Chapter 21 — Lessons in Being a Lady
Elowen learned quickly that silk felt nothing like linen.
It slid against her skin like water, cool and treacherous, whispering with every movement as if eager to betray her presence. She stood before the tall mirror in her chambers, hands clenched at her sides, staring at the unfamiliar reflection staring back at her.
The woman in the glass looked… wrong.
Not ugly. Never ugly. But misplaced like a wildflower pressed into a gilded frame.
The dress Mistress Virelle had chosen was the color of moonlit ash, fitted at the bodice and flowing freely down her legs. Too fine. Too elegant. Too noble. Elowen tugged at the sleeves, suddenly aware of how exposed her wrists felt without the familiar weight of long maid's cuffs to hide beneath.
"Stop fighting it," Mistress Virelle said calmly from behind her. "The fabric will win. It always does."
Elowen flushed and dropped her hands. "I'm sorry."
The older woman clicked her tongue softly and approached, adjusting the fall of the fabric with expert fingers. "Do not apologize for discomfort. You have worn chains long enough to forget how freedom feels."
Elowen swallowed.
Freedom still felt like a lie she wasn't ready to believe.
Mistress Virelle stepped back, her sharp eyes assessing Elowen not as a maid, but as something else entirely. Something unfinished.
"You are Lord Blackspire's wife," she said. "The court will not see a frightened girl. They will see a lady whether you feel like one or not."
Elowen's fingers twisted together. "I don't know how."
"Good," Virelle replied briskly. "That means you have not yet learned how to pretend."
She gestured toward the sitting area, where a stack of books rested atop a low table. Etiquette. Lineage. Court customs. Political history. The weight of them made Elowen's chest tighten.
"I was told you scrubbed floors," Virelle continued, pouring tea. "That you were invisible."
Elowen nodded. "Yes."
"You will be invisible no longer," Virelle said flatly. "And that will frighten people."
That… did not comfort her.
The first lesson was posture.
"Straight," Virelle said, tapping Elowen's back with a thin cane. "You bow because you were taught to shrink. Lift your chin. You do not beg here."
Elowen tried. Gods, she tried. But her body remembered years of punishment too well. Shoulders that wanted to fold inward. Eyes trained to lower at the first sign of anger.
Again and again, she corrected herself.
Again and again, Virelle corrected her.
By the time they moved on to walking, Elowen's muscles burned in protest.
"You are not sneaking through hallways anymore," Virelle said. "You walk as if the floor belongs to you."
Elowen took a step.
Too quiet.
Another.
Too fast.
She tried again, slower this time, grounding herself in the weight of her boots, the feel of stone beneath her soles. When she reached the far wall, Virelle nodded once.
"Better."
Elowen exhaled shakily.
And then the door opened.
She hadn't heard Kael approach. She never did.
The air itself seemed to change when he entered pressure settling low and heavy, like a storm pausing just overhead. Elowen turned instinctively, heart stuttering.
Kael Draven stood in the doorway, dressed in black as always, his broad shoulders nearly filling the frame. His gaze swept the room once before landing on her.
And stopping.
Something unreadable flickered across his face.
Elowen's first instinct was panic. Was the dress wrong? Had she embarrassed him? She moved without thinking, starting to bow
"Don't," Kael said quietly.
She froze.
His eyes held hers, dark and steady. "You do not bow to me."
"I " Her voice faltered. "It's habit."
"I know," he said.
He crossed the room in long strides, stopping a careful distance away. Close enough that she could feel the warmth of him. Far enough that he gave her space without asking.
Mistress Virelle dipped her head. "My lord. We were in the midst of instruction."
"I can see that," Kael replied, his gaze never leaving Elowen. "You look… different."
Her cheeks warmed. "Is that bad?"
"No," he said immediately. Then paused. "It is… noticeable."
Virelle's lips twitched. "That will be all for today, my lady."
Elowen blinked. "Already?"
"You've learned enough for one day," Virelle said pointedly, her eyes flicking between them. "Rest. Tomorrow will be worse."
She swept from the room, leaving the door firmly closed behind her.
Silence fell.
Elowen shifted, suddenly acutely aware of every inch of skin the dress revealed. "I didn't know you were coming."
"I didn't intend to interrupt," Kael said. "But I wanted to see you."
That alone made her heart stumble.
"You don't have to," she said softly. "I know this marriage is… political."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Is that what you think?"
She hesitated. "It's what I was told."
He stepped closer slowly, deliberately, giving her time to retreat if she wished.
She didn't.
"I agreed to this marriage for leverage," he admitted. "But I did not agree to ignore you."
Her breath caught.
"I see you," he continued. "Even when you try to disappear."
Elowen's throat burned. No one had ever said that to her. Not like this. Not with such certainty.
"I don't know how to be what they expect," she whispered.
Kael's hand lifted paused then gently settled at her elbow, a question rather than a command. When she didn't pull away, his fingers tightened slightly, grounding.
"Then don't be," he said. "Be what you are."
"And what is that?" she asked.
His gaze softened. "Someone kind in a world that survives on cruelty."
The space between them felt charged, thick with unspoken things. His hand remained at her elbow, warm through the thin fabric, sending awareness spiraling through her in ways she didn't yet have words for.
Slowly, carefully, he withdrew.
"For the court," he added, his voice lower now, "stand beside me. You do not need to speak. You do not need to smile. Just stand."
"And if they insult me?" she asked.
His eyes darkened. "Then they insult me."
Something inside her steadied.
"Yes, my lord," she said before she could stop herself.
Kael frowned slightly. "Elowen."
She looked up.
"Say my name."
Her heart raced. "Kael."
The way his breath shifted just barely told her it mattered.
"Good," he said. "We'll start there."
When he left, the room felt emptier.
But for the first time in her life, Elowen stood tall in front of the mirror.
And the woman staring back at her no longer looked like a maid waiting to be broken.
She looked like someone learning how to belong.