A Curse to Break

Chapter 2

"Where are you going, Lena?"

I turn in surprise at the call. Tanya stands at the next intersection, looking at me curiously. There's no cunning or calculation in her gaze. I just couldn't get a read on her. She was the daughter of one of the lower nobles and only in her fifth month of life at court. I know she knows all the whispers; she had blatantly asked me about them shortly after her arrival. I figured she had only singled me out as a potential friend upon her arrival as I had seemed to be as much of an outcast as her. She was starting to make friends with the other ladies of the court, yet she still acted as if nothing had changed between us. Was this an act? Part of some larger scheme she was planning?

"The library," I answer calmly.

Tanya's head cocks to the side. "What about the tea party?"

I keep my expression neutral. "What about it?"

She crosses her arms, beginning to close the distance between us. "It's for all the ladies of the court that are our age. That would include you," she says pointedly, stopping before me.

"It's being hosted by the queen for the princess," I counter. "I doubt either of them will miss me."

"And if I want you to come?"

I turn away from her. "You'll find someone else to talk to."

Tanya catches my arm. "No, you don't, come on." She begins to drag me along. "If you never try to get into their circle, you never will."

"And if I never try, I never have to listen to them whisper about me while I sit there," I object, trying to pull my arm free as she pulls me along.

"Ignore them. Start whispering about them." She gives me a look over her shoulder. "For having grown up at court you really don't seem to understand how it works."

I bite my tongue as she looks away.

It wasn't my fault. My mother hadn't bothered taking me with her any time she was visiting the other ladies as she had Daniel and Dimitri. The other ladies, knowing the whispers, hadn't wanted their daughters near me. They didn't want their daughters to lose a chance to become ladies-in-waiting to the princess. Even when we had all grown up, daughters of the higher nobles didn't want to fall out of grace with the princess, and daughters of lower nobles didn't want to risk the chance to rise through the ranks of the ladies by their association with me.

Tanya didn't seem to care about all that, at least for now. How much longer before she started ignoring me? Going out of her way to avoid me?

Thankfully, when we reach the party, Tanya has the good grace to sit us towards the back with the maids-in-waiting. While Princess Claudia misses our entrance, laughing with the girl sitting next to her, Queen Daphne doesn't. Her smile turns to a grimace, the warmth leaving her eyes. She looks away as we take our seat, turning her attention back to her daughter, smile returning as if nothing had happened.

I can hear the maids-in-waiting whispering. Ignore them. That had been Tanya's advice. I didn't dare try the other advice she had given. When I look to Tanya, I find her already talking to another of the noble's daughters, discussing what sounded like the latest fashion. I defiantly couldn't join that conversation. Being dragged into it would be just as humiliating.

I was grateful when the servant steps up, setting the tray of tea on our table. It gave me something to do, to busy my hands with. As I set to fixing myself a cup, I can't help but notice that the maids-in-waiting at the table behind us have seemed to have grown in number. Two more have drawn chairs up to the table to join the conversation.

I can't deny that I was curious. If they were gossiping about me so intently, it had to be something new. I can't help but wonder what new whispers were circling the court. Tea fixed; I lean back in my chair as I sip from my cup.