13 year old Allyson Mantzari wiped her sweaty brow out of exhaustion, looking for a way to escape the stuffy dressing room. The dressmakers piled dress after dress on the large velvet diwan next to her, and shoemakers took out pairs and pairs of shoes from their cases.
Meanwhile, her mother, Lady Veronique Mantzari perched gracefully on a velvet sofa by the full length mirror, critically examining her daughter, to choose the perfect dress for the evening's party at the mansion.
Allyson almost suffocated under the mountains of silk, satin, velvet and gossamer. Oceans of blood red, midnight navy blue, emerald green, golden yellow and royal purple surrounded her. All the gowns were heavy, imposing and elaborate. Too difficult to handle for a thirteen year old girl. Her small body was tired of changing into and out of the thousands of garments. However, her mother unsympathetically ordered the dressmakers to bring out more and more gowns, as not a single one pleased her.
The poor girl's feet hurt from having to try on more than a hundred pairs of shoes. All of them heavy and high heels, which did not exactly enable her to walk comfortably.
"Not this one. Too garish. Get the next one, please!" Ordered Lady Veronique, an expression of dissatisfaction etched deep onto her otherwise coldly beautiful face.
The dressmakers groaned, tiredly. But they knew better than to show it. Everyone was aware of Lady Veronique's temper. They wisely did as they were ordered to.
Allyson gratefully slipped out of the multicolored, eye hurting gown that was almost cutting off her blood supply.
But at the prospect of having to try on more dresses made her want to storm out of the room and run off to her brothers. She wondered what they were doing at the moment. Maybe hunting with their father in the forest. Or racing their stallions on the lush green fields behind the mansion. Or-
"Allyson Mantzari! Where is your mind? Did you forget your manners?" Her mother's annoyed voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"No mother." She said meekly. She had never been able to stand up to her, "I was just wondering whether you could let me go spend some time with Cass and Ren? I am a bit worn out." Though she hated being told off by her mother, she risked asking her this out of desperation.
Her mother stared at her horrified, "You want to spend time with those two good for nothing ruffians?" She exclaimed, as though Allyson had asked to spend time with the sweeper's son, instead of her own brothers.
"Here I am trying my hardest to bring you up like a proper lady, and you! You ungrateful girl, you are only interested in embarrassing me in front of the society! Oh dear, I need water, get me some water, quickly!" Lady Veronique leaned back on the cushions, fanning herself as though she had just run three hundred miles.
Allyson hung her head low, as usual. She always heard out her mother without a word of protest, because she knew it would be futile.
A maidservant hurried into the room, carrying a crystal jug and a goblet on a silver tray, embossed with the Mantzari family crest.
The dressmakers, shoemakers and other servants looked at the unfortunate girl sympathetically. They had witnessed Lady Veronique berate her daughter at the slightest of mistakes, and they pitied her greatly.
Lady Veronique took a sophisticated sip of the water, wiped her carefully painted lips with a lace handkerchief and looked at her daughter with icy eyes.
"As for you being worn out, how many times do I need to remind you to get used to it? You are a woman. Women need to suffer and bear pain throughout their lives. And a little bit of exhaustion won't hurt you, child."
Allyson tried to protest out of part bravery and part foolishness, "But mother, my feet hurt. And I can't breathe! I-"
Her mother cut her off with a stern glare, "Did you just try to argue with me, young lady?" The servants sensed the storm and stepped back apprehensively.
Allyson flinched at the sound of the crystal glass smashing onto the polished marble floor.
"You dare to contradict me, you insolent girl? You dare talk back to me? You unmanageable, uncontrollable girl! Is this what I have taught you all fifteen years of your ignorant little life? All my hard work! All my years of training you! All gone to waste! All of it! No one dares talk back to me, no one! Not even my own daughter!"
Lady Veronique got up from her sofa in fury, all etiquette and sophistication forgotten.
Allyson edged backwards in fear. She had seen her mother's hysterical episodes before and each time, she backed away, not wanting to anger her even more.
