Today marked the addition of a new activity for the incoming class of students. Dancing. Specifically, ballroom dancing. Something that Isabella had dreaded since she first learned of the requirement. At least she had been able to put it off in her mind until the lessons would start in earnest. Unfortunately, today was that day. So, after the new class of women were all finished with lunch, they crowded up in the large, open room on the second floor. The very same one Isabella had sulked in before giving her overseer the slip.

Once gathered, the students, and Violet, stood side by side as their instructor walked them through the basic theory of dance. How to hold one’s self, the differing roles of each partner, and even some basic steps. Though it mostly went over Isabella’s head. Once done with the explanation, the teacher made a shooing motion with each hand and directed them to pair up and begin practicing. Dismissed by the instructor, Violet immediately turned to face Isabella and held out a raised hand. “Miss York, we’ll dance as partners. With me taking the lead and you following. Is that alright?”

Isabella turned her head at first, nodding as she regarded her partner. After noticing the waiting hand, she turned her body and placed her own into her handmaiden’s palm. “But…what if I step on your feet or something? Won’t that hurt?”

Her partner’s hand in hers, Violet used it to gently pull her closer, allowing the taller woman to slip her other arm across Isabella’s shoulders. “You’ll do fine. The secret is to relax your body and follow my lead. I’ll guide you.”

After that initial tug into Violet’s arms, she had to remind herself to breathe even as she felt her heartbeat accelerate in her chest. Once the initial shock wore off, Isabella finally mustered the courage to bring her arm up and place it in the small of Violet’s back. Their height difference was only exacerbated by the closeness, so she had to look up slightly to keep their eyes locked. “Uh…ok. Just don’t go too fast.”

Violet nodded in response, then squared the pair up before readying her feet. “First, I’ll start by stepping forward with my left foot. So, you’ll step back with your right to move with me.” Her foot came up slowly and went forward to occupy the space Isabella had been in just a moment ago before she complied with the verbal instructions.

“Good, next is a sideways step back to the left using your left foot.” After Isabella complied, Violet walked them through further steps. Right foot to the left, left foot forward, right foot forward in a sideways step, rinse and repeat! It was still too early to try and match the background music’s pace or stick to its rhythm, but they’d get there in due time. For now, practice was what Isabella needed so that the steps could pass into muscle memory.

As they turned about in slow circles, Isabella couldn’t help but notice all the eyes that watched them. In so many, she saw clear admiration and desire. No doubt many of the students would’ve done anything to switch places with her, to dance with the “Princess-knight.” At some point, without even realizing it, Isabella’s fingers increased their grip where they held onto Violet. As if she needed to hold onto her partner in the face of all those envious of her position. 

Her need to learn the basic steps meant that was all the two could focus on this first day. At least the piano was pleasing to listen to. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for her to feel Violet’s toes underneath her boot. Which caused Isabella to stop her movement before looking down.

“I’m sorry, Violet! Are you ok?” It almost seemed silly to be so concerned over such a thing. Especially when she held onto the prosthetics that took the place of Violet’s arms. Surely that had been more painful. No doubt she had suffered other wounds during her time fighting as well. Still, no need to cause the woman further discomfort.

“It’s alright, Miss York. You’re doing well, let’s keep going.” With those encouraging words, Isabella soon got back to work, doubly committed to not making that mistake again. However, that didn’t exactly go to plan. As they worked through the pattern enough times, Isabella did her best to follow Violet’s advice and corrections. With deep breaths, she eventually relaxed and allowed her body to remain loose and responsive to the directions Violet provided. She even managed to go a whole song without assaulting her poor partner’s feet! Even if they only managed to complete the full circuit a few times during it.

When the teacher finally announced the completion of the day’s class, Violet brought the pair to a stop before dropping her arms and stepping back. Their separation immediately stuck out in Isabella’s mind. Especially the certain lack of warmth that she had come to prefer throughout the lesson. Though, whether that was ultimately from her embarrassment or closeness of their bodies, she wasn’t sure. It felt like all eyes had been on the pair throughout the whole lesson, even if in reality it was most likely just towards the beginning of their routine. Before she was able to comment though, Ms. Lancaster and her entourage approached them where they stood.

