It was half past five in the morning. Jae awoke cold and shivering.
Damn it Jula, you took all the covers!
"Hey, Jula.."
No answer.
"Jula.."
Silence.
"JULA!"
"What! I didn't do it! I swear!"
Jae rolled her eyes.
"Jerk. You took all the covers."
"Sorry. Here."
"Never mind, I can't sleep. I'm gonna get dressed."
"Whatever. I'm going back to bed."
"Uh, I don't think so." said Jae.
"Oh really?" Jula challenged. "Watch me."
"Jula, somehow I think everyone here gets up early. It's the British army."
"Great, my whole weekend of sleeping in, gone straight down the drain." Jula replied with an exasperated sigh.
"Yeah, well, so is mine, if that's any comfort. But somehow, I think I'm gonna like this whole experience."
"Yeah, I guess we could learn something. Although, I would rather pass on the corsets."
"Definitely." Jae replied with a laugh. "But I don't think that's going to be an option."
"Too bad."
"Well, like I said, I'm gonna get dressed, and I'll need you to help me with the corset."
"And what about your hair?" Jula asked.
"Oh...I haven't thought about that..."
"Hey, Col. Tavington has to unlock the door anyway."
"I don't know about that, Jula. With the way he looked yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised if he left us in here until we died and then finally unlocked the door to take our rotting corpses out." commented Jae slipping out of her nightdress and pulling on her underclothing.
"Yeah, but what about his wife?"
"I don't know. I think he's already caught on to her."
"But that doesn't mean he'll stop her.."
"Still, even she didn't seem like she wanted to test his already seriously lacking patience. I mean, it's like MIA; he doesn't have any." said Jae, reaching for her corset. "Jula, help me out with this."
Once Jae was dressed, she helped her sister with her corset.
"Well, Col. Tavington's wife certainly has good taste." Jula muttered, facing a mirror as Jae laced up her corset.
"You're telling me. The green dress matches your green eyes, and the blue one matches my grey ones."
Jula smiled.
"I know."
Suddenly, there was a clicking noise at the door and Col. Tavington opened the door.
"Come with me. My wife will help you with your hair and then you will meet me down in the banquet hall for breakfast."
Jae nodded and made her way towards the colonel, followed by her sister.
"Well now, you two look lovely this morning." Col. Tavington murmured, a twinge of menace hidden in the undercurrents of his voice as Jae and Jula came to stand before him.
"Save it." Jae replied. "We know you don't like us."
"Now why would I think that?" asked the colonel sarcastically.
Jae made to comment but Jula grabbed her arm.
"Jae..."
Col. Tavington raised the corners of his mouth in a smirk.
"Follow me..."
Jae, Jula, and the colonel left the room and walked down the hall towards his private chamber, where Lady Tavington stood outside the room waiting for them.
"Here they are." announced Col. Tavington unceremoniously .
"Thank you, William." his wife replied, a smirk twitching at the right corner of her mouth.
The colonel stepped toward his wife and muttered severely in her ear, "I'm really not very pleased with you right now, do you understand?"
Lady Tavington smiled and gave him a mocking kiss on the cheek.
"The feeling is mutual, darling."
Col. Tavington narrowed his eyes, glaring at her, and she rolled her own in return.
"God I'd piss myself if he looked at me that way." Jae muttered in Jula's ear.
"Yeah, no crap." Jula replied.
"Jula, Jae, are you ready?" Lady Tavington asked, turning to the girls.
"Yes."
"Alright, follow me then; we're going into one of the washrooms."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"So, how are you this morning?" Jula asked as Lady Tavington helped her get her dark brown hair into a colonial-style bun, while Jae, stood waiting, her black hair already done up in the latest style of the time.
"I'm well, thank you. And you?"
"The same, considering. It is kind of scary though. At least my sister is here."
Lady Tavington nodded sympathetically.
"I understand."
"How is your son?" Jae asked.
"He just got fed before I met you this morning, so he should be pretty content for his father to watch."
"That's good."
"Um, Lady Tavington?" Jula asked.
"Yes?"
"Look, I'm sorry if we caused any trouble yesterday. We just..."
"I understand. It's perfectly fine."
"But Col. Tavington still doesn't seem to happy about it." Jae remarked.
"Well, he isn't, but he'll just have to adapt, and he will. In the meantime, my apologies for his surly behavior; after all, you two aren't the only ones to blame; he and I had a bit of a disagreement last night."
"Oh, well, we're sorry anyway." replied Jula.
Lady Tavington smiled.
"Your apology is accepted. Now that your hair is finished, let's go down to the banquet hall shall we?"
Jula giggled.
"Sound's like a plan."