Catherine nodded, happy that he had not had another fit of rage because of her questions. It seemed to be impossible to foretell what was going to make him mad. The prince stood up and held out his hand.
“Now, Lady Catherine, it would be my pleasure to show you to your chambers. I hope they will be to your liking.”
Catherine sensed they shift in his tone, and braced herself. It was time to play along. She held out her hand the way he had instructed her to, and stood up, the way he had instructed her to. She allowed him to lead her, the way he had instructed her to, and walked through the doors he held open for her, the way he had instructed her to. She made sure to smile and nod instead of speaking, which made it a lot easier to concentrate on the calculated movements.
The rooms were beautiful and larger than she had ever imagined. She could not help compare the bedroom to the house she had grown up in. It was larger, and covered in marble, gold and fabrics that could only be satin or silk. She did not know which and she did not care. The bed was a whole lot larger than the one she had slept in before. It might be larger than Martha's sewing room. The most impressive thing in Catherine's eyes were the windows. They went from the floor and almost to the very high ceiling. The window sills were raised slightly above the floor and so large that most of them had furniture standing in them. It made the rooms look even less real.
The prince sent her a patient smile, clearly slightly annoyed with her awestruck gaping.
“I'll send a maid in soon, I'll let her know that you will need to ask her a lot of questions, and I'll make sure she helps you out. Her name is Ingrid, and I trust her completely.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied to his back. He whipped around and raised a finger. Catherine panicked for a second, remembering her supposed vow of silence, then nodded and smiled at him, as if she had never said a word. He returned her nod, finger still raised, and left the rooms.
Catherine went through the bedroom and looked around. There was what looked like a sitting room, an office with a few, nearly empty bookshelves, a large dressing room and a bathroom, a dining room, and a few more rooms that looked like sitting rooms, except slightly smaller. Her first enthusiasm went away as she walked back and forth in the enormous space.
She had always liked space, especially large spaces, but being inside and unable to touch a wall made her uneasy. It took her thirty steps to reach the end of the bedroom from the door, and almost as many to get through the hallway that led to the sitting room, which was even larger. Most of the space was just that, space.
There was plenty of furniture and it was all of a quality she had never seen the likes of, but in the large spaces, it looked like islands on the sea. She went back into the bedroom and entered one of the furnished window sills. It felt safer there, with the edges of the windows around her, but it was still very large. She sat down in a chair there and decided that she would try her best to spend her time there.
There were two comfortable chairs, a small table and a sofa. A vase with flowers on the table told her that other people had been in the rooms before, which made her feel even better. The window faced a large park, but the fact that she could see the sky and not the gigantic ceilings of the castle, made her feel a lot better about that fact.
She noticed a small group of women in colourful dresses in the park. They were too far away for her to see what they were doing, but she assumed they were some of the women the prince had brought there. She did not look forward to joining their little groups and pretending like she belonged.
A faint voice echoed through the rooms. Catherine stood up and turned around, then walked through the bedroom.
“Lady Catherine?” The voice sounded again. It was a female voice, polite and somehow soothing.
“Yes?” Catherine replied.
The two women met in the large sitting room.
“Ah, Lady Catherine, I presume?” A young woman dressed in a simple, black dress was looking at her from the other end of the room. She was a pretty brunette, but nothing out of the ordinary at the first glance. As Catherine came closer, she noticed how cool intelligence shone through the woman's brown eyes, making her look more attractive than she really was, and a whole lot scarier than her voice had suggested.
“Yes, I'm Catherine,” Catherine said. “Are you Ingrid?”
“I am, my lady,” Ingrid answered. “And I am very pleased to be of service. His Majesty has told me all about you, so you may speak freely, if you wish.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Catherine said, then felt stupid and regretted it. Ingrid smiled at her and nodded.
“Do not be worried, my lady. I am sure we can get you through this.” She held out the box of jewellery with poisons and antidotes in it. “His Majesty informed me that you would be needing these. Should I put them in the dressing room, my lady?”
“Thank you, but - “
“Excuse me for a second, my lady.”
Ingrid left, taking long, quick steps. Catherine was not sure if she was happy with her easy politeness or scared of her cool effectiveness. She stood awkwardly where Ingrid had left her for a moment, then followed her, trying to take light steps, as the prince had instructed her.
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