Page 54 of Ruling the Green

“I’ve been hearing things for a long time. It’s always been in my best interest to keep my ear to the ground. The Dark Court has been unstable for a long time now. But it’s getting worse. People are getting louder with their dissent. That is never a good thing. And if the common people are talking, I can only imagine what the wealthy and powerful are doing.”

“Do you think something will happen before the tournament? And the ball?”

I wouldn’t admit it aloud, given how tense everything was, but a part of me was excited for those events. I loved my lake. I missed it in my bones. But I was starting to see how many things I’d been missing my whole existence: things like hot foods, soft beds, pretty clothes, and, yes, silly, extravagant things like balls, like jousting and sword fighting and everything else I might see at the tournament.

In addition to that, I’d mostly been missing out on… people. On connection. Which had been fine back before I knew there was something else to the world but my lake and the creatures around it. Now that I did, though, I wasn’t sure how I could go back to such isolation.

I would miss Nira and Vishen and Jet.

Jet, especially.

In such a short period of time, he’d become such a large part of my life.

Technically, I spent more of my day with Nira, but somehow, we talked more, shared more. But I felt like I spent my days counting down the moments to when I would see him again. Even though he hadn’t put his hands on me again since that time in his study, where he’d showed me something else I hadn’t been exposed to before.

“Alright. I need to show you something,” Nira said, heading toward the door.

“What?”

“It’s a surprise,” she said, leading me into her room. There were even more plants and flowers around. And her food stores were now organized. Her workstation was dominated by a large swatch of black fabric. “Before I show you, I want to be clear that there is no pressure. I know Jet spent a lot of coin to get those gowns made for you in time for the feast.”

He had.

I’d been measured and pinched and squeezed into devices that laced up and cinched in my already small waist and made it difficult to breathe.

Then I’d watched a long line of seamstresses and assistants bring in gown after gown into the bedroom just that morning, placing them all in the wardrobe with Jet’s clothing.

Was the fabric on the table a gown?

Had Nira made me a dress?

That would explain why she was shifting her feet and wringing her hands. I’d never seen her anything other than confident, almost breezy and at ease. She was anxious as she moved to the table.

“This is just a hobby of mine. And when I heard you needed clothing, I thought… why not? I’ll never have an occasion to wear a gown.”

“Let me see,” I demanded, excited to see what she had spent her limited free time working on.

She walked over to lift up the dress, shaking it until it flowed down.

“I didn’t make the dress,” she clarified from behind it. “I just did the beaded embroidery.”

And the beaded embroidery was what made it so breathtaking.

Delicate silver, white, and icy blue beads created a constellation of stars across the dark sky of the dress and led up to an intricate design around the square bodice.

“Oh, Nira. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful dress.” I walked over to run my hand over the beads. “Are you sure you don’t want this for yourself?”

“For all the balls I get invited to?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “I want you to wear it. I made it for you. I know Jet will be wearing black. The seamstresses’ black gowns are lovely, but there is nothing about them that really draws attention. I thought maybe the princess should have eyes on her.”

I won’t lie, my stomach felt all shivery at the idea of so many eyes on me. But if they had to be on me, having their attention diverted to the dress might be for the best.

“You are so talented. How did you learn to do this?”

“Basic sewing is necessary in the military. Something is always tearing or getting cut off. But when we happened through Tenray Square, I saw a stand full of beads. Traded precious food stores for a supply of them. I would spend my nights working on threading them onto fabric, eventually learning to make designs.”

“Can you get more beads? If I asked Jet for some coin, could you acquire more?”

“Anything can be bought if you have the coin.”