It took me over an hour to get out of the house. Clover sprang into action as soon as I got up from the table, as if she had been waiting for a chance to make me over and assured me that I would “look right” when she was done.
Looking right entailed having my hair properly arranged, which took forever. Right now, two wide braids ran along the sides of my head to the back, where they became a single elaborate plait with silver cord braided into it. Six narrow braids crossed in a lattice on top of my head, in the space between the two larger braids. Somehow Clover made me have three times as much hair.
I could never replicate it, which was probably the entire point. It was like wearing a sign above my head that said, “Look, I’m wealthy enough to have someone else to do my hair, and I can waste a whole hour sitting in a chair while it’s being done.”
While Clover worked on that, Kaiden brought news from the Knight Vanquisher Plaza. It was crawling with people from the Justice Chamber. Everard’s strike had left a twenty-five-yard cut in the cobbles. It was only half an inch deep—he must’ve aimed for minimal damage, but it was there.
After my hair was finished, Clover produced a dress. She had sewn it from the fabric she’d purchased that first time at the market. I’d had no idea she was even working on it. I asked her when she’d found the time, and she just smiled. The gown was a rich forest green, and it fit me like a glove. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. She’d never measured me. She’d just eyeballed it and somehow delivered a perfect fit.
Most dresses, like the ones we had bought at the market, came with lacing on the sides. It was the medieval equivalent of one-size-fits-all. You slipped the dress on and tightened the lacing to the right fit.
This gown opened from the back, so I could step into it, and the back slit was secured by two silver-colored snaps. It was clearly custom-made specifically for me. My shoes, dainty boots, also identified me as someone with money. They were pretty and uncomfortable, the kind of shoes worn by women accustomed to carriage rides.
We finished the look with some makeup. I’d planned to steer clear of it, since some medieval cosmetics had fun ingredients like lead and mercury. But Clover assured me that the rouge and eyeshadow were made of only root powder pigments and mica dust and insisted that some makeup had to be applied. Not wearing any would look odd. She offered to help me. I’d commandeered a mirror instead and left her in awe of my YouTube-taught application skills.
The end result was somewhat surprising. I did look like a highborn lady. So much so that when I passed Will in the courtyard on my way out, he did a double take. Lute was more restrained. He just blinked a few times.
Lute was wearing a complementary hunter green and brown, the colors of our shade-down. The clothes were brand new, his hair was brushed, his sword was in its scabbard on his hip. He looked every inch like a guard of a noble family.
In Kair Toren, clothes weren’t just a fashion statement. They indicated rank and affiliation. Families prominent enough to have a crest wore their crest colors at formal functions. The middle class—merchants, wealthier craftsmen, and minor nobles—didn’t qualify for their own crests, but they still wanted to display their status and wealth, so they color-coded their households, too.
The immediate family wore clothes incorporating the family’s chosen color with complementary shades. The household servants wore the same color but either two shades darker or less saturated—the shade-down. Our main color was a warm forest green, and our shade-down was more of a hunter green. Clover had bought green and more green for our family colors. At the time, I was all for it, because thefuck youto the Hreban Family couldn’t have been louder. But now, I wished it was any other color. Anything but that.
Green suits you, Maggie.
Fucking bastard.
Everard had shown no reaction at all to my new self. He had walked us to the door and opened it. I put my cloak’s hood up; Lute positioned himself by my side; and we were off. As we turned the corner, I glanced back and saw Everard standing there, in the doorway, watching us walk away with a flat expression on his face.
As soon as we rounded the corner, Lute said, “I didn’t know.”
“Even if you did, I wouldn’t blame you,” I told him. “Your father clearly knew, but I don’t blame him either. He is an out-of-work mercenary, and we both know who ‘Reynald’ is.”
Considering all the people scouring Kair Toren right now trying to find Everard, even saying his name in public could land us in hot water.
Lute nodded. “The whole thing was twisted from the start. Will and I are used to doing shit work. We are weapons for hire. We don’t ask a lot, except for one thing: Be straight with us and we’ll be straight with you. The old man didn’t tell us.”
“Your old man risked his life for years to take care of you and Will. He saw an opportunity, and he was right. ‘Reynald’ has been personally training you. I heard your father tell your mother that both you and your brother have improved more in the past week than you have in the last two years. You’ve already benefited from this arrangement.”
“We didn’t ask for that.”
“I know. If you stick with ‘Reynald,’ there is a good chance you will become a knight instead of spending your life as a mercenary-for-hire with high risk and low reward. Your father couldn’t pass up this chance. He had your best interests at heart.”
“That’s not his call to make.”
“That’s the thing about parents—they will do what they think is best and they don’t always care how you feel about it. You have to endure it.”
We walked in silence for a couple of minutes.
Lute leaned a little toward me. “There’s a woman following us.”
As expected. “Probably a Shears agent.”
Solentine would have left someone watching the house. Most likely at least three someones. One to follow me if I left, one to follow Everard, and one to stay and watch the house. They wouldn’t murder us in broad daylight, though.
“Do you want me to do something about that?” Lute put a hand on his sword.
“No need. She probably won’t interfere. Her job will be to observe and report back.”
