Over the next week, Mother and I visited practically every noble living at the castle. We attended more events than I could count, but our schedule gradually cleared up, because now it was time for the real thing.
Now that we'd settled in, Mother was going to start attending the king's court, along with Father. The purpose of the visits had been to prepare everyone, as well as socialize with people individually to prepare them. It made people feel more special when interacting in small groups, and now Mother would be instantly popular in court, as always.
"We've received an invitation from Her Majesty."
It was the day before Mother would start going to court, and I was eating breakfast with her in her chambers. My spoon hovered in the air.
"To what?"
"A small gathering of close friends, including a literary reading and a tea tasting, this evening."
I vaguely understood that this was a sign of passive aggression. It would be rude beyond disbelief to not go or to make up an excuse, and that was the least horrible part about it.
The queen had her own court of nobles and allies, gossiping and managing the castle, along with other affairs. She and her daughter were the only women in the kingdom that ranked above Mother and I, and I'd heard enough from my parents to know that she was not a friend. Politics extended far beyond the ruling nobles themselves, to spouses, children, and even servants.
Mother clicked her tongue and tossed the invitation aside.
"You've finished the twelve volumes of Abbeyton Manor, right?"
"Ah… yes?"
Though I adored reading in my past life, that was because it was my form of escapism from a miserable existence. Currently, I had friends, family, and luxuries, and I even found my lessons interesting, especially poisons and shooting.
I had flipped through the books, briefly. But if someone asked me to name all thirty-two main characters of that series which could have been only written for the purpose of torture, I would have them executed. Then I would light their corpse on fire and burn the books, and pity the waste of paper and ink.
"She must know that you haven't taken any vocal lessons, and we didn't plan for you to learn tea tasting until later. She wants to embarrass you."
I didn't like the sound of that. Mother frowned and paced around the room.
"Just be modest. No, that's exactly what she wants. It'd be too obvious now. Hmm…"
This wasn't the first time I was meeting the queen. I was, ah, familiar, with her daughter, and Mother and I had been invited to such events before. Mother had always prevailed and won, and I always bested the princess.
Ugh, I wondered if she was going to be there. I would loath to see her smug expression. As a proper noble lady, I was quite gracious. I didn't even hate the female lead, because if anything, her only faults were naivety to the point of stupidity and being in my way. I wouldn't even hurt her if she wouldn't interfere with me, but I hated Princess Elizabeth with every part of me.
"This will have to do. Darling, I have a plan."
I was glad Mother interrupted my thoughts, or I might have snapped my spoon. Carefully, I listened to her instructions, and we spent the rest of the day preparing.
Evening came. For dinner, Mother had something special added to my food, to apparently make my taste buds sharper. It stung sharply, and I resisted the urge to throw up, but I thought it was effective, for I could taste my own bitterness in the air.
I wore a simple but elegant light blue dress that made me look very literary, though it barely matched my more vivid style of beauty. The jewellery I wore were small and delicate pieces that were more timid and quiet than usual. Mother's fair features and excellent acting allowed her to switch between styles easily, but the bold details of my own made my appearance tonight look like someone tried to force a rose to be a lily.
We knocked on the door of the drawing room the gathering was at. They swung open.
"Welcome, Your Grace, Lady Valentina."
We didn't even arrive fashionably late, but everyone else was already present. I internally breathed a sigh of relief as I saw that they were all wearing soft and demure colours like I was, so at least I didn't stick out. We had passed the first test.
"Good evening, Your Majesty."
Mother and I both curtsied. I took the care to be extra graceful.
"No need for formalities, we're all friends here. Take a seat, and let's begin!"
We thanked the queen and sat down. I wasn't used to having to be this polite, and I hated every moment, especially how Mother was also forced to obey. I guess I'd always thought of my parents as invincible, as all children did.
There were a number of other ladies there, likely the core part of the queen's court. Only one girl was my age, wearing a pale grey dress and no jewellery. She looked at the ground shyly, and I thought the little of what I could see of her face was plain.
A maid handed out a book to everyone. Inside, I groaned.
"Lady Valentina, I've heard so many spectacular things about how academic you've become! Won't you start for us? We're at chapter forty-one."
The seventh and most convoluted volume of The Affairs of Abbeyton Manor. The series was notorious for being the ultimate test on how well someone could read aloud, to add emotion after somehow understanding the words and characters. This book was basically impossible to follow, unless you had time to analyse it sentence by sentence.
I took a full minute just to find the page. The book was heavy on my lap, and the text tiny. I swallowed, and began to recite.
"T'was night, yet day! In her heart, there was his dead body. Disgust, nor anger? Nor fear nor excitement? Alas, tears of joy to flow from her eyes as a steady stream…"
'Read like they're just words. Don't even try to add emotion, they'll just laugh at you. It'll be fine, your voice is pretty enough. They won't be able to find a way to shame a child.'
Mother's words were the only thing that kept me going as my eyes glided over the page. I tried my best to not be mechanical, to add some melody. It wasn't a long chapter, thank god, but it felt like forever. When I finally finished, my mouth was dry, and my heart thumping.
Mother started the applause. The others joined in politely.
"Well done, Lady Valentina. You clearly understand Marianne's heartbreak, why, you sounded like you may burst into tears yourself!"
I forced a smile towards the queen, my hands resisting the urge to strangle her. Instead, I imagined the pretty image of her grave, and myself sitting in her place.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet Lady Luisa, daughter of Count Smyth. Won't you continue the book, Lady Luisa?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Her voice was low, so quiet I almost missed it, but it had a soothing quality that gave me a bad feeling. I swallowed as she flipped to the page and started reading.
"Then, lightning, like a drowning dragonfly. Puddles of blood, oh saint, who was to blame? To god, to earth, to the sky! Wails, terror rans through her veins, like unholy spirits…"
I froze completely. How was it possible? It was like she was a completely different person! Her voice was loud and passionate, and in all the right places too. It was completely unlike a moment ago, and I could almost understand what was happening in the chapter.
When she finished, the room burst into applause, far louder than it had been for me. My cheeks heated bright red, and my hands joined in stiffly. The girl looked down again, blushing as well, but for a different reason. I wanted her gone.
Mother had been wrong, they found a way to shame me. And it wasn't over.
"My, that was wonderful! I remember your mother was a good reader as well, Lady Luisa, it must have been her good education. You take after her, like Lady Valentina does from her mother."
My blood boiled. Mother may have been born a commoner and a merchant, but she was the grand duchess now. To embarrass both of us at once…!
Mother smiled politely, and I was again impressed that she did it so effortlessly. I was trying hard just to keep myself from throwing the book across the room.
I didn't bother to remember the rest of the reading. Mother tried her best, which was good, but not as good as the other noble ladies. The queen must have purposefully selected the best readers to do this to us.
"Thank you, everyone, that was delightful. I imagine your throats must be sore, so let's enjoy some tea."
Round two had begun. We had to win this one.