The Herbwitch's Apprentice Ireen Chau (best life changing books txt) 📖

and I shrunk back into the shadows, hoping they wouldn’t recognize me. I hardly recognized myself.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?”

The sound of silverware on a wineglass rung through the parlor and the murmur of conversation stopped. The duchess stood at the front of the room. “As you all know, the Season is coming to a close with the Masquerade Ball, just in time for the arrival of Crown Prince Bennett. The Choosing Ceremony will take place directly after, where debutantes and gentlemen may pair up and announce their courtship.”

Gasps and giggles sounded from the debutantes in the front.

“Not only will His Highness be attending, but he will choose a young lady amongst you to court. That young lady will have a chance of becoming the crown princess consort.” The duchess looked at Narcissa when she said this. No one noticed, as they were too busy chattering among themselves. I thought I saw Samantha swoon onto a sofa.

“Of course, there is no guarantee that he will select one of you at all,” the duchess continued, “but I understand that picking a future queen is strongly suggested by Her Majesty herself, given the unfortunate circumstances.”

The chatter lowered to murmurs. I smiled mirthlessly. Being queen seemed less appealing when it involved possible assassination.

“Recent events have complicated this Season, but it is my hope, along with the other mentors and the queen, that we will end with a plethora of young couples and a future queen. Thank you, and enjoy tonight’s gathering!” The duchess smiled and set down her wine glass. She was immediately swarmed with a handful of debutantes, one of them Julianna, who seemed more than eager to discuss the Masquerade Ball.

Narcissa gripped my wrist. “Stay here. I have an image to uphold.” She smoothed her skirts and paused to give me a look. “In fact, stay here all night until I tell you to move. You know the consequences if you do.”

With that, she went off to her mother, leaving me by the card tables where several gentlemen were still gawking at me. I seated myself on the bench behind me and avoided their gaze. Cedric was a table away, chatting with Olivia. They hadn’t noticed me yet and I prayed they wouldn’t. At the moment I was more than happy to pretend to be a statue the entire evening. I couldn’t imagine facing my neighbors or friends or stepsister.

Staring at the floor proved to be too difficult a task for my wandering eyes. I eventually found myself searching the room for Ash. After several seconds I spotted him by a potted plant. He was concealed by the broad leaves of the small fig tree. Given his sulking stance and lack of company, I figured he was less than thrilled to be here. His mother was being poisoned and he was at a soirée hosted by the culprit, whose daughter had a solid chance at becoming his brother’s fiancée. It was ridiculous.

Our gaze met through the gaps of the plant. I ducked my head. Had he recognized me? I risked another peek and deflated with relief. He was looking somewhere else now. Unfortunately, my relief did not last very long.

“Amarante?” Olivia’s soft voice nearly had me flying off my seat.

She and Cedric seated themselves beside me as I cracked a smile. “Cedric. Olivia. How lovely to see you two,” I said, keeping my voice as unaffected as possible.

“You look beautiful,” Olivia said, widening her eyes at my dress.

I smoothed the deep red fabric of my skirts which felt more suffocating by the second. “Oh, thank you. It’s, er, a rental.”

“Genevieve was looking everywhere for you,” Cedric said. “I’ll bring her over.”  He rose from his seat.

“Wait!” I said, forcing my smile wider. “Why don’t we chat a while?”

He raised his brows but sat back down.

“How has everything been, living at the palace?” I said, looking to each of them.

“Oh, it’s been lovely,” Olivia said. “The gardens are beautiful. They let us roam around wherever we like.”

Cedric described the palace views and the delicious meals they had each day. The conversation dwindled at Olivia’s third description of the rose bushes near the pond and Cedric’s talk of the weather the other morning.

“I think your sister has a lot she wants to speak to you about,” Cedric said after a moment of awkward silence. He rose from his seat again but this time I made no effort to stop him.

My palms were slick with sweat. Narcissa and the duchess were on the far side of the room conversing with a group of debutantes and Lady Hortensia. Their backs were turned to me, which did little to ease my anxiety.

“What does ‘NW’ stand for?”

I jumped. “What?”

Olivia’s nose was inches away my left hand. I jerked away.

“You have it written on your hand,” she said.

At least she thought it was written and not scratched on. I shrugged, trying to ignore the perspiration on my back. “Northwest,” I said. “I have to remember which direction my home is from the palace.”

I had no idea if home was northwest from the palace, but neither did Olivia. She looked perplexed, but didn’t question me further. It was then Cedric came back with Genevieve and Tori.

“Gosh, it’s been ages seen we’ve seen you!” Tori said, wrestling me into a hug.

“I missed you, Amarante,” Genevieve said. She looked lovelier than ever in a satin gown of sea foam green. It appeared that Cedric hadn’t failed to notice, judging from the way he was staring at her.

I felt tears spring to my eyes. “I missed you too. And you, Tori, along with the rest of your family.”

Tori squinted. “Are you crying? It’s only been a week, for goodness sake.”

“It felt much, much longer than a week,” I muttered, quickly blinking away the moisture.

“How are Theodora and Rowena doing?” Genevieve asked, taking a seat next to me.

“They’re still sick,” I said. “I think it’ll be a while before they recover. Maybe until the end of the Season.”

My stepsister furrowed