Chapter 42
Evie
“ Are you sure it’s supposed to be this, um…constricting?” Evie asked the woman currently pulling the corset strings at her back so tight her breaths were coming in short, uneven spurts.
“Yes, Ms. Sage.” The older woman was no-nonsense. Terrible, considering that’s all Evie seemed to be made of.
“Excellent.” She wheezed. “As long as you’re sure!” She wheezed again, and the door burst open to reveal Tatianna with large, draping wings, shimmering like rainbow flower petals on her back. She was truly a vision.
“Mrs. Ryeford? I believe Lord Fowler was looking for you,” Tati said.
“An issue with the dinner menu, I’m afraid.
” Mrs. Ryeford let out a few choice words that made the tops of Evie’s ears turn pink.
She’d never heard such unabashed, shameless words come out of such an unlikely character. It was delightful!
Evie began pulling at the strings on her back as soon as the woman exited the room, and when she finally could breathe again, she dropped to Tatianna’s feet and dramatically sucked in large gulps of air. “I owe you my life. I think she was trying for death by corset.”
Tatianna frowned, helping Evie to her feet. “It would be far more efficient to choke you with a scarf than suffocate you with a corset.”
“That was my concern, too,” Evie said, letting the corset drop to the floor and kicking it to the other side of the room. “I do enjoy a corset, but not laced to the degree of pain.” She straightened out the wrinkled chemise she wore and took a good look at her friend.
The theme of the party was “magical beings,” and Tatianna fit the bill in the most glittering, stunning way possible.
She was clad from head to toe in a shimmering drape of pinks and oranges, an iridescent gold glitter dusting the tops of her cheeks and her hair pinned back by two thick rose gold pins.
“You look so beautiful.” Evie gestured for her to spin. The healer acquiesced with a flourish, laughing a little as she did.
“Thank you.” Tatianna preened, then quickly frowned. “I shouldn’t be enjoying myself so much under the circumstances, but I do love a reason to dress up.”
“Nonsense!” Evie blew air out of her lips. “Who said a work excursion couldn’t be enjoyable?”
Tatianna raised a brow. “Becky, probably.”
With a giggle, Evie went to the wardrobe and opened it, taking her own shimmering dress in hand.
“Since we’re here and these people are our allies, we may as well enjoy the party.
We need to earn Lord Fowler’s wand, and unless one of us sprouts wings, we’re stuck here until he returns us to the ground.
” She shifted nervously. “How high up do you think we are, anyway?”
“High enough that jumping would kill you.”
“Oh, dear.” Evie draped the dress across the large bed and patted the space beside her, motioning for Tatianna to sit. The healer did so slowly, trepidation in each step. The smile fell slowly from Evie’s lips. “Something else is wrong, isn’t it?”
Tatianna picked at her nails. “I don’t tell secrets—I keep them. But this one is eating at me, and I can’t talk to Trystan or Clare about it, so I must tell you.”
Evie’s eyes widened. “All right. Tell me. I won’t repeat it to a soul, I swear it. Let me keep your confidence for once.” She took Tatianna’s hand in a gesture of comfort.
The words came swiftly. “I’m afraid.”
Evie’s voice softened. “Of what, Tati?”
“Of the truth.”
“What do you mean?”
Tatianna shuddered. “I want to be with Clare again. I want to believe that she has changed. That she’s no longer under her mother’s thumb. But I don’t know if I can trust her…”
“Oh, Tati…” Evie’s heart twisted at the pain and regret etched onto her friend’s face. “You’re being far too hard on yourself. If you and Clare are meant to find your way back to each other, you will. The trust will come in time.”
A gleam came over the healer’s dark eyes as she squeezed Evie’s hand. “Thank you for saying that. I needed to hear it.”
Evie leaned in to kiss her friend’s cheek, picked up the dress, and then addressed the servant who’d just entered to do her hair. “Excuse me. I don’t think the corset is necessary. Could you help me do this up, please?” The maid hurried over with a bright grin.
“It’s see-through in some spots, Ms. Sage. You’ll make quite the splash!” The maid seemed gleeful about the prospect of this, and Evie couldn’t help but feel a little like this week’s entertainment in the Fowler household.
Tatianna watched as the dress clung to Evie’s body with each button hooked until it was done up at the top and Evie turned around. She did her own spin, feeling pretty and feminine.
Tatianna shook her head, her lips curving up. “Oh, Evie.”
Evie ran her hands down her sides, the soft fabric cool against her fingers. “What do you think?”
Now Tatianna looked to be the one enjoying the entertainment. “I think you’re going to send him to his knees.”
Evie’s smile was sinister, and she felt it when she responded demurely, “That’s the plan, dear Tati. That’s the plan.”