Venomous Gaze - Chapter 6 - Luxury (Patreon)

When I finally arrived back at the main house, I found Kathrine waiting for me in the middle of the foyer, hands on her hips, Anne and the other young maid standing behind her. I didn’t think I’d been gone that long, but given the fact that Kathrine had time to not only change into an elegant maroon evening dress with gold trim and have both her hair and makeup done, taking care of Dimitri must have taken longer than I thought.

“Where have you been?” Kathrine hissed. “Dinner is supposed to start in less than an hour, and you’re still in your travel clothes.” 

“I had something that I needed to do,” I replied with a shrug. “I sent you a message.” 

“No, you sent me a five-tag pseudo message that read: Problem, protect carrier, caution spies. That’s a very concerning message,” Kathrine snapped. “Now what is this all about? Why couldn’t this wait until after dinner”

I dug the vial I’d taken off Anne from my pocket, and tossed it to Kathrine. “Apparently your idiot brother is not only holding a grudge after we threw him out of Brighthome, but he had the brilliant idea of trying to drug me, so I’d embarrass myself in front of the rest of the family,” I said. “There’s no way I was going to take that lying down, or give him a chance to make another stupid plan, so I paid him a visit and gave him a dose of his own medicine. In a manner of speaking.” 

Kathrine raised an eyebrow. “You drugged him?”

“What? Of course not. I dosed him with Lacertatoxin,” I replied. “I’d like to say it’ll give him a chance to cool his head, and consider the consequences of his actions, but we both know he’ll never do that. At least this’ll keep him out of our hair for a couple of hours.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Kathrine grumbled. “You stopped his idiotic plot, and there was no way he would have known anything was wrong until after dinner.”

“Yeah, but I warned your brother not to mess with me when we kicked him out of Brighthome. I don’t make idle threats,” I growled.

“I know, I know. Look, we’ll discuss this later. You need to get ready now if you want to be ready before dinner,” Kathrine said, before gesturing to the two maids behind her. “Take these two with you; just make sure you’re done before we get called.”

“Alright, I’ll go,” I huffed. I half turned, before stopping and extending my hand towards Kathrine. “Do you have my plates?”

“You shouldn’t be worrying about that right now,” Kathrine growled. “I’ll give them to you later; get going!”

“Fine,” I grumbled, before finally walking away, heading towards my room. 

I could feel the maid’s presence as the pair fell into step behind me, heard their heels echoing on the stone floor. The sound put me on edge, and only served to confirm how new the pair was; one of the first things the staff was taught was how to move silently. It was taught right after the combat training.

When we finally arrived back at my room, the first thing I did was head over to my satchel and start putting my weapons away, while the maids headed over to the wardrobe.

“Which of your dresses would you like to wear…” Anna started to ask, before opening the door and trailing off.

“You’re not going to find any fancy ballgowns in there,” I said over my shoulder. “They’re hard to move in, restrictive. I’ll wear the green, long gothic tailcoat and matching pants and blouse.”

“But…” Sicily, the maid who had been assigned to Kathrine, started before I held up my hand to stop her. 

“No arguments. You’re here to help me prepare, not give me style recommendations,” I said. 

The pair exchanged a glance before Anna stepped forward. “Do you want to take a bath before dinner?”

“I doubt I have time,” I replied. “Just get me a basin of water so I can wipe myself down.”

While Sicily ran off to get the water, I walked over to the small vanity tucked into the corner of my room and settled into the chair. Although I no longer felt as if someone in my head were trying to claw its way out through my eyeballs, a shadow still swirled around inside them.

I leaned in closer to the mirror to take a look. It had been quite a while since I’d looked at myself while my body was still purging a toxin. It was as if something were swimming around, intermittently obscuring my light violet irises.

The effect would fade once the poison was out of my system, but for now I’d just have to put up with it.

“Would you like me to prepare any makeup, or jewelry?” Anne asked from behind me. 

“I don’t like wearing heavy makeup, but there’s some light cosmetics in the closet along with a jewelry box containing a few necklaces and hairpins,” I replied. “Bring them out, along with the perfume.”

While Anne was busy collecting everything I’d asked for, Sicily returned with a small basin of water. “I’d kill to have indoor plumbing,” I muttered. “To bad my aunt would never approve it. Not in this wing anyways.”

“Beg your pardon?” Sicily asked as stood up, and made my way over to the small dresser where she’d placed the basin.

“It’s nothing, ignore me,” I said as I shucked my shirt and dropped it on the floor. Sicily frowned, but didn’t say anything. Instead she stepped around me, and retrieved the discarded garment while I quickly wiped myself down with the cloth. 

“Everything is ready, my lady,” Anne declared once she’d laid everything out.

“Thank you,” I muttered, reaching out to take the outfit she was holding. 

“Don’t you want us to dress you?” Anne asked uncertianally.

“I can dress myself, I’m not an invalid,” I replied, inspecting the outfit. The forest green cloth was accented with black trim, and intricate gold embroidary. Both the sleeves and pant legs flared outwards, and had a second inner layer of lace. The entire outfit probably cost more than Anne and Sicily made in a year, The only time I dressed up was around my relatives, whenever I did both the clothes and atmosphere felt incredibly stifling, and I absolutely hated it.

I hadn’t even changed yet, and I was already looking forward to dinner to end so I could switch back to my street clothes. 

“Do you have any preference for what jewelry you’d like, and how you’d like your hair done?” Sicily asked once I’d finished changing, and returned to the vanity. 

“Something simple,” I replied. “Plain gold jewelry, light makeup. I just want to look presentable enough that no-one can complain.”

“Are you sure? There are some beautiful pieces here,” Anne said hesitantly.

“The more ornate pieces were left to me by my mother. They’re heirlooms, not for everyday use,” I said. “Just give me something simple.”

“Yes ma’am,” Anne replied, before finally choosing a think gold chain with a simple pendant. As she draped it around my neck there was a knock at the door.

“The lady requests your presence in the dinning room,” the visitor announced without waiting for anyone to open the door. “Dinner is served.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered, pushing away from the vanity and rising to my feet. I used the mirror to adjust my collar before heading to the door. “Time for a night full of double talk and backstabbing,” I sighed. “I miss the dingy alleys of Brighthome already.”