~His Majesty's Grace~

Oris tried not to look proud of the fact that she was the only one wearing braids but it only took a moment for her to remember that she could look however she wanted beneath her veil.

Mayree noticed regardless and gave her a pinch at the back of her hand. "It will be best if you didn't look so thrilled, Mistress. We are also the only ones wearing tie-dye on an outing."

Andrea raised her handkerchief to her mouth and giggled behind it, drawing more gazes to them.

Seline shot her a cool look while Keziah went ahead and hit the girl upside the head, shaking some curls free from her bun.

Andrea scowled but said nothing.

They were all wearing buns, which once again set them apart from the rest of the women, who all had their hair on elaborate dos, too afraid of getting accused of imitating the Emperor's braids yet not self-sabotaging enough to pack all their hair back into a boring bun.

The trick was that when everything else was trying its best to shine hard, the dullest object in the room became the most eye-catching, if not for the contrast then for the sole purpose of giving the observer's eyes a place to rest.

Fortunately for Oris, Mayree's craft was exquisite. She had snuck glances at herself several times before leaving the room, just to admire the girl's handiwork.

Two ladder braids rose from her temples, one on each side, to join the rest of her hair at the nape of her neck in a braided bun.

And she was wearing accessories for the first time in what felt like forever.

Their decorated ends jingled with every step and sometimes swayed in her vision if she turned her head too fast.

They hung off her braids and surrounded her bun like a crown of pearls—some were pearls—but no one could say that she was trying to draw attention to herself because her maids were wearing buns too, and though for the first time since she arrived she was better dressed than they were, she appeared toned down when compared to the majority.

Another eye-catching item on her was the dress in all it's colors. It looked like something from a festival or circus, not at all formal—in shading, not design—and Andrea bemoaned the fact that it would be hard to pull off.

Red was the most dominant of the colors to match Oris' hair, and Andrea had still been the one to gush and start choosing the perfect jewelry when she had finally seen Oris in it.

A necklace, and earrings, of crystal were what the girls settled on.

Though her veil hid most of it, they promised that once light struck the pieces, she would be a sight to behold. This had also given them the idea to sew crystals on the next layer of the dress, which wasn't visible now but would be the next time she wore it.

"What do they want?" It was Keziah's voice that made her look towards the group of women that had broken off from the center of the hall, where the lesser ranked fawned over those most likely to not end up being a maid, to head in her direction.

The hall was large but was made stifling by the sheer number of women mingling then breaking off into factions. Oris had chosen a spot next to one of the large, floor to ceiling windows, unclaimed because it was obscure and at an angle where no one would notice her if they weren't looking.

Everyone here wanted to be the center of attention, wanted Hermes' eyes to fall on them the moment he stepped into the hall.

She watched the women exchange pleasantries with others while slowly making their way over, sure that nothing good would come from whatever 'socializing' was about to occur.

Still, she couldn't avoid it. Rumors of her spending time with Hermes had simply murdered the ones of her attempting to take her own life and now people had stopped openly avoiding her.

She had moved from dangerous to competition in the blink of an eye and it was certain that many were displeased.

"Good day," the leader of the intruders greeted with a sickly sweet smile. She reeked of pomegranate and had lips just as ruby red.

Andrea and the others bowed while Oris just stared. Not in the woman's direction, of course, but at the part of the garden the window overlooked.

"Lady Dianne of Luckstrum," she introduced herself in that way that stank of 'You must have heard of me'.

But Oris hadn't, because Luckstrum was just a county in one of the New World's fiefs. It wasn't even a former kingdom.

"A pleasure," she said, then turned. She had finally gotten a lesson on etiquettes from Mayree. At her current status, she only needed to greet ministers with a shallow curtsey. Then a low one, till her knees hit the ground, when she greeted members of the royal family.

"We," the women behind Dianne simpered, "have not seen you these past days. I hope you are well."

"With His Majesty's grace, my recovery has been swift."

"Yes." Dianne's gaze examined Oris, from the collar of the high-necked dress to her long sleeves and the white gloves that did little to match the dress but were made of silk and foisted upon her by Andrea. "But what are you wearing? Is our empire so poor that you cannot afford finer clothes?"

The yet-to-be-introduced women laughed openly now. The maids in their party somehow managed to look both haughty and demure.

Oris thrust her hand in her direction. "These?" she asked, with a small laugh of her own. "Being from Luckstrum, I thought you would have recognized Tulsehrian silk."

Andrea raised her handkerchief again and this time Keziah joined her.

Luckstrum specially dealt with silk, much like how Inqa dealt with weaponry.

"Well, I—... That's isn't possible," Dianne said at last.

"Yes, of course. Not everyone can afford it. It is not strange for you not to recognize it."

"There is no way you can afford it," the lady to her right sneered, "peasant."

"You are right," Oris winked, "but the the Emperor's grace works wonders."

She didn't know what Hermes would think about using him as a shield, but she wasn't the one who begged him for a secret rendezvous in her bedroom.

The two ladies looked at her with a mix of appalment and jealousy, but the one the left snapped her fan closed and jabbed it at her face.

"Shall we ignore the fact that you must be a troll beneath this veil? Ladies?"

That seemed to give life to the rest of the trio and they included their own tittering remarks.

"How repulsive you must be to have hide your face in a beauty contest."

"No amount of silk can remedy ugly," Dianne said with a sneer, and Oris imagined she fancied herself quite the poet.

"The emperor must love trolls then, because he didn't seem to mind when he took it of." Oris rubbed the hem of her veil between her fingers. "You are right. No amount of silk can remedy ugly. I know a wonderful physician, if you are looking for recommendations?"

Lady Dianne looked like she was about to implode but right at that moment the doors at the end of the hall opened and she composed herself so quickly that Oris almost thought she had imagined the altercation.

She moved away from the trio as they began to preen themselves and shifted closer to the window, watching but not watching Hermes arrive, flanked by Magnus and the man who had fired a crossbow bolt into her side.

It was only when she looked at the garden again that she understood that she had been searching for Mikeal.

She buried her disappointment and curtsied in time with other ladies when the emperor and his retinue of servants and eunuchs walked past.

When the hall started reshuffling itself, Oris was almost glad. After waiting for so long, she finally had something to do.

With Hermes was out of the hall, the procession started under the keen supervision of the eunuchs who made sure no one was putting themselves where they shouldn't be.

Oris fell dead last in the line up, another small mercy. It was comforting to have all her potential enemies up front where she could see them and no one could trip her or push her to cause a scene.

She thought she would feel happier leaving the palace, moving outside the walls she had wormed her way into and was now trying to escape, but as she stepped into the courtyard and waited for her turn to be loaded into one of the carriages, all she felt was a strange emptiness.

Andrea noticed and squeezed her hand. "From now on, everything is going to change."

"Yes," Oris agreed. Only, she didn't know whether the change was for better or worse.

~

Writing this, it feels like the ending sentences of a book, lol. If it was, that'll be a sucky ending. The cliffhanger is so weak.

Oris is leaving the palace! Yay. Time to go hunting.