between working at the school and studying at night, I don’t get out much. Not that I’m complaining!” she rushed to add. “Not at all. I’m so grateful for the school and the work and a place to stay. More grateful than I can possibly say—”
“But you haven’t had much time to do anything else.”
“Which is fine!” Lily exclaimed. “I have so much more here than I ever dreamed possible.”
Gabriella laid her hands over Lily’s and smiled. “It’s all right. I understand completely. And it’s my fault. I’ve been thoughtless, so wrapped up in my own life, I haven’t paid attention to how little time I’ve left you to live yours.”
