"Ebony, have you lost your mind?" Giselle screamed. She had come out from behind the screen when she heard me hit Tabitha. She was wearing only her chemise and corset and was attracting attention. My sudden violence probably attracted the attention in the first place however.

"I'm tired of Tabitha acting so above it all." I snapped. "And I'm tired of you ordering me around all the time. I didn't even want to be come with you today. Prince Christian had asked to spend the day with me but you just couldn't handle that and had to drag me away."

Giselle angrily let out a breath. "We're leaving." She stomped back behind the screen to dress.

I did not want to wait for her and started to walk back down the stairs. "Oh, no you don't, you degenerate. You're staying right here." Tabitha snarled. She grabbed my arm to prevent me from leaving.

"Do you want me to blacken your other eye?" I shot back.

Giselle didn't say a word as she grabbed my other arm and all but threw me down the steps and out the door. The other girls followed silently while other people in the shop watched us go. Victoria and Allison followed in surprise when we arrived back downstairs.

"What is going on?" Allison asked once we were outside.

Giselle spun me to face her and let go of my arm. Tabitha was standing by her side and they were both glaring furiously at me. The other girls who had seen it watched the three of us intently.

"Ebony has gone insane." Giselle explained to her sister without turning away from me. "The little hellion punched Tabitha for no reason at all. Poor Tabby is going to have a horrible black eye now. I always knew she was trouble and now she's become violent. You should write mother and father to send her home because she cannot stay here any longer."

Victoria was nodding in agreement. "When we return to the inn I will write a letter straightaway."

"No!" I exclaimed. "I don't want to go home. Don't send me home! You can't."

"Oh, yes we can." Giselle sneered. She grabbed my arm again. "We are going back to the inn right this moment so you can be gone as soon as possible."

The entire way back I protested and pleaded. The other girls had remained on Lilac Avenue while my stepsisters dealt with me. I was terrified that they would send me home. The celebration was only half over and Christian was here. I may never see him again if I were sent away. Giselle had probably already thought of this and it would only make her more eager to get rid of me.

The door slammed and they finally let go of me. "If you write a letter now it will not arrive in Lyscos for at least a week and it will take another to ready a carriage to send. They may not even be able to get into the city because it is so crowded." I tried to reason. "Even if they do get the letter and come to take me away, it will be after the celebration is over anyway. You can't send me away."

Victoria seemed to be thinking about what I was saying. Giselle wouldn't budge an inch. She had found a reason to get me to leave and she wasn't giving it up easily. "I don't care how long it takes. I will force you to stay in that chair for the rest of the time here if I have to."

"She's right though. It will take weeks before she can actually leave if I send a letter to mother. We will just have to find a way to punish her here. What she did was inexcusable and cannot go unpunished." Victoria said slowly. Giselle and I were waiting for what she decided was proper punishment. "I think she should be repaid in kind. One good strike deserves another."

Giselle didn't need any other motivation. She slapped me across the face with a resounding smack. I put a hand to my face and gasped. That was it? Giselle had obviously never hit anyone else either because it barely hurt. Apparently, I did not show enough pain so she curled her fingers and punched me as I had done to Tabitha. This time I could feel the skin break over my cheekbone where her knuckles met my face. She looked to be raising her hand again before Victoria stopped her. "Stop now, Elle. She has had enough and is sufficiently punished."

The look on Giselle's face said that she disagreed, but she still lowered her hand. "I'm done playing nice," She whispered threateningly and went off to her room.

I looked at the hand that was over my face. There was a small amount of blood on it. Before me Victoria crossed her arms and sighed. "Go and clean yourself up."

My head snapped up to look at her. She was actually being somewhat kind. More kind than I had ever expected her capable of being. She tilted her head in the direction of her room and the washroom. Cautiously I stood. Victoria did not move as I walked past her and into the bedroom.

"She won't ever forgive you," Victoria said. I did not turn to look at her. "She's always had everything she's wanted. She doesn't know how to deal with being disappointed."

