XV | Farewells

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Aliya was quickly summoned to Belcourt after she sent her letter. She expected it and came prepared.

Although she did ask for her letter of request to be kept private, she was not surprised when the Belles inside the Flower Garden stared at her as she passed. They knew, she thought.

They knew she was leaving.

Lady Mariam's blue eyes were filled with questions and she asked the most pressing one the moment Aliya settled. "When you came here fourteen years ago, Aliya, you promised to serve Belcourt. Why are you leaving now?"

"While I did promise to serve Belcourt, I did not say it shall be forever, my lady. I have given it the prime of my years and have given you the best results," she replied, giving the answer she had prepared beforehand. "It is high time I give myself what I truly want."

"And that is?"

"A chance at the world I left behind." She could feel tears at the back of her eyes, for her answer was as true as the other reasons she could not share with her Mistress. "You must be thinking it was a mistake to have taken me in. I was too old and I had known a life other than Belcourt."

Lady Mariam studied her with a frown. "No, Aliya. I do not judge the children who come into Belcourt—not by their age or the life they left behind. But I cannot help but wonder what could have driven you to do this. Is Belcourt not enough?"

"Belcourt is home, my lady. It has given me refuge. It is the only sanctuary I know from since I was fifteen." Aliya lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "Perhaps I do wish to go back to the storm and challenge myself." With a smile, she added, "And you know how much I love challenges."

Lady Mariam let out a long sigh. "I hate to see you go, Aliya. You are my best Belle."

"I am sure that there are others who will follow my footsteps. Sasha is proving to be better than I."

Lady Mariam closed her eyes and shook her head. "I find this hard to believe. When I read your letter, I had to drink a glass of sherry."

Aliya nodded in understanding. "You know that I am still part of Belcourt. I will be signing the Vow and I will honor it when Belcourt sees the need to claim it."

The Mistress gazed at her quizzically. "Is this about a man, Aliya? Someone not from Belcourt? You can tell me the truth for I have seen enough Belles who left Belcourt for love and they were never judged for it."

"No, of course not, my lady, but I do admit that there were men who might have taken interest and wished to be suitors but were denied. I may give one of them a chance once I am free of my status as a Belle. But my decision is not because of a man. I have been considering this matter for quite some time now."

"You are leaving Belcourt at its most vulnerable state, Aliya. The battle against the Royal Circus has just begun."

"I am confident that Belcourt will be victorious in the end, my lady, as it always has been in the past. You have the most loyal and capable ladies Sutherland can ever have."

Lady Mariam bent her head and stared at the piece of paper lying there. She slid it toward Aliya. "It must have been a challenge to summon enough money to pay your dowry, Aliya, and I am proud of you for it." As Aliya reached for the paper, the woman added, "The moment you sign your Vow, you will no longer be considered a Belle."

I will be free, she replied in her head.

Unlike their Courting Ceremony where they meet the seven Maidens for the first time, the signing of the Vow did not require a rite. Belcourt did not find the need to do so for why would they waste their time on someone who was no longer part of their society?

Aliya nodded, reached for the dipping pen, and signed her name.

She did not even hesitate. And once done, she felt nothing.

All she could think about as she read her name on the paper was that she was now free of Belcourt. And that did not even summon any emotions. Perhaps because she always knew she was going to get out. Or perhaps she never truly felt she was a prisoner here.

She gracefully returned the paper to Lady Mariam with a sad smile on her face, the last act she hoped to play in Belcourt.

"Sasha said that you are good friends with Oliver St. Vincent."

Aliya's jaw tightened. "Oliver and I met as children before I came to Belcourt. He is a good friend."

Slowly, Lady Mariam nodded. "How did you reunite, Aliya?"

"We were introduced by my former gentleman," she lied. "And we eventually learned that we shared the same memories of a certain part of our childhood."

"And I am certain that Sasha warned you of St. Vincent's possible connection with the Circus?"

"She did, but I am confident that my dear friend has nothing to do with Belcourt's enemy, my lady. He is naught but a doctor."

"A very interesting doctor."

"That, he is, too," she said with a bright smile.

