Waves of fiery hair overlapped. A handmaiden tugged and braided. And Skylar winced against the pain.
"I think we'll have it up tonight," Saira said from across the room, where she was inspecting a row of shoes. "It will make you look older and much wiser."
Skylar focused on her breathing. Her frustration settled enough for the biting remark on her tongue to disappear. She hated how she was being turned into someone she was not. As her mother gave orders, and the handmaidens worked around her, Skylar recalled the day the rules had arrived at the castle.
A giant chest bound with deep green ribbon, the wolf sigil of House Everus pressed into wax. Inside, scroll after scroll detailing her new duties, with clear instructions on how Skylar would have to behave as their future Ladyship.
"Her Ladyship must speak softly and choose her words wisely."
"She must stand and walk with grace."
"She must be educated in dance and etiquette."
"She must eat and drink less than expected."
Skylar had barely read through one scroll before giving up. She'd returned the scroll to the chest, closed it, and hadn't opened it since.
Saira was trying to prove that Skylar could shoulder all these rules, or at least look like she could. She claimed that with enough practice and preparation, even Skylar could become the Ladyship that Xoras demanded. But Skylar knew the truth. She knew that if she followed every single rule, there would be no time left for her. There would be no time left to live. Everything would be impossible!
There would be no time for even the small things, like a stroll through a garden, or eating fruits with juice running down her chin. No more exploring every nook of a castle to discover hidden doors and secret rooms. No leaving the castle for festivals, to ride horses or shop at the markets when she wanted to. She would be watched at every moment, to be judged and found wanting. Skylar could already feel her unwanted life breathing down her neck.
And then there was the marriage itself. What Skylar dreaded the most, what she believed was far worse than hundreds of rules and a lack of freedom was marrying a man she did not love.
Any meaning Skylar had placed in the possibility of love, of an honourable marriage, had been destroyed. The right to choose who she'd marry was taken from her, and soon, she'd be bound to a man who was no more than a stranger. Her heart had been traded like coin, and she was the only one who would have to pay and suffer the loss.
"Skylar."
Saira's hand caught Skylar's chin and turned her face forward. Dark eyes met dark eyes.
"You are not listening. You're awfully distracted this evening."
Something in her mother's eyes took Skylar by surprise. A flash of worry, perhaps, but it felt out of place on that perfect face. Surely, it was concern without warmth, a glimpse into her mother's belief that Skylar would ruin everything if left to her own devices.
"I see no point in any of this." The words were said more harshly than she'd intended, but Skylar carried on. "All those hours spent reading about our House, about the legends that share our blood and country. Not once did I think I would share the same fate as those poor women who have been completely abandoned by history. Do you truly expect me to share their fate?" Skylar pulled her chin free. "This is not the life I want or deserve. I will not marry, him, Mother. I just won't."
Silence filled the room. The handmaidens shifted nervously as they always did whenever mother and daughter confronted each other. Even Vera, who had answered her questions this morning with such calm, looked startled.
Saira took a slow, deep breath. Skylar waited for her to speak; a small part of her hoped for a miracle.
"You always allow yourself to get carried away and distracted by what you want." Saira's voice was controlled but there was a sharpness to it. "You might not believe me, but I do understand how you feel, Skylar."
Any slither of hope within her vanished, and Skylar braced herself for the stinging disappointment she would feel.
"Before I married your father, I could never have imagined leaving Zayran. I lived in the sky, where it was always cold, the winds always strong, and the people, stronger." Her mother's eyes drifted, seeing something Skylar couldn't. "Those mountains were my home. I was Saira of House Hariya. But I had a duty, to my family, my people and to myself."
Skylar found herself unable to look away. Her mother's memories stripped back the layers of time and duty that she had sewn into herself over the years, revealing a woman who still had her whole life ahead of her.
"Now, I am Ladyship of Astros. I have a good life. My own responsibilities. I have a daughter who thinks I stand against her." With each word, her mother returned to how Skylar knew her best.
"Astros has been standing on its own for far too long. We have been shunned. Invitations to balls and tourneys, royal contracts that Astros always received, given to others. And trade with Opulus has seen nothing but loss, and it is because they see, everyone sees, that the King has forgotten your father."
The air within the chambers felt heavy. It was difficult to remain so defiant when her mother spoke of Astros's reality. Skylar knew all too well how much her father had done for their homeland. And the dire state it was in now.
They had often spoken of its future, and how Skylar would follow in his footsteps. It was why his decision to accept her betrothal to Caspian Everus burned her that much more, and why she refused to speak to him until he changed his mind.
"Our resources are dwindling. Soon, we will not have the coin to pay our farmers, our fishermen, even our guards. We will open ourselves up to danger, from the Southern borders, and from the King himself. This is the only way. Your father has not made this decision lightly, and it hurts me to see that you are still not speaking to him. Your stubbornness is unacceptable, Skylar. It will not do."
Saira's voice was controlled again, as though she was showing Skylar how to behave, how to control her emotions, and how to keep her desires within. She was always poised and elegant, and Skylar, through the guilt and the hurt, wondered if her mother had ever been allowed to be anything else.
"Skylar..."
There was a momentary pause. Whatever her mother wanted to say next, needed to be thought over, made appropriate for society, which was something a good Lady always did.
"You will always be a Velcourt. You will always be our...my..." her mother stopped. She didn't continue, finishing her sentence with only a shake of her head. She waved to the handmaidens to keep working; it made Skylar feel cold.
"We are wasting time talking! You should be getting ready for the ball this evening. Lord Caspian will be in attendance and he has requested to call on you before—
"What?!"
"Skylar, you really must stop interrupting me. I am your mother and—
"Mother!"
Skylar held Saira by her elbows and her panicked voice rang through her chambers. Her voice came out high and thin.
"Just now, you said that... surely not?!"
Saira freed herself, and then took Skylar by the arms, guiding her to her dressing table. Skylar went without any resistance. She had no strength to move away. She sat still when her mother picked up the brush and worked through her hair, making sure to avoid the braids on either side.
"Lord Caspian will be in attendance at tonight's ball," Saira said gently. "It has been some time since you've seen one another. The last time you met was at the tourney, in Opulus, but you were both children then. Lord Caspian has very kindly asked to call on you before the festivities begin."
Saira bundled Skylar's hair and brought it up above the nape of her neck. They both observed her reflection. Saira was trying to make her look older. Wiser.
"His letter spoke of how pleased he is to have the chance to meet you after all these years..."