“Miss…”
“My last maid, she was thrice my age. I’m sure she had very little pleasant to say as she went, but not because I was mean to her, but because we barely spoke, ever, and when we did, she never laughed at my jokes. I don’t even know if she knew they were jokes or thought that I was funny. I hardly remembera thing about her because she never told me anything. I only remember the insults she assigned to others behind their backs. And my governess… And my mother, well, she’s gone. You’ve heard those rumors, too. Well, they’re all true, or maybe they’re not, but I don’t know. I also have no sisters, no brothers, and no cousins that aren’t in Áire, well….Aside from Ser Willoughby, but I’ve barely known him, so I beg, who else do I have to ask? Elías?” I shook my head. “The Lord Commander? Oh yes. That should go exceptionally well, confessing my nerves in marrying a man that God, duty, and His Majesty demand I must. I don’t want to disappoint him.”
Her mouth parted, but no response arrived.
“Please?” I begged. “Please? I promise you, I vow it. I will not report you to my father or punish you for completing a task I’ve assigned. I’m just… I don’t have any companions,” I said. My voice was uneven. “Well, again, yes, I have Ser Elías, but he’s not someone I can talk to about ogres and the like. He’d reprimand me for my manners for such words. He’d say, Svana, ugly for ugly. And then I’d be the unfavored one because it’s what’s on the inside that counts, he’d say.”
Finally, Jocelyn said, “I once knew a man who put his fist through the wall nearly every time his wife received a compliment from one of his friends. When he didn’t break the wall, he kicked her dog instead.”
“That’s horrible,” I said.
“Yes,” she agreed. “If the Prince doesn’t like horses, I think that's pretty fine.”
“You’re right,”I told her. “I’m ashamed, and I thank you for scolding me.”
“I did not–”
“I’m just so dizzy from all this excitement,” I explained. “I value your honesty in the matter.”
Josie nodded once. “Um. …If you want my opinion on your gown, I do believe that blush is your color,” she said. She rearranged a few of the dresses, creating the order she’d promised, though the fabrics bled into more of a rainbow than anything.
“Can I say something else stupid?” I asked. “It comes with the lien that you shall be sworn to secrecy and cannot convey it to anyone else for as long as you should live.”
“I would never share your secrets.”
“Never?” I asked.
“It goes against my code of conduct,” she explained. “If I violate that, I don’t get paid. I need paid.”
“It’s just…” I played with my thumb. “I’m a little disappointed.”
“In the horses, miss?” she asked.
“In the horses, yes.” My voice cracked. “Back home, whenever Eli is on one of his patrols or traveling with Father, no one speaks to me. I mean, they do if they need something done, or if they’re looking for the King, or they’re instructing me on something, or they’re otherwise contractually interested in my welfare, but…I know I sound silly saying this, and yes, I dofeelsilly, thank you, but I talk…I talk to my father’s horses a lot.”
“Oh, I see,” she said.
“Like every day.”
“Many people speak to animals,” she said.
“Yes, and I know it’s kind of a sad spinster thing to do, but I suppose I’ve always seen our steeds as a pillar of day-to-day life. And perhaps I expected that my husband would love the creatures the same as I did. Or that he would have grown up in a way that isolated him to their company the same as…I…Alright, maybe I haven’t ever seen eyes so perfectly hazel before. That should count for something. Shouldn’t it?” My cheeks were undoubtedly red.
“Aye, miss,” Josie said. “Prince Sameer hasveryhandsome eyes.” She came and loosened my braid, lifting and lowering my curls into a variety of fantasy updos. “I think I could overlook most things for someone so very fair.”
“You must think I am the vainest lady to ever live,” I said.
“Not a possibility; I’ve met that woman,” she said.
I caught her in the mirror. “Was that a joke?”
She only smirked.
My nerves soothed with the realization. Josie tried a couple more styles before letting go.
“It was funny,” I added. “...Do you think I need to wear my hair down while I am here?” I asked.
“No,”Elías barked, suddenly a part of the conversation.
