That Saturday, we had fun. We forgot about the magic, about the threat, about the monsters. It was Evenfall, the Autumnal Equinox. And no one parties better than thirty insanely rich teenagers who don't need to get up for school the next morning.
The second floor of the girl's dorm was deafening. Everyone's bedroom door was swung open and heritors were bouncing from one room to another as we prepared for the Masquerade. The younger students who hadn't been invited to the actual party decided to crash our get-ready time. They were halfway pouting, but mostly messing around. They brought a ton of sweets from the kitchens just to wave around in our faces and say we couldn't have any.
Odette was with her friends, hanging on my arm and begging for me to do her make up even though she couldn't go with me. Knowing Owen, he was probably glad that half the boys were leaving the dorm tonight, so he could have some peace and quiet to read. But Odette loved attention. She lived for the balls, the puffy gowns, and everyone doting over how adorable she was.
"No, no, no." She snapped the sign at me. It was way too loud for me to hear her talk. She made the letter 'P' with her hand and flicked her lip. "Do pink!"
I made an exaggerated sign and started loading my brush with the pinkest eyeshadow I owned. "Pink? Again?" I signed.
She pointed her finger up and spun her hand in a circle, way more than she needed to. "ALWAYS!"
Owen and Odette were my little brother and sister, with Odette the youngest out of all of us. Technically, they were my half siblings. We all had our dad's eyes, but my skin and hair was darker than theirs. My mom died in childbirth, so I was raised by Owen's and Odette's mother: Adessa. I was the crown heir, and I wasn't her child, but she cared for me like one of her own.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked back to see my handmaiden, Elma, expectantly hold up my gown for the evening. She tapped her watch.
"Right! Okay!" I tried to tell her loud enough over the noise. She herded Odette and her friends back out into the bustling hallway so she could shove me into my dress.
Elma mumbled something and raised a questioning brow.
"Sorry?"
She leaned in closer and over enunciated, "Your Greeey Heeels or Jew-el Flaatss, your highness?" Her smile was tight.
"Flats are fine, thank you."
"Your highness, would it be bet-ter if I cloosed the door to shut out some of the nooise?" Elma was already heading over, reaching out for the doorknob.
"Ah-!" She paused and I looked out at the bustling hallway, all the other girls shouting across open thresholds at each other, the occasional powder puff flying. "Actually, I'd rather not."
I could see the slight annoyance shift in Elma's smile, but her voice was great at hiding it. "Whatever you wish, your highness."
Elma and I were ... getting along. This was her first year serving me since my previous handmaiden left Arce last summer for a nicer paying position at a lord's house.
It's not that Elma didn't know sign language, my previous handmaiden didn't either. It's just that I recognize that face, the half hidden exasperation for being stuck with the more "difficult one."
Elma started applying my makeup when Rayna bounded into the roof. I didn't blink an eye when the point of a wooden cutlass came under my chin. Neither did Elma as she moved onto my hair.
"SURRENDER HEATHEN! I have come for yer rum and yer gold. And do not test me, for then I shall also take yer life."
"Ray, please tell me you have actually been getting ready because we are riding together and I'd like to get thereOHMYCROWNS!" I finally turned to look at her and was greeted head on by the face of a goat-skull.
YOU ARE READING
Royal Guard Book 1: The Servant
Fantasy(Arce Academy is a school for heirs, but there are secrets hidden behind these walls. And people are willing to die and kill for them.) I lived in a land of myth, magic, and monsters. And there was one monster who was more terrible than any beast. R...
