Fairest (18 page)

There were no birds. I usually saw one or two flying and several others perched on the sconces or the door frames.

The bird droppings! She'd taken revenge.

I dressed hurriedly. The Great Hall was full of people standing still, staring up. As I threaded through the crowd, I heard a sob, a few lines of song. A man spat at me as I hurried by. I wasn't thinking about my wardrobe, but the tailor called my name.

I turned.

He thrust an enormous bundle at me, wrapped in canvas. “It is done.” His false smile was gone. “I know you are not to blame.”

I said, “Were the birds killed?”

“Not killed. Released outside.” He raised an eyebrow. “They'll be back.”

I felt better.

“When they come back,” he said, “we'll make sure they stay.”

I felt worse. The rebellion.

He added, “We did our best with the wardrobe. The gowns will help you look less …” He trailed off.

Less hideous.

Ivi opened her eyes sleepily when I came in. But she sat up when she saw the bundle in my arms.

“Your wardrobe!” She slid over. “Let me see.”

I set the bundle down next to her. “Your Majesty, the birds—”

“I couldn't abide them. Filthy things.”

“Your subjects … the king—”

“Oh, don't reproach me, Aza. Even if the king was well, dirt would be my domain. Fetch my scissors.”

She cut the string and pulled apart the canvas covering.

“Oh,” I breathed.

She lifted up the top gown, a pale yellow crepe with a tiny ruffle at the waist and cuffs. “Show me.”

I took it from her and went behind her screen. I had just unbuttoned the top button of my bodice when she said querulously, “My breakfast?”

I buttoned the bodice again. “I forgot!”

“Fetch it now. How could you have been so heedless?”

She could have let me put on one of the new gowns. I laid the crepe carefully over a chair back.

The hallways were bleak without birdsong. The corridor troubadours were silent too. My footfalls were somber drumbeats.

When I returned with her breakfast, my ensembles were spread out on her bed. A gold chain lay across the bodice of one. Silver beads and pearls lay across another. There were also an opal pendant hung on a velvet ribbon, a garnet brooch, a lace collar, and three gold rings.

“Oh!” I stood at the head of the bed, blinking at the jewelry.

Ivi was at the foot of the bed, looking happier than I'd seen her since her wedding. “They're yours. I want you to have them.”

She took the breakfast tray from me and set it down on the desk. “Aza,” she said solemnly, “thank you for being the best lady-in-waiting a queen could ever hope for.”

“Thank you.” Was she about to demand something dreadful of me?

She put both hands on my shoulders. “Aza?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do you care about me?”

I cared what she did to me. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Deeply? Do you care about me deeply?”

She was going to make me do something to prove I cared. I nodded and waited.

But she let me go and picked up my violet silk gown. Holding it against herself, she said, “I have too many jewels, and don't you think I matched them perfectly with the ensembles? You must admit my taste is nonpareil.”

“Your taste is marvelous.” Did she want only admiration?

“Don a gown! Try a necklace! Show me!”

Again I went behind her screen. I removed the hooped farthingale and left the thin underskirt. I picked up the crepe gown, suddenly certain the fabric was too delicate for me. I should never have chosen anything so destructible. I raised my arms and drew the skirt over my head. It fluttered down to my hips as gently as rose petals.

While I dressed, Ivi prattled happily. She'd thought of a new way to arrange my hair. She wasn't sure which gown she should wear tonight, and which was my favorite color? Hers was gold. Which did I think Prince Ijori preferred?

She recited the favorite colors of several youths in her hometown of Bast. “They were all my beaus. I had more beaus than anyone. No minxes ever took them from me. Hurry and show me how you look.”

The gown fit perfectly. I stepped out from behind the screen.

“Oh, Aza. It's magnificent.” She jumped up from the bed. “You can't look until I do something with your hair. Close your eyes.”

She sat me in the dressing table chair and fussed over me. I wished I could look into Skulni and perhaps see my beautified self in my new gown.

“Mmm … you're ready for the cap.”

The headdress for the ensemble was a simple circle of lined cloth with a tiny brim. She set it in place. “Now, rise and admire yourself. No. Wait.” She turned me away from the mirror.

I opened my eyes. She flew to the bed for the garnet brooch. She held it here, held it there, and finally placed it below the wispy collar.

In spite of the new gown I was reluctant to look in the mirror, but I did—not in Skulni, but in the ordinary mirror above the dressing table.

