Silence - By Kailin Gow Page 0,16
also Jake and George, Maisy and Steve, even just the kids from school. I mean, it’s not like they can just come here, is it?”
Aunt Sophie placed a gentle hand on Briony’s shoulders. “I’m afraid not.”
Briony lent against the balcony rail, pursing her lips. “I have to go back to Wicked, Aunt Sophie.”
Her great-aunt stretched in the sunlight like a cat. “Are you real y in such a hurry, Briony? Do you real y want to give up al this so soon?”
Briony stared at the new, younger Aunt Sophie.
Just for a moment, she wondered what happened to the one she knew. The one who was a vampire slayer, a devoted citizen of Wicked, someone who wouldn’t give up on her friends. “There are people back there who could be hurt,” Briony pointed out. “I can’t just abandon them.”
Aunt Sophie shrugged. “You might not have a choice, Briony. You know that getting back is at least partly down to chance. Besides, you’re needed here right now. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, with Waltham so il . Do you want that stony Prince Vigor to rule here?”
“You seemed to like him,” Briony shot back.
“Yes, wel , it’s not like we’re actual y related, so I can ogle him al I want.” This real y was a new Aunt Sophie. Or was it? Even in the old one, there had been a mischievous glint in the eye. Maybe this one was just what you got when you put that into a nineteen-year-old body. “That doesn’t mean he’s ready to be king. He is a strong and capable young man, I’ve no doubt being raised by Waltham ensured that, but like I said before, he’s too selfish to be the King.”
“So you want me to just step in?” Briony asked.
Aunt Sophie shrugged. “It may not come up.
Your presence has already a healing effect on Waltham. He may prove to outlive us al !” She turned suddenly serious. “But he may not, and if so, you need to be ready.”
“Excuse me, your highness, my lady Sophie.”
Briony turned to see the servant who had opened the doors addressing the pair of them. The woman bobbed another curtsey. “Forgive me, but if we do not begin soon, we wil not have you both ready in time for the banquet.”
Briony was about to point out that there was stil plenty of time to go, but some of those dresses had looked very complicated. She nodded. “Al right, we’l come straight through.”
The next couple of hours were one of the stranger experiences of Briony’s life. It wasn’t just a case of washing, picking out a dress and maybe putting on a little eyeshadow. Instead, whole teams of servants went to work on both her and Aunt Sophie, setting about them with makeup and perfume before helping them into layer after layer of garments. Some of the latter were almost painful y restrictive as the servants hauled them into place, lacing and tying them so that they looked as they should.
When they were done, Briony surveyed herself in a mirror. She could hardly believe that it was stil her. She wore a dress of red silk and velvet, with delicate cream slashes coming through here and there. Her hair, meanwhile, had been turned into a smal work of art with the aid of pins and clips. Aunt Sophie had undergone an almost equal amount of work, though she was in a delicate dress of gold and lace. It seemed more practical than Briony’s, not trailing along the floor, and even her hair was simpler, in a single braid down her back.
Aunt Sophie looked at Briony for a second, and then burst out laughing. “What do you look like?”
“Me? We both look like someone’s idea of princesses.”
Stil , it wasn’t like they had time to do anything about it, and Briony had to admit that they looked pretty good, so they headed back to the main tower, where the banquet would be held. It took them a couple of false starts, but they final y found something that looked like a banqueting hal . Certainly, there were tables set out for food.
Except that the room was empty…
Or not quite empty. Aunt Sophie walked over to one of the tables and picked up what looked like a crooked dagger. She took one look at it, grabbed Briony by the hand and ran as fast as she could with Briony in tow, only stopping when they were wel clear of the room.
Out