Her mother reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Your presentation was beautiful, darling. You did wonderfully.”
“Did I?” Iris couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. “The High Lady seemed distinctly unimpressed. And I’ve just overheard what at least one member of society thinks of my ‘diluted bloodline’ and ‘paper-folding nonsense.’”
Her mother sighed, a soft sound barely audible above the sound of the music that was starting up now that the presentations were over. “People can be cruel, especially when faced with something they don’t understand or that challenges their preconceptions.”
Iris turned to face her mother directly. “How do you bear it?” she asked, suddenly desperate to know. “The whispers, the sideways glances, being treated as if you’re somehow less than everyone else simply because you were born human? How do you smile and pretend it doesn’t cut deep?”
For the first time since their arrival in Bloomhaven, her mother’s carefully maintained composure slipped. Pain flashed across her features. “It’s … difficult,” she admitted quietly. “More difficult than I expected, even knowing what your father had warned me about. I’d thought that perhaps things might have changed in the years since he left. That perhaps attitudes had … evolved. But Bloomhaven society remains entrenched in its traditions and prejudices.”
“Then why are we here?” Iris asked, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Why subject ourselves to this?”
“For you,” her mother replied simply. “For your future.”
“But this isn’t the future I want!” Her whisper was edged with desperation. “I don’t want to marry one of these awful, entitled fae lords, and even though my magic would benefit from theancient power flowing through Bloomhaven, strengthening my abilities hardly seems worth enduring months in a place where we’re treated like unwelcome intruders.”
Iris’s mother closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed before focusing on her daughter again. “It isn’t only that, Iris. We’re here because?—”
But before her mother could finish, a familiar voice called out, “Matilda? Ah, there you are. And Iris too, excellent.” Iris’s father approached, relief evident in his expression. “I’ve been looking for you both. There’s someone I’d like Iris to meet.” His gaze lingered on his wife’s face, a look passing between them that Iris couldn’t quite interpret. “Are you well, my dear?”
“Perfectly fine,” her mother assured him, her composed mask slipping back into place.
He nodded, turning to Iris. “Lady Rivenna Rowanwood has expressed interest in meeting you. As one of the most influential figures in Bloomhaven society, her good opinion could be invaluable.”
Iris inhaled deeply and nodded. “Lead the way.”
They stepped further into the ballroom, which now hummed with activity as couples moved through the intricate steps of a traditional fae dance. Iris’s father guided them along the perimeter of the dance floor, weaving through clusters of observers until they reached a corner where several older women sat in elegant chairs, surveying the festivities with sharp eyes.
One woman in particular commanded attention, and Iris recognized her immediately from The Charmed Leaf Tea House. Her silver hair was arranged in a sophisticated coiffure, and she wore a gown of deep burgundy that set off the pale perfection of her skin.
“Lady Rowanwood,” Iris’s father said with a formal bow. “May I present my daughter, Lady Iris Starspun, and my wife, Matilda.”
Lady Rivenna Rowanwood stood and moved closer, her gaze sweeping over the three of them, lingering on Iris with an intensity that made her want to fidget. Instead, Iris straightened her spine and met the woman’s penetrating stare directly.
“So,” Lady Rivenna said without preamble, “you’re the girl who’s got all of Bloomhaven in a tizzy.”
Iris heard her father make a soft sound of dismay, but she refused to flinch. “I prefer ‘Lady Iris,’ but yes, I suppose that’s me.”
Something that might have been approval flickered in Lady Rivenna’s eyes. “Direct. Good. I have little patience for those who cloak simple truths in elaborate niceties.”
“Then we have that in common,” Iris replied, ignoring her father’s warning glance.
“Indeed.” Lady Rivenna inclined her head. “Your demonstration earlier was … unusual. In all my years, I’ve never encountered a manifestation quite like yours.”
“I’m not entirely convinced that’s a compliment, my lady.”
“Merely an observation.” Lady Rivenna waved away Iris’s comment. “Tell me about your magic. Not what it does—I saw that for myself—but how it works. What do you experience when you create those paper forms?”
Iris blinked, taken aback by the question. There were not many who bothered to ask how her magic functioned; most simply judged its appearance and moved on. “Well, it’s …” she began slowly, searching for the right words. “When I look at a sheet of paper, I can perceive all the different ways it might fold, all the potential shapes hidden within it. It’s as if the paper itself already knows all the forms it could take, and I simply … guide it toward one particular possibility.”
“Fascinating.” Lady Rivenna leaned forward slightly. “And can you see these possibilities in other things? Or only in paper?”
“Only paper, my lady,” Iris replied.
“How can you be so sure? Have you received additional training? Have you pushed yourself, tested the limits of what you can do?”
The memory of the day her magic had manifested flashed through Iris’s mind, and she suppressed a shudder. She had no desire to ‘push herself’ and experience something like that again. “I received some instruction from a manifestation expert in order to further explore my abilities,” she said carefully. “It appears paper folding is all I can do.”
In truth, this ‘instruction’ had been only a handful of lessons and had been more about learning control. There hadn’t been time for much more than that before they left for Bloomhaven.
