THE USURPERS| 2021

CHAPTER 9: THE PRINCE'S FAVOUR

IX.
CHAPTER 9
The Prince's Favour
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"Your mother bids you to wear this one."

I gave the rose coloured gown a once over as Maelle held it. It looked akin to the one I wore at the ball. "Absolutely not."

Pink looked sickly against the light brown of my skin. A fact my mother didn't seem to acknowledge. Maelle seemed to agree as she pulled out another folded dress from the chest. "This one?" She asked as she unveiled an emerald green dress lined with gold stitching.

I nodded. My mother would probably pass me a glare but she would have greater things to be angered by after today. Hopefully I'd be far enough away not to feel her silent rage as Prince Calden passed me up once again.

Leading up to the joust I was a mess of nerves. I'd spent half of the morning in bed running through my conversation with General Altan. I was still skeptical that he truly wanted nothing in return for helping me but I had no better plan. And if he later decided there was a debt to be paid hopefully I'd be at sea by then, far away from the troubles of pretending to be Annette.

It wasn't like I was asking him to lead an army. Him and I were simply engaging in games of courtship. Lovers did it all the time in the storybooks. They would tempt the other by incurring their jealousy and later have their heart's desire fulfilled in courtship. It was a perfectly reasonable way to seduce someone.

Seduce. I was in over my head. Even looking at myself now as Maelle pinned my hair, I could not see my own appeal. The past week had filled out my cheeks slightly but I still looked gaunt. Unlike Aurora everything about me was too sharp. I did not carry that same soft and dainty beauty that other ladies did. Perhaps it was masked over by the years at the temple. Looking at my reflection, I wondered if my beauty had been stolen from me. If I could have been like Aurora if only I hadn't spent years starved and tortured.

Sinners cannot be unmarked, Thalia had whispered to me once—that first time she stuck a match to my skin. The marks were still visible on my stomach and back, which I was glad was constantly hidden by my undergarments. Maelle had never questioned why I always had my chemise on before she came to dress me and I was glad for it.

Two knocks on the door. Maelle stepped away from pinning my hair to open the door. From the reflection of the mirror on my dresser, I could see that someone had arrived with a box in hand.

Turning fully around, I saw a tall woman dressed in black armour. From the crown of Altaos—a crown with three stars above it—carved on the chest of her armour, I knew she was Callaisan.

With dark skin and a shock of red curls, the woman looked every bit like a warrior goddess. In my awe I forgot that I was staring, perhaps too intently. It was uncommon in Elysia for women to serve in the army. Seeing a woman in full armour was like seeing a horse with wings.

"Your highness." She bowed, her armour clanking with the movement. In her hands she held a small white box.

Maelle, who looked just as shocked from the sight of her, quickly stepped aside as the warrior-woman stood back up and walked beyond the threshold of the door.

"Is that for me?" I asked peering at the unassuming box. Did Prince Calden send me a gift?

"General Altan sends you this." The woman revealed as she set the box before me. I frowned, my hands hovering over the gold latch when I moved to open it.

"General Altan?" I muttered as I decided to open the box. There was no reason to fear that he'd send me a box full of hunter bees or poisoned gloves. My fingers quickly snapped open the latch.