"I try my best to bring you up as a perfect upper class lady, from an honourable family. But you are absolutely determined to rub my face in the mud and sully my and the family's good name in society! You should be ashamed of yourself, girl! Ashamed! Talking back to your elders, being insolent to your mother, running off to spend time with those worthless excuses for your brothers! What else have you planned to do? What else?!"
She raised her hand to slap Allyson. The girl twitched and shut her eyes tight, waiting for the hard sting of her mother's palm on her cheek.
But it never came. Allyson opened one eye a tiny fraction, to see what caused this miracle.
Miracle indeed....
Lord Markus Mantzari held his hysterical wife's wrist tight in mid air, with a hard expression on his face.
Lady Veronique looked at her husband, shocked. Words seemed to have failed her. Of course, her husband had never stopped her from doing something ever in her entire married life.
His gaze did not waver once as he brought down her raised arm and moved in front of her from her side, shielding Allyson.
"You will not hurt my daughter, Veronique. Control yourself." His voice was firm and commanding.
Lady Veronique stared at him like he had slapped her, "Markus! Did you just-"
"Stop you from raising your hand on your own daughter? Yes I did. And I do not think I have done anything wrong." He interrupted her.
Allyson gazed at her father in awe. No one had ever stood up to her mother. No one.
Especially not her father. But today? Today was something different. Things had changed. A lot.
The woman wrenched her hand out of her husband's grip, disbelief visible on every inch of her chalk white face, "She is my daughter! You do not interfere in how I decide to bring her up. We agreed on this, Markus!"
Lord Markus did not back down in the least, "As far as I remember, we agreed that you will bring her up in a civilized manner. Like a lady. But however less traversed in the matters concerning ladies, I am quite certain that I have never seen a 'civilized' lady raising her hand on her own daughter."
Allyson refrained from gasping with great difficulty. Inside, she was yelling with joy. She struggled to keep a poker face as her mother regained her composure and clasped her pale hands in front of herself, correcting her posture.
When she spoke again, it was in her usual cold and unfeeling voice, "I shall bring her up in whatever way that I see fit. You need not worry about that. You should go attend to your sons."
Lord Markus sighed, "They are your sons as much as mine, Veronique. Just like Allyson is my daughter as much as yours."
His wife sneered softly, "Really, Markus. You honestly think I care about them? I had always wanted a daughter, but those two ruffians came first! Allyson is my youngest and also, my only child I care about."
"You do not care about her, Veronique. You only wanted a daughter to show off in the society parties and display in public as your model young lady. You do not have a maternal bone in your body, I am sorry to say."
This time, both Lady Veronique and Allyson gasped out aloud. Lady Veronique in horrified shock and Allyson in astounded surprise.
Lord Markus ignored the gasps as he turned around and placed a protective hand on his daughter's back, "Come, my dear. You need not try on any more garments. You need some rest with your brothers. You do not have to attend tonight's party if you do not want to." He smiled comfortingly at his daughter.
Allyson was filled with immense love for her father at that moment. Her father had done something no one had ever done for her before. He had stood up to her mother.
However, her mother was having none of it, "That is utter absurdity! Markus, she must attend! All the wives of the Council members shall be present; they must see her! She must-"
"Get some rest because her fragile, thirteen year old body cannot handle all this strain. That is exactly what she shall do. Go, Allyson. Your brothers are in Zorraine's chambers. Go, child." Her father commanded firmly.
Allyson gratefully left the dressing room, glad to be not attending another fake people's party.
She could still hear her parents talking in raised and heated tones, but that hardly worried her. She knew her father would handle it well enough. Besides, she was excited to be finally meeting her brothers and telling them about their parents.
She almost danced her way to Zorraine's chambers and burst in without knocking.
"Ren! Cass! You won't believe wha-"
She stopped short when she saw that her brothers were busy.
