A Cold Dish

Chapter 18 - Herself

The day of the tea party finally arrived, I had been looking forward to a break from studying. Anne and Emma fussed about my preparations, the two of them looked equally excited to dress me up. It left me with mixed feelings of pity and confusion. Once they were done they looked sad to leave, I had to reassure them that I would be fine. Lady Henrietta and I had decided to meet outside the dormitories and arrive together. Her eyes sparkled in the sun as she saw me. The servant accompanying her bowed respectfully to me, and Joachim bowed respectfully to Lady Henrietta. Anne and Emma had errands to attend to after they got me ready so Joachim escorted me today.
"Shall we go?" 

Gravel crunched under my feet, walking in it was quite difficult so Joachim offered me his arm. This close I could see the freckles that were beginning to appear on his face because of the sunny weather. How cute. Not many ladies liked freckles however I found them quite adorable. Joachim stepped off the gravel road to a dirt path which led to a hidden gazebo. 
"Ah, Lady Elizabeth and Lady Albert, you have arrived!" Lady Violet looked pleased to see us, "please, come have a seat."
Most of the chairs were filled when we seated ourselves at the table.
"My, Lady Albert the younger sister of Duchess Watson?" One of the seated ladies, who bore silky brown hair, asked.
"Indeed, it is a pleasure to be here," Lady Henrietta said as loudly as her courage would allow her, which was not very loud. 
The ladies' idle gossip was interrupted as another lady joined us.
"Greetings, Lady Rozenkrantz," Lady Violet said, "please, have a seat."
"I see you have brought a friend along," Lady Daisy sounded rather displeased.
I turned around and quickly realized why.
"Oh, I hope you don't mind that I brought Honorable Mielle along."
"Not at all, please have a seat Honorable Mielle Lockens," despite Lady Violet's warm and welcoming voice her smile portrayed half the effort and her eyes were cold.
The two of them sat down in front of Lady Henrietta and I. Honorable Mielle Lockens stacked her plate high with food as she did during gatherings, a quirk which I previously found cute. The confidence to be who you are and not care of the opinions of others yet now it only made my stomach turn– how I longed to be like her.
"My, the walk must have been exhausting, Honorable Mielle Lockens," I sneered at her.
"Yes, it was horrible," she cast a glare in my direction.
"How are you adjusting to the academy, Lady Rozenkrantz?" A black haired lady asked.
"It is a bit difficult but Lord William has helped me out a ton." Her smile was serene.
"Indeed, he even offered to show Lady Flora around the capital city this weekend," Honorable Mielle Lockens smirked in my direction.
Really? For but a moment did I lose my composure, I knew Lord William was kind but I had warned him of the gossip his actions would cause.
"'Flora'? What a fitting nickname," I scoffed and glared at them.
"Huh?" Lady Rozenkrantz resembled a confused puppy as she looked over to Honorable Mielle Lockens for help. 
"It would seem like the flower is not capable of understanding, perhaps we should explain it to her?" Lady Daisy smirked.
"Yes, yes, it seems being locked up was a waste of time compared to our lovely Lady Henrietta," I giggled.
"Lady Elizabeth means that your beauty will wither and die, just like a flower Lady Flora." Lady Violet smiled warmly, a warm, radioactive smile.
"Are you jealous, Lady Vanidestine? Because your fiancé prefers Lady Flora rather than you?" Honorable Mielle Lockens scoffed.
"I? Jealous? Please, even when I start withering I have plenty of promising qualities." I eyed Lady Rozenkrantz up and down. "Still, Flora is a good nickname, I suppose I shall use that now."
Lady Flora hastily stood up, her face was contorted and her eyes glossy.
"My, leaving so soon?" Lady Violet's voice no longer hid her mockery.
"I think I will." Lady Flora's voice was wavering.
"Lady Flora, wait!" Honorable Mielle Lockens turned around and glared at me. "This won't be the end of this."
Then she quickly followed after Lady Flora.