A few days had passed since the dinner, and Olivia was itching to disappear into her room so she could paint. Every day since, there had been something she was needed to either attend or oversee, and it was getting annoying more than anything else. Each time she had to let Allete dress her up, and her personal servant was not exactly giving Olivia an easy time about it either.
“I’m sorry,” she said for the fifteenth time.
“Those sandals were perfect and where do I find them? Hidden in a linen closet like they are nothing but useless adornments,” she complained and shook her head. She told Olivia to close her eyes as she did her make up. “Honestly, miss, you cannot do things like that.”
“They were just sandals,” Olivia defended. “I can’t walk in heels that high!”
“Then perhaps you should practice. When you are officially a princess, you will have to wear heels like that. No questions asked.” Olivia opened her eyes to see Allete glaring at her. “And not every dress will hide your feet.”
As she walked away, Olivia rolled her eyes and moved her mouth to mock Allete, who turned around at the perfect moment. Olivia had the decency to look apologetic.
“You are lucky you have pretty feet,” Allete muttered under her breath as she turned to the wardrobe and sifted through the sandals and heels there. “Many women do not.”
“I don’t think anyone is going to stare at my feet.”
“You’d be surprised what they stare at, miss.”
“Ew, really? They’ll take pictures of my feet?” She glanced quickly down at her freshly manicured toenails and frowned. “That’s just creepy.”
Allete smirked as she told Olivia to sit back down so she could put her sandals on. “You are wearing a skirt today, so no losing your sandals.”
Olivia started to promise she’d keep them on until she glanced down at the violet, strappy sandals she held in her hands. “Those are taller than the last ones! Are you trying to get back at me for it? Really, Allete, I’m sorry. I don’t want a sprained ankle.”
“You have to learn, miss,” Allete said as she strapped them on. “Besides, they look beautiful, no?”
She couldn’t argue. Allete pulled her up out of her chair, and Olivia used all her muscles to keep herself upright as she took one step and then another. They were more of a wedge than a heel, at least, so she didn’t feel like she was going to slip and fall going down the stairs. That didn’t mean she liked them, though. Maybe she’d have a talk with her mother, while they were at lunch, about changing the required footwear for the princess.
Allete held the door open for her and Olivia walked out, followed as usual by Allete, her other ladies, and one guard. Melinda would be waiting for her in the car so they could ride into town. They had a lunch to attend to with several other elite women of the court, and after that, it was time to get fitted for her bridesmaid dress. Olivia was excited about that, but her mother did tend to have an eccentric side, just as she did.
“Olivia, you look stunning,” Melinda said when she spotted her daughter.
“You say that every day,” Olivia said as she reached the bottom of the steps. “Are you trying to say I didn’t look good enough as plain old me?”
Melinda stared at her daughter, ready to apologize until she saw the smirk on her lips. “You’re terrible. You know I love my jeans just as much as you, but you have to admit, this is kind of great. Dressing up every day?”
“If that’s what you think, Mom,” she said. “Who is going to be at the lunch?”
“Most of the women from the dinner the other night and their daughters. It should be a great time.”
Olivia tried hard not to cringe. The daughters from the other night. She hadn’t minded most of them, but Gigi was most likely going to be there, and that woman made Olivia want to run in the other direction. She was nice enough on the surface, but underneath, Olivia suspected exactly what she was after and what she would do to get it.
The drive into town wasn’t long, and Olivia and Melinda were escorted into a small café, closed for the afternoon except for the ladies of the court. Olivia watched all the curtsying and greetings as they waltzed into the café and to the head of the large table that had been set up. Melinda was a hit amongst the ladies, and Olivia sipped her iced tea while she listened to her mom act like it was any other luncheon with friends. Olivia was seated between Gigi and a young woman around the age of eighteen who happened to be Edric’s little sister. Her name was Cheree, and Olivia liked her right away.
“Edric said he had a chance to meet you at the dinner the other night,” she said. “He said you were pretty, and he was right.”