I stared at him across the room (Iana # 4)

Continuing from the journals of Princess Iantheia . . . .

"What is it now?" Lady Hildegale scuttled over to us. Prince Flairon swept her a low bow.

I lowered my face trying to hide my embarrassment at Prince Flairon's outburst. As I curtsied to Lady Hildegale I said, "I wished to speak to you Lady Hildegale, regarding a private, personal matter."

It was the wrong thing to say if I hoped to have a private conversation with Lady Hildegale, now everyone near us would want to listen in.

Lady Hildegale came closer to me. "My dear Iana, are you all right? What's wrong?"

"You see I - It's - " All of a sudden, to further my embarrassment, my throat seized up. I couldn't speak. I bit back tears. My chin wobbled.

I couldn't have planned it better if I'd tried. I'm sure I would have put everyone off bumbling around with words. As it was my near breakdown had a remarkable effect on Lady Hildegale.

"Oh my dear, my dear," she cried and threw her arms around me, enveloping me with her a soft gauzy sleeves. It was like being smothered by a cotton cloud.

Immediately I was surrounded on all sides by women. They swarmed from around the room. They cooed at me, hands patting my arms and someone stroked my head. They spoke such calm, sympathetic words. I'm still amazed I didn't burst into tears.

"Poor dear."

"You poor sweet girl."

I heard them say.

I managed to only get a few words out. "My mother is making me leave."

Of course, they were properly shocked. No one could imagine a worse fate than being exiled from Catha, the glorious Circle Kingdom.

"Deep breaths Iana. Deep breaths." Lady Hildegale's voice murmured to me amid the other concerns. She had a tight grip on my arm, like a wrestler, as if she expected me to faint.

I couldn't imagine doing anything so feeble, but my head did feel slightly dizzy and there wasn't much room to breath with all the women clustered around me. The men kept a good distance back, watching all this with an air of uneasy, as if someone had spoiled a pleasant drink with too much salt and sugar.

Then Lady Hildegale pulled on my arm so hard I felt one of my knees buckle.

"Oh, oh," she cried out, pushing at the crowds. "Quickly, a chair. My smelling salts, where are they? Before she faints."

Lady Hildegale shoved her way through the crowds, waving her hands, dragging me along with her toward the settee. She had me lay down, and the other women fussed over me like mother hens. Even at home when I felt ill my mother never gave me such constant attention. It overwhelmed me. They prodded me and stuffed pillows behind my back, only to wrench them away. They lifted my feet up, then dropped them back to the floor.

I didn't mind their help, but with the constant chatter and all the hundreds of questions they threw at me, I never got to speak to Lady Hildegale.

All the noise started to get to me, I could feel myself losing my temper. The stress made my head pound. Lady Hildegale must have noticed. She exclaimed how pale I looked and decided I need to lay down somewhere else, to have peace and quiet to rest my eyes. She took me to her library, and set me on a couch, feet propped up, and a cool compress resting on my head. 

I protested I didn't need to rest, since I really just wanted to speak to her.

She insisted and pressed me down, then they all left the room, returning to the cheerful noise in the sitting room.

I lay there for a moment in the somber, dark of Lady Hildegale's library. The curtains had been pulled, except for one small section. It made the room so dreary. What was I doing with my feet up? This wasn't going to help my situation. I needed Lady Hildegale to let me and Joli and stay with her through the coming season.

I sat up, tossing the cool compress aside.

Someone cleared his throat. I hadn't even realized he was in the room. I thought everyone had left.

The man stood at the window, a book held up to the light. He snapped it shut and looked at me.

I didn't recognize him, nor was he dressed in familiar colors. He wore a fancy blue suit, frills around his wrists and an overly elaborate neck scarf. His hair was a sleek brown and long enough he'd tied it back.

"That was quite the performance," he said, returning his book to the shelf.

I frowned. How dare he. "It wasn't a performance." I informed him. A silence filled the room, as he turned his back to me, and began searching the books again, his fingers tracing the spines. I doubted he'd find anything interesting. I don't think Lady Hildegale kept a library to have books to read.

"It wasn't a performance," I repeated. "I wasn't acting. I was genuinely distressed."

He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "I've seen actresses turn heads in a crowd like you did, all at once. It's quite impressive. Perhaps you have a natural talent."

"I don't." I told him, standing. I wouldn't stay in the same room as someone who insulted me like that. I needed to go find Lady Hildegale. I marched for the door.

"It won't work you know."

I turned back one last time from the doorway. "What?"
He picked another book from the shelf and flipped through the pages. Then he lifted his eyes and stared at me from across the room. Finally he said, "Even I can see what you're trying to do. It doesn't matter how good your acting is Lady Hildegale won't be swayed. She has nothing to gain from taking in a girl like you."
I narrowed my eyes at him. A girl like me . . . a poor girl, he meant. A poor princess from a tiny kingdom of no importance. I wanted to shout something or cry. But what could I say? And crying did no good. Instead I turned on my heel, without saying anything, and walked away. He wasn't worth my time or effort.

to be continued . . .