Both Cassian and Zorraine were reclining on Zorraine's velvet sofa, with goblets of mulled mead in their hands. She instantly felt jealous. She was not allowed to taste the same drinks her brothers could. Because she was too young to be drinking, her brothers had teasingly explained to her.
However, the strangest thing in the room was the girl of around Cassian's age standing in front of the brothers.
The girl seemed to have stopped short while dancing. Strange. Her father did not usually allow dancing girls to be brought home. She was quite pretty, with dark brown hair that reminded Allyson of the chocolate gateau she had had for dessert the previous night. Her hair spilled onto her back in loose curls like a lake of warm chocolate and framed her face in light curly strands.
Her protruding, baby blue eyes resembled the ice cubes Allyson's mother put in her fancy drinks in the summer, when it got too hot. Her eyelids were halfway closed, giving her a hooded eyed look. Her complexion was ghostly pale with a few freckles on her upper arms and across her nose. Her pouty lips were plump and painted a pale pink. Her cheekbones were prominent and her nose was quite sharp.
Her frame was lean, but with luscious curves in the right places.
In fact, the girl looked like a very pretty, but superficial person. The most alluring thing about her was her dress.
Allyson stared at it admiringly. It was a beautiful garment of rose gold silk. Sleeveless and cinched at the waist, and then flowing freely till the knees. It looked a bit fitted on the girl's curvy figure but all in all, she looked very beautiful in it.
Allyson desired it immediately. None of the elaborate gowns in the dressing room came close to the dress the dancing girl was wearing. It was exquisite.
Zorraine's cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts, "Ally! Didn't expect you drop in right now! Gave us quite a surprise, you did." Part of that cheeriness, Allyson knew, was owing to the mead in his hand.
She decided to respond dryly, "Neither did I, but something very extraordinary happened right now in the dressing room, that caused me to drop in, Ren. I apologize for interrupting, I did not expect you to have company at this hour. I'll leave you now."
Cassian leapt up and flung an arm over her shoulder as he guided her towards the sofas, "Don't be silly, Ally! You did not interrupt anything at all. We were just admiring this charming young lady's dancing, that's all. Father just left a while ago after we returned from our hunting trip in the forest, you see. And we were just looking for something to amuse ourselves as you were not there to spend time with."
He led her to the dancing girl who had her hands clasped in front of herself and her head bowed respectfully, "Ally, I would like to introduce you to Miss Jacquelyne Cabrera, a fine dancer from Georgia. She is here only for a few weeks with her troupe. They are putting up a show day after tomorrow, did you know? We must go spectate it. And ah, Jacquelyne, this is our younger sister, Miss Allyson Mantzari"
Jacquelyne curtsied politely, "Pleasure to meet you, my lady. I have heard nothing but good things about you." Her voice was low and smooth, like melting butter.
Allyson nodded, a bit disconcerted, "Likewise. I thought you were dancing to my brothers' amusement. When did you hear 'good things' about me?"
The young dancer blushed, and looked down at the fur carpet.
Zorraine laughed it off, "Oh Ally, Ally, getting suspicious, are you? There's absolutely nothing unnatural going on in here, I assure you. She was just dancing in front of us because we asked her to. We certainly did not waste our precious time, chatting with her about our families."
Jacquelyne kept her head bowed and spoke in a rather meek and quiet manner, "If I may say so, my lady, I heard about you from the other servants of the house. They spoke most highly of you."
Very quickly, she stole a discreet glance at Cassian and Zorraine, who were busy finishing their mead, "... and of your brothers."
Even though her brothers were too drunk to notice, the glance Jacquelyne stole did not escape Allyson's eye. She had some trouble warming up to this suspicion inducing dancer.
She cleared her throat loudly, "Well, then, Jacquelyne. I think you should leave now. I want some time alone with my big brothers."
The dancer's face turned a bit disappointed at being asked to leave. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Allyson with the faintest shadow of an icy glare. But she seemed reluctant to obey her. Or rather, leave the company of the handsome Mantzari brothers.
Allyson glared at her openly, conveying the message, "Get out of my brothers' lives now and never be seen here again" clearly to her.
