Tower of Dove

Chapter 11: The Balcony

Tower of Dove Chapter 11: The Balcony

Lilyana sat with her back pressed against Posy’s bedroom door and her arms wrapped around her legs, staring at the protective white railings on the other end of the hall. Past the railings she could see the ceiling as it sloped down to the lower level of the house and a few of the maids as they wandered around, dusting off shelves and bookcases or fluffing the pillows on the furniture. Her mother came into view as she exited the kitchen, looking clean as always in a long violet dress and her hair pinned back. Lilyana sighed and looked up at the ceiling above her. Calanthe’s perfection made her want to strangle something.

She rubbed her hair back and chewed her lip until she tasted blood. Then she stopped, despite the guilt twisting her stomach the way a laundress would twist the water from a soaked shirt. It was evening, and the time left to tell Posy of her plan to run away with Hiero was becoming limited. She had to do it now, yet she found herself unable to stand and knock on her sister’s door.

She exhaled sharply, hoping to blow out the knot in her stomach with her breath. It didn’t work. Damn the laws of physics. Well, she had to do this sooner or later, so she’d stand and knock on the count of five. One, two, three—

Lilyana fell backwards as the door swung open, her back hitting the wooden floor with a rough thump. She ignored the sore spot on her head from smacking the ground and focused her sight on the top of the doorway until Posy came into view, standing over her. It seemed that she had already dressed up for the masquerade, as she wore a blue dress the color of her eyes, and her hair was half-twisted back in an elaborate style with the help of sparkling silver pins. She had curled it, and the half not pulled off of her face spilled down her back in ringlets. She wore a silver mask over her eyes, but it wasn’t able to hide the smile glittering in them.

“You look like an angel,” Lilyana said.

“Yesterday I was a princess, and today an angel?” Posy giggled and her curls bobbed with her. “I’m having identity issues.” Her head cocked to the side as her laugh faded and she gave Lilyana a confused look, as if she were just noticing her. “Why are you on the floor?”

Lilyana bit her lip again, dismissing the taste of light blood. “Because I need to talk to you.”

“That doesn’t make sense but okay.” Posy turned and walked back into her room, and Lilyana got to her feet and followed. She’d been in Posy’s room hundreds of times and was so familiar with it that she barely registered the details, like the window taking up the space of the entire back wall, draped by soft silver curtains which glittered with star patters, or the dark blue color of the walls. There were a few dresses strewn across the pieces of furniture and the vanity, and her closet door was open to reveal the explosion of a clothing volcano. The bookcase to the right side of the room was opposite of her bed on the left, which was made up with light blue bed spread. Posy loved blue. She said it reminded her of a lovely day.

She plopped down on the edge of her bed and Lilyana sat next to her. “So what do you want to talk about?” she asked.

Lilyana brushed a stray hair off of her face and took a relaxing breath. Posy was looking at her with those big eyes through the mask, and guilt was playing jump-rope with her insides. She knew she shouldn’t feel so troubled about leaving, but Posy was so precious to her. “I, uh, have been having problems lately.”

Posy’s hands toyed with one of her curls and her head tilted to the side as she examined Lilyana. “I’ve noticed.”

Lilyana continued to eat away her lip. She’d have to patch that up before the masquerade. She said, “Yeah, and I can’t handle these problems in a, um, practical manner.”