Half of Ruby

Chapter 40 (Part 1)

She started as Susannah opened the door. 

"Have you seen it all?" she asked, eyes glittering with delight. "They were my grandmother's—the gown, too. Do not worry about it being too old-fashioned—this style is timeless, even compared to the trends nowadays." 

"No," began Ember. "I...I just...I am not going to the ball." She turned her gaze away from the unopened boxes. "These were your grandmother's?" 

Susannah frowned. "Yes. And why are you not going? Ronan is expecting you." 

The harshness in her voice jerked through Ember, and she shook her head. "I cannot," she said. 

Susannah crossed the room in two strides. "Don't think I do not know," she said, voice low. "I know what Thomas and Betty are planning. I know that they and Elizabeth both want you dead. You may think me a ghost, but I am a ghost with ears. I am on your side. And if you do not attend the ball, Betty and Thomas will threaten Ronan to lure you." 

"How do you know?" demanded Ember, springing to her feet. 

"I listen. I watch. You need to go to the ball." 

"But how would my presence help? They are still going to kill me." 

"You will save Ronan." Susannah's eyes roved Ember's face, flooding with desperation. "Please—you love him. So do I. I do not want him to perish at my siblings' hands." 

"Why would they kill him?" asked Ember. "Why would they want to kill him, of all people?" 

"They believe him to be diseased. They never loved him for being the son of another woman. But now...with his love for you...this is going to far for them. Ronan, however, has always treated me with kindness." 

Ember swallowed. And if you do not attend the ball, Betty and Thomas will threaten Ronan to lure you. 

How could she not attend the ball? How would not attending save her life? 

The Ombretroix Coven be damned, she thought. All previous plans of escape banished, she nodded at Susannah, throat dry. 

"All right. I shall go." Turning away from Susannah's look of relief, she reached towards the box she had not yet opened—her gown. 

She lifted the lid off the broad, flat box. Silken fabric glittered from inside, a sea of gold rippling under the light, adorned with waves of marigold embroidery and islands of cream-colored pearls. Grasping the gown by the neckline, Ember lifted it out of the box. 

The hem fell to the floor as she stumbled backwards from the weight. Susannah opened the closet door, leafing through the gowns and jewels for a corset and undergarments. 

"Your...your grandmother's?" stammered Ember. 

"France," said Susannah. "A seventeenth century modern marvel, made with silk." 

"And your family—your family is not going to object to me wearing this?" 

Susannah shrugged. "They do not care for antiquities, even ones like this. No, they will not care. I doubt they will even recognize it." 

Ember nodded as Susannah produced a heap of necessary garments for the dress. "When does the ball begin?" 

"Seven o'clock," she replied. "It will last until midnight." 

You have until midnight to kiss him. 

Five hours. She had five hours. 

"That gives us one hour to prepare," said Susannah.