It started out as a friendship. That's all.
The marchioness invited her to a few dinners, then a few parties. Whenever Esther had the time, she attended these engagements, and she would usually end up socializing with very high class people. One day, Esther found herself taking a risk. She went to the marchioness' townhouse unannounced, as if they were close friends, and she brought a worry stone as a present. It was a smooth creation made of rose quartz with an indentation for a nervous, fidgeting thumb to rub into over and over.
Esther was smiling when she was led into a drawing room by a butler, and her smile widened when the marchioness came to her with open words and a complete absence of annoyance. They took tea together, and Esther gave her the gift.
The noble's nearly perfect teeth were licked for only a moment as she examined the worry stone, testing its smooth, firm structure with her small fingers. "It's a thoughtful present, Miss Urvine. I'm quite fond of it."
Within a week from that day, they began using each others' given names, and Esther learned of the marchioness' much more vulgar speech that she fell into when she was comfortably casual.
And one morning, as they walked together in a public garden full of a variety of flowers, Esther noticed Lillitu's fingers fishing out something from a pocket. It turned out to be the worry stone. As Lillitu chatted on about everything from tea to ballet, she rubbed and flipped and tossed the stone again and again.
The woman didn't speak about any of her troubles, but she clearly had some, probably even more than Esther knew about. All one had to do was look at her hands to realize just how much concern was in Lillitu's mind. Esther was beginning to have her own worries over the little woman. Even if she turned out to not have the sort of interests Esther wanted her to have, she was still a good friend.
She chose a private morning visit to bring the subject up. Lillitu was sitting in her favored drawing room, flipping her pink stone about. Esther sat beside her, tapping her fingers onto a table loaded with dominoes.
"I'm surprised your hair hasn't turned gray from all the stress you have," Esther said.
Lillitu squeezed her worry stone with her fingers, holding it against her palm. Her eyes went from her hand, to Esther's calculating features, and back to her hand again.
"I suppose I express more stress than I deserve to have." Lillitu said with a strangely defeated voice. "I must say, though, that I've earned the right to much more hardship than the poor Adurants. They're excellent people. They never deserved the horrors sleeping in their castle."
"What do you think you deserve?" Esther straightened her position in her seat, her pale orange over-skirt rustled against the matching under-skirt.
"Give me a moment, Esther."
Lillitu ordered all the servants away. Then she rose from her seat with the elegance expected of an aristocrat. As if her feet were on air, she seemed to float as she went to the drawing room's door. Her shoes didn't even click against the hardwood. She might have altered her gait to be quieter. She closed the door and then she glided back to her seat.
Lillitu put her worry stone between her two hands and over her lap. Her smile was painful and sardonic.
"A woman was once my friend years ago, and now she's dead."
Esther nodded and laced her fingers together.
Lillitu continued, "Lady Bethaline Bransted was my friend, long ago." Her nearly flat bosom rose a bit more than usual. "She was also engaged to marry dear Erdgar ... ah ... His Grace, Duke Adurant."
"I didn't hear about that." Esther mostly focused on crimes. "Obviously, he didn't end up with her. He ended up with the pretty blonde."
A curt nod, and then Lillitu tilted her head. Her eyelids flickered a bit. "There was a terrible fire at Castle Adurant, and my sweet friend became disfigured. Bethaline was disgusted by him. She abandoned him, and she even lied to their peers. She said he actually threatened to kill her. I know him too well to ever believe something so ridiculous."
"How did His Grace react to that?"
Lillitu tapped her worry stone with a clean fingernail, making hard little noises. "He held his home close. He didn't enjoy the Social Season for years, and he hid his face behind masks of fabric. Eventually, though, he found a sweet little woman to be his bride, and he soon let himself walk bare-faced, literally bare-faced, in front of even the most judgmental people."
Esther patted her hair and said with a soft expression, "I wish his story had ended there. This recent bit of drama couldn't have been good for him."
Lillitu's fingers turned visibly hot and dark pink as she increased the pressure on her worry stone. "I hadn't spoken to Bethaline since she had harmed Erdgar." She seemed to be forgetting that Esther wasn't on an informal basis with these people, and in Esther's mind, it was strange to have these people referred to by their given names.
"However, soon after the Adurants returned to the Social Season, and I realized how happy they were, I constructed a plan. I wanted Bethaline to see how happy she could have been if she hadn't been such a vicious fool, and that she could never have that happiness. I had her believe I wanted her friendship again, and then I tried to make an opportunity to crush her spirit."
Esther shrugged and crossed her ankles under her gown. "Sounds pretty satisfying to me."
"But, in the process, I've committed a terrible crime."
A pause.
Esther leaned toward the other woman, her dark eyes narrowing. "Would you mind explaining?"
A sigh. Lillitu's lips tightened. She tapped at her worry stone again. Then she explained.
"I invited the couple, and Bethaline, to my home. And ... completely without their consent ... I drugged the Adurants' food."
Esther's throat was filled up with an angry mist. She barked out, "That's disgusting!"
"I know! I know!" Lillitu's finger joints seemed to click. "I put a strong aphrodisiac into their food, and I offered them a guest room, claiming that they seemed tired. The couple went in there, all bothered and ready to make a two backed beast. Then, I asked Bethaline to come with me into a secret room with peepholes. I had Bethaline watch the couple for a tick. Then I led her away. I explained just how badly she ruined herself, and then I threw her out of my house. I didn't socialize with her since then, and I believe the reason why she killed herself was because of me. She's been so depressed all these years because of me. I did this."
"I don't know what to think of you!" Esther honestly didn't. She stood up and looked away from Lillitu's miserable, uncertain expression. "I need to leave. I need to sort out my feelings. Please, excuse me."
"Of course." Lillitu nodded. "You are free to leave whenever you wish."
"Fine, then. Have a good day, if you can."
Esther left the townhouse in such a hurry that she nearly tripped on the stairs that led to the street.
She needed to figure out what in the world she was supposed to think.
***
It was a cozy summer night, a soft night. It was the kind of night in which one's pillow feels especially comfortable, one's body is blissfully relaxed, and one could fall asleep quite easily.
Rosanda was at peace.
Her life was completely free of anything horrible. She painted whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She had so much free time that sometimes she wasn't sure what to do with herself. Whenever Alex was around, they would engage in pleasant activities, and most of them weren't even sexual. There were board games, cue sports games, leisurely walks, theater shows, and sometimes a ball or two. He had to be selective about which ball to escort her to, though. No royal balls, because the king was guaranteed to be there. As for any balls he knew the king would attend, those were also out of the question.
There were also gifts! Lavish gifts! Jewelry, cosmetics, perfumes, kaleidoscopes, books, bouquets of flowers, and the finest sweetmeats available.
As Rosanda snuggled and cuddled with her pillow, relishing the perfect balance of softness and firmness, she considered all the wonderful memories piling up in her mind. She was nearly bursting from the happiness.
