Chapter 55 – Acceptance and Avoidance

Wherein Valentina combines her plans with Rose’s to secure her future.

The night of the party was slowly creeping closer. After another harrowing day at college, Rose had unloaded her worries onto Bosra. She lounged against the headboard of the bed in the Highlander’s bare bones decorated bedroom.

"'s Only one thing you can do," Bosra said, folding laundry. "Maybe two."

Rose sat up straighter, more alert.

"Worst you can do is fight it. Just gives them reason to go on." 

"I know that," Rose replied. "I just... couldn't help myself."

"Hmm."

"What should I have done?" Before coming to Splendor, Rose had had no experience with true bullies. She had known posturing and blustering. Puffing up her chest and telling someone to stand down had always been enough, in the way of self-defence.  

"Either you agree with everything they say about you, takes the wind right out of their sails. Or... Or you own it. Nothing touches you after that."

Rose thought about it. "My father farms pigs, that doesn’t make me an animal. But that’s what they’re saying. I don’t like that."

"'s Not about liking it or not." Bosra stoically replied. 

Frustration bubbled over. "What is it about?" Rose bit out.

"Accepting it. Don't need to like nothing to accept it. They call you Piggie, you endorse it. They call you orc-bait? You fucking make it so you look like that."

Rose frowned. Orc-bait was a slur for those that liked to bed green skins. She didn't know what was worse, being called orc-bait, or being called a pig.

Though piglets were kind of cute. They were also pretty smart. They had great noses – bad eyesight, but great noses. They could be very determined, and they would chow down on anything and digest it. It was kind of their superpower, come to think of it. 

People thought they were dirty, because they needed the mud to cool down on hot summer days, not being gifted with sweat glands when Sunfather created them, but they were actually kind of clean, cleaner than chickens anyway – who just pooped absolutely everywhere. 

Piglets could also squeal loud enough to make your ears bleed. 

"Brittany seems determined to get me kicked out in these last few weeks," Rose pointed out again. 

"You gon' let her?"

"No...?"

Bosra put her oversized paw on Rose's shoulder and squeezed softly. "Atta girl."

"But what do I do, Bosra?" Rose asked pleadingly. 

"You said somewhat 'bout a party. You still going?"

"Maybe..." Rose looked down at her stockinged feet. She hadn't been enthusiastic about it before, and now that was even less. 

"Crazy party right, wild?"

"Yeah. That's why I never go. I don't like to lose control like that." 

"Get you. Don't like that either. But you go as cute little piggy with a nice bow around your neck and a sparkly red dress, all they’s going to be looking at is your sassy ass."

Rose blushed and bashfully looked away. She had never been daring in her choice of wardrobe. Another thing that marked her as a Fairfields girl.

"When's the party?"

"This Hearthday." 

"Means you got three days to make it happen. You got this." 

Rose heaved a sigh. She still didn't like any of this, but like Bosra had said, she didn't have to. She had to accept it. 

If she could see it like a part in a play, just a part to play, for the next four weeks, that should make it bearable. Only four more weeks until the end of the school year. Showing cleavage and ankle didn't mean she was naked. Sexy didn't have to mean flirty, and flirty didn’t have to mean she would have to accept lewd propositions. Besides... pigs could bite. Really hard. 

She chewed her lip, trying to get some enthusiasm going. Maybe she could ask Tina for clothing advice. Maybe Marissa knew a polymorph spell that would help Rose gain some pig-like features for the party; a tail and cute floppy ears perhaps, the hint of an upturned nose and tusks. 

Bosra changed from her daily wear into a shift. It made her look softer, more feminine. It took a while for Rose to notice that, lost in thought as she was. When she did, she vaulted off into a new string of consciousness. Did Bosra miss male companionship? Did she miss having a family? Children? 

Rose didn't know the answers to those questions.

"You know way back when we met Tina, you talked about men and what kind you'd be able to fancy?"

"Hmm," Bosra nodded. She stood braiding her long black hair into a single braid in front of a window. Because it was dark outside, it functioned as a mirror. 

"Have you found anyone you could see as a partner?"

Bosra didn't have to think about the answer. "No." 

"Do you want one?"

Rose's question was met with silence. She took that as a yes. "It's not a shame to want that..."

"Am too busy for males." It sounded like an excuse to Rose. "You could search out other Highlanders. There must be more in the city."

"Neh." Bosra didn't want any Highlander male. Her thoughts returned to Ilyas, son of Azat. She looked past her own reflection into the gloom of night. A wordless prayer to Nightsoul fogged up the pane of glass. Bosra turned away from her opaque reflection. "I'm good, Pupper. Don't worry 'bout me none." 

Rose scrunched her nose. "I want you to be happy."

"Am happy. Got you. Got Tina. Got a plan for what to do when you both decide to scram."

Rose frowned. She never thought her leaving would be equal to abandoning Bosra.  

"You gotta do you. I know how it goes." Bosra had been there thirty years ago. 

"Yeah... but..."

"I gotta do me. Can't keep living in this house. Ain't my thing."

"So what are you going to do?" Rose asked, scooting aside when Bosra climbed in to get under the covers. 

Bosra shrugged. "Buy out Reggie. Train horses. Train goats. Buy a monster, train that one, sell it." 

"Okay." That did sound like a plan. Rose knew Bosra had money squirrelled away. Rose herself was the pauper of their trio. 

"Gon' be fine, Pupper. Ain't gon' lose sleep either way." 

"Okay." Rose paused for a second. "Will you let me play you this new song I wrote?"

"Sure. This gon' rile me up? I'm headed for sleep."

"No. I don't think so. Let me get the lute." Rose unfolded herself from her seated position and rushed downstairs to retrieve the masterwork instrument. 

