Tethered (The Avenlore Series) (24 page)

I didn’t push the issue.  “That’s a lot to process.” 

Soleil unfolded herself from seat and stood, still smiling down at me.  “Yes, I imagine that it is.  You didn’t not have the luxury of being brought up in a world where you learned these things at an early age.  You have a lot of catching up to do.  We will begin your instruction tomorrow afternoon.  I will send for you.  I shall keep you no longer, we’ve a ball to prepare for.”  With a grin, she flowed toward the door. 

I stood qu
ickly, following her.  “How will I know, about the tether?”

“Oh dearest, you will know.”  She said, then pulled the door open.

The vague response frustrated me.  “But, how?”  I begged, voice a little whinier than I would’ve liked. 

Soleil peeked at me from behind the open door.  She paused, looking around the room before meeting my eyes.  “The earth will move.”  Closing the door behind her, she left me alone with that thought.

I turned and walked to the bed, sinking down on the plush downy spread.  The timid knock sounded and I put on my brightest face, not wanting to answer questions about my encounter.  “Come in.”  I chimed as happily as I could.

My ladies entered, there enthusiasm
still bright upon their faces.  The dress was still draped over Leyona’s arm

“
Where were we, oh yes!  Can I see my dress?”  I asked as their infectious glee washed over me.

Mattie and Leyona exchanged a look of mutual excitement before looking back to me, heads
shaking enthusiastically.  Leyona held up the bag.  “If it’s all the same to you, Milady, why don’t we keep it hidden until we’ve dressed you in it.”  She exchanged another giddy look with Mattie.  “You shall not be disappointed, I am certain.” 

It
really was not the all the same to me, I could hardly wait to see what the seamstresses had created that had Mattie and Leyona so thrilled, but I conceded anyhow.  “Okay, yeah.  Let’s do it your way.”

They both smiled again. 

This time Mattie spoke.  “Let’s get started then, Milady.  We have much to do.”

By inches, Mattie was emerging from behind her carefully crafted walls. 
She was still quiet, especially in comparison to Leyona who had quickly become the mouthpiece of the pair, but Mattie’s smiles were coming more frequently and every now and again she’d offer her opinion, each time seeming a bit more sure of herself and a bit less like she expected a lashing for it.  It filled me with a sense of pride and brought a smile to my face.  So long she been stuck in a shell and I didn’t know a lot of things, but I knew that shell could become all that you were and if enough time passed inside it, all that you could be. 

I found my thoughts wandering to Nikolas.  He’d freed Mattie from her prison. 
I was more grateful to him every day.  He was the reason she was here, smiling, laughing, happy.

“What troubles your mind, Milady?”  Leyona asked, the look on her face saying she knew the answer to the question.

I smiled weakly at her.  “Nothing, just nervous I guess.”

Leyona nodded, her wide brown eyes unbelieving.  She’d started out seemingly timid as well, but was quick fast and in a hurry proving that was not
at all her true nature. 

I forced another smile, trying to make it more convincing.  “I am your clay ladies, do with me what you see fit.”

***

Hours later, after I had been appropriately scrubbed and bathed (which I took care of myself), polished, coifed, and
ungracefully laced into a dress with my eyes closed, I was allowed to see the finished product. 

I had been right to allow the seamstresses creative license with the dress. 
In a thousand years, I couldn’t never have come close to thinking up what they’d fashioned.

The dress was deep blue,
the color of sapphires, and shimmered in the light.  The fabric, light and iridescent, reflected the light all on its own.  But that was nothing compared to its adornments.  Tiny clear gemstones, possibly diamonds, were sewn into the material.  Thick at the bottom, gradually fading into a sparser layout as they crept up the dress.  The gems sparkled and twinkled like so many stars in the heavens.  The bodice fit snuggly to my chest and stomach, billowing out at the waist perfectly to come to rest upon the floor.  The scoop neckline was lower than I was used to, but not so low that my skin flushed red.  The sleeves were made of slices of fabric that reached nearly to my elbows, each with a gemstone adorning its tip, my skin peeking through the fabric as I moved. 

S
tanding back, I took a shaky breath.  The dress was very nearly as beautiful as the night sky and that was saying something. 

Mattie had forgone an updo in favor of pinning small sections of my hair with matching silver clips, encrusted with clear gemstones, each shaped like a leaf just behind my temples.  The rest of my hair hung loose around my back and shoulders, tickling my skin where it was exposed in long waves, polished and shining.  A slim silver crown sat above the clips, a lone sapphire cut like a teardrop
fastened just below the delicate tip.

They left my arms bare, not wanting overdo it.  My eyes were lined in deep blue, and that and the dress transformed my boring grey-blue peepers into a deep, true shade of blue, that twinkled like the gemstones I was wrapped in.

I smiled at them, tears welling on my lids.

Leyona tsked me.  “No crying now, Milady.  You’ll sully all our good work.”  She told me with a grin. 

I laughed.  “Sorry, it’s just…you’ve made me beautiful.”  I looked at both of them meaningfully, reaching out and taking their hands.

Mattie spoke up.  “No, Milady…you
was already that way.”

Chapter 26

I was waiting for Liam in the dayroom, a room that was kind of neutral ground and looked out over the
garden.  He showed up right on time.

If I said that Liam was merely good-looking all decked out for the ball, it would be a gross understatement. 
He wore a dark silver fitted shirt, laced at the top with black leather strings and black trousers tucked into his black boots.  A deep green cloak hung around his shoulders, lending him a mystical air.  His black hair hung just below his chin like it always did, making the pale green of his eyes a near impossible color, like something that just couldn’t exist in the natural world.  Liam always looked good, but let’s just say he absolutely cleaned up nice. 

