The Guardian

Chapter Ten

I found the one place in the house that Isodore wouldn't look for me. Or enter. The library. I was sitting at a small reading desk in a plush red chair in the back corner. I hadn't even bothered to braid my hair or put shoes on. And I only had a single dagger sitting on the table in front of me.

But I didn't care, I was here to write a letter to my brother. I leaned back in the chair, one leg folded under me. My lilac tunic was loose over the waist of my white pants and I tucked my brown curls behind my ear. The pen was sitting on the edge of the paper, a small black dot formed from it's tip.

I pick it up and lean forward, over the paper.

Aedrioch,
I hope you and mother and father are well. It's lovely here in the Capital. You should come and visit some time, I think you'd like it. There isn't much to say, I just wanted to write to you, I suppose. I hope the King  isn't overworking you without me there to do half! Anyway, I love you and I miss you.
Adelaide.

I fold the letter up and seal it with wax, stamping it with an old Hamlin seal that I found. I sit it to the side of the table, and see someone out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head quickly, my hand resting right beside the handle of my dagger.

There's a girl leaning on a short bookcase, closing my desk off from the rest of the library. She has golden curls, pinned back in a bun at the base of her skull. Her cerulean blue eyes are piercing and surrounded by a smudge of black.

Hamlin.

She wears a bright blue day gown, incredibly tight around the bosom, pushing everything up and almost out of her corset. The neckline sits low and on her shoulders, leading into long, tight sleeves. The skirt goes out at her hips, but not far. It's loose and meets a pair of silver heels just above her ankles.

"Can I help you?" I give her a fake smile, keeping my voice sweet and polite.

"You might be able to actually," she smiles widely, showing pearly white teeth. "Is anyone sitting here?" She steps next to the chair on the opposite side of my table, not waiting for my reply. She leans forward with her elbow on her knee, allowing me a full view down her shirt and I simply meet her gaze.

"Dear cousin Isodore told me that you were cousin Violette," her voice is sickly sweet and she meets my gaze head on. "I have never met a Hamlin, or heard of one, that doesn't have golden curls and bright blue eyes. Except for you."

"Well, perhaps I'm just an exception to the rule," I shrug, not liking where the conversation is headed. She seems to think she's some sort of genius.

"I think that you aren't actually a Hamlin, I think you're a pretender," she gives a smug smile and sits back in her chair, crossing her arms.

"If I'm not a Hamlin, then what am I?" I raise an eyebrow, mimicking her posture.

"Chocolate brown curls and matching eyes? Looks like a Livingstone," her smile is still smug and she looks like she's just discovered that the world is round.

"You caught me," sarcasm drips off my every word and I give a small smile.

"Really?" She raises her eyebrows in  disbelief and I raise mine in confusion.

"Yes," I nod my head and awkwardly look at the ground.

"Thank goodness, that would have been terribly awkward," she gives a small smile. "Adelaide, right? I'm Sophia."

"Yeah, you know people aren't supposed to know who I am right?" I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head a little.

"I know, I'm not going to tell anyone," she lets out a small laugh and smiles at me. "Sorry I was so rude, I had to be sure. I saw you at a dinner when you first arrived, Isodore wouldn't stop looking at you the entire time."