Ruins and Redemption: An epic fantasy romance adventure (The Aerytol Saga Book 1) by Erin P.T. Canning

Author:Erin P.T. Canning [Canning, Erin P.T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: H.C. Brown LLC
Published: 2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter sixteen

A dance

Gathering her skirts, she walks as quickly as she can through town, across bridges, uphill, under the gate, upstairs, and down the corridor toward her room. She’s out of breath by the time she reaches her chambers where Lady Marzella paces back and forth like a mother hen defending her coop from a fox.

“I’m sorry,” Adaline exhales breathlessly.

Lady Marzella doesn’t wait for Adaline to explain. She thrusts her finger toward Adaline as if it were her husband’s sword. “After all His Majesty has done for you, the liberties he’s allowed you to take with your wandering, the excuses he’s made for you shirking your contributions to the castle, the luxuries he’s gifted you . . .”

She stops bombarding Adaline for a moment to gesture vehemently at the doors to Adaline’s chambers and then continues her verbal assault. “I don’t care where you come from, but you live here now. I will not see our king saddled with a spinster. At your age, you have no room to act like a forgetful child. And if your dress isn’t finished in time for tonight, I’m the one who will—”

“What a relief then that you have nothing to worry about,” Seira chimes, stepping out of Adaline’s chambers. “Come, Adaline. Thank you for your help, Lady Marzella, but I have everything sorted.”

Seira pulls Adaline into her room and shuts the door on Lady Marzella’s mouth hanging agape, thus securing Adaline’s eternal gratitude and willingness to do practically whatever Seira has planned for tonight’s celebration. Holding Adaline’s hand, Seira leads her toward the washtub filled with steaming hot water.

Behind the tub, Kayla waits with soap in her hand and a towel draped over one arm. “Good afternoon, my lady. I have lunch waiting for you, but would you prefer a bath now so your hair has time to dry?”

“That’s a brilliant idea.” Seira beings undoing the laces to Adaline’s bodice, followed by the corset. “Not my choosing.” Seira tsks to herself, which makes Adaline bob her head in agreement.

After a bath and quick meal, Adaline sits on the edge of her bed with a towel wrapped around her and stares at Mercia’s dress that Kayla had laid across the sofa. Thanks to the camise she’s worn underneath, the dress looks perfectly clean. Well, except for the dusty, somewhat-muddy hem that Adaline’s dragged all over the city the last three days.

Adaline topples backward onto the bed. “Can I just not go?”

“My lady!” Kayla gasps.

With a laugh, Seira flits over to Adaline and tugs her hand, pulling her up to standing, and leads her around the privacy screen from the top of which hangs Seira’s periwinkle dress. “Slip this on.”

Adaline looks at Seira confused. “What about the dress the seamstress fit me for?”

“I dismissed her. She didn’t understand.”

“Understand? But . . .”

“We don’t have time for buts. Kayla, help Adaline, won’t you?” Seira clasps her hands together and looks dreamily into the distance. “I’ll wait on the other side to see the final result.”

As Seira skips away, Kayla comes around the screen.

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