Heirs of the Gods

Ch 66: Pretty princess

Briar's room was exactly as one might expect. Pink, busy and lively.

It was the exact opposite of Ella's more sombre room, with its intricate dark wooden furniture and schemes of emeralds, inky blues and greys.

Colourful balls of yarn and swatches of fabric littered floral armchairs and low tables. Her desk was full of pretty stationery and piles of letters. Potted plants and flowers hung around every nook of her room. A vanity brimmed with little pots of glittery paint, rouge, crystal perfume bottles and stacks of jewellery. Several dresses and skirts draped over the back of an armoire, explosions of tulle and gossamer.

Taking up all attention, a giant four postered bed, like a pink nest full of mountains of fluffy pillows. Ella lazed there, half-listening to Briar as she sprawled on the bed and chattered away, idly painting her nails with a small yellow pot of paint.

"--so now the wedding's off. Lord Roan tried to hide the reason, but it was rather difficult when his son ran away with the stable boy," Briar waggled her brows. "It's not too bad anyway, I know Lady Thalina, and she didn't care for Vaeryn, so she's not upset about the marriage contract being cancelled. Her father is furious, though. He's been trying to get my father to intervene. What do you think?"

She continued painting her nails with a bright shade of sunshine yellow, not even really looking at Ella. She'd done that for the past hour, jumping from subject to subject, as if dreading the moment silence would reign and Ella would get the chance to confront her.

It had barely been a few days since she'd last seen her, but Briar's letters since then had been odd enough to stand out.

Just as lengthy as usual--Briar had a habit of writing just as much as she spoke--but strange in a way that made Ella pause. More anxious, perhaps. So rather than answer her latest letter, which was more rambling and hectic than normal, Ella decided to pay her a visit.

She had somewhat of an idea of what could be bothering her.

Ella, on her stomach, observed her with her chin cradled in her palm. "What I think is that you're stalling."

Briar gasped, startling the sleepy pet bunny on her lap. "I am not! It is a very serious matter, I'll have you know. You're wasting perfectly good gossip here."

Ella snorted. "It's regular noblemen gossip, happens every day. Nothing scandalous, just another affair. You and I know very well I'm not here just to talk about that."

Briar bit her lip guiltily and looked down, smoothing a hand over her pet's soft, tawny fur. Even that was different between them. Ella's horse-sized hellhound and Briar's floppy-eared rabbit.

"Bree," Ella sighed, poking her knee. "You've been dawdling for the past hour."

"I don't know what you mean." Briar pointedly ignored her, painting what must have been a second coat on her nails. The problem was, she'd already done both her hands and even her toes. She could no longer ignore Ella's knowing looks.

"Briar."

"I don't want to talk about it," she whined.

"Yes, you do. You've literally sent me twenty letters in the past few days. I know you want to talk about it."

"I feel like you're going to admonish me," she pouted.

Ella rolled her eyes. "When have I ever called you on something? If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly priestess material. There's little I haven't done myself."

"That's about right, cheeky minx," Briar chuckled and relaxed. "Fine," she huffed. "But I get to question you later. And you let me paint your nails!"

Ella groaned. She knew exactly where that line of questioning was going. "Alright, but let it be known that I'm a wonderful, self sacrificed friend."