Onric shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not my ball...” He let out a long sigh.
“It is now.” Ian had heard their father’s request.
“I see.” Onric sighed, answering his own previous question. He now understood why his brother was too restless to stay inside the palace at the moment.
“What are you doing out here? At least you know the right one will show up.”
“She won’t.”
“Oh.” Ian looked over at him. “Do you—”
“No,” Onric said, cutting him off. He could not even think about it yet, much less talk about it. He could not believe she had so little faith in him. He had been entirely honest with her in all his words and actions.
“What would you say to a short visit to the old training yard?”
Onric looked over at his brother. They had not sparred together in some time, but a good old brotherly brawl sounded like the most fun he would have all day. “I would say we better get over there before Mum comes looking for us.”
“Don’t worry, I told Meena to keep her occupied for as long as possible.”
“Smart.” Onric picked up his pace, eager to finally have something to do.
Chapter 27
The morning of the ball, Ashlin awoke to find her stepmother rekindling the kitchen fire.
“Good morning, my dear,” she said. “Stasiya wanted to bathe early to have time to wash her hair before the ball, and you’ve been so tired recently I thought I would let you sleep.”
Ignoring the empty feeling in her heart, Ashlin thanked her as animatedly as she could. Grabbing the empty pail at the door, she stepped out into the cold to fill it from the well. The bitter morning air quickly shocked her into wakefulness.
With the unexpected help from her stepmother, Ashlin soon had a warm bath prepared for Stasiya.
Her stepsister, giddy with excitement, quickly took advantage of it.
“I am quite exhausted already,” Lady Cabril said as she sank into one of the chairs in the kitchen, “I don’t know how I shall stay awake until tonight. Do be a dear and get some breakfast going?”
Ashlin hunted through the empty baskets in the kitchen, finally finding a few handfuls of grain for a porridge.
“You should bathe next, so your hair has time to dry as well,” Lady Cabril offered.
“Time to dry?” Ashlin repeated. Apparently, her brain was still quite foggy.
“Of course. You are coming with us still?”
“You still want me to be there with you?”
“My dear, we have been over this. Naturally, we will have them announce your sister as Ashlin Cabril, since the prince has already been introduced to her under that name. Are you considering not going? I thought you wanted to do this.”
“I did.” Ashlin stirred the pot over the fire to keep the porridge from burning. “I do.” Except that she also did not. She could not bear to see Onric again so soon. She could not bear to see him dancing with other women, assessing them, judging them, choosing them.
“Good,” her stepmother continued. “We cannot disappoint your sister after she went through so much to get you a dress for tonight. Her excitement is quite contagious, is it not? Come, let us go help her with her hair. Breakfast can wait.”
Ashlin spent the rest of the afternoon in the family parlor, helping Stasiya to prepare for the ball. Lady Cabril stood back, offering suggestions while Ashlin brushed her sister’s long hair. Gathering very small sections of hair, she carefully braided dozens of small braids and twisted them around her head in an elaborate style. Her sister glowed with excitement, and her stepmother fawned and fussed. Slowly, the rawness in Ashlin’s chest relaxed and she found herself laughing, enjoying the time spent together.
This was why she had left the palace yesterday, for the precious moments like this when everything felt right.
“Now, it’s Mother’s turn,” Stasiya announced, jumping up from the chair when she was finally satisfied with her appearance.
Ashlin repeated the process with her stepmother’s hair.
