The Half-Class by Kayvion Lewis
Chapter Twenty-Four
Daytime visitors were becoming more frequent for us. I wasn’t even surprised when Auntie Jen yanked me from bed to greet our guests downstairs—and there were many.
Donnie had told me someone would be coming by to fit me with a gown for dinner, but he didn’t mention the tailor’s four assistants or the countless bolts of fabric they brought with them. The ladies and their cloth wheels took up almost all of our apartment’s living area. By the time they’d hauled in everything, every sofa along with the entirety of Auntie’s bed was draped in fabrics, laces, and buttons galore.
Auntie had no idea what was going on, but she didn’t object as the plethora of fabrics and notions were brought in. She only eyed me curiously from the staircase while I watched from the doorway. The rustle woke Kat up, and she soon made her way downstairs as well. Though groggy at first, her eyes blinked wide open as soon as she laid them on the wonderland that had grown downstairs. “Such exquisite fabrics!” Kat ran her hands over a reel of royal blue velvet.
I’d never been to Ryland, but I’d heard stories about their ornate fashions, in everything from their clothes to their architecture. The materials ranged from elaborate brocades to intricate laces and lush velvets like the one Kat couldn’t stop touching. Aside from a few creamy whites, every reel was rolled with a sweepingly dark fabric. People back in Aurell must have loved deep shades—in their clothing at least.
The tailor herself, a tall eastern woman who introduced herself as Geane, took notes as her assistants measured me.
“This is a formal event,” Geane said. She jotted down the last of my measurements. “An evening gown will be required. So long as it meets that standard, we will make whatever gown you desire. All you need do is choose the fabric and embellishments, and tell us what style to make it in.”
“Style?” I repeated skeptically.
“Would the lady like a full skirt or a slim skirt?” an assistant asked.
“A low neckline or a high neckline?” another asked.
“A laced back or a button lined?”
“Capped sleeves or off-the-shoulder?”
I tried not to say aloud that it didn’t matter. I may have been going to a royal dinner, but I was also going into battle—not a night of pleasure.
“Off the shoulder,” Kat answered behind me. “We can build from there.”
They worked all morning. Kat pulled my, actually her, favorite dresses from our wardrobe and pointed out the aspects of each that I, actually she, liked the most. This must have been a fantasy come to life for her; custom designing a gown with royal tailors. I suspected she imagined herself in it every step of the way. No matter, she could have it when I was done.
The only request I made was that my gown’s design be kept on the simpler side. I knew the stereotype for upper-class mistresses—they only cared about their companion’s wealth and loved to show it in gaudy, over-the-top constructions. The thought of falling into that stereotype for the king made my stomach turn. The simpler the dress, the better. And aside from that, I wanted to bring a touch of Morra in with me. Our fashions were never so bold, and if I was going into battle on unfamiliar territory, I wanted to feel a little like myself. With a design settled on, Geane and her ladies loaded up their bolts and accessories and left, promising to return with the finished product a few hours before dusk the following day. It would be a rushed order, but with Geane’s plethora of assistants, I had no doubt it could be done.
Auntie disappeared at some point during the designing. With the barn unlikely to reopen that night, I suppose she wanted to go explore the city. Or maybe meet with Albo, for whatever reason.
Kat darted upstairs the moment Geane and the rest were gone. I followed her up soon after. I’d fallen asleep waiting for her to return after I sent her to tell Gilow about the letter and dinner request, but she hadn’t woken me up when she got back. Now was the time to find out what our fearless leader had said.
“Well?” I shut our bedroom door behind me.
“Well, what?” Kat pulled the sheets back over her, ready to settle back into sleep.
“Gilow! You didn’t wake me up. What the hell did he say?”
“Oh, he wrote a note.” She gestured to the side table near our bed. “I thought you’d already seen it.”
I stomped to the table and snatched the note, glaring at her for a moment as she turned over. For someone who had seemed so dedicated to her newfound cause just the other day, she was awfully nonchalant about this now.
