The Way We Fall

Chapter 33 (Tigris)

It was dark in her chambers when a flicker of light awoke her. Tigris' hand darted for her gun, but a hand blocked her. Before she could wrestle the figure, a familiar voice rang out.

"If you point another weapon at me, I will have a heart attack."

Tigris rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, staring up at the candlelight. She groaned.

"Roche? What the hell are you doing here? What time is it?"

"You won't believe it!" Roche said, her voice far too cheery for this hour of night, "Verita found a way to stop the curse!"

Tigris scowled as a hot glob of candle wax dripped on her sheet. "Roche!"

"Sorry!" Her clumsy maid took a few steps back, lighting the candle on Tigris' bedside table instead. Tigris could see the heavy shadows and unfettered eagerness in the girl's eyes. Tigris repressed a sigh. It was hard to stay mad at Roche for long, she was like a puppy.

A really weird, clumsy, borderline obsessive puppy.

The words from earlier finally filtered through Tigris' mind. She leapt out of bed.

"Verita found something?"

"Uh huh," Roche nodded, holding up a sapphire gown, the back already unlaced. She set down the candle, holding it out so Tigris could step into it. "Your father's holding a meeting right now. I was sent to get you."

Tigris frowned. "He hasn't been resting?" She shouldn't have been sleeping either. Not when scores of her best knights were ambling about in the forest, getting slain by some wicked inkblood. Leinos had threatened her with a sleeping draught if she didn't rest, but Tigris felt uneasy knowing that her father had been up working while she hadn't. It felt like a disservice to her knights.

"He was," Roche's lips crimped with amusement, "Verita sent a servant to wake him. She figured you wouldn't want this to wait until morning."

"She's right." Tigris agreed, shrugging off her nightgown to step into the gown. It was still odd with Roche there, but her maid's eyes seemed glazed with the revelations Verita had found. Tigris suspected she could lay on the ground naked and Roche wouldn't notice.

Roche absently laced the back of Tigris' gown and led her over to the mirrored dresser, pulling out her seat. Before Tigris could stop her, Roche's hands moved like they were on autopilot, grabbing the hair supplies Tigris had used just the day before. She looked up, trying to keep her surprise off her face.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she asked, her scalp tingling. Roche barely seemed to notice.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Well anyway, you won't believe what Verita found. She's really smart, did you know that? It's like she's memorized every single thing in the library, and-" Roche kept yammering on as Tigris struggled not to fall back asleep. She must have nodded off because the next thing she knew, Roche was gently prodding her. Tigris jolted upright, gaping at her reflection.

Roche had woven her hair back into an artful, sophisticated braid. Tigris tilted her head. Not a hair seemed out of place, not even the ones that curled around her face. Hell, there were even small hair jewels tucked into the braid, making her hair seem to glow.

"Do you like it?" Roche's voice was sweet and tentative. Tigris nodded slowly.

"You're a fast learner." she noted, struggling to keep her surprise out of her voice. Roche's cheeks flushed, her hands fiddling with the ends of her short hair.

"I used to braid a lot. I just wasn't sure what products you used. Your hair is different than mine is. A bit more... wild."

The words had the potential to be rude. But when Roche said them, they were merely contemplative. The girl didn't sound patronising, she sounded... awed. Like Tigris' wildness was something worth revering rather than pushing away.