"And you shall continue your friendship with him?"

"Of course. He is now part of my life. I knew his uncle and his mother is a dear."

"And he knows about the Gambler?"

"Yes," she said with confidence. "He does."

Lady Mariam nodded. She reached out to hold Aliya's hand on the table. "I wish you the best, Aliya. Many Belles have taken the same path before you and most of them have led a great life—still living a great life. And they still consider Belcourt home."

"As will I, my lady," Aliya said, standing to her feet. "Thank you for the confidence you showed me over the years, my lady."

Lady Mariam smiled at her. "You deserved it, Aliya. And remember—you can always come home to Belcourt."

*****

Aliya was only grateful to leave Lady Mariam's study. The woman had always been nice to her. But as she walked to the parlor where the other Belles were waiting, Aliya reminded herself that she could not yet afford to be careless.

Now was the time to be more careful and astute with her actions.

Mariam was too loyal to Belcourt and she would still find a reason to have Aliya followed for months after she left. Aliya herself was given the assignment three times in the past, all from Lady Mariam's office. She followed Belles who chose to leave Belcourt and reported everything they did. She befriended people they associated with, discovered their secrets, and any gossip that surrounded them. She did it until the Mistress was satisfied.

The ladies in the parlor were speechless upon her entry. Most of them were in their gowns, ready to go to a ball in Coulway. "This was not how I expected my last day in Belcourt to be like," she told them with a smile, walking into the familiar parlor. She had spent so many hours here, entertaining gentlemen, gossiping with the Belles, observing every action and word spoken.

It was part of her life and she could not say she would not miss the smell of mixed scents from the Belles in this parlor. She would miss the nights they would sing and play the pianoforte, just them ladies without their gentlemen. They had played many parlor games here, stayed up many nights drinking sherry and brandy, all the while sharing outrageous stories from all over Sutherland.

Her eyes watered as she looked at each lady. "I will still be seeing you around Sutherland, so please, get rid of the forlorn looks on your faces." Squaring her shoulders, she narrowed her eyes at the new Belles. "While I may have decided to leave Belcourt, I do hope that you ladies will not immediately follow my path. Enjoy being a Belle for it is amongst the best adventures I have had. Be wise, all of you." To the older Belles whom she considered her friends, she said, "The only regret I have in leaving is knowing that I will no longer be able to share your adventures—"

She was not able to finish her sentence as five or eight Belles jumped to their feet and rushed toward her. Suddenly, Aliya was enveloped in hugs and tears. Summer was wailing, while Ruby and Jade hugged each other as they turned away. Aliya had no particular best friend amongst the Belles, for she considered them all equal.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she lifted her chin. "I cannot stay long, but I am happy to have spent many memorable days with all of you."

"You will attend the season, Aliya, yes?"

"I shall try."

"Then perhaps we can have a date—all of us Belles—together in Coulway," Summer suggested.

"My villa will be perfect for the occasion," Ruby offered.

Aliya nodded. "I will see you then."

*****

Aliya prepared herself for the worst goodbye yet as she entered The Village.

Fatima, Carrie, and Maya had already left Strait the very moment Belcourt accepted Aliya's dowry. She noticed the stares the ladies in the Village threw at her, most of them mere curiosity.

No longer wearing her red cloak, Aliya entered the tea house and once more ignored the stares from ladies wearing different colors of cloaks—red, green, blue, and black—that represented their respective courts.

As the tea house was the only commonplace for all ladies from other courts, it was only natural to expect that her exit from Belcourt had already spread.

Aliya found Fatima and Carrie as they waved at her in the center of the room. She walked toward them and smiled at Shay, her previous cook, a slender woman with straight brown hair.

"My lady, please forgive me. I should not have engaged in such a useless squabble!" Shay said, hugging her tightly.

"It is quite all right, Shay. Maya has been a nice cook, but we did miss you. The villa has been awfully quiet without you."

Shay laughed. Carrie rolled her eyes and said, "If you did not pull Krissa's hair and dragged her—"

"Let us not talk about that," Fatima sternly said, standing to her feet to pull Aliya in an embrace. "Please be careful, my lady. They will still be watching you," Fatima whispered in her ear. "They may use your Vow against Dr. St. Vincent, or worse, on you."