I unfolded the thin paper. Compared to Cass’s note, which Kat had thankfully also brought back and left on the table, Gilow’s was much less impressive. A thin sheet of parchment with scratchy writing scrawled across. There was no ‘dear Evelyn.’ It only began.
I’d hoped things would progress as such. Be vigilant and observant during your visit. Talk to everyone you can, ask many questions, and venture into every room open to you. If there’s a place where the key to our next steps lies, it’s there. Find it, whatever it takes.
If you’re clever, you might even be able to prolong your stay. That would be most desirable.
Your family is counting on you,
-G
I slid the paper under the nightstand, deciding not to snap at Kat for leaving things like this in the open.
That was it? Just be observant? I could have told myself that. Gilow didn’t have any specific instructions for me, but his last sentence told me everything I needed to know. He didn’t need to give me clear-cut information to elicit yet, because he could do that later. This was to be only the first time I’d visit the castle. Gilow was expecting me to be invited back again, likely for an overnight visit. It would be “most desirable.”
An unsettled feeling crawled up my stomach. I knew I’d agreed to this, but Gilow didn’t hesitate at all, expecting me to do anything to get Cass to let me stay at the castle. It was like I was just a wind-up toy…
“Are you done?” Kat whined into her pillow. “If so, can you turn that lantern down?”
I gritted my teeth. When had Kat become so irritating? I strode across the room, grabbed the lantern from the arm of our sofa, and carried it and myself out of the room, making sure the door slammed behind me.
I found Auntie in the cellar.
After wasting hours trying to distract myself with volumes of Taliver I’d already read, making an awful omelet, playing a short game of where’s Albo-—he was asleep in one of the customer’s room—and doing anything that could be considered a natural evolution of pacing, I decided to circle back around to the cellar. I’d seen Auntie entering the dank room with a broom and towels earlier. The secrets I’d been keeping from her seemed to be adding up by the day. If I needed something to do, mending things with her was probably a good idea.
Auntie only looked up for a second as I strolled across the cellar floor and picked up the broom leaning against the wall, then returned her gaze to the table she was wiping down. I swept in silence for a moment before she spoke.
“Those ladies from the castle?” she asked, still not looking up.
I pursed my lips. “They are.”
She tucked a few loose strands of silver hair behind her ear and nodded. “They don’t work for that other boy you’ve been spending time with, do they?”
“They do, actually.”
“Does Luke know about this?”
“He does.” I gripped the broom handle. “I would have told you. I just—"
“Like I said before, Evie, you and Kat don’t have to tell me nothing. You’re almost a grown woman. What you wanna do is your business.” She stopped wiping and looked up at me. “I just want you to be careful, that’s all.”
“I know.”
We returned to our silent cleaning. I was unsure if Auntie was truly angry or not. She wasn’t attacking the table with her rag, which she tended to do when she was really angry, but the air around us still felt sharp.
“A dinner, huh?” Auntie asked as she moved to the next table. “At least you’ll be able to get some good food for a night.”
I relaxed. We were alright. “And have you ever been to a formal dinner, Auntie?” I asked, gliding the tattered broom across the rather dusty cellar floor and feeling a thousand times lighter.
“Once.” She swiped a small collection of dirt down to the floor. “When I was a younger woman.”
I stopped sweeping. I didn’t think the answer would actually be yes. “You never told me about this.”
“You never asked.” Auntie pulled a chair from the table and started working on it. “It was a long time ago. I think I was about eighteen. Yes, I must have been because it was right after your papa turned fourteen, and Louisa was only thirteen.” A rare smile crossed Auntie’s face, remembering the three of them all those years ago.
“Who invited you? And where was it?” Auntie Jen was so stingy with stories taking place before her siblings passed, so when I got them, I pounced.
“It was in Ryland, actually. Before they took hold of Morra. I had a friend, a good friend, who had a sister who was getting married to a man who lived in Hythe.”
“Hythe,” I frowned. “That’s near the border, right?”
