Chapter 40

Ruby

Days go by after I broke into Luna’s room. I barely see Atwood the entire time; he pretty much stays in his study all day these days, and when I do see him, neither of us puts in much of an effort to talk to one another. I’m still angry about the way that he yelled at me, and how he won’t just tell me about Luna or this supposed “curse”. How am I supposed to be his mate if he won’t just talk to me?

To make matters worse, Nancy won’t talk to me at school anymore. The days go by slowly without her there to make me laugh, and word quickly gets around about my violent outburst at her sleepover, so everyone is avoiding me and talking about me behind my back.

I’ve never felt more alone.

My etiquette lessons with the Queen only become more strict and more frequent now, too, but at this point I’ve simply run out of energy to stand up for myself. I think Alice and the Queen are pleased with themselves: they know they’ve broken me by now.

I get home from school one day and head straight to the ballroom for my dancing lesson. Since my birthday is in a few weeks, apparently it’s of the utmost importance that I don’t “embarrass” Atwood or the Queen by not dancing perfectly. Honestly, I could care less, but it’s just easier to pretend to care.

When I enter the ballroom, however, I’m taken aback by the presence of someone I’ve never seen before: a slim, attractive girl with brown hair and a little button nose. The Queen introduces her as Edith.

“Not that any of this information is necessary for you to know, but Edith is the daughter of a distant cousin of mine. Her parents have sent her to be my ward -- which means that she is under my care until she comes of age, since you probably don’t know what a ‘ward’ is, given the backwater low-class village that you grew up in -- and she is going to be joining us for etiquette lessons from now on.”

Edith flashes a bright smile to reveal perfect, straight, white teeth and curtsies.

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Ruby,” she says. Even her voice sounds as sweet as honey.

I put on my best smile and curtsy in return.

“Well then,” the Queen says with a scoff at my curtsy, “let’s begin our lesson, shall we? Edith, why don’t you go first and show Ruby what it’s like to properly dance?”

With a nod and another toothy smile, Edith steps up to Mikhail. He turns on the music and they begin to dance.

Edith moves around the dancefloor like a graceful gazelle. Not a step is out of line. She demurely lets Mikhail lead the dance, not once stepping on his toes or stumbling over her own feet. Even her facial expressions and head movements are elegant and beautiful.

They finish their dance with a flourish. The Queen jumps up from her chair and claps her wrinkly old hands excitedly, dabbing at her teary eyes with a handkerchief as Alice smirks at me in the corner like a wraith.

“Oh, Edith, that was simply wonderful,” the Queen says.

“Thank you, your Majesty,” Edith replies in that sultry voice of hers, and curtsies again. It makes me want to scream my head off.

“Now you,” the Queen says, looking at me with disdain as Edith takes a seat. “Go on. We haven’t got all day.”

As I approach Mikhail, even he looks at me disgustedly. Are teachers even supposed to pick favorites like this? I feel like there has to be at least one moral issue with that.

My dance doesn’t go nearly as smoothly as Edith’s. Despite how hard I try to be perfect, I just keep stepping on Mikhail’s feet, taking the wrong steps, and sticking my tongue out due to how hard I focus. It could be my nerves, but it also feels as though Mikhail is purposely making me mess up so that I look worse. I don’t normally perform this poorly during my dance lessons.

By the time we finish, I’m already sweating and breathing heavily. It feels as though I just ran a mile.

The Queen simply sighs and picks up her switch, gesturing for me to bend over the table.

I try not to look at Edith as I lift my skirt and bend over the table, ready to just take my punishment and get it over with.

“Ah ah ah,” the Queen says, tapping her palm impatiently with the switch. “Underwear, too.”

I stand suddenly and turn to look at the Queen, my eyes wide. “You can’t be serious?” I say. “I… I don’t want to expose myself like that. You never make me remove my underwear.”

“Yes, and your performance was particularly poor today,” the Queen says through her teeth. “What sort of an impression are you trying to make on poor Miss Edith? Now do as your told, or I’ll double your beating.”

Not wanting to anger the Queen and embarrass myself further, I do as I’m told. I pull down my panties, leaving them around my ankles, lift my skirt, and bend over.

The Queen strikes me ten times, each strike harder than the last until I’m crying out at the end.

“I think that concludes our lesson for today,” she says when she’s satisfied with her work. Alice, the Queen, Edith, and Mikhail all leave the room, talking and laughing amongst themselves as though I don’t exist.

With what little dignity I have left, I pull my panties up.

I’m heading to the dining room later to have dinner with Tamara when I hear voices coming from inside Atwood’s study. When I approach, I see that the door is cracked open, letting light from the fireplace pour out into the hallway.

Atwood is… laughing.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh before, which makes me curious. I carefully approach the door, holding my breath so as not to be heard. There’s another voice, a female. It’s Edith.

“Oh, Atwood,” she says in a sing-song voice, “you should have seen it. It really was hilarious.”

Are they talking about me? No, that’s not possible. Atwood would be furious if he heard about the beatings at my etiquette lessons. He wouldn’t be laughing at my pain. But… What if he’s so angry after the incident in Luna’s room that he just doesn’t care anymore?

I chance a peek through the doorway to see Atwood sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. The firelight dances across his face, making him look even more handsome than usual. His black hair is pulled back into a bun and he’s unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, and loosened his tie.

Suddenly, Edith prances into view. She wears a short skirt and a cropped sweater that shows off her incredibly slim waist when she lifts her arms. She hops up onto his desk, swinging her slender legs as she sits and looks at Atwood. He says something that makes her giggle, but I can’t hear what it was.

Tears well up in my eyes. I forget about dinner completely and, not wanting to see any more, run down the corridor and lock myself in my room.