Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [133]
“I don’t have a reputation, Dikendraval. I’m nobody.”
The city tumanhofer schooled her face into an expression of haughty sophistication. She leaned forward and whispered, “My mother would tell. I love my mother, but she is a gossip, and the juicier the tidbit, the more she will chew on it.” Dikendraval let her staged face slip. “We’ll have to attract his attention from up here.”
“How?”
Dikendraval leaned forward to look at her parents. Her mother cast her a severe look, and she straightened up. “It’s hopeless, Ellicinderpart. My mother would catch us for sure. I never get away with anything.”
Ellie’s eyes had been on the progression of the parade. She turned back to look straight at Dikendraval. “I’m going down there.”
“No!” Dikendraval’s grip on her arm tightened. “I have a better idea. We’ll go be servants at the Muskagillians’ Ball.”
“Servants? Your mother won’t let me go down to the street, but she’d let us masquerade as servants?”
“Everyone does it. Well, all the young women. You get a chance to see all the fabulous ball gowns, hear the music, and all you do is carry trays into the public rooms and offer refreshments to the guests. It’s the only way you or I will ever get to see such grandeur. My mother and probably your aunt did the same thing when they were young.”
Ellie looked at Aunt Tiffenbeth’s flushed face. Her aunt admired the people parading past. Her own heart had been set on seeing this pageantry, but after months in a bottle city with Bealomondore, all she wanted was to see him.
She heard Dikendraval’s mother say, “The people in the next carriage are friends of Princess Tipper. The skinny old man is Wizard Fenworth. The tumanhofer beside him is a librarian and works for the wizard. His name is Librettowit. I thought Sir Beccaroon would be in this coach, but he may be in the parent carriage later on. The tumanhofer in the red coat is Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore, a very talented man who has a varied career from warrior to society darling. Five years ago, everyone who was anyone wanted a Bealomondore portrait hanging in their homes. Now he is more of a statesman than a pet of the upper classes.”
The carriage passed directly under their balcony. Ellie and Dikendraval jumped up and down, waving their arms in the air, and calling out to Bealomondore.
“Girls!” Aunt Tiffenbeth and her friend shoved past their spouses to bring the two young women in line.
Dikendraval’s mother went so far as to wrap her arms around her daughter and hold her still. “You must be an example to our country guest. She doesn’t necessarily know how to behave, but you do.”
Ellicinderpart and Dikendraval had listened to a three-hour-long lecture about correct behavior in polite society. The aunt and mother even pulled out a book on etiquette and read chapters from between the covers. Ellie agonized over whether or not they’d be allowed to serve at the Muskagillians’ Ball. In the end, Dikendraval’s father and her uncle took pity on the poor young ladies, cut short the scolding, and sent them off to get dressed.
The uniforms for service were a deep purple with a white apron, white collar, and white band around the hem. They looked better than the few dresses Ellie had owned before joining her aunt and uncle. Her aunt had wrangled her curly hair into a snood to keep it back from her face as she served.
Now she entered the back door of the Muskagillians’ mansion and could hardly contain her anticipation. Surely Bealomondore would be here. Dikendraval said everyone would be here.
The house chef explained their duties. Each of the volunteer servants had a silver tray. They arranged the appetizers on the tray themselves from a huge table laden with mouth-watering morsels of food. They would tour the public rooms of the mansion until their trays were half empty. The young ladies would then return to replenish the appetizers. The cycle would be repeated until the guests sat down for a late supper. A few of the experienced servants would wait on the tables. The other girls