She shook her head. She would never have the chance to go to a ball again, and her family wanted her there with them. That was enough.
She imagined getting into the carriage with them, each in their lovely gowns, chatting excitedly about the ball. Her father would step in last, telling them how lucky he was to attend the event with the three most beautiful women in the kingdom... Ashlin smiled lightly and scrunched her nose before the tears could gather in her eyes. Her father would not be there, of course, but sharing this excitement with her family would feel like old times.
She had no more time to waste. The hired carriage would arrive any moment.
Which brought her back to whether or not she should take the prince’s cloak. She looked down at the light blue dress. The smallest speck of mud or dirt would completely ruin the fabric. She would have to risk it. Folding her cloak over her arm, she went back up the stairs to the parlor.
Stasiya was standing by the sofa, looking down at her gown while moving only her head. She occasionally smoothed a ruffle with her hand. She had been standing for most of the afternoon, and her feet would be tired and bruised before they even arrived at the ball tonight. She looked up as Ashlin entered the room.
“Let us have a look at you,” Lady Cabril said, sweeping forward and taking the cloak from Ashlin’s arm. “The dress is fitting a little loosely,” she observed. “I thought you were going to alter it to fit you?”
Ashlin decided not to mention the fact that she’d had no time to do so. She spun halfway around to reveal the lacing at her back. “I couldn’t quite pull the laces tight enough by myself. Could . . . could one of you perhaps fix it?”
“Stasiya, go help your sister.”
Mere days ago, Ashlin would never have asked for help from her stepfamily. Perhaps she should have tried this ages ago.
Stasiya’s lips twisted into a smile. “Yes, Mother,” she said. She stepped forward, careful to ensure that her dress did not touch any of the furniture. Moving behind Ashlin, she reached forward and started to loosen the laces, evening them out as she went so she could tighten them properly.
“Thank you,” Ashlin breathed, unable to keep a smile from her face. Even more so than before, she felt as though she was properly participating in the excitement.
“Oh, you’re welcome,” Stasiya responded, as though they had always been best friends. “I’m so glad that you found a way to make this dress work for you.” With all the laces loose, she started to tug each individual loop to tighten them evenly.
“Do make it nice and tight, Stasiya,” Lady Cabril commanded. “The bodice is quite uneven.”
Ashlin let out her breath, sucking her stomach in as she felt the corset laces tighten firmly around her one at a time.
Her stepmother absently stroked the cloak she was holding as she turned her attention to Ashlin’s hair. “I suppose that is the best we can do,” she said, tilting her head to one side.
Stasiya reached for the ends of the ties themselves and started to pull on them vigorously.
“You don’t need to yank them quite that hard...” Ashlin started to correct her, but a distinct snapping sound cut her off. She stiffened.
“Oh, no!” her stepsister cried. “The laces broke.”
Ashlin twisted her head over her shoulder as she felt the lacing itself start to unravel down her back, loosening her bodice.
“No worries, we can find a new lace.” Lady Cabril stepped forward. “It’s this hair that I am worried about. She tugged at the ribbon in Ashlin’s hair, pulling it loose.
The unbraided curls dropped around Ashlin’s shoulders, and she reached up to grab them, trying to twist them back in place.
“Mother, what do you think of these fabric flowers?” Stasiya asked. “I think they would rather ruin the dress.”
“I quite agree,” her mother replied.
Stasiya grabbed a flower and tugged at it.
Ashlin heard a stitch pop. “No, stop!” she cried, reaching down to save the dress.
“My dear, we are only trying to help you get ready.” Lady Cabril grabbed her hair in a large handful and started twisting it back up, pulling tightly.
Ashlin reached up to grab her head. Tears stung her eyes as her stepmother pulled too hard. Lady Cabril slapped her hands away.
Ashlin heard a loud rip, but with her head held back, she could not look down to see the damage.
“Much better,” Stasiya decided. Ashlin heard another loud rip. She saw a blue silk flower fly through the air and land on the wooden bench by the fire.
“Stop!” Ashlin cried again, trying to remove her hair from her stepmother’s grip.