“Good afternoon, Miss York. Miss Evergarden. Some of the girls and I were going to have some tea to celebrate another step taken on the road to our debut. Would you both care to join us?” The smile on Ashely’s face was as bright as ever and, when she finished speaking, the young woman folded her hands neatly in front of her dress while she awaited Isabella’s reply. 

Isabella stood silent for a moment, her neutral expression beginning to slip towards something more…unpleasant. An opportunity to become close with the York family was no doubt the ultimate goal here. Which annoyed her to no end. She hated the ruse, the little game they all played while here at the school. If she were to attend, would Ashley even ask her about Isabella as a person? Would she remember those answers? And would they even come from a place of sincerity? Or was it more of their “language,” as Violet had put it. 

“No. No, I don’t ever want– ” 

Before the rest of the sentence could leave her mouth, Violet stepped in between the two women, partially obstructing Ashley’s view of Isabella.

“Miss Lancaster, while this is an important first step toward your debut, it is only one of many that will require a lot of hard work. Miss York has instructed me to inform others that she would like to focus on her studies until becoming a debutante.”

Ashley fixed Violet with a stare before opting to use the escape she conveniently provided. With a nod, and a little bow of her head, a smile once again curled up onto Ashley’s lips. “I see. Well, I look forward to any future opportunities for us to talk.” She paused then, turning her attention to Isabella. “When the time is right, of course. Have a pleasant day, ladies.” Once again, the shorter blonde and her entourage excused themselves with the standard pleasantries before moving towards the stairs.

Once the group left, Violet turned and acknowledged Isabella with a slight bow of her head. “Miss Isabella, please accept my apologies for stepping in and interrupting you. I felt it was necessary to preserve any future relationship with Miss Lancaster. You need to make friends while you are here.” 

In response, Isabella scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Friends? They don’t want to be friends. They want the prestige that comes with having a member of the York family around at their tea parties and dinner gatherings. I’m nothing but a name to them.” Isabella’s face finished shifting towards disgust as she spoke before lightly shaking her head. “And what about you? What does your family stand to gain from this, hmm? From helping me, and the Drossels before this?” That was why Violet was here, right? Besides this being her job. She’d said it herself. She came at the request of a powerful family and no doubt hoped to elevate the Evergarden name by turning this street urchin into a “proper lady.”

“I don’t have a family.” The words came out with that same monotone voice Violet said everything else in. As if she were simply stating a fact. “Not a blood one anyway. I’m an orphan.” 

Isabella’s mind took a second to process what Violet said, and then her expression turned from anger to confusion. “You…you’re an orphan?” 

Violet nodded her head once in response before continuing. “Yes, I was found on my own when I was little. I don’t know what happened to my family.”  

Isabella’s mind flooded with even more questions about the girl’s past. That, coupled with the shock of learning Violet was like her and Taylor, caused all anger to melt away. Leaving nothing but curiosity and embarrassment behind in its wake. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know…” More apologies for assumptions she’d carelessly made. Though, Violet seemed to be undisturbed by the admission.  

“That’s alright. There was no way for you to know.” Violet’s head turned to observe the increasing flow of students down to the first level. The practice had gone on so long this afternoon that dinner would be starting shortly. She raised a hand then, to indicate the direction of stairs. “It’s almost dinner. Shall we make our way down?”

Grateful for the opportunity to change the course of the conversation, and generally excited by the food anyway, Isabella nodded a little more vigorously than usual. “Yes, let’s go. That was very tiring and I feel like I could eat two meals.” Of course, that wouldn’t be very ladylike now, would it? For a moment she expected Violet to say as much, but when no rebuke came, Isabella stepped off towards the staircase, expecting the handmaiden to follow close behind. Which of course, she did.  

Dinner was eaten in their customary silence. However, this time, it was due to Isabella’s mind working overtime contemplating what she’d learned. The walk back to the dormitory following dinner was equally as quiet while Isabella continued to ponder Violet’s past. It seemed like each time she learned something new, even more questions sprang up. Was she orphaned before joining the army? Is that what made her want to fight? Revenge? She didn’t seem the type, but Isabella also wouldn’t have ever guessed the handmaiden had fought in the first place. It was surprise after surprise with this woman. What would she learn next? 

