The Ivory Knight

Chapter 23 part ii

The queen raised an eyebrow. The movement was simple-- lazy, even-- but it screamed of the power she held over everyone in the room. Adeleina shivered and gave Rowan a wary look.

"Hmm," Queen Dale said softly. She eyed Rowan coldly. "Well."

"Your Highness," Adeleina broke in, eager to take the attention from Rowan lest the queen recognize him and clap him in shackles. She fell into a flawless curtsey, and, for once, was glad her lady tutor had endlessly insisted that she perfect the move until she could almost do it in her sleep.

"Oh!" The queen's eyes snapped to her, as if noticing Adeleina for the first time. Adeleina was painfully aware of how tattered and dirty she looked. She fought hard to not grimace and demand that a hot bath to be drawn. This was a powerful queen she was speaking to; she must remember that.

The queen shifted uneasily, as if uncertain what to do. "My deepest regrets," she said, her harsh hawk's tone tainted with pity and unease. It made Adeleina grind her teeth.

However, she did nothing of the sort. Adeleina smiled softly, but not too widely, as court conduct demanded. She quickled riffled through what etiquette rules she still remembered. "Thank you, Your Highness. It is with humble regret and sorrow that I come seeking your aid."

Queen Dale nodded thoughtfully. "It is with pleasure that I grant this aid." Rowan made a choked coughing sound, and Adeleina was sure that he was snickering. She steeled herself and refused to reach out and cuff him around the ear.

"You will be shown to your rooms," Queen Dale said. A maid stepped forward and fell into another curtsey. Adeleina marvelled at the formality of it all. Until now, she hadn't considered quite how easygoing Castle Corandell had been compared to the vast, looming place that was Castle Dale.

Adeleina nodded in thanks and followed the maid silently out of the hall. Her head was throbbing now, and she fervently hoped that she'd be able to make it to her rooms before fainting, or doing something else stupid. She was slightly uncomfortable at leaving Rowan and Damien behind, but in truth, she had been glad to escape the scrutinizing eye of the queen.

When Adeleina was finally shown through a set of lavishly carved doors, she found herself in a room she'd never seen the likes of before. From what she could see, almost everything was draped in silks and velvet. Dale's distinctive national shade of crimson reigned in the room. The bed alone was nearly twice as wide as Adeleina's entire figure could take up lying down and almost three times as long, but even so, it took up a mere fraction of the room. Not for the first time, Adeleina marvelled at the sheer luxury of the castle. This room made her quarters in Castle Corandell look like a peasant's home. Adeleina fidgeted uncomfortably on the plush carpet, uncomfortably aware that she, covered in all manners of dirt and grime, must have looked terribly out of place in the rooms. It didn't help, either, that she probably stunk to high heavens. No wonder the maid kept a safe distance away.

"A bath has been drawn in the bathing room," the maid said graciously. She curstied again and left, a little hurriedly, it seemed.

Adeleina turned the corner of the room and found that indeed, a bath had already been drawn. Splendid. She peeled away her stained, dusty travelling clothes and held them by the fingertips, wondering where she should put them. She didn't want to stain the tiled floor with her dirt, so she threw them in the wastebasket and vowed to have them burned as soon as possible.

The moment she sank into the steaming hot water, Adeleina realized just how much she had missed this sort of life. She was born into hot baths and hurrying servants. The last few weeks on the road had been terribly difficult, and she was finally done with them. They were in Dale. Everything would be alright, now.

♕♘♕

When she finally stepped out of the bath, the water had gone a chill sort of lukewarm. It now also resembled ditchwater, which, Adeleina supposed, it sort of was.

It was only when Adeleina had a thick, heavy towel draped across her shoulders that she realized she now had no clothes.

She hurried over to the wardrobe, praying that there would be some sort of gown in there. But this was impractical and a vain hope, for what sort of queen left gowns hanging around in empty rooms? The wardrobe was empty, and Adeleina was left shivering, clad in nothing but a towel.

She sat on her bed, still shivering, and wondered how frightened a passing maid would be if she poked her head through the door and asked for some clothes. Adeleina briefly entertained the thought of pulling on her travelling clothes again, but after only a moment's thought, she decided that she'd rather run around in nothing but a towel than have her wonderfully clean skin and hair come in contact with those rags again.

A knock clipped on her door.

Adeleina jumped up, sending a relieved mutter of thanks to whatever gods might have been listening and hoping that whoever was at the door was a maid bringing a gown and not the queen.

Despite this, it was neither. An all-too-familiar scowl met her when she wrenched open the door.

"Ew!" Rowan said, jumping back when he saw a terrified Adeleina standing at the door. "Lord and lady, don't you have any decency?"

Adeleina slammed the door.

"What the seven hells are you doing here?" she shouted through the doors, her face feeling as hot as the sun.

"Oh," said Rowan. There was a pause. "Pretty boy sent clothes."

Adeleina glared suspiciously as loud as she could.

"Really?" she said. "Why didn't he send a maid?"

Rowan scoffed. Adeleina could hear the sneer in his voice even through the thick oak doors. "You're a fool if you don't know the answer to that question. I, on the other hand, am too clever to say something like that out loud here, of all places. Shut your trap and take the damn dress." He jiggled her doorknob impatiently.

Adeleina crossed her arms and scowled. What on earth did he mean, "something like that"? Was there something going on in the castle that Adeleina wasn't aware of?

"Are you still alive in there?" Rowan said peevishly outside. Adeleina opened the door a marginal crack and stuck one arm outside.

"Give me it," she said. A dress, frighteningly heavy, landed on her waiting palms. She slammed the door shut again.

"Oh. I forgot to mention. You have an audience with the queen," Rowan suddenly said from outside. Adeleina paused in her struggled to pull the gown over her head. "I'd hurry up, if I were you."

With that, his footsteps departed down the hall, leaving Adeleina suffocating in the folds of her dress and nearly panicking. What did the queen want with her?