Returning, she took up position on the footlocker. She smiled brightly at Bosra. "This one's for you." She started humming and strumming, her fingers easily finding the right strings and positions on the neck. Her foot gently bumped against the blanket chest she sat on for extra emphasis when needed.  

Bosra listened, awed by this simple performance. She was purported and enraptured. She could feel the cool air of a temple, hear the choir sing, see the light stream in through rose windows. It was a dreamy song, filling her with peace.

When the song ended, she blinked. Her dark brows drew together to form a single line. Again, she felt she didn’t know the girl sitting at the foot of her bed.

Rose smiled awkwardly. "Did you like it?"

"Yeah..." There was nothing not to like. 

"You're the first to hear this one. I’m thinking of naming it Worship." 

"Good title." The idiots at Bardic College were that - idiots - for not wanting to recognise talent and skill. 

Rose's smile grew. Her cheeks pinked. "It's just a simple song."

"It's everything." 

"You think?"

"I know." 

The smile split Rose's face in two. Her eyes gleamed. "I'm glad you like it."

"Best gift ever." Bosra said, meaning it from the bottom of her soul. As it happened, the tune stuck in her head. Every time she even slightly woke to turn in her sleep, she heard it again, making her smile. 

~

Valentina and Rose were out in the city, shopping for clothes. Valentina had found a boutique with tightly fitting dresses. She had fun going through the racks of pre-made models, ready to be fitted to size with the help of a needle, thread and some minor magic.

Rose was standing in the middle of the shop, biting her lip, fidgeting with her bag. There was a menu on the wall, showing prices for services. She could only afford one dress.

Valentina didn’t notice Rose’s qualms. She picked out dress after dress that she thought Rose should try out, and since she was at it, she found a few for herself. It was her first time shopping for dresses that were pre-made. She let the silky fabrics slide through her fingers, admiring cuts and imagining what it would look like on Rose.

Rose sidled up to her friend, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. "I can’t afford this many," she whispered, afraid the hawk-eyed saleswoman would overhear and kick them out.

"You are going to try them on and decide which one to keep," Valentina replied, holding up a silver-grey dress with beads around the neckline under Rose’s chin. This one made her friend too pale. "You need warmer colours."

"Tina!" Rose hissed quietly. If she had come straight from the farm with mud on her boots, she couldn’t have felt more out of place in this shop.

Valentina pretended not to hear Rose until she found a coral pink sleeveless dress, with a long slit up the side of one leg, and a deep crumpled neckline. She held it up. "You need a deeper colour. Though you could try this one if you like the cut."

"Tina! I am poor. I can’t afford all of this." Rose gestured around to indicate the entire shop.

Valentina paused, noticing only now Rose’s red cheeks and gnawed lip. "Okay."

"I can do one," Rose said softly, still afraid the shopkeeper would overhear.

Valentina looked at the stack of dresses she had chosen for Rose to fit. "I will find the best ones and after you fit them, we will decide which one to get." Rose relaxed. "Okay." This she could live with.

Valentina’s plan was coming together. It was a really, really bad plan that could go sideways in spectacular fashion, but she had already bought a dress and heels.

"I really would like to come along," she said to Rose as they were taking a cab home. They were both shouldering too many bags and boxes to safely make it on and off the trams, without losing half their purchases.

"Are you sure?" Rose found a way to sit that did not crush the paper flower bouquet Valentina had bought to liven up the dining room table. "It’s not going to be like the Winter Wake parties you took us to."

"Yes." Valentina fidgeted with her purse string. Going to a trash party like the one at Bardic College, throwing her name and weight around like the princess she was, would gather attention. Everything in her screamed it would be the wrong kind of attention, thus, at this point in her life, exactly the kind of attention she wanted.

Throw some public nudity into the mix and the scandal would be complete.

"Okay." 

Valentina took hold of Rose's hand and gave a little squeeze. Rose reciprocated.

"Even if you don't tell me what you plan to do," Rose said, knowing there was plotting going on in Tina's brain but not knowing exactly how it would end, "you should tell Bosra. She'll make sure you don't get hurt more than you want to."

Valentina nodded. "That is a good idea." 

"Thanks. I have those from time to time," Rose smirked. 

"Are you nervous about going?" Valentina asked tentatively. Rose had been quiet for most of the shopping spree, especially those instances where all attention had been focussed on her.

"A little," Rose confessed. "But it's the kind of jitters I have before I start playing my tunes. As soon as the music starts they disappear."

Valentina thought she understood. "You have never been to one of these parties, right?"

Rose breathed in deeply. "Call me a Fairfields girl, but I don't like to get stupid drunk and walk around naked, have unknown people touching me in places I avoid touching myself when I can."

Rose had been absolutely disgusted when she had heard about what went on at the Bardic College dorm room parties earlier in the year.  

"It can be nice..." Valentina smirked with a blush, thinking about the books she had read and the gardener's son she had been fooling around with almost a year ago. 

Rose shrugged. "Sure. Probably. I just don't want that with someone who isn't my husband." 

Valentina frowned. Rose had never seemed so puritan before. On the other hand, a lot of mischief went on in the courtly circles and she herself had abhorred that. "I guess we had different upbringings," she ventured. 

Rose sighed and looked at her hands, the hands of a musician with the scars of a farmer.  She didn't know how to say what she felt about that. "We sure did."

The rest of the ride home was spent mostly in silence, as they each watched the city-scape move by. Rose snorted at a bunch of mercenaries buying candied apples from a concession stand, with the goofiest grins on their faces. She laughed as she saw the stand owner dip a smoked sausage into hot caramel. "Who eats that!?" she exclaimed to the window.

Valentina, on the other side, was caught up in her own musings. For some reason, every other woman the carriage passed on its slow progression through the market district seemed to be heavily pregnant.