It wasn’t a secret that many noble ladies overly relied on their staff to raise their children. My own mother had been one of the good ones who remained fully involved, and from what I could tell of the Queen Mother, she must have been the same.
“These children belong to some of my own staff, and you are to treat them as you would your own child. You’ll be watched and evaluated, so make sure you are taking the utmost care with them.” He warned, and I watched his eyes flit to Zumra and Safira.
A soft huff from Sania drew my attention for a moment, but her narrow-eyed look of concentration wasn’t enough for me to concern myself with. Zumra was the one who looked truly disturbed by our task. Something told me this might actually be worth watching.
The door opened, and a line of children walked in. A small smile I tried to bury appeared on my face, knowing this was probably as close as I’d ever get to raising a child.
The little boys and girls were swaying and bouncing, clearly fighting against their instructions to stay still. I remembered seeing kids on the street who drove their parents crazy with their inability to sit quietly; it seemed these weren’t any different.
Lady Arianell stepped forward and offered her hand to the first child, walking them over to Lady Allirea. She introduced the two and then continued with the next child. I was the last in line, so I watched Amatista be paired with a squirmy little boy with silvery-blue hair named Eirian.
Finally, there was only a little girl left, and my throat clenched as Arianell brought her over to me with a smile.
“Lady Jacinth, this is Fiala.” She introduced me, and I knelt before the shy little girl before me, hiding half behind Arianell’s legs while the curtain of her violet hair obstructed her eyes.
“Hi Fiala, you can call me Jac.” I smiled at her, spying a violet eye peeking at me. I offered her my hand, and she hesitantly put her own tiny one in it.
“Fia,” she replied quietly, and my smile grew.
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Fia.” I told her, before adopting a secretive look, whispering, “How do you feel about ice cream?”
Her wide eyes rounded further, and she looked up at Arianell before stepping out from behind her legs.
“Iloveice cream,” she told me, with all the seriousness ice cream was due.
“Me too.” I widened my own eyes at her. “What do you say we get out of here and go get some?”
Her head nodded fast and hard, and she grabbed my hand to begin pulling me along, making me chuckle as she dragged me through the door.
My eyes cut over to Azurill before he disappeared from view, catching him watching us with a slight smile on his face. I forced myself to think only in terms of the competition, because this was good for that reason alone, and any others were firmly pushed to the back of my mind.
“What kindof ice cream do you like?” I asked Fiala as we exited the palace to head to one of the shops I spotted on our way back from the Forest of Discontent. That trudge had proved itself helpful in more ways than one.
“Cracked Diamond,” she responded, swinging our clasped hands back and forth. Cracked Diamond was a shiny silvery-blue ice cream that tasted of berries and sugar and was Diamond Court’s signature flavor.
“Oh, good choice!” I told her, smiling down at the little girl. “I like Pearlescent, myself.” It was a taste of home I rarely got, but the bubbly candy flavor always brought back sweet memories.
“Hmm.” Fiala wrinkled her nose in thought. “I’ve never tried it.”
“What?” I gasped dramatically, putting my hand over my heart. “You must try some! It’ssoooogood.”
She giggled in response, pulling me faster, and I laughed as I followed obediently. We got our ice creams, and I let her eat half of mine, stealing bites from her own that made her laugh each time. By the time we returned to the palace, she was clearly on a sugar high, bouncing around and talking a mile a minute, while I watched her with fondness.
I brought her back to my rooms and was surprised to see that a little bed had been put in the den. I knew with her current energy, she wouldn’t settle down until she’d expunged some of it, so I instead knocked on Amatista’s door, and she opened it with a frazzled look on her face.
“This isnotfor me,” she whisper-shouted at me so the guards couldn’t hear. I tried to hide my laugh, but it was impossible, earning a narrow-eyed look from her.
“Why don’t we take the kids to run around in the playground out back?” I suggested, and she nodded quickly, looking like I’d handed her a life raft after being stranded at sea.
We brought the kids out to play, and we watched them run around and play games. We clearly weren’t the only ones with the idea, as Sania, Safira, and Zumra all showed up with their own assigned children and sent them to play.
I bit my tongue, aching to scream at Zumra. The way she ignored the little girl she’d been given to care for to gossip with Safira, who at least kept her eye on her kid, was infuriating. Sania watched her little boy intently, with the same intense concentration she seemingly gave to everything.
“There you two are,” Faiza said, and I turned my head to see her approaching us with a knowing smile.
“You caught us,” I smiled, only to be interrupted when Fiala ran up to us.
“Faiza! You know Jac?” Her wide violet eyes bounced between the two of us incredulously. She was completely blown away that two people she knew happened to know one another. My lips twitched, but I managed to keep from laughing,