She nodded. “My friend invited me to her sister’s wedding. I was young and eager to run off by myself for the first time. I told my papa, your grandfather, I was going. He gave me ten silver coins, which was more money than he’d ever given me before, and sent me off.” Auntie chuckled. “I remember thinking, ‘I would’ve gone on trips before if I knew he’d give me this much coin.’ Hell, that’s probably where Louisa got the idea to leave from.” Her smile faded a bit.
“Anyways.” Auntie waved away the tangent. “I wasn’t expecting anything big. Just a simple ceremony in someone’s front room or maybe at a tavern like we do here.” She paused as her eyes fixed on something I couldn’t see. “But Evie, when we got there to that groom’s house, it was the most marvelous thing I’d ever seen. He lived in this glorious mansion. Carriages were lined down the street dropping off guests. Meanwhile, Jessa, my friend, and I were riding up on a beat-up old horse. Oh, we got so many stares!” Auntie covered her mouth and snickered.
I smiled too. Had I ever seen my aunt so tickled?
“It turned out that Jessa’s sister, who ran off from home over a year earlier, had managed to snare a very wealthy man. Jessa didn’t know none the better! We’d been making jests ‘bout how her husband to be was probably a traveling clown or a butler the entire journey. I can only imagine our faces walking into that grand foyer, it the midst of all those gowns and jewels, while we had dirt on our shoes and dust in our hair from the ride.” She slapped her skirt as if brushing off the dirt from all those years ago. “You know, I think that’s the only reason Jessa’s sister sent for her because they hadn’t never been close before she left. I think she just wanted to see the look on Jessa’s face as she descended those steps in the deepest red dress I’d ever seen. Jessa looked like she was gonna faint with jealousy through the whole ceremony! And after that, we sat through the nicest dinner I’ve ever eaten. It was so much fun! There were games and dancing and so much food. Some of the people were a little uppity, but most of them were nice enough--once they got enough liquor in them. In less than an hour, we were dancing and singing like we’d lived in Ryland all our lives.”
Auntie’s smile was endless and contagious. This was one of her most treasured memories, the type that still brought her joy to think about. Why hadn’t she shared it with me sooner?
Auntie fell into the very same chair she’d been cleaning. I laid the broom down and took the seat next to her. She sighed heavily as the laughter began to drain from her face. “I met a man at that party,” she said, barely above a whisper.
I furrowed my brow. Now this she certainly hadn’t mentioned before.
“I didn’t even realize how much I fancied him until the end of the party,” she admitted. “Jessa and I were about to take our leave, but he stopped me and asked to meet me the next day. We were supposed to leave in the morning, but for some reason, I said yes.” She shook her head slightly. “I think it was me wanting to be rebellious and wild. And at the time, Ryland seemed new and intriguing. And he, he was mysterious and older than me and so very handsome. Wealthy, of course. Maybe I thought I could end up like Jessa’s sister. How stupid that was, had I considered where we were.” She fiddled with the rag in her hands. “I stayed there for a whole month. We only met at night, at a townhouse he owned. That was fine with me. I thought the night was more romantic anyway. And when my papa’s coin ran out, which was very soon, he let me stay there. It was like a waking dream. We barely ever left the house. You know I think for those few days, I loved him. At least I thought I did.”
Sorrow had crept over her so quickly. “What happened?” I whispered.
She cleared her throat. “It wasn’t meant to be. Life came crashing down, and he had to leave. I had to leave. But I knew I’d never be able to forget about him.” Auntie stared numbly off across the cellar. “Or his dark eyes. That coarse hair.” She closed her eyes. “His beautiful deep brown skin.”
My heart sank for her. Oh.
“Like I said.” She wrung the rag in her hand. “It wasn’t meant to be. But I wouldn’t ever change nothing I did.” She stood from the chair and moved on to the next table.
In that instant, pieces started to fall into place in my mind.
“How long ago was this?” I thought out loud.
“Twenty-seven years,” she said.
She knew exactly. Again, my heart sank for Auntie as I realized that this month in Ryland had left her with so much more than bittersweet memories.
“What was his name? Your love?” I asked, but I already knew.
She didn’t look back. “His name was Alboran. But I called him Albo.”