The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series)

Chapter 10

"I don't think so." I try to scoot backward, but my back is pressed against the tub. "I've experienced some pain in my time, but I will not willingly submit to this."

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Her usually chipper voice is impatient. "Look, the most prissy noble girl goes through this all the time. Are you saying that you can't handle something that those little princesses can?"

She's got me there.

"Has Will been coaching you on how to get me to go along with things?" I ask.

She giggles as she slaps the fabric down on my shin, a little too gleefully. "He may have given me a few tips. Now, stay still."

The material is ripped away suddenly and the most obscene curse falls from my mouth.

"There we are. Not so bad, is it?"

The next twenty minutes pass as the most painful of my life. The fact that rich girls go through this process willingly serves only to cement my feelings that the whole lot of them are completely mad.

"All done!" Jules' cheerful voice is suddenly the most welcome thing I have ever heard. "All that's left is to make a rug out of what we pulled." She laughs at my horrified expression, offering a hand to pull me to my feet. "I'm kidding. Did you really think I would do that?"

"You just pulled half the hair out of my body; I don't know what you're capable of." I hobble after her toward the main room.

Jules gestures for me to sit on the window ledge and turns to rummage through her bag. I run my hand up and down my leg, marvelling at the oddly pleasant sensation.

Jules approaches with a pair of fine-tipped scissors. She gathers a few strands of my hair at a time and begins snipping away, locks of red curls falling between her feet.

"Your hair really is lovely," she says sociably as I stare out the window at the people crossing below. "Does your mother have hair like this?"

"Yes, she did," I say evenly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. She's gone?"

"Yes."

"That's terrible." She tuts. "Will and I lost our mother as well."

"He told me about that. I'm sorry."

The sound of the scissors ceases abruptly. "He told you?" Surprise laces her voice.

"Yes. Why? Is that strange?"

The snipping resumes. "A little. Will doesn't usually like to talk about our family. He can be very closed off."

"No kidding."

"How did your mother die?" Her question startles me. My shoulders must have stiffened because she stops cutting again and apologizes. "Sorry, that was rude of me. Will always says that I'm too blunt."

"It's fine," I say. "She was killed."

"How awful! I can't even imagine. Were you very young when it happened?"

"I was fourteen." I abruptly change the subject. "How did your mother die?"

"She got sick. It was about... two years ago now? I was only fifteen when it happened. Will was twenty-two." She puts the scissors down and combs through my hair with her fingers, separating it into sections. "The thing of it is, I think she was glad to go. She was a gentle soul saddled with such hardships... her heart just couldn't hold out." She sighs.

"I'm so sorry," I say carefully, completely perplexed about how a courtier's life could be considered difficult. I am brimming with questions about Will's past but am mindful of overstepping my boundaries. Luckily, Jules is happy to chatter away. I suppose there are no secrets between two people who have just shared a leg waxing.