I continued into the washroom. Unless I was mistaken, it almost seemed like Victoria was looking out for me instead of her sister. I shook my head, that couldn't be right. Victoria was just as mean and shallow as Giselle and she had given me no reason to doubt that now just because she told me something I already knew. It would be good for Giselle to learn that the world did not exist to please her every moment of every day.

In the mirror, I saw the small cut that marred my cheek. Gently I ran a damp washcloth over it to wash away the stray blood. Tomorrow was another tournament day and that meant that she would be there competing for Christian's attention. I doubted that she would be chased away by Dewey and his mother this time. I had gone too far and she was starting to take notice and treat me like an opponent and not someone she could easily walk over. She was starting to be wary of me. While the thought brought a smile to my face, I also felt as if she would somehow get Victoria back on her side and they would both work to ruin my time in Pharyss. I didn't know if I could stand against an onslaught from both of them. Victoria seemed to have been kinder after spending more and more time with Prince Hector. I hoped it would last. I comforted myself with the knowledge that Victoria was the more cunning of the sisters and if it was only Giselle on her own I would be fine. I finished tending to my face and decided to not worry about it anymore. Unless Victoria turned her wits to undermining me, I would be fine.

I did not sleep easily that night for fear that Giselle would try to do something sneaky while I slept. Thankfully, she did not and I woke to find everything as it was – almost. At first I didn't notice, but as I stood and stretched, I noticed something was wrong. It was too quiet. There was none of my stepsister's normal morning noises. Both of their doors were closed and no sound came from either. I looked at the clock on the wall and gasped. I overslept and had missed the start of the tournament. I rushed about madly in a frantic effort to get dressed in hopes that somehow they had not left me behind. Maybe they had also overslept or taken longer to get ready and the carriage would still be waiting. I might not have missed them by very much. In my haste, I fell over trying to get one of my boots on. My skirt got tangled in my legs and I crashed to the floor. I tried to untangle myself in frustration which only caused my hands to fumble and make the whole thing worse. Finally, I was able to get up and put the other boot on, but I had lost precious moments.

I didn't bother to do anything with my tangle of hair. It would only waste time and I could do it in the carriage anyway. With this plan in mind, I snatched a hair tie and brush from a table and shoved them into my bag which I then slung over my shoulder. I had gotten ready in record time and if I was lucky I would leave to find our carriage still waiting for me outside.

I made my way quickly out of the inn and down the broad steps outside. A few carriages were waiting there for others as they went about their business in the town, but none that were familiar to me. I looked down the street in both directions and still did not see our carriage. I had missed the carriage and thus would miss the tournament. Giselle would be pleased, I thought bitterly as I sat down heavily at the end of one of the steps out of people's way. I was getting a few strange looks and I remembered that I probably looked a fright with my wild hair. I took of the small brush and quickly ran it through my hair so I wouldn't look quite so mad. I had to go to the tournament today. I just needed some way to get there. I looked around and didn't recognize anyone. I wasn't about to ask a stranger if they were going to the tournament today and if I could tag along with them. I didn't know how to get to the tournament grounds, and even if I did it was much too far to walk.

I sat up, knowing what I would do. I stood and marched off in the direction of the stables. I would borrow a horse and find my way to the arena. If I thought hard, I could remember the way. It was near the castle so that would give me a direction. The stable boy was grooming a horse outside the large stable doors.

"Excuse me," I said in my most authoritative voice. "I need to borrow a horse. I need to get to the tournament arena."

The boy looked up at me, "Ain't no tournament at the arena today, miss."

"Yes, there is," I argued. "I know there is."

"Nah," he shook his head. "Today they is doing the throwing competitions and them can't be done in the arena. They be somewhere else for the tournament today."

I could feel my confidence starting to falter. "Do you know where they are and how to get there?"

"Nope, not me, miss. I can't go to the tournament. There's work to be done here. Besides, aren't you a little late to be going to the tournament? It's almost midday. Everyone else left hours ago."

My shoulders slumped and I thanked the boy and trudged back towards the inn. I did not know where the tournament was being held or how to get there and there was no one to ask. I would just have to spend the day in the Crocodile Room and hope Dewey was keeping Giselle from being all over Christian.