“Don’t you dare talk to my sister like that.”
“Oh?” Julianna said, waving her fan in front of her nose. “You aren’t going to start a brawl at the palace, are you?”
I gritted my teeth, tempted to rip the ribbons off her hair and see what she had to say to that, but Genevieve touched my arm in warning.
“Just leave us alone,” I said, turning on my heel. But my march away was cut short when I stumbled over something black and furry. A yowl echoed through the banquet hall.
“Misty!” An auburn-haired girl in a scarlet dress rushed over to the black cat I had unceremoniously tripped over. She shot me a venomous glare.
“I-I didn’t mean to,” I stuttered. The girl’s beauty would’ve been entrancing if she weren’t scowling at me like I was something stuck to her shoe.
Julianna pushed me aside. “Don’t mind her, Narcissa,” she said to the girl. “That’s Amarante. The one I told you about.”
Whatever Julianna had told her, it brought a sneer to Narcissa’s face. “Oh. Her,” was all she said.
Without another word, the two of them glided off to the table.
I was ready to pounce on all three of them, the cat included, before Narcissa settled herself next to the head of the table.
“What isshedoing so high up?” I asked, aghast, as Genevieve and I took our seats. At the entrance, Cedric Sternfeld came in with Olivia trailing several feet behind, as if this were the last place she wanted to be. I couldn’t relate more.
“It appears she’s a high-ranking lady,” Genevieve whispered.
“More like a high-ranking b—”
Genevieve shot me a look.
“...brat,” I finished.
“Some guts you have insulting the duchess’s daughter,” came a cheery voice.
A girl with mousy-brown hair grinned at us from across the table. She wore a frilly peach dress, which looked rather out of place against her plain features and thick arms.
“The duchess’s daughter?” I said. It made sense. Julianna was a favorite of the duchess’s, so it was natural she and the duchess’s daughter were friends.
“Lady Narcissa Celeste Whittington,” the girl said, enunciating each syllable as if savoring it. “Heard she’s spoiled rotten. Rumors have it she and the crown prince are engaged.”
Genevieve and I stared.
“Apologies, let me introduce myself. I’m Victoria Strongfoot, but you two can call me Tori.” She stuck hands over the table, one at me and one at Genevieve. Before we could shake them, Tori struck her forehead. “Horse feathers. I’ve done it wrong.”
“Done what wrong?” I asked.
She cleared her throat. “Good evening, I am Lady Victoria Strongfoot. Enchanted to meet you.” She punctuated this sentence with a graceful bow of her head and a demure smile. After a beat, she broke the facade. “I’m not quite used to this, if you can’t tell.”
“Why aren’t you?” Genevieve asked politely.
At this, Tori snorted. “Well, long story short, my Pa was a blacksmith who made weapons and armor for the Royal Guard. A couple of months ago, he crafted a magnificent sword for Captain Greenwood.”
“The captain of the Royal Guard?” I said. My knowledge of palace personages came primarily from Lydia’s gossip. My stepmother said Captain Greenwood once was a desirable bachelor, partly because he was close friends with the king, queen, and Duchess Wilhelmina. She also said he had an affair with Queen Cordelia. I hardly knew what to believe.
“That’s the one. Old Greenwood liked the sword so much he asked the king to grant my father the title of ‘Lord’. Lord of nothing, I tell you, but Pa was ecstatic. Became a gentleman of leisure right then and there and vowed to never step foot in his workshop again! He told me, ‘Victoria, now that your old Pa is a lord, you ought to learn to be a proper lady. Marry proper. Find a nice, wealthy gentleman and start a new generation of Strongfoots who’ll never have to work a day in their lives’,” Tori looked mistily into the distance. I found myself squinting in an attempt to see what she was seeing. “I’m not too keen on finding a fellow to marry, but I’ll do anything for my Pa. So here I am, talking to you two.”
“Oh. I’m Amarante, by the way.”
“And I’m Genevieve.”
“I figured,” Tori said with a nod to our place cards.
