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Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Of course Vee wouldn’t want to have a tea party. What in the name of the Goddess was wrong with her, thinking this was a good idea?
“So…” Vee asked, looking around at the entertaining room, clearly uncomfortable. She looked so out of place in this room, surrounded by gold baubles and intricate furniture. Another mistake, Amalia realized. She shouldn’t be hosting her in a receiving room like she was some sort of diplomat.Stupid, stupid.“What do you do for fun around here?”
This, Amalia thought miserably, looking down at the tea tray stacked with cookies and treats. At least those Vee had touched, stuffing two of the strawberry macarons in her mouth, one right after the other, the moment the tray had been set. Amalia couldn’t imagine how she kept so thin with the amount of food she ate.
“Oh, you know…” Amalia tried to sound demure, setting her teacup down so gently the porcelain didn’t make a single noise. “This and that…”
She glanced up, and noticing Vee’s bored expression, Amalia quickly added. “I, uh, I read. A lot. And I have been known to cross stitch, from time to time…”
Vee propped her elbow on the armrest of her couch, and as Amalia spoke, she brought her feet up onto the velvet seat next to her, tucking her legs underneath her. Amalia quickly hid her wince, swallowing the urge to chastise her for putting her shoes on the furniture. It was Amalia’s furniture, after all, wasn’t it? Who cared if her friend put her shoes on the furniture?
Resting her head on her hand, Vee gave Amalia a long, assessing look.
“That doesn’t really sound like fun,” Vee said.
No, Amalia realized.It really doesn’t, does it?
She hunched her shoulders, folding in on herself. She didn’t want to care about Vee’s feet on the furniture, didn’t want to drink tea and nibble on biscuits and talk about her cross stitch. She didn’t want to pretend.
“Truthfully,” she said in a voice so quiet she wasn’t sure Vee could even hear her. “I can’t remember the last time I had any fun…”
Vee blinked at that, leaning forward a little more.
“I’m sorry,” Amalia told her. Her body felt like it was made of lead, heavy and useless. She wanted to go back to bed. “I’m sorry, this whole thing is a disaster, isn’t it? There’s not a lot to do here in the palace. You don’t have to stay. You can go, if you want.”
But instead of leaving, Vee laughed. “Go?” she asked, smiling. “Why would I go? You can’t just tell me you haven’t had fun in ages, and then expect me not to do something about it.”
Vee sat up, putting her feet back down on the ground. “Look, you don’t have to do this sort of thing for me. The like… rich nobility, thing. We can just hang out, you know? That can be fun, spending time together.”
Amalia felt the corners of her mouth twist up in a smile. “Okay,” she said. “I’d like that, if we just hung out.”
She picked her teacup up again and frowned. It was cold. Calling asmall tendril of Fire, she pushed a little heat back into the cup and took a sip.Much better. Fire had never been easy for her, but recently it hadn’t seemed to fight her like it once had.
Vee watched her, and then picked up her own cup of tea, as though determined to make an effort. Eyes on Amalia, she took a sip. Immediately, Vee’s face twisted, and to Amalia’s horror, she spat the liquid back into the cup before setting it down on the table with a look of disgust.
“I think your drink has gone off,” Vee said, voice serious. “It tastes like dirty plants.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to taste,” Amalia said in a quiet voice.
“Oh.” Vee frowned at the cup. “Well… at least the cookies are good.” She plucked another macaron from the plate and popped it into her mouth.
Amalia nodded, relieved Vee at least liked something of the spread. “Oh yes. Macarons are the cook’s specialty. He makes them fresh every morning for me. They take about two hours to set, so he has to get up at dawn to start.”
Vee froze mid chew.
“Two hours?” she asked. Pink crumbs flew out of her mouth as she spoke, and Amalia couldn’t help the small wince that crossed her face. “These cookies take two hours to make?”
“Two hours to set. I think it’s about three hours total, from start to finish.”
Vee looked horrified, her eyes darting from Amalia to the plate, and then back again. Then, finally, she swallowed.
“Well,” she said, slowly, thinking. “Best not to let any of them go to waste, then, right?”
She plucked another from the plate and stuffed it in her mouth, then grabbed the entire plate with her other hand. Opening her bag, she dumped the cookies inside.
Amalia let out a shocked laugh.
