"You foul, loathsome rat," She continued. I sat up and looked at her as she loomed over me in my chair. She waved a finger in my face. "No, you are lower than a rat, you are a worm – an evil little worm determined to ruin everything for me!"
I had no idea what she was talking about. She couldn't have been mad about my day with Christian still. I thought Dewey would have made her forget about that. Victoria came in and put a hand on her sister's arm to calm her down. Giselle's face changed into a pout as she stepped back and crossed her arms. She did not stop glaring at me while her sister spoke. "You are in trouble this time, Ebony. How dare you go behind your sister's back? You probably planned this all along. You probably had a good laugh with that boy Dewitt about it, didn't you?"
My eyes widened at whatever Victoria was saying as she took her sister's place and leaned over me. It made no sense to me. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I like Dewey as much as you do."
"Liar!" Giselle spat from behind her sister. Whatever I had done had made her as furious as I had ever seen her, but for the life of me I had no idea what they were talking about. Why would I be conspiring against them with Dewey of all people?
Victoria ignored her sister's hysterics. "You are a terrible liar. You know exactly what you did. You probably spent the whole day laughing with the prince about it while Dewey was with us. I can't believe you have the nerve to still chase him like a fool. What did you two do today other than joke at our expense?"
I shook my head, clearly they had gone insane. I had spent the day with a prince, but definitely not Christian as they seemed to think. Now that I thought about it we had spent some of the day laughing over Dewey's mother and her alleged dresses, but Victoria and Giselle wouldn't know about that. Even if they did, they would not be this angry. "What are you talking about?" I asked totally confused.
Victoria straightened up and crossed her arms. "So you are willing to deny it? That it wasn't you who Jack saw exiting a royal carriage this evening? That maybe it was some other girl who looked exactly like you? You really are stupid aren't you? We know you spent the day going behind our backs and gallivanting about with Christian. You were probably thrilled when you found out Giselle would be out of the way with Dewey so you could move in on the prince."
I laughed. It was not the response they were expecting and seemed to make them even angrier so I quickly stopped to explain. "You have it all wrong. I was shopping with Prince Curtis and Princess Clover. I haven't see Christian since yesterday."
Giselle scoffed and went to her room. Victoria continued to scowl at me. It was obvious neither of them believed me. They had their crazy idea and wouldn't listen to reason. Now when Victoria spoke, her voice was icy, "Since you obviously cannot be trusted, I am forcing you to stay here in this room all day tomorrow and the next until the ball. Elle and I will be staying in as well to rest before the mask so don't even think of trying any tricks to try and go out and meet the prince."
I stood up in indignation. She couldn't force me to stay locked up. "I will do no such thing!"
She walked over to where the box with my new dress lay on the floor. "You will or you will not be going to the ball at all." My mouth hung open as she took my dress into her room. I could not believe it; she was holding my dress hostage. Only my stepsister would think of such a thing. She closed the door behind her. When I tried to follow, I found that she locked it as well. I shouted through the wood, but she ignored me. I truly hoped she wouldn't destroy my dress, it was the first time I had ever felt so strongly about a piece of clothing. It really was perfect and already I loved it. I knew the fact that Victoria threatened to destroy my only dress for the first ball would make me do what she said. Sure, I could go against her wishes and go out to buy a new dress but I could barely find anything yesterday. Besides, I desperately wanted Christian to see me wearing that specific dress. I would never admit it openly, but I had already imagined a thousand scenarios where all eyes were on me when I entered the ball room and Christian fell in love with how beautiful I was.
I reasoned that I had not planned to go anywhere tomorrow anyway so it would be good to rest up for the ball as Victoria had said. Maybe I would write a letter to my brother Andrew in my spare time. It had been ages since I last wrote him. Even though his patrol kept him traveling around the kingdom, I sent my letters to a man who could get them delivered to the correct person. Occasionally, I would even get a return letter from him telling me of his adventures being a knight. He had told me before he left that no matter where he was he would always be thinking of me and waiting impatiently for my letters. The last part made me laugh and I promised to write him twice every day. Over the years I had fallen into a pattern of only writing to him twice a week, but since arriving in Pharyss I had not written him once. It was decided; tomorrow I would take time to write to my brother about my adventures. Little did Victoria know, but she was actually doing me a favor by making me stay in all day. If she hadn't I probably wouldn't have written Andrew during the entire trip to Pharyss.
The next day, I was not the only one writing letters. After Giselle and Victoria escorted me to lunch and back to the room, all three of us took quill and parchment to write. As I sat down to write at a small desk in the sitting room, Giselle and Victoria both glared at me and went into their respective rooms. Victoria left her door open to remind me that she was still watching and I still had to stay in the room. I rolled my eyes and started my letter:
Dear Andrew,
It has been far too long since I have written you. I hope you have not died gloriously in battle since then. I will be quite put out if someone else reads my letter and not you. Is that knight still giving you trouble? I remember you wrote that there was a young prick of a knight in your patrol who didn't know his stirrup from his sword. I hope you have straightened him out since then.