Implausible green eyes appraised me carefully.  “You look beautiful.”  He
said as he offered me a single rose stem lacking a bloom.

I grinned as I took the stem.  “Is this the one you shot?”
 

Liam nodded.  “I thought you would prefer that one to one that had a bloom.”

Laughing I confirmed his words.  “Absolutely.  This one is much more sentimental to me.”  I looked up at him, color crawling along my cheeks.  “You don’t look bad yourself, by the way.” 

Looking to the ground, his reaction was almost shy, unbelieving.

I scoffed.  “That can’t possibly be the first time someone has told you you are good-looking.”

A strange look passed behind his eyes, almost sad.  “No, no I’ve heard it before…just not from anyone who mattered.”

Brow furrowed, I studied him in an attempt to decide if that was a conceited statement or if it was just sad.

Liam shook his head.  “Before,”
he thumbed over his shoulder like before was right there behind him, “no decent lady would come within a thousand paces of me.  And, the ones who did…they were hungry for darkness…for power and wealth and beauty, no matter the cost.  Compliments mean little from such a person.”  He gazed a crystal vase filled with beautiful golden roses until his gaze found mine again.

Not conceited, this was sad.  Definitely sad.

“I daresay that’s all about to change.”  I twirled a lock of my hair around my finger, unable to hold his gaze and the pressure that came with it.  I back peddled.  “I mean, you’re a Hawkeye now, a Knight of Castle Lux.  You’ll have to beat the girls off with a stick.” 

“I do not believe I can be moved by any other girl.”  He
moved closer, pinning me to the spot with his green eyes, stroking my face with his fingertips. 

I closed my eyes.   “Liam, please…”

He tipped my chin up and I opened my eyes.  “I know what you would say, I know you think I am a fool for pursuing you…”  Liam paused, considering his next words.  “Do you know that gifts can be passed down through the generations?”

I studied him cautiously
, unsure of where this conversation was going now.  “Yes…”

He pressed
his lips together, considering again, then blurted the words like he may lose his nerve if he didn’t get them all out quickly.  “I have seen it, Dani.  I have seen us…we will be together.  As sure as the sun shall rise, we shall be.”

Blinking rapidly, breaths coming quickly, I stood unable to produce any other movement.  “What?”  I whispered.

Liam continued.  “My mother,” pain flashed across his face at the mention of her, “she had a gift for visions, I have the same gift.  It is how I knew where to find you, I saw it…I saw you asleep on the earth.  And, I see us…together.  Flashes in my mind, your hand in mine, we are laughing.  We are happy.” 

My heart stopped.  I’d seen that too…only I thought it was just my own wishful thinking at the time.  I couldn’t speak. 

Liam sighed, a defeated sound.  “I have frightened you.  I am sorry, I will not speak of it again.”

I
rubbed my hands over my face and turned away, unable to look into his eyes and see the hope there.  “No, it’s just…it’s all very overwhelming.”  Every time I thought I’d adjusted to this whole crazy situation, the earth shifted all over again.

“Then we shall speak of it no more.”  He walked to where I’d retreated and offered his arm.  “I believe its time you learned to dance properly.”

Smiling half-heartedly, I snaked my arm through his and let him lead me to the Grand Room where the ball was being held.

Music drifted through the air as we approached my parents in the holding area as I decided I would call it.  It was an anteroom just outside of the Grand Room from which we would enter down a massive staircase into the festivities. 
I was accustomed to being a wallflower and here I was about to be announced to a room of hundreds of people.  It was disconcerting to say the least.

My father immediately made his way to us as I did a quick scan of the room looking for Nikolas, but once again, he was absent.  “My sweet girl, you look lovely this evening.” 

I shoved down my disappointment and put on my best smile.  “Thank you, Father.” 

He drew me into his thick arms and kissed the top of my head,
somehow avoiding the tip of the crown. 

My mother took my hands in hers, smiling cheerfully.  “Are you ready, my child?  Half the kingdom awaits your arrival!”

My stomach churned unsteadily at her words.  “I…I guess so.”

She rubbed her thumbs over my fingers reassuringly.  “Do not fret, my dear, you will be wonderful.”

A man dressed impressively looked to my parents, then to me.  “Are we ready?”  He asked in voice made for narrating stories. 

My father grinned broadly.  “Aye.”  He turned to me and guided me toward the thick curtains that hung between the anteroom and the Grand room.  “We shall be right behind you.”

The impressively dressed man drew the curtains with a thick gold threaded rope.  “May I present, Sir Liam of House Raythen,” an audible gasp rang out over the low playing music, “and Princess Danica Celeste of House Connolly.”  An even louder gasp sounded then.

I tightened my grip on Liam’s arm and scanned the view before me.  Women dressed in opulent jewel tones and men in muted metals stood staring as we descended the stairs.  I searched the faces again, unable to help myself, for Nikolas.

Nothing.  Again
.

Even with my disappointment weighing on me heavily, the beauty of the room could not be overlooked.  Massive guiled mirrors, some cast in gold and some in silver, hung on the walls.  Mounted to the front of each mirror were large globes filled with what I’d deemed firefly light, hundreds of them floating inside
the glass, casting an ethereal glow over the room.  Larger globes hung from the ceiling, encrusted with gemstones in deep blues, purples, reds, and yellows, twinkling and flashing. 

Everything was silver and gold, tapestries, walls, cutlery, the dinner service, chairs…everything.  And I would’ve never thought it,
because I wasn’t so big on metal hues, but it was gorgeous, it was a fairytale.