Half of Ruby

Chapter 40 (Part 1)

Right before I returned, thought Ember. 

"How come I can't see the blood, then?" she demanded, walking over to the blade and turning it over. The silver seemed unnaturally bright, shedding an eerie light of its own. 

"It is magic," said Susannah. "My mother is well-versed in the ways of magic. But—"

She never finished her sentence, for the bell tolled six times, a sad, solemn song. The door banged open downstairs, and a chorus of shouts flooded the stairwell. 

"Ronan's back," said Ember. Panic pushed her towards the door, but with one frail arm, Susannah swept her back. 

"No," she said. "Go look at what I brought you. I shall investigate." 

Ember gritted her teeth, but the blond girl had already vanished, slipping out of the door like a ghost. 

Ember took a deep breath, then turned towards the package. 

It was lumpy, irregular, as though several mismatching boxes heaped within. A knot secured the brown cloth sack at the top, which her fingers fumbled over to undo. 

Indeed, there were several boxes—five. One tall but narrow, two broad and flat, and two small and square. Frowning, Ember opened the first box—a small, square box at the top. 

Her eyes widened as she pried open the lid. Two small, round glass jars stood inside—one filled to the top with reddish-orange powder, the other with what seemed to be soot. 

Makeup. 

Ember's eyes widened as she spun around to the door. Susannah was nowhere to be seen. 

Heart racing, she removed the lid from the second box. 

A circle of woven golden strands nested within a bed of white cotton. Delicate gold flowers and creamy white pearls dotted its circumference, petals curling into the air as though about to flutter away. With trembling fingers, Ember removed the headpiece from the box, holding it to the light as it glittered dimly in the waning sunlight. 

This cannot be, she thought. Susannah will not make me go to the ball. I cannot go. 

Still, she opened the third box, revealing a pair of cream colored slippers. Smooth leather met her touch, gold embroidery swirling in dizzying patterns around the stitches. Not jeweled, heeled only about half an inch, the shoes seemed more delicate than the glass jars of makeup. 

She opened the fourth box—another one small and square. 

A gasp tore from her throat as she stared at the necklace. A chain of minuscule gold links, tapering away into pear-shaped pearl, which glittered as though made of broken glass as she held it against the light. A bracelet, a band of carved gold, laid next to a pair of pearl drop earrings, unlike anything she'd seen in the present day. 

Earrings. 

A sense of disappointment swept through her as she fingered her hole-less earlobes. 

But why did it matter? She was not going to the ball anyways. Shaking her head, Ember let the necklace slide through her fingers and drop into the box. 

Had Yvonne sent all this? Why hadn't she arrived at the house? Ember swallowed, shutting the lid on the four boxes, though her eyes remained on them. 

The last box...undoubtedly her dress. Ember shook her head. Downstairs, yells filled the house as carriages rumbled to a stop by the mansion. 

"Ember? Ember?"