Evelyn Disgrace

Chapter Eight - The Past

I find that girls talking in their bedroom is not an amusing thing to write about— or watch. Goodness, they chatter and giggle and do all sorts of things that seem completely unnecessary. Shouldn't they go out and do things other than spend time enjoying themselves?

However, I suppose our roles in the world are different. Humans are humans; spirits are spirits. We are definitely different.

Evelyn does not seem to enjoy this chatter either, for I can sense her impatience to get to the Piper. She has to ask him about the pot of decay soon, for it won't be long until she ventures out into the festival with Jeremy.

As she pins up her brown curls, Pela comes over to her. "Evelyn, will you string my corset tighter, please?" The blue, satin garment covers the bodice of her cream dress. Pela looks like any mature, young woman in Vera would: anxiously awaiting to be betrothed or engaged. It's an unfortunate thing to have one's younger sister be married before you.

Evelyn throws her pins on the dressing table, catching a glance of her reflection in the mirror. She looks very serious, almost like Pela, except less mature. Today is not a day where she feels like dancing.

Evelyn turns to her older sister and brushes the golden curls off Pela's back so she can see the corset properly. Then she asks, "Will you be walking down the aisle?"

"Of course," Pela replies shortly. "Did you expect something else?"

Evelyn shakes her head. "No. I was simply wondering if you would be walking down the aisle with someone."

At those words, Evelyn notices in the mirror that Pela's cheeks, which are usually a creamy pallor, blend together with streaks of rose red. Pela nods. "I am walking with Leion Rueles."

"Leion?" Evelyn exclaims. For a moment, her mind is taken off of the Piper and the pot of decay. "I daresay I played Durgat's Pitch with him back in the day."

"Oh, those childish games," Pela mutters. "However, when I met him a few weeks ago I recognized the great maturity in his stature and the gleams of rich sobriety in his words."

"What?" Evelyn demands. "What does that mean? Rich sobriety? Who wants a man who is rich with sobriety?" She tugs at the ribbons on Pela's corset, making them tight as possible.

Pela shakes her head. "You never understand things, Evelyn. Leion will be a fine man. A gentleman. He will know how to run business affairs properly and treat me well. It will be a great match."

"Goodness, Pela," Evelyn murmurs. "You don't even know when you're going to be engaged. Who knows? You could be thirty when you're married!"

Pela's face morphs into a darker shade of red. "Shut up, Evelyn!"

Evelyn's chest reels with humiliation and anger. "What's wrong with you, Pela? I'm only stating the facts. It could just as well apply to everyone."

"Well, isn't that a lovely thought?" Pela snaps.

The room has quieted now, exposing their small conversation to the rest of the girls. Olyv twists her hairbrush nervously. Truby raises a brow toward Evelyn. Anneth mutters something incomprehensible. Georgia's face is painted with condemnation.

Evelyn swallows, her cheeks heating with all the attention on her. "Well, it's true!"

Pela rolls her eyes, and then snarls, "It's lovely that I'm not engaged, but you are!"