I prepared for a day of torture with my stepsisters and their friends. Giselle had informed Victoria that I would be joining them and they both watched me closely as if I would try and run at any moment. I definitely considered dashing out the door more than a few times, but whenever the thought crossed my mind one of them would strategically stand between me and the way out. I could not even dress slowly to put off the time we left for their friends would be arriving at exactly ten o'clock. I did not want nine other girls glaring at me to go faster. I wondered how we would be travelling with so many. We could not all possibly fit in one carriage. I tried pointing this out to Victoria and suggested that it would be easier if I just stayed behind. She rolled her eyes and said that we would not be riding in any carriages because we were just going to a nearby street of shops they had not been to yet. They must have been talking about Lilac Avenue, the street I had travelled with Curtis and Clover.
The others arrived together at exactly the same time. I wondered if they had all arrived together or if their timing was just that perfect. The door opened and seven girls poured into the too small sitting room where Giselle, Victoria, and I were already waiting. There was squealing and hugs as they all greeted each other. I stood awkwardly to the side along with the stout red head who quietly introduced herself as Lotti. I remembered her from the first night they were all here, the girls had been so mean to her then and it seemed that little had changed. The dark haired Allison stayed by Victoria's side from almost the moment she walked through the door and they whispered and chatted together. I recognized Paislee when she walked in with her sister Posey wearing their matching yellow frilly dresses. Sara and Navene were bubbly discussing what the perfect prince charming needs. The horrid Tabitha was scowling at her supposed friends while she stood with Giselle. I didn't think there was anything that pleased that girl.
"Ladies," Victoria happily clapped her hands to get the others attention. After they were all done happily greeting each other everyone had quickly started jabbering on with their own conversations. "We are wasting important shopping time; we need to get to the avenue as soon as possible. There are a lot of shops to look through."
The girls nodded their heads in agreement. Giggling pairs of them linked arms as we left the inn: Victoria with Allison, Posey and Paislee, and Navene and Sara. Giselle and Tabitha didn't link arms like the others girls and followed in silence, but not before they marched me out in the middle of the group so I didn't get left behind.
Victoria and Allison were the first to see a shop they wanted to look at. "Oh, look at that cute little swan pendant!" Allison exclaimed. "Let's go in that shop."
"I think we should go and look at other shops that have actual clothes and not just baubles." Giselle said.
Allison was already pulling Victoria to the shop door. Sara and Navene shrugged and followed. "Sorry, Giselle, but I need new jewelry for a party my parents are having in honor of my brother's birthday." Sara called over her shoulder.
"And I just really like looking at the sparkles!" Navene added.
Just like that out group was down to five. Lotti looked as if she wanted to follow the others into the shop but was quickly stopped by Giselle. "Well, I guess we will just have to find a more worthwhile shop to look in, isn't that right girls?"
"Oh, yes," Paislee giggled. "I need to find the most beautiful dress for the next ball. There is a certain man I am trying to impress. I'm sure he is going to ask me to the next ball soon and I need to look my best."
Giselle painted on a smile that looked less than sincere. "Of course, Paislee, we can't forget about your mystery man. Maybe we can go in that one over there. It looks like it's the biggest store on this street."
I wondered if Paislee's mystery man was who I thought it was. Surely, Kol was not going to ask her to the next ball after avoiding her at the last. I shrugged and shuffled my feet in the general direction of the store. We were close enough to the inn that if I could slip away it would only be a matter of minutes before I was back. Giselle caught onto my plan and whispered something the Tabitha. I found the sour girl on my arm in a moment making sure that I followed the others. I was the only one who caught Lotti's sympathetic look.
The store was definitely the largest one on the street and one that I had passed by when I was here last. It appeared to have two levels as there was a twisting staircase rising from the floor to the ceiling in one corner. Giselle went to the nearest rack of dresses and rifled through them. "Look, Lotti, they even have dresses that will fit you!" She pulled out a massive green confection that was absolutely hideous. Lotti's freckled cheeks turned pink and she seemed to shrink in on herself.
The other girls giggled and went to look at the other dresses. Tabitha had abandoned me as soon as we entered the shop and I went to go and talk to Lotti who was still standing in the same place. "That was a mean thing to say," I lamely tried to joke.
The red head shrugged and weakly smiled. "Giselle was just joking. It's nothing really."
"You don't have to hang around these girls if they are mean to you,"
She shrugged again and didn't answer. Did she really have so few friends that she would stoop to being bullied? I didn't have time to ask her about it because Giselle had pulled out a lovely purple dress and called to the other girls. Dutifully, Lotti went over to her with the others.
"Look, isn't it stunning?" Giselle gushed a little too brightly. "I am going to go and see if I can get it fitted somewhere. Will you all come with me and give your opinions? A girl needs her best friend's input."
