Page 96 of A Slipper in the Smoke
“Oh!” said Mariah, looking up, “I’m so sorry! Your Highness—” She did a quick bow, almost toppling over.
“Steady now,” said Elena, racing over to help her into a chair. “What’s the matter?”
“Oh, please don’t trouble yourself—”
“Please,” said Elena, “dry your tears, and tell me what’s happened.”
“It’s my shoe,” Mariah sniffled. “The heel…” She held up her clenched hand and lifted up her skirt; the heel had fallen straight off.
Elena smiled. “This is fixable,” she said. “Stay here.”
She didn’t have her toolkit, but a pair of nail scissors resting in a painted seashell beside the sink served the part of a screwdriver well. She eased the broken heel from Mariah’s grip. It was designed to slot into place with a couple of screws.
“That’s amazing!” Mariah said, watching her work. “Where did you learn to do that?”
Elena froze. It had not occurred to her that a princess might not know how to use a screwdriver. “Oh,” she said, “it’s just common sense. I’ve broken a lot of shoes in my day, you know!”
Mariah laughed as Elena slipped the shoe back on for her. “Thank you.”
Elena smiled at her.
A sharp rap at the door cut through their conversation, a rap Elena felt in her chest. It sent shivers down her spine. “Mariah!” hissed the Baroness. “Are you quite done, child? I’ve located a servant to assist you—”
“It’s all right, Maman!” Mariah called back. “It’s all fixed.”
“All fixed? How?” The door clicked open. Elena braced herself for the sneer, the look of displeasure, the cutting words—but all that came was a sharp gasp, followed by a hasty bow.
“Your Highness,” the Baroness muttered. “I am so sorry. We did not mean to disturb you—”
“No harm done,” Elena assured her, wanting her to leave as soon as possible.
“If there is any way we can make this—”
Elena waved her hand. “The girl is fine. I will leave you to your evening.”
The Baroness’ face flickered, her eyes searching. Elena froze, wondering if she’d said something wrong, something that had given the Baroness cause to doubt her. But that couldn’t be right. EvenPiphadn’t recognised her.
“As you wish, Your Highness,” said the Baroness, ushering Mariah out of the room. “Come, child. Let us leave the princess in peace.”
The door closed behind her. Elena breathed a huge sigh of relief. She tugged her gloves back on and scooted back into the ballroom, searching for Snowdrop. She stood in the shadows, still as ever.
“Recovered?” she whispered under her mask.
Elena nodded. “Pip?”
“He’s by the dais, talking to Prince Nero.”
Elena followed her gaze, letting it rest on Pip. He looked so perfectly at ease here in this glittering world. Why had she not seen it before?
“Look alive,” Snowdrop rushed. “You have company.”
Elena turned, only to find herself face-to-face with the Baroness again, so close that her breath almost brushed the cheek she’d bruised mere hours ago.
“Forgive me,” said the Baroness, holding up a champagne flute, “an offering, for the help you gave my daughter.”
“It was no bother,” Elena said, fighting the urge back away, to run, to flee.
“I’m surprised a royal knows anything about fixing shoes.”