Aliya nodded, closing her eyes. "This is our best chance, Fatima," she whispered. "This may be our only chance."

Fatima nodded and started to cry. Her heart ached for the woman. Fatima could no longer leave Belcourt until she was assigned to another Belle. But even if that were to happen, it would still be a great risk if she visited Mason. Fatima had to make a sacrifice and it was a big one.

At that moment, Aliya swore that she would take these women out of Belcourt someday.

"Please, my lady..." Fatima whimpered against her shoulder, the rest of her desperate words left unspoken but completely understood by Aliya.

Aliya nodded, her tears blurring her vision. She knew Carrie and Shay were silently weeping as well, and many other ladies were staring at them, witnessing their open goodbyes.

"Do not worry, Fatima," she choked, "Everything will be all right."

Fatima's anguished cry resonated with Aliya, clenching her heart in the process. She pulled away and wiped the tears from Fatima's face. It hurt that she could not say the words she wanted to say because they were no longer in the privacy of their villa. "Fatima, do you believe me?" she asked, looking straight into Fatima's eyes. "Believe that everything shall be all right."

Fatima nodded, fresh tears falling straight to the floor. "Yes, my lady," her maid and companion of ten years brokenly replied. "I owe you my life. For everything you did—for the things you do..."

Aliya pulled Fatima in another embrace and reached for Carrie and Shay. The three of them cried in each other's arms. "We are family, remember that," she sternly told them a while later. "We are family."

*****

She had spent two more hours with her previous service ladies in the tea house, laughing and crying at their decade-long memories. They did not even have to finish sentences for the others to understand. They knew what the other had to say before she finished, just as how they had always been.

But the three of them knew she had somewhere else to go and they bid their tearful farewells.

Aliya was too exhausted—emotionally and physically—by the time she reached the Manor. She walked the two miles from the Village, looking out at the lake she never had a chance to visit since becoming a Belle, and remembering the three summers she spent there with friends in the Manor, the three summers when she thought that Belcourt was the perfect haven—the three summers before she was courted into the Court of Flowers and realized what she had willingly thrown herself into.

Lady Miranda, the Mistress of the Common Court, was waiting for her by the main hall. Aliya smiled and hugged the woman.

"I knew you will do this," Lady Miranda whispered. "I knew the moment you entered my court, Aliya, that you will not stay long."

Aliya narrowed her eyes. "Was it when I carried a hamster into one of the classrooms?" she asked in jest.

The lady laughed and looped her arm around Aliya. "I am certain the children will miss you," the woman said instead. "They always ask when you will come and visit them again. Not many courted ladies come back here."

"Then I should send my fellow Belles a short note to do just that."

They entered a large drawing room and Aliya looked around. She sighed. Too many memories here, too. The three years she spent in the Manor before she was courted had been quite fun; the days she spent here during her visits to play and talk with the children were wonderful.

Lady Miranda turned to her with a gentle smile on her lips, her brown eyes always kind and gentle. But she was aging, Aliya thought. She wondered if anyone could ever replace this amazing woman.

The Mistress leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Be wonderful out there, Aliya," she said, "the world needs a beautiful, confident soul like yours."

Aliya's already puffy eyes watered. "Thank you for everything, my lady—everything. If it had not been for you, I would not have made it."

"Belcourt always accepts, darling," Lady Miranda said, squeezing her hand before turning to leave the room.

Aliya waited, staring at the portraits on the wall around her.

When the door opened, she whirled around and tears suddenly filled her eyes.

The young woman rushed into her arms in a powerful embrace. "You did it," Delaney whispered.

Aliya leaned away and brushed off her tears. She caressed Delaney's straight black hair and whimpered as tears rolled down the woman's grey eyes. "Plans had to change," she whispered.

Delaney shook her head. "It does not matter. You are free."

Aliya pulled her sister back into her arms. "I will get you out of here soon," she promised. "I will save you from this place before your Courting Ceremony."

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net