Page 6 of The Shadow of Breninsol
Eleanor didn’t begrudge Iris and Jasmine having their hands full watching Calla. Judging by Iris’s sharp eye, she was mindful of Calla and her wine intake, while Jasmine kept her attention on the surrounding room, no doubt sizing up their options for the evening. Observing the trio this close, it reinforced Calla’s pairing with Jasmine and Iris; they were more grounded than Calla.
“Have you had any luck?” Iris asked, distracting Eleanor from searching the ballroom for whoever was watching her.
Eleanor shook her head. “I’ve been too busy enjoying this,” she replied, tipping her glass towards them, smiling.
“Me too,” exclaimed Calla, grabbing a flute from a passing servant in a white and light-yellow uniform. “And this…” she paused, taking a large sip, “this isamazing.”
“We’d best all pick someone before the evening’s out,” Iris cautioned. At Eleanor’s questioning raised brow, Iris elaborated. “We don’t all get a repeat invite if we don’tperform.”
From the way Iris put a seductive emphasis in her voice, it wasn’t difficult for Eleanor to discern Iris’s not-so discreet meaning.
“How many do they expect us to see in one night?” Eleanor asked.
Iris lifted her shoulder. “It varies. It’s a tame party, so I’d say one is enough for tonight. Best make it a good one, though.”
“And be discreet about it,” Jasmine muttered from the corner of her mouth as she gave a pearly white smile to some lord that had caught her eye from the crowd. “The question is whether we stay as a trio.”
“It’s expected.” Iris nodded while she scanned the courtier that Jasmine had narrowed in on and gave a wider smile.
“I’d better step back from you three.”
“Unless you want to join,flower,” Iris replied, her voice dredged with temptation.
“I think you already have your hands full with this one,” Eleanor said, tilting her head towards Calla, whose eyes were flitting around the ballroom, not fixing on one detail for a few seconds. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to show you up,” she said, giving the women a playful smile that made Iris laugh.
Eleanor shied away from the look on Jasmine’s face and continued. “Before I leave you ladies to find your unsuspecting prey for the night, where do we take them?”
“We’re not Favours yet, so we stick to the rooms they make available for us during this part of the Season. It’s in that corridor.” Iris inclined her head towards a wide hallway on the other side of the ballroom, screened by drapes decorated with the king’s golden crest in the centre.
“Ahh, discreet then,” Jasmine muttered, as they all watched a courtesan from one of the other pleasure houses lead a lord through the white curtains.
“Tits up,” Eleanor murmured, as she moved away from the Petals, who went to charm the lord Jasmine had been smiling at.
Eleanor floated steadily around the room, making eye contact with various courtiers, and to her amusement, not all of them were men. In a different life, Eleanor would have sacrificed anything to be among these people. She’d have killed to be here. Stars, she had killed trying to get into somewhere like this. Although, that was another place, another lifetime. Questions swirled in her mind like a whirlpool.What would she do now? Carry out a lone crusade, but to what end? Who was alive that would care anymore?However, one question consistently bubbled to the surface, overpowering the other questions;what was the point?
Eleanor had repeated the lie to herself so many times that she’d believed it, that her time at The Ladies Grace had culminated in this moment; an opportunity to be at the palace. The truth was, though, she’d been hiding in The Ladies Grace from this moment, and from everything else.
The reality of leading a lord through the king’s crested white curtains was anything but discreet. Mostly, the courtiers gave the drapes a wide berth. Although, the lords gave their fellows aknowing smirk as they walked by with a courtesan. They might as well have patted the lord’s back, in a misguided show of machismo. But the noble ladies acted like the drapes offended them, regarding them with the same disgust usually reserved for a pile of manure.
Interestingly, none of the courtesans or lords came back through the curtains. There must be a secondary corridor that led them somewhere else, but to discover what lay beyond the drapes, Eleanor needed to have a lord in tow.
Eleanor sipped her wine as she watched the ballroom, seeing the dancers moving to a weaving tune, dipping and gliding between pairs, jewels on dresses, long-coats, hair, and skin flashing brilliantly with their fluid movements. The sapphire-wrapped lord she’d been talking to earlier was dancing with an equally pretty blonde woman in a pink shimmering gown. He got his dance after all, and with an uncrowned storybook princess, it seemed.
The evening had reached a point when all the other courtesans from The Ladies Grace had departed with their courtiers, and not all of them had been discreet. Courtesans from the Moonlight House and the other pleasure houses were equally indiscreet. The few remaining courtesans were notably young and mostly a bit jumpy.
Not all courtesans enjoyed the privilege of choosing their clients, but Eleanor was well-versed in this game. If she stayed standing in one place long enough, it would give the lords an opportunity to approach and corner her. Refusing them was not an option. The strategy involved standing for a few sips, then casually moving away, feigning intense interest in her surroundings. By playing this dance, Eleanor had bypassed two bloated lords without looking like she’d snubbed them. But the evening was wearing on and she needed to secure a lord tonight. Eleanor knew she needed a repeat invite. It wouldn’t do forher invitation to be withdrawn. Madam Grace would be furious, perhaps even banishing her to a more unpleasant place. That couldn’t happen.
Eleanor continued to ignore the sensation of being watched as she picked up another glass of the sweet drink, swaying her way towards the small group of four young-looking lords who’d caught her eye earlier. She plastered a smile on her face as she caught their attention. The young lords straightened, nudging each other as they saw her nearing their group. Any of them would suit her purpose for tonight. They were all good looking, but she knew she only needed one lord.
They were wearing the current fashion judging by all the men in the ballroom: well-made black boots with matching trousers tucked in, a long-coat that stopped above the knees paired with a waistcoat and white shirt, and a cane. These lords were a mixture of blues and greens, but their noticeably lacy neckcloths made their outfits memorable. Much like the others in court, it was a piece of white or cream silk wrapped around their neck. Rather than neatly tucking their neckcloths in, they left them exposed, hanging loosely over their waistcoats. Along with their clothes being fashionable, so too was their hair, free flowing and long, stopping past their shoulders.
Eleanor gave a low curtsey and a seductive “my lords,” making sure to catch each of the four lords’ eyes as she smiled.
“Courtesan,” the four lords murmured in unison.
She stood straight as their eyes roamed over her body. To her annoyance, Madam Grace’s voice echoed in her mind.Tits up.
“We were wondering what you were waiting for,” said the lord with pin-straight ebony hair and a confident smile.
