Chapter 3
THREE
When I first arrived at the castle, I had no idea that I'd end up sitting in a classroom at twenty-one, listening to a vampire who barely looks older than I am trying to teach me about which fork to use for what meal.
Then again, I had no idea what was going to happen when I first arrived here, so that's not that surprising.
"Have we not covered forks enough?" Emilia mutters from beside me.
"Probably not, I almost used the wrong one for my salad at family dinner last night," I whisper back to my new friend.
She laughs, drawing Madame Veronica's attention.
"Is there something you wish to share with us all, Lady Emilia?"
My friend looks down at her knees. "No, Madame."
"I was asking Lady Emilia if I'd understood something you'd said correctly," I say.
"Hmmm." For a moment, I think Madame Veronica is going to lecture Emilia about paying attention, but she simply continues with her lecture for the rest of us.
I try to pay attention, knowing that the proper layout of a dinner party may seem boring, but it is going to be important if I end up at one of said dinner parties with no idea what to do.
Or worse, if Lord Fallmartin wants me to host one.
I wouldn't put it past him. Though hopefully, my cousins will help if that happens.
Bella might be a little short with everyone, but she doesn't seem to actively want to hurt me.
"All right, that's everything for today," Madame Veronica says.
"In a couple of days, we'll be meeting in the ballroom.
You should all be having dance lessons already, but there is a lot of ball etiquette that needs to be taught.
" She nods once and sweeps out of the room, leaving us to our own devices.
Emilia leans back in her seat, smoothing out the fabric of her black dress, the accents of yellow flashing briefly as they catch the light, almost looking gold.
I'm not sure if they're her House colours or not, and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to ask.
Etiquette lessons are helpful, but they still leave me with a lot of questions.
At least Linc is able to fill in some of the gaps, though I imagine he's not that helpful when it comes to the rules surrounding women's clothing.
"I'm guessing you're disappearing off to meet your mysterious lover again?" Emilia asks me, a look on her face that says she hopes I'm not going to disappear immediately.
"I don't have a lover," I counter.
"But you're going to meet him."
I sigh and roll my eyes. "He's just helping me make sense of vampire history," I respond, trying not to think of Linc too much, especially in the way she's implying. "Nothing more than that."
"You should be careful, you could end up stuck in a scandal without wanting to be."
"There's no scandal to be had," I remind her. "He's just a friend. And I've barely known him for two weeks."
"I know, but you've already made it obvious you're meeting someone, Beatrice. It's dangerous." Her eyes widen as she says it.
A horrible feeling settles within me. She's not wrong about that.
For all I know, House Hexamble could be a bitter enemy of House Rothorne and her knowing this about me is already going to be something that causes me a problem in the future.
I need to learn to lie better. Or at least be able to evade the truth.
I just got flustered when she first asked me where I was going after etiquette classes.
"I'm meeting him this afternoon, but I have a few hours before that. I was thinking of going to get Pip and taking a walk."
"Walking is dreadfully dull inside the castle," Emilia says with a wistful sigh. "I miss the fields."
"You would, wouldn't you?"
I look up to find a red-haired woman looking down at Emilia with a sneer.
My friend sinks back into her seat.
"I think it's perfectly reasonable to miss the things we grew up around," I say firmly. "Don't you miss things about your former life, Lady Harriet?"
She turns her gaze to me, but I match it. I can weather my brother's cutting comments, Harriet isn't going to be a problem. She's just a mean girl with a superiority complex. I've met my share of them before.
"Don't think you're special just because you belong to House Rothorne," Harriet says to me.
"I don't." I stand up. "If you'll excuse us, we have places to be."
Emilia scrambles to her feet next to me, smoothing down her dress again. I'm going to start thinking it's something she does when she's nervous if she keeps doing it.
"You should consider who your friends are," Harriet says.
"I do," I respond. "But I thank you for your concern." I finish gathering my things and head out of the room while Emilia scrambles behind me.
"You're going to make an enemy of her," she mumbles, looking behind me at the door.
"And what about her making an enemy of me?" I ask.
Emilia lets out a nervous laugh. "I can't give her advice."
I sigh. "I don't want to be her friend if she's going to talk to you that way."
"It's not about being friends, Beatrice, it's about not making someone an enemy."
"What House is she even from?" I ask.
Emilia frowns. "I'm not sure. One of the smaller ones, I think. But she could marry into a more powerful one. Or worse, into the same House as you."
"I suppose my brother is probably eligible," I muse. And there would be something poetic in him ending up married to someone he didn't choose after what he's putting me through, though I doubt he'll see it that way.
"You shouldn't even joke about that or you'll find her running House Rothorne." It doesn't seem likely that she's joking from her tone. There's a very real possibility that could end up happening.
"Lord Fallmartin is too clever for that," I say. And I'd like to think he'd want a union with a more powerful House than Harriet's to begin with. If he's going to sell us off to the highest bidders, then it's going to be in a way that benefits House Rothorne, like what he's doing with Eliza.
"No one is too clever for that," Emilia murmurs. "I know that much already. I thought your friend was helping you learn about how the court works?"
"I'm getting there," I promise her. And I am. I know far more about the way everything works than I did when I first arrived.
"Hmm."
We reach her family apartments and say our goodbyes.
A part of me hesitates and wonders if I should invite her on my walk with Pip, but considering she's already said that walking around the castle is boring, I don't want to impose.
Though it reminds me that I did want to take Pip outside the castle at some point soon.
We've been cooped up here too long and it would be good for me to go and get some fresh air.
My thoughts race as I make my way into the Rothorne apartments.
Everything looks much the same as they always do, which doesn't mean much.
As far as I can tell, Lord Fallmartin does his business in his office, while my cousins do whatever it is they do with their time.
I should be grateful for it as it means that I get left to my own devices, but in reality, it just makes me feel as if I'm being abandoned to deal with this new world completely alone. Aside from the etiquette lessons.
I'm lucky that I met Linc, even if it is making it seem as if I have a secret lover for me to be spending time with him.
At least he's being honest with me when I ask questions and giving me a sense that I actually stand a chance at understanding the world around me.
And he seems to like spending time with me, making it possible for me to head up to the library after I've walked Pip.
Though if I'm completely honest with myself, it's not just the chance to learn more about my new reality that makes me keep returning to the library.
It's also him.