Sisters of String and Glass, Part 10

Chapter Five – continued

Abigail’s slippered footsteps quickly faded to nothing. Silence returned to the main hall. Camille had never been so alone with her thoughts before. The past two days had been a…unique experience.

On the bright side, Andalissa was back. They’d exchanged letters over the years, keeping their friendship strong. Andalissa, unlike Camille, had been able to wheedle one of the guards at Murant Holdings to teach her swordplay properly. Andalissa was eager to teach her friend. She was also eager to continue to work with Camille to match their siblings.

Camille frowned as she scrubbed absently at a crystal. Abigail had been quite young before the Murant family had left, too young to be properly matched with Adrian, but now the two families were back in the city and neither Abigail nor Adrian was attached. Never mind that Abigail was trying to set up Madeline with Adrian. Camille and Andalissa knew their siblings were meant to be together.

“Camille!”

She nearly fell off the ladder. Clutching the sides with knuckles gone white, she peered around the chandelier to see Muriel smirking at her, her hands on her waist. She fought the urge to let her lips curl up in distaste. The woman still hadn’t learned that voluminous skirts had gone out of fashion last year.

“Muriel,” Camille responded through gritted teeth.

The woman pointed to a pile of fabric heaped at the base of the ladder. “The laundry. There are also a few gowns that need some repairs. I expect them to be washed and fixed by supper.”

Without waiting for a reply, Muriel whirled away, leaving Camille to grind her teeth together in a most unladylike way. Her mother would have scolded her. But it was just another thing to add to her tally, another thing to relate to her father when he returned.

How Muriel expected Camille and Abigail to not say anything when he returned was beyond her.

But then her blood froze. Muriel was already holding Abigail hostage, whether or not Abigail knew it. What would Muriel do to keep Camille quiet?

Camille set her jaw and went back to cleaning the crystals. She would just have to get her sister married off to Adrian as quickly as possible to keep her safe.

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