Jacquelyne's delicate features were all narrowed in a challenging stance, as though not intending to let Allyson cow her in the least. A deadly silence filled the chambers.
"Did you not hear her, Jacquelyne? You've done what we paid you for, so now get lost!" Snapped Cassian rudely, banging his goblet down on a table, a large frown on his face.
Zorraine seemed equally annoyed, "If you want more money, then go to our father, Lord Markus. Stop bothering us, will you? Now be a good girl, and get out!" He waved a careless hand at her, as though shooing her away like a pesky fly.
Jacquelyne flinched at their change of tone. She looked hurt ar their sharpness and harsh words.
But, Allyson noticed again, no tears spilled from her eyes like the other maids when the brothers snapped at them rudely. Instead, the dancer bowed her head in cold fury, her shoulders shaking and walked out gracefully.
When she was gone, Allyson asked a bit ruefully, "Was it really necessary to insult her like that?" She sat down on the sofa, dangling her legs.
Zorraine smirked, putting down his glass and pulling his little sister close to him, "Insult her? Ally, don't tell me you felt sorry for her. The way you were glaring at her!"
Allyson giggled as her elder brother tickled her sides.
"Oh yes. Little Ally looked like she was going to claw poor Jacquelyne's eyes out any minute!" Supplied Cassian mischievously as he slumped down on a silk cushioned armchair opposite his siblings.
Allyson wriggled out of Zorraine's tickling grasp and folded her arms across her chest, "You two are only interested in useless things! You won't believe what happened right now in the dressing room!"
Cassian gasped in fake horror, "My God, Ally! Did our dear mother finally manage to suffocate you in her mountains of clothes and kill you? Are we talking to your ghost now?"
Allyson threw a cushion at him as her brothers rolled over laughing, "No, you dumb prat! Will you let me speak?"
She told them about their father turning up to rescue her from their mother and everything else.
When she finished, neither of her brothers was laughing.
"She tried to hurt you?" Asked Zorraine quietly, his body suddenly very still and stiff.
Cassian's jaw hardened and his anger was evident on his face, "She actually dared to raise her hand on you?"
Allyson nodded, saddened at the memory.
"I'm glad father stopped her and spoke back to her. At least someone did." Said Zorraine, his body relaxing, "But I still cannot believe that father, father of all people did that."
Cassian clenched his fists, "About time too! What if mother actually hurt Ally? I swear, I would have done something drastic if she had!"
"Calm down, Cass. She didn't hurt me. Father made sure of that. And I'm not complaining. I don't have to attend tonight's party!" Said Allyson, placatingly.
Zorraine grinned, "I'm quite sure you're ecstatic about that, huh?"
"Of course! It's the first time I'm not having to attend a fake people party in years! You have no idea how much my cheek muscles hurt from smiling all the time. And those corsets and shoes! I simply can't breathe in them."
"Don't forget the face powders and hairdos." Winked Cassian, enjoying his sister's enthusiasm.
Allyson stuck out her tongue at him as Zorraine sniggered, "You wouldn't understand, Cass! You try attending a hundred different society parties a week, wearing painful gowns and smiling politely at a thousand mindless ladies. Without snapping or getting angry at mother!"
Cassian immediately bent his head in mock contrition, "Oh dear, I certainly cannot do that, Ally. I apologize for being such an unfeeling elder brother."
Allyson huffed and looked away, "Prat" she muttered as her brothers sniggered, looking pleased with themselves.
On the other side of the mansion, in the dressing room, the relationship between Lady Veronique and Lord Markus strained even more as the two of them engaged in yet another verbal battle.....
___________________________
Jacquelyne Cabrera, 18 years old
Author's note
3200 words! Oh my god! Longest chapter I have written in my life. Maybe not as long as more experienced writers, but it's pretty long for an amateur like me! Please do vote, comment and share! Thanks.
I'll put in Jacquelyne's pic soon!
Bye bye!👋👋👋😀😁