Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 259: Violet: Set an Example

Violet looked over to the ladies’ table but Ilse was no longer there. She was probably off dancing again, given how the men had queued for her attention all evening.

With an impatient roll of her eyes, Violet stalked towards the cluster of dancers, looking for her sister in the sea of green fabric. After elbowing past couples politely and not so politely, she finally found Ilse, dancing in the arms of a tall man clad in emerald silk.

Prince Leo.

Violet felt her sudden anger like a blow to the chest. Every word that Prince Johan had said to her about finding her own path forward and not comparing herself to the rest, scattered like butterflies from her mind. That advice was all forgotten the moment she saw her twin dancing with the most eligible man in the entire kingdom.

"Dammit, Ilse." Violet breathed out, then marched forward to break up their happy little interlude.

"Begging your pardon, Your Highness. Her Majesty requests my sister’s assistance immediately." Violet gritted out, bowing.

Ilse’s eyes went round with concern. "Is everything alright with the queen? She hasn’t taken ill, has she?"

"No, nothing of the sort. But she wishes to retire to her chambers now and requires us accompany her."

Leo waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "Surely Mother can find another lady besides your sister to help with that. Lord knows, there’s enough of you waiting upon her."

"No, she specifically requested Ilse and I do it, Your Highness." Keeping her tone polite was making Violet’s jaw ache.

Leo snorted irritably, clearly not happy at losing a dance partner. Violet in turn watched him from the corner of her eye. His exquisite tunic still looked freshly pressed. He certainly didn’t look like a man who had been rutting like an animal in a dark garden, less than an hour ago.

How was it possible for him to use one lady’s body so shamelessly and then dance with a completely different one, while looking like nothing out of the ordinary had happened? Was it just another night for the prince?

"...Lady Kathryn Danner is usually one of those given the honour of escorting Her Majesty back to her rooms at the end of a night." Ilse was explaining to Leo. "I haven’t seen her since the start of the banquet, though."

Violet watched the prince’s face carefully when Ilse spoke aloud the name of Leo’s latest tryst. To her disgust, his expression didn’t show the faintest flicker of interest, as if he’d never known the woman.

"The queen made it quite clear that she won’t be needing Lady Kathryn’s services tonight." Violet said testily. "In fact, I believe she may have been demoted."

Ilse looked stunned. Prince Leo’s face remained completely blank.

Ilse looked up at the prince apologetically. "I’m sorry, Your Highness. But I must go."

He flashed her a dazzling smile and reached for her hand to kiss. "It was a great pleasure to dance with you, Lady Ilse. I’m sure we’ll dance together again very soon." He nodded at Violet and turned away.

Violet grabbed her sister by the arm and started pulling her forward through the crowd and towards the high table. "Quickly! The queen isn’t in a happy mood and won’t want to be kept waiting."

"What’s happened, Vy?" Ilse hissed. "With Lady Kathryn-"

"I’ll explain later, no time now. But I suggest you don’t mention her name to the queen if you don’t want to make things worse. Come to think of it, don’t mention Lady Maisie’s name either."

Ilse’s eyes bulged with shock but seeing Violet’s firm look, she nodded in agreement.

- - -

It turned out that accompanying Queen Celia when she retired from an event was a tedious affair, despite the honour attached. The sisters had to follow the stone faced queen down the corridors and to her luxurious apartments. Once they arrived, they stood as quiet as statues and watched while two maids worked in efficient silence to remove Queen Celia’s veil and jewels.

Once she had stepped out of her elaborate brocade gown, the queen was wrapped in a silk robe trimmed in seed pearls. She waved her maids away, then dropped into an armchair as if she were endlessly weary.

It was only then the queen seemed to remember the Thierre sisters were still in her presence because she hadn’t yet dismissed them.

"Please sit down, ladies."

The twins exchanged nervous glances before perching on the edges of a sofa that allowed them both to face the queen.

"Both of you understand that as Queen of Islia, I must set an example of virtue for our people?"

Violet and Ilse both nodded. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"I expect my ladies to follow my example. Any light behaviour reflects poorly on me and by extension, the monarchy. I assume you understand this also?" Queen Celia’s pale face was grave.

The sisters nodded again, though Violet could sense Ilse was bursting with the urge to ask questions. She managed to stay quiet.

"I may call on you both for your aid more often. I expect you to let me know if you notice any of your companions are straying from the high standards I expect. I hope to not be disappointed by your actions." the queen said. She then waved her hand to indicate the girls were dismissed.

Both girls bowed deeply and retreated from the presence chamber. As soon as they were out of the queen’s line of sight, they began to run to their shared room. Ilse looked like her curiosity was going to kill her.

"Oh my lord, Vy! What the hell happened? Tell me everything you know!" Ilse almost shrieked the moment their bedchamber door was closed.

Despite everything, Violet had to giggle at her sister, who was bouncing on her toes in confusion. She spun Ilse around by the shoulders and started untying her sash and unlacing her gown.

"The queen suspects Lady Kathryn was off dallying with a man in the gardens, during the banquet." she murmured.

"What? No!" Ilse gasped dramatically. "But she’s always so shy and meek! Perhaps someone just spread a nasty rumour about her."

Violet carefully pulled off her sister’s circlet and veil. "The queen’s relying on what she saw with her own eyes, not a rumour. She was looking for Lady Kathryn to accompany her back to her rooms, but the girl was nowhere to be found."

"But that doesn’t mean she was doing anything wrong-"

"A few moments later, the queen and I both noticed her trying to sneak back into the hall." Violet interrupted. "Her face was sweaty, her dress was a mess and she had twigs and leaves stuck to her veil and hair. It was quite obvious what she’d been doing."

Ilse faced Violet as she stepped out of her gown, her face puckered in disgust. "Oh, that is shocking. No wonder Her Majesty is upset. And was Lady Maisie caught in the same way?"

"I’m not sure about Maisie. She never returned to the hall after she’d disappeared, so I guess the queen assumes she was misbehaving as well." Violet said. "At least Maisie didn’t get caught sneaking back in and looking like she’d been rolled through the shrubs, I suppose. I don’t think there’s any coming back once the queen’s seen you in that state."

Ilse looked troubled. "Do you have any idea who the man was with Kathryn?"

It was on the tip of Violet’s tongue to tell the truth - maybe Ilse wouldn’t be so keen to dance with the charming Prince Leo again after hearing it. She realised she couldn’t however, without revealing that she also had snuck out to the gardens during the banquet.

And what’s more, the cruel little voice in her head mocked, you were likely the only person in that garden alone. Pathetic little Violet with no man at her side because no one desires her.

Instead, she shook her head and spoke a partial truth. "I’ve no idea, sister. When I saw the queen was angry with Kathryn, I moved away. I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of that discussion."

Ilse nodded. "That was smart, Vy. And now it sounds like Her Majesty is taking us into her greater confidence. That has to be a good thing, doesn’t it?"

"Yes." Violet replied as she carefully set her own veil back in her clothing trunk. "Although it sounds like she wants us to report to her if we see any other ladies doing the wrong thing. I don’t want to be known as the queen’s tattler amongst everyone, do you?"

"That’s true." Ilse conceded. "I don’t want to ruin the friendships I’ve already formed by making the other ladies think they can’t trust me."

"Of course not." Violet smiled sweetly. "We want our fellow ladies to feel like they can confide their deepest secrets to us, don’t we?"

Ilse nodded, her beautiful eyes earnest.

What very different creatures we are, sister, Violet thought. Sometimes I wonder how we ever shared a womb.