“I’m taking her on a tour. She’s already been invited to tea with Juliette,” Brevan says.
“I’ll send up some extra cakes.” Elizabeth signals to another servant, who is setting beautiful little sweets onto a tray. Next to it is another tray with a teapot and cup. The servant adds a second cup and more sweets.
“I suppose that means our tour is over,” Brevan says.
“As soon as you show me where Juliette’s room is,” I say, then I turn to Elizabeth. “It was so nice to meet you.”
“You as well, dear.” The woman smiles at me in a way I haven’t been smiled at in years. Like she actually cares about me even though she just met me.
Fourteen
“Goodbye, Enforcer,”Juliette says as she practically shoves Brevan out of her room. “I’ve got it from here.”
“I’ll be right outside, Princess.” Brevan looks reluctant as he steps back into the hallway, but Juliette doesn’t care as she hurries to close the door.
As soon as we’re alone, she spins away from the entry and starts unlacing her dress as she walks. I linger by the door, brow furrowed.
A moment later, the silver fabric is in a puddle around her, and she steps out of the pile in her undergarments. She pulls on her corset strings while walking toward her vanity, tossing it to the floor after it’s unlaced. Then she grabs the robe from the wall and tugs it on. “There’s another robe in the bathing chamber if you want out of that gown. I swear to the gods my ladies lace me in so tight I can’t even walk normally.”
“Thankfully, there’s no corset for me today,” I say.
She lets out a breath. “I think they want to punish me. Corsets every day. Something about trying to make me proper. Tell me, Sabina, how am I supposed to beproperwhen my boobs are spilling out of my dress?”
I cover my mouth to stifle a giggle. She has a point.
She walks over to the small table in front of the windows. The teapot, cups, and plates of sweets I saw in the kitchen are already waiting for us.
I follow her and sit in the chair across from her, and she pours us each a cup of tea. “So, how are you tolerating being in the same room as my cousin?”
“The prince?”
“Yes, that cousin. My most famous cousin, for sure. I do have another, but he’s only three. If he were older, I rather think Caiden would have had him killed because of his proximity to the throne. But lucky me, I’m just a woman so I’m not a threat.”
“He does seem to hate women,” I say.
“They all do. That’s why I’m here,” she says. “I scared away another suitor. My father is running out of options.”
“And how exactly have you managed that?” I ask.
She laughs. “Taking notes to see if they’ll send you back to Iskvaland?”
“I don’t think that’s an option,” I admit. “I’m just curious.”
“Well, they don’t like it when you bed their sisters, I’ll tell you that,” she says.
I can’t mask my surprise.
She takes a sip from her tea, then sets it down. “So here I am. To spend time with my cousin and my uncle and learn some manners. Really, I think it’s so when I return, my father can brag that I was with the emperor in order to convince some other idiot into marrying me for the illusion of power.”
“I’m sorry,” I say.
She shrugs. “You probably know what it’s like more than anyone I’ve ever met.”
I’m starting to understand it, even though I’m not actually a princess. “It’s not easy, is it?”
“No.”
“Can you marry someone who will let you be? Someone who just wants your title?” I ask.
