Part 22

I tried to speak again, but nothing came out. I wanted one of my dresses, the loose fern green one that was lined, the one father had gotten me last winter. It had the sweetest matching cloak with a soft and fuzzy wool lining on it and a hood with little mittens attached to each of the sides with a braided rope. It was fern green in a Gingham pattern with other paler greens and grays mixed in.

“Does your voice hurt?” Bethany was good at guessing things, she always knew what mother wanted before he even seemed to know he wanted it. She must have some kind of magic talent for it because she was right. My voice did hurt.

I nodded softly, and the maids around us cooed before Bethany quickly waved them off with her hand and they all started to move again.

“How about you hold one finger up for one of the dresses from Reobeth, and two fingers up for one of your dresses?” Her smile was kind. I'm starting to see why my mother liked her so much.

I didn't interact with her a lot, I didn't interact with a lot of the staff besides the few that were assigned especially to my brother, cousins, and I or the ones that were so busy with my uncles and parents that they hardly ever left their sides.

Bethany was almost one of those. Though my parents always tried to be without the staff when they were with us. They wanted to have some time alone with us whenever they could, they wanted my brother and I not to be watched constantly. Especially when we were with them.

I smiled back a bit, I think. It might have been more of a grimace because doing so made my head hurt more again. I held up two fingers and she smiled even brighter.

“One of yours then! Should I have someone pick out a nice comfy one for you today? Or do you want a special one?”

I wanted my green one. It was comfy and warm and I wanted to wear one of my dresses again. I had been sitting in borrowed nightclothes for months now. Items from the guest closets and spares from the laundry. I wanted to wear something that I had loved to wear. But my voice hurt a lot and I didn't want to explain exactly which one I wanted. Maybe she would understand with just a few words?

“Father.. Green.” I tried to gesture with a little cloak with my hands as I spoke.

Bethany’s head tilted to the side and she seemed to ponder a bit before cracking another smile and nodding. “I think I understand! I’ll go get it myself for you, ok?”

I nodded again and she spoke to some of the others before whisking her way out of the room. Two of the maids helped me out of bed and into the bath.

The large porcelain tub was full of water and the room was thick with steam. It smelled like woods, sage, and lavender, my father’s and mother’s usual perfume scents, and the ones my brother and I had adopted for our use as well.

I was helped out of the damp nightgown and gently slipped into the bath to soak for a little bit. One of the girls went out, probably to help the others clean up the mess I had left and to make up the bed again. They would probably need to strip and clean the sheets off of it.

I needed to remember to apologize to them for the mess I had made.

I spent a while in the warm water of the tub. One of the maids gently scrubbed the foamy soap through my hair while another carefully washed my skin with a soft cloth and fragrant serums.

The bath water had started to turn cold by the time I was gently guided out of the large porcelain tub.

Bethany had slipped into the room at some point, holding a small pile of folded green and brown clothes.

“I brought the clothes you asked for little princess!” She smiled brightly, holding up one of my older dresses, a simple brown one that was long-sleeved and floor length and lined on the inside with a thick fuzzy layer. Alongside that, she had brought one of my father’s favorite sweaters, the pale green one he would wear when he took my brother and me out of our beds to look at the stars on chilly nights.

Cold nights were the clearest he had always told us. He would bundle us up and bring us out to one of the tall towers with a flat roof or out into the gardens. One time he had even taken us into the carriage to go to a small mountaintop not too far away to look at the sky.

It was a full moon in mid-winter, the sky was the clearest I had ever seen it. Mother had come with us, insisting on wrapping both of us up into thick woolen blankets even with our coats and cloaks on.

Father had been wearing this sweater then, underneath his thick winter cloak of dark gray wool. He had tucked me into the long folds of it while he held to look at the stars, pointing out the ones he knew were our favorites. I had fallen asleep with my head on his shoulder on the way back to the carriage, nuzzling into the soft sweater as he walked us back with my mother and brother.

I didn't say anything as Bethany helped me get dressed. She and the maids had dried me off, one of them was still patting my hair dry while Bethany slipped the dress over my head while yet another girl was putting my leggings and long socks on.

After the sweater was put over me the girls helped me out into the guest room. It was clean and smelled like fresh linens. The bed was newly made and the rug had been changed out.

They sat me down on the plush vanity stool while Bethany started to brush my hair. One of the maids, a girl with blonde hair and bright emerald eyes, was smiling and whispering happily to the brunette this morning. One of them was applying creams to my hands and face while the other was tying the shoes that she had slipped onto my feet.

“Do you want your hair in any particular way today princess?” Bethany’s voice snapped me out of the daze I had fallen back into.

When I said nothing and made no move to reply the other two girls pipped up eagerly.

“Oh! Maybe she can do birds in your hair! They’re all the rage right now!” The brunette clapped excitedly from her place by my side, cheerfully speaking but keeping her voice quiet still.

“Oh! Perhaps we can do curls! Reobeth fashion is always into curls!”

“Maybe even little buns!”

“Yes! Little braids made into buns with the rest of her hair down in curls!”

The two were tittering at each other, bouncing ideas back and forth between them while Bethany and I watched.

Well, I was watching them. Bethany was watching me.

“Lilly, Tilda.”

Both girls spun around, answering her quickly.

“I understand we all are very excited about the Princess making great strides in her recovery, but we can't go back to how things were just yet. Let's give her some space and try not to overwhelm her with too many options.”