Under the Roses

8 - Où Est Ma Sœur?

LORY

"She keeps trying to set me up with that Mr. Kingsley," Charlotte groaned, rolling over on her bed to stare up at the ceiling. "He's ages older than me—he's even older than Henry!" She shuddered, making a face.

"Well...Henry isn't that much older than you," Lory said, wincing as she patted Charlotte on the arm. Charlotte's older brother was five years older than her.

"He's practically senile," Charlotte despaired. Lory wasn't sure whether she was talking about Henry or Mr. Kingsley. "I've barely just debuted, and my mother thinks indulging all these creepy old men is a good idea."

"Mr. Kingsley isn't that old either," Lory said weakly, though she thought of anyone over twenty eyeing her or Charlotte and felt like throwing up.

"Are you on my side or not?" said Charlotte. She sighed. "My mother just can't wait to get rid of me! I'm so busy trying to keep up relations."

Lory smiled a little. "Well, aren't you popular."

She rolled her eyes, sitting up. "Well? Tell me about you, then."

Lory shook her head. "I'm not debuting for another two years! I'll stay out of all this business until then."

Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure about that? What if someone beautiful comes rushing into your life and sweeps you off your feet? What if they make you swoon?" She slapped the back of her hand against her forehead and demonstrated.

Now it was Lory's turn to roll her eyes. "Please, let me know when that happens."

Charlotte pointed to the book Lory had in her hand. "No one around here can keep up with your mind, anyway. What's that?"

She lifted the book a little. "Anatomical Observations from the Frontlines," she read. "My mother received a copy for her contributions to it."

"She was a nurse, though? Not a surgeon? She didn't deal with all those anatomical things, did she? Just cheering up the soldiers and the like."

Lory shrugged. "Even if that was all she did, she was still around the surgeons."

"Hm. Any good?"

"Probably not for you."

"Probably not," Charlotte agreed. "You know, I tried getting into one of those books, but my mother told me that it'd be useless anyway, since there's unlikely to be wars for a while, and why should I have to learn all this when I should be looking for a husband instead?" She mimed gagging.

Lory frowned. "Why are there unlikely to be wars?"

Charlotte looked surprised at that. "What do you mean? The Revolution was only ten years ago. Can you imagine another war after all that?" She shuddered. "I don't even want to think about it."

Lory didn't either. "At least we were all together then."

"Right," Charlotte said. She looked away. "All of us. Quinn and Livia, too."

Lory froze. Quinn and Livia Errington were hardly more than a memory in her mind, so hazy that sometimes she wondered if they weren't dreams. Quinn had been just younger than Austin, and Livia had been just younger than Lory. They'd fit together almost perfectly.

"Do you think they're still alive?" Lory said carefully.

Charlotte was silent for a moment, eyes unreadable. Then she shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's best not to wonder. It's been eight years already, and Korev's borders are closed. Even if they are alive, it's not like they or we can do anything."