I was still too white and too red and too black. But I appeared less bulky. The crinkles of the crepe ran on the bias. The result was a spiral that made my waist slimmer and my hips narrower. The tailor was a master.

Ivi had tucked most of my hair under the cap and had left only a single coil showing. The effect was to make my face less round and to suggest that somewhere, under a pound of fleshy cheeks, I had cheekbones. Ivi was also a master.

She decided that we should devote the rest of the day to fashion. She had me try on every gown, and she modeled each of her gowns for me.

I missed Ijori.

In the afternoon I grew nervous about illusing at the Sing. I actually persuaded Ivi to pause and rehearse her song with me.

She remembered the words. Everything should go well. I had illused for her many times. But I was still uneasy.

Ijori and Oochoo were waiting for us at the entrance to the Hall of Song. Ivi wore a turquoise gown, and mine was midnight blue. She'd caught my hair up in a shimmering blue net and had hung the gold chain around my neck.

Ijori bowed and said, “Blue becomes you … both.”

But he was looking at me.

I blushed and lost any advantage the gown gave me.

Ivi said, “A good tailor can perform wonders.”

He smiled. “If he has someone extraordinary to perform them upon.”

My blush was blushing.

Ivi frowned. “That's my hairnet Aza is wearing.”

He bowed again.

We entered the Hall of Song. I missed the birds. Sir Uellu announced there would be a toast after the queen sang her song. No sign of pleasure greeted the announcement. The mood in the hall was leaden.

My mood was livelier. Fright is livelier than lead.

The first song was always the Song of Ayortha, sung by everyone.

Sir Uellu held up his hand. “Tonight we will depart from custom for a rare treat. Her Majesty and Lady Aza will sing the Song of Ayortha as a duet.”

I took a half step to run from the hall.

“Choirmaster!” Ivi wet her lips. “I forgot my promise! Alas, I cannot perform unrehearsed. I simply cannot. We'll begin the next Sing with the duet.”

Sir Uellu nodded as if he'd expected her answer. He raised his baton, and we all began the Three Tree Song. The singing lagged a quarter beat behind his baton. Sir Uellu slowed to let us catch up, and we slowed too, until the song was a dirge.

Next he led us in a lively river song, but that felt dull and lifeless, too. He signaled for our solos, although the choral portion of a Sing generally lasts two hours. Ijori frowned, but no one else seemed to care.

A footman sang about his favorite cap, a groom about his collection of horse collars. Several people yawned. Others coughed or shifted restlessly. I chewed on my cheek to keep from exploding. A knight sang. It would be my turn soon. Two ladies sang. It was my turn. I mounted the stage.

I wanted to sing directly to Ijori, but I didn't look at him. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I saw him sway as soon as I began. The guards shook their heads happily. Ivi swayed awkwardly, but everyone else was rigid. I was singing well. They were resisting …

… except Sir Uellu, who was swaying and shaking his head and smiling.

I finished. When I reached my seat, Ijori whispered, “The best of the night.”

Surreptitiously, I found his hand and held it in the folds of my skirts.

The songs continued. Many were too short. They were an insult to the queen, although I'm sure she was grateful for the brevity. She was staring at nothing and smiling fixedly.

Ijori was next. He let my hand go and climbed up to the stage.

He was singing to everyone, but the song was a gift for me. I swayed and shook my head and beamed. His eyes met mine briefly. Then he continued to sing to everyone.

Ivi was rocking back and forth rather than swaying. She was furious. She knew the song wasn't for her, although I doubt she knew it was for me.

He left the stage and returned to his seat. We joined hands again.

Ijori's mother, Princess Elainee, sang. My nervousness mounted. Ivi came next.

Sir Uellu nodded, and several servants left the hall. I assumed they had something to do with the toast, and sure enough, while Princess Elainee finished her song, they filed back in, carrying goblets of mead.

Ivi mounted the stage. The serving maids moved through the hall, distributing drinks.

Ivi licked her lips. I thought of not singing and letting her send me to prison. She opened her mouth, and I came in.

A serving maid climbed to the stage to bring Ivi her drink.

Behind me there was a crash and the sound of breaking glass. Oochoo jumped up. Still illusing, I turned around, along with everyone else, to see what had happened. I sang,

just as Ivi yelled, “You clumsy fool. You—”

Everyone turned back to gape at the queen, who had mead running down the front of her gown as she shrieked and sang at the same time.