I rolled my eyes. The way she looked at Prince Ash at the Debutante Ball said enough.
“It’s unfortunate he’s in the way of impressing Crown Prince Bennett,” Julianna said. She smoothed the skirts of her peach dress and fluffed her hair. “The last thing I want is to attract the wrong prince.”
“But isn’t Narcissa engaged to the crown prince?” Tessa piped up.
Julianna scoffed. “Of course she isn’t. That’s just a rumor she spread herself, no doubt. Her chances are as good as ours,” she said. “It helps that she’s the duchess’s daughter, but Her Grace has taken a liking to me in the past year. And Father has been increasing his influence in court.”
I almost laughed. To think she switched her sights from Cedric Sternfeld to Crown Prince Bennett in a matter of weeks! I must’ve made a noise, for Julianna turned around. She gave an outraged gasp.
“You people!” Julianna narrowed her eyes at me. “What are you doing here?”
Tori crossed her arms. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re debutantes too.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Julianna said in disgust, shouldering past Tori. “Amarante, have you come to gloat? Now you’ve danced one dance with the bastard prince, you think you’re better than us?”
It seemed that she hadn’t gotten over her failure to humiliate me at the Debutante Ball. I rolled my eyes, having no wish to make a scene at yet another Season event. Instead, I focused on the cobblestone path where several loose rocks littered the perimeters, intending to walk past them without a word.
“Don’t you dare ignore me!”
My vision swam for a second.
Just as Julianna stepped forward, a rock rolled beneath her slipper, glowing purple.
Her ankle twisted.
Then, the most unfortunate thing happened.
Julianna fell back and jabbed Olivia in the ribs with her elbow.
“Ack!” Julianna shrieked as Olivia lost her footing and fell bodily into the hydrangea bushes. Tessa and Samantha gasped.
“Olivia!” I rushed over to the bushes but an explosion of color assaulted my vision. I teetered on my feet as bursts of neon yellow riddled the back of my eyelids.
“Burning barnyards, are you alright?” Tori asked, taking Olivia’s arm. Everyone was too busy fussing to notice my reaction. I blinked rapidly. The color melted away.
Petals of violet, pink, and purple clung to Olivia’s gown as she stood, trembling. There was a body-sized dent in the bush she had fallen into.
“What in heaven’s name is going on there?”
Duchess Wilhelmina strode down the path in a maroon gown, her shoes clacking against the cobblestone. My stomach turned. Julianna pushed herself up and curtsied.
“Amarante shoved me and I fell, Your Grace,” Julianna whined. Tessa and Samantha nodded vehemently.
Tori almost growled. “Absolutely not,” she said. “You fell on your own and rudely elbowed Olivia in the ribs.”
Julianna’s nostrils flared. “Watch your mouth when you’re talking to me, you country commoner.”
“Look who’s talking, you horse-faced, spoiled—”
“Enough!”
The duchess’s voice boomed over the other two. Tori resorted to glaring venomously at Julianna, who was flushed to the ears. Duchess Wilhelmina looked to me.
“There always seems to be trouble when you’re around,” she said with a sneer.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from where Olivia had fallen. I hadn’t noticed it before, but lined between the hydrangeas were bushes of stinging nettle. The neon yellow started pulsing before my vision again, and I looked to Olivia’s exposed arms. Red splotches riddled with small bumps marred her skin.
“Look at me when I’m talking to you, Miss Flora,” Duchess Wilhelmina said sharply.
I pointed at Olivia’s growing rash. “We need to get her a physician, Your Grace,” I said, hating how my voice wavered.
Samantha squealed. “Oh! That is disgusting.”
Olivia whimpered when she saw the rashes on her arm. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I-I’m so sorry, Your Grace, I didn’t mean to,” she whimpered. Tori gave me an incredulous look from over Olivia’s shaking head.
“What is going on?”
Everyone curtsied again as Queen Cordelia appeared up the path.
“It seems that one of our debutantes has a talent for causing trouble,” the duchess said, giving me a disdainful look.
“She—” Julianna whined.
“Your Majesty,” Tori cut in before Julianna could say anything more. “Julianna tripped and caused Olivia to fall into the bushes.”
Queen Cordelia nodded. “I see,” she said. She gently put her hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “What happened to your arm, my dear?”
Olivia’s eyes welled with fresh tears and she began blubbering. Duchess Wilhelmina looked at her in distaste.
“There is stinging nettle between the hydrangeas, Your Majesty,” I said, toeing the spiky leaves with my slipper. “They’re planted all over. It’s what caused Olivia’s rash.”
Queen Cordelia raised her brows. “Indeed? How odd,” she said. “I’m quite sensitive to stinging nettle myself. Thank you, Miss Amarante. I will ask the gardener to remove them.”
I blushed, surprised that she remembered my name.
Duchess Wilhelmina exhaled. “You are not fit to be in public right now, Miss Sternfeld. Have someone escort you inside.”
Julianna’s jaw dropped.
“S-Sternfeld?” she whispered, her face reddening.
The duchess surveyed the rest of us somewhat scornfully. “You may all go.” She walked off.
I was sure Julianna would’ve shot me a withering look if it weren’t for the queen’s presence.
“There will be a physician sent for you, Miss Olivia,” Queen Cordelia said.
Tori, Genevieve, and I escorted Olivia into the entrance of the south wing where a decrepit physician gave her a jar of ointment and a melted candy stick from his pocket. After gingerly applying the balm on Olivia’s arms and wrapping it in gauze, we emerged from the building only to find that the debutantes had long gone home.
“Good riddance,” I said. “I’ve had enough of the Season already.”
Tori sighed. “Amen to that.”
10
A letter came for me that night as Genevieve and I were getting ready for bed.
“Here you go,” Tori said, tossing the rumpled envelope on my mattress. “Whoever sent it must’ve been in a rush.”
“Who is it from?” Genevieve asked as Tori went off yawning to her own room.
I recognized my nanny’s handwriting from the front of the envelope. “It’s