Damn, this only piqued her curiosity more! Not to mention fanning a desire to get closer to Violet since they seemed to have more and more in common than she initially thought. Or perhaps she was reaching out to the first lifeline thrown her way in a very long time. Isabella could pretend as much as she wanted that she was independent, but everyone wanted the comfort and safety a close friend brought. Could Violet be that for her? Could she have misjudged the doll so much?

Once they returned, Violet immediately moved to the bathroom to fetch one of the buckets the two kept for filling the bath. No doubt in anticipation of the need to relax sore muscles. However, before she could make it out of the room to fetch water, Isabella stepped up and raised a hand to indicate she should stop.

“Yes? Do you need something, Miss York? I was going to fetch some water for your bath.” 

Though Isabella had stopped her, no words immediately came. Instead, her eyes didn’t rise to meet Violet’s, and her other hand started fidgeting relentlessly with her dress. After a few more moments with the eyes affixed to the bucket, she mustered the courage to ask what was on her mind. “Uh…I have a request, I guess you could say. I’d like for you to join me in the bath tonight.” Hearing the invitation spoken out loud was even more embarrassing than she imagined. It made Isabella want to immediately run and jump under the covers of her bed. Still, she managed to find enough resolve to tilt her head up and meet Violet’s eyes. Which appeared to show the slightest hint of confusion.

“Miss York, you said you didn’t want me to help you wash when I first arrived. Have you changed your mind regarding that request as well?” 

“What?” Isabella shook her head lightly, silently cursing her “requests” since Violet had arrived. “No, no. I want us to bathe together, not have you wash me. You know, like something friends might do?” Isabella’s discomfort grew as she tried to explain what she meant, and each passing moment that Violet didn’t respond only made it worse. “You don’t have to! I just thought it might be fun. I don’t know…” When the handmaiden still didn’t respond to the request immediately Isabella once again lost her nerve and dropped her eyes down to her feet.

“Something friends do?” Even in her normal monotone voice, the confusion and doubt in Violet’s words were easy to pick up on. “I’ve never done anything like that.”

In response, Isabella shrugged and blew out a breath, voice dropping even lower. “Yes…well, I think so, anyway.” It wasn’t as though Isabella had actually done anything like this with any friends in the past. Not there had even been many of those. What was she thinking? Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Why had she blurted out something like that? No doubt Violet would think she was even more of an odd person after this. Not only that but hadn’t she practically insulted her earlier? Even after the incident last night had – 

“Alright.” 

Isabella immediately lost her train of thought and looked up to Violet, eyes blinking as if in disbelief. “Alright?” It took her mind a moment to fully catch up before she blurted out another, “Alright!” This time in a much more confident manner. Isabella immediately walked past where Violet stood and made her way into the bathroom. There, she grabbed the remaining bucket and then hastily moved to join her companion. When she returned, Isabella held the bucket up and then nodded. “Right, let’s get it filled then.” Though the embarrassment still lingered, she resolved herself to push through it and focus on the task at hand. Which she immediately set out to do. Violet joined her soon after, knowing it would take a few trips to fill the big tub completely. 

Thankfully the faucet wasn’t far, only about halfway down the hall in a central location for all the students. This would be much worse if they had to go up or down any stairs to get that huge tub filled. After Isabella poured in the last bit of water, she set the bucket down by the foot of the tub and rubbed at the sore muscles of one arm. It was tedious work usually, but today she had already been tired from the practice. So, she was nearly spent by the time they finished. At least now the tub was full and they could enjoy the warm water together.

Together.   

The realization that they were really about to bathe at the same time seemed to hit her all at once, and Isabella could feel her whole body tense up with anticipation. 

You asked her to, dummy. This is what you wanted! 

After another moment or two to get her nerves under control, she turned to find Violet already working on removing her dress. “Jeeze!” Isabella suddenly turned back around, a flush forming on her cheeks. “At least warn me first!”