The Traitor's Daughter

Chapter Twenty-Six

"This was just delivered. The messenger said it was from the palace."

Elizabeth eagerly looked down at the seal, praying that it wasn't from the king, and noticed that it bore Mary's crest. She nearly breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of it.

"Also, while you were sleeping, one of the duke's messengers dropped off a parcel for you. Some of the other servants are whispering about a masked ball this evening."

Elizabeth set Mary's letter aside and motioned for Jane to bring over the other parcel. Jane gave her a pointed look, but did as told and brought over a large, carved wooden box and set it on the bed in front of Elizabeth. 

She quickly opened the lid and gasped at the sight in front of her. Gold and silver masks, each with intricate designs and sparkling gems laid in the box on top of red velvet. A note on the top of the lid instructed Elizabeth to pick the mask that she liked best, and to wear it to the ball that was being held that evening. After, she would pass the box to the next person, and they'd pass it on to someone else until all of the masks were taken. Seeing as all masks appeared to be in the box, she had the first pick.

She examined each closely, until she decided on an expertly carved silver mask, accented with rubies which appeared to be real, as far as Elizabeth could tell. On the right side of the mask was a large red feather that matched the rubies. She picked it up as carefully as she possibly could, then held it out to Jane, who gasped when expected and nodded quickly.

"It's perfect," Jane said quickly. "The red will contrast nicely with your hair, and I can think of the perfect dress to match."

Elizabeth stared down at the mask in her hands and began picturing the dress she'd wear, along with the way she'd style her hair. She'd never been to a masquerade before, and was really looking forward to the evening. 

She moved the box of masks and the one she had chosen next to her on the bed, then reached for Mary's letter. She quickly broke the seal and opened the letter, then suddenly felt a sense of anxiety as she scanned Mary's tight, neat handwriting. The older woman only ever wrote if there was bad or important news. More often than not, it was bad news.

The letter described the queen's health, the king's relationship with Isabel Morton,  and a few other pointless information from Mary. According to her, the queen was growing stronger day by day, although she still spent most of her time in her room, or out on her balcony, where she could soak up sunlight. Everyone at the palace continued to mourn the loss of the royal couple's unborn child, although King Owen still managed to have some excitement to keep him entertained.

According to Mary's spy, the king would spend his day with the queen whenever possible, and in the evening, he'd have feasts with all of the courtiers and keep Isabel Morton close by, while his wife was upstairs in her room, eating with her ladies-in-waiting. Mary's spy reported seeing Isabel being escorted to the king's rooms late for the past couple of nights that Elizabeth was gone, and apparently, the queen hadn't found out yet. Mary warned Elizabeth to find a way to push herself into the king's attention once more, even though she was miles away from the man.

Mary ended the letter by wishing her well, and mentioned that she would be sure to let Elizabeth know if she heard anything about the king inviting her back to court.

Elizabeth crumpled the letter in her hand, then got out of bed and walked over to the fireplace where she tossed the letter into the fire and watched it turn into ash. She felt Jane's eyes on her but pretended that she didn't notice and went over to her trunk and began to sift through it to find something to wear for the day.

Unfortunately for her, nearly everything that she had packed was either being cleaned, or was too fancy for a day dress. She dug down to the bottom of her trunk and pulled out an ivory dress with black trim around the neckline and the skirt, then pulled out the matching ivory shift with a ruff that went up to her chin. She didn't wear the dress often because she found it uncomfortable, and the neckline was far too low for her liking, and the shift and ruff that she had added to the dress for extra coverage was itchy and frumpy.