The twins nodded and Paislee was nearly bouncing when she exclaimed about how wonderful the dress was. Beside her, Posey was more reserved. As a group, all of them went to the stairs after being directed that way by a shop girl. I didn't move and hoped that in the excitement of the dress they would have forgotten about me.
"Ebony, are you coming?" Giselle said sweetly even though her unspoken menace was still clearly there. She didn't want to look in any way bad in front of her new friends.
I trudged after them up the spiral steps. It looked as if there was no getting out of my forced shopping day with the girls. Giselle took her dress behind one of the screens while we all waited outside. I thought it was rather silly that she insisted that we all be there to see her in the dress. She would look magnificent in almost anything; she didn't need confirmation from anyone else. Still, there we stood as the others no doubt waited to shower her with compliments when she re-emerged.
"So, Paislee," Giselle called from behind the screen. "Who is this mystery man we have been hearing so much about?"
Paislee grinned and fiddled with one of the bows on her dress. "He is the most wonderful man in the world. Our families have been making sure that we are spending as much time together as possible so we may sooner fall in love. Though I think he is already very much enamored with me."
"Well, who is it?" Tabitha asked while she inspected her nails. She didn't seem all that interested in the conversation.
"You all know him," Paislee said secretively. "Or at least you all know of him."
She paused for a few seconds to build the suspense for the others. I knew who she was talking about already and I wondered how she believed him to be in love with her. He must act differently around her when he wasn't avoiding her. From behind the screen Giselle impatiently told Paislee to tell them already. Before she could the others arrived, or at least Sara and Navene did. Allison and Victoria were still downstairs looking at the dresses, according to the two who came to find us.
"Paislee was just about to tell us who her mystery man is if she ever gets around to it and stops this ridiculous evading." Tabitha sighed in apparent boredom.
"That is so romantic," Navene sighed.
"She hasn't told you yet," Posey said quietly.
Paislee looked at each of the others before she revealed her big secret. "The man that I am to marry is none other than the captain of the guard's son, Nikolaus!"
Sara and Navene shrieked and grabbed Paislee's hands while they bounced in excitement.
Now Tabitha looked up from her nails, "Nicholas?"
Paislee and the others stopped bouncing long enough for her to explain. "Not Nicholas," she said with a shake of her head, "Nikolaus. You have to kiss the end of the word: Nik-o-laus." She said the final syllable with an exaggerated pucker of her lips and I rolled my eyes. What would Kol think of his future bride now? He would probably be flattered at the description of his name.
Tabitha scoffed and we all turned to look at her. "Don't you think it is all so romantic, Tabby?" Sara asked with a tilt of her head.
"From what I heard, Nikolaus is a worthless lazy lay about." She mocked the way Paislee said his name. The others gasped and my ears perked at her assessment. "That boy, for he is surely not a man, is not worth two copper coins. I heard that his father only wants to marry him off to get rid of him. He is tired of how selfish and lazy his son is. He doesn't even act like a gentleman and is always running around with random lowlifes in the streets. I'll bet he visits at least three brothels a week in the lower city."
I took a step forward at her unwarranted opinion. Kol was my friend, despite everything, and she had no right to talk about him like that.
"Nikolaus Rydell is a waste of a good name and I pity you for being forced to marry him. He has never had hardship at all in his life and it has made him soft and weak. If you were married, he would probably gamble and drink away your entire fortune. There is not a shred of honor in him. Even though his father is a renowned soldier, the son is a coward."
I couldn't take it anymore. In a moment, the hateful Tabitha was bent over cradling her face and my knuckles were sore from where I hit her. I had never hit anyone before and I was probably as surprised as the others. I shook my hand as if to shake off the pain. Tabitha stood up and glared at me while she still had her hand pressed to her face. I returned her glare. The others were speechless, but I wasn't. The punch had sent my adrenaline coursing and I was ready for a fight. I didn't want to be dragged along on this ridiculous shopping trip and I was tired of listening to Tabitha say such horrible things all the time. "Don't talk about things you don't know anything about. You have never met him and don't know his character. If you want to talk about someone, talk about yourself and how nasty you are all the time, you horrible gossiping cow."
Ebony is getting feisty and standing up against the mean girls.
I also received a wonderful review from someone and I can't respond in PM because it was a guest. So I'm going to respond here and explain it to everyone who may feel the same way. The part you are at now is leading up to the story's climax, so it may seem directionless but I've reviewed the last few chapters and there are important elements in each of them that will pop up later (like Paislee being the fiancé). I am aware that I have established the love triangle between Giselle, Ebony, and the prince, but that is not what I am getting at by bringing it up all the time. However, I do agree that Beatrice is an unnecessary character that could easily be taken out. She's just in there for filler as Duchess Frow's friend. So don't worry, all the loose and seemingly random ends are going to start slowly coming together!
But for now, I am going to do my homework and when it is done I will post the next chapter.
