Ashes to Glass by Carmen Black

Author:Carmen Black [Black, Carmen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarlet Lantern Publishing
Published: 2023-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Night falls, which means Stepmother will soon leave with my stepbrothers to the ball. This time, I don’t let time slip past. Mary helps me carry a bucket of clean water up to my room. With the cleanest rag I can find, I scrub my body until there’s not a speck of dirt marring it, then change into Mary’s pretty pink dress. The fabric is soft against my skin, and though it is a little big around the waist, it sits beautifully on my frame.

It’s a bit out of fashion, given that most of the ladies at the ball were wearing gowns with off-the-shoulder necklines and puff sleeves. This dress is high-necked, buttoning all the way up. The sleeves cling to my arms and billow at the wrist. They drape down to the floor when my hands are in front of me. The pink is soft, bringing out the flush in my skin. The skirt clings to my hips, making me feel nearly naked. My gown from the previous night had been so large the dress left everything to the imagination.

“You look beautiful,” Mary breathes, clapping her hands together. “It looks even better than I thought it would.”

“Really?” I ask while looking down at myself, feeling embarrassed.

Mary bobs her head. “Really, really.” She tugs on my elbow, pulling me toward the door. “Now, let’s get you to the foyer before they leave. Lady Ashbury must let you go to the ball now that you have a proper dress.”

Stepmother and my stepbrothers are already at the door when Mary and I enter the foyer, their gazes landing on me. Edmund smirks, covering it with a hand clasped over his mouth while Henrik openly gapes. Stepmother raises an eyebrow, brushing past her sons as she walks toward me.

“What is this?” Stepmother asks while eyeing me up and down. “Found a dress, have you?”

“Mary loaned it to me,” I say, feeling unusually shy under Henrik’s gaze, given what happened in the kitchen earlier. I still can’t stop recalling how he leaned into me, how his breath felt against my ear.

Stepmother scoffs. “And you thought you could attend the ball?”

Mary and I nod in unison.

Stepmother covers her smile with a hand and circles me like a hawk about to strike. “In this?” She giggles and shakes her head. “Oh, you pitiful little thing.” She picks at a string poking out of the top of my shoulder and clucks her tongue. “No, this will not do at all.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, watching Stepmother stride toward the door, her back to me.

“I mean, I am saving you and myself from a lifetime of humility,” Stepmother says over her shoulder. “There is no way I am allowing you to attend the ball in that . . . thing.”

“But—”

“Enough, Rosella!” Stepmother shouts, stomping her foot for emphasis. “We are already a laughingstock as it is, and after last night’s mystery princess, I will not have you ruining our name even more. Besides,” she adds haughtily, “there is a list of chores that must be finished tonight.

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