I wish you were here with me in Pharyss now and not out patrolling all the time. Surely they could use more brave knights in the royal city now during the festival. That's right I am in the capital city now with our wicked stepsisters. They are being rather cruel and making me stay in and away from the prince. I can see your face now at that last line. It is true; we have made friends with the royal family. Through a lucky turn of events Giselle and Victoria have made friends with the princess, and I with the three youngest royals. They came across our carriage along the side of the road after a wheel broke. Prince Christian was even kind enough to get us rooms at the Gilded Leopard. Just yesterday I spent the day with Princess Clover and Prince Curtis and the day before that I spent with Prince Christian himself! I wish you could have seen how green Giselle is with envy over my day with the prince. She practically had smoke coming out of her ears. If you convince your superiors that you need to come see me in the royal city, I may even tell you about it all in greater detail.
The celebration hasn't even started yet and already I have seen some of the most wonderful things. Did you know there is a substance that flows like water, floats like air, and glows like starlight? It is amazing. There is also a zoo here that is filled with so many horrible and fantastic creatures. I went to see them all a few days ago. They had white peacocks and dragons and elephants and mermaids. That was where I met the younger royals for the first time. They were following me, you see. And do you know why? They had recognized me from what their older brother had said! Prince Christian was talking about your little sister, can you believe it? I barely could. They are an odd pair, to be sure. Their nurse fairy has trouble keeping them in line and they are always getting themselves into trouble. Do they sound familiar to another brother and sister pair you have heard of? The way Crimson scolds them reminds me of the way Dame Helga used to scold us for running amok.
It's just like it is in Lyscos. Giselle and Victoria are still fawned over by nearly everyone they meet. Well, almost everyone. There was one Adellian lady that did not take kindly to their childish ways. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Christian prefers my company to theirs. I have been lucky enough to have been able to avoid them for the most part. They spent nearly every day at the castle since we arrived helping the princess with her wedding and planning. Princess Joslynn was nice enough for the few times I met her, I do not see how she could have endured the stepsisters every day though. They are trying so hard to weasel their way into the royal family's good graces that they even spent a day with the most annoying person I have ever met. He is even more annoying than Shemar from the mill. I nearly died of laughter when they said they would be spending a day with him. He is the prince's cousin who just arrived in town. His name is Dewitt, but Christian calls him Dewey. He talks in such a strange way about the importance of manners. No matter what the subject, he refers to his mother or manners at least twice.
I know it is an already expressed sentiment, but I really wish you were here to see all this with me. I have so much I want to tell you and I feel my stories got jumbled up in this letter. I want to know what you would say about Dewey and the stepsisters. I wouldn't even mind giving up this lavish inn we are staying at to stay in a rundown tavern with you. It has been far too long since you last visited. I was not joking when I said find a way to come to Pharyss and see the celebration with me. You could even escort me to the balls and keep away my numerous admirers, anything just as long as you come.
Your loving sister,
Ebony Valix
I returned the quill to the inkwell and looked over my letter. Even if it was a slim chance that Andrew could come to Pharyss, I hoped it would happen and I would see my brother. I carefully folded the parchment and slipped it into an envelope before melting the wax seal over it. Giselle had been out once to get more paper to write on and I could see Victoria sitting at her desk. There was no way she would let me take my letter the box in the foyer without her. So I addressed the letter and waited for her or Giselle to be done…and waited and waited and waited. Victoria must have been writing a novel. Giselle had shut herself in her room and refused to even look at me.
Finally Victoria stood and picked up her numerous envelopes. She must have written a letter to every single person in Lyscos. Giselle's stack was nearly as large as her sister's. It had taken them the entire day to write and the sun had long ago set. When I inquired about dinner, Victoria scowled and said we weren't having any. I was glad I had eaten an ample amount at lunch when she gathered up all the letters. She wasn't happy, but she let me come with her to post the letters.
Once we returned to the room, she announced that it was time for bed in a way that said she wanted me to go to bed as well. I pretended like I was going to do as she said and pulled out my nightclothes. I even threw in a few fake yawns. Satisfied she closed the door to her room as she prepared for bed. In truth there was no way I could sleep with the anticipation for the next day. Besides it was the final day before the first day of the monumental festivity and that meant the biggest show of fireworks I have ever seen and it was barely even dark yet. I wasn't going to miss that by sleeping. I also planned to get my dress back before then as well.
So the start of the celebration is just around the corner - a black and white masked ball.