Chapter 812

I groan, my hands locked firm on the wooden bed post, as Pippa tugs hard on the strings of my corset. "Pippa," I pant, trying hard to look at her over my shoulder, "are you sure this is necessary? I've already got a pretty small waist..."

"I'm so sorry, Ariel," Pippa says, the strings so tight in her hands that her fingers are laced red and white. "Gabriel's orders. He said he wants you turned out in the height of fashion and..." she shrugs, looking down at my elaborate undergarment, implying that this is indeed necessary.

I sigh and nod, knowing it's not her fault, and turn around, letting Pippa continue.

When she finally ties off the strings and I stand straight, running my hands down over the corset, I'm kind of...appalled at the bizarre new shape my body has been morphed into. My waist is so small, and there's all sorts of ridiculous padding sewn in over my breasts and my booty. God, I look like...some weird fantasy of a woman all covered in fabric. Not a real girl at all.

Which, I suppose, is the point.

"Ready?" Pippa asks, panting a little herself as she hefts yards and yards of grey-blue silk over towards

me.

"All of that?" I ask, pointing at it with wide eyes. "Is one dress!?"

She laughs a little, grinning at me, and nods.

"Oh goodness," I mutter, ducking obligingly and letting Pippa lift the entire assortment over my head to drape over my body. Then she gets to work with all the buttons and zippers and ties and ribbons, getting me all prettied up.

I look at myself in the mirror as she does, wondering at myself, the change my life has taken. I've been dressing as a boy for months now, Ari becoming part of my identity. And neither Jackson nor Luca had complained once to see me without makeup, and in slacks, my hair messily tucked up beneath a black cap all day.

I mean, they'd liked me equally dressed as a girl too. But I got the impression with both that...it just never really mattered what I looked like.

But with Gabriel? Clearly...he cares.

"How are you, love?" Pippa asks, her voice soft. "I know you were in bed all day. Are you...okay? Do you have any questions I can answer, maybe to make things better?" I turn my head to look into her face, not really surprised to see true concern there. Whatever his motives, I don't think that Elias truly lied about Pippa

being the essence of goodness. She

seems at all times to be genuinely

kind.

I sigh, shrugging a bit, hesitating. But then I let myself ask, truly curious and needing information. "Is he always like that?" I whisper.

Pippa instantly intuits who I'm

talking about, "He didn't used to be,"

ife

she whispers with a grimace, as she's aware that that news doesn't do anything to soften the meaning implicit in her words: that yes he's like that all the time.

I sigh, settling myself into the knowledge that my newset mate is kind of a nightmare.

"Well," I ask, my face screwing up in confusion. "When did he...start being like that? And why?"

"It all started four or five years ago," Pippa murmurs, working hard at the line of buttons that trail down my

back. I watch her in the mirror, paying close attention to her expression. "When he..."

She sighs, though, and shakes her head, as if deciding that's not the right place to start.

"When we were children," Pippa says, beginning again, "the three of us were very close. Our mothers were best friends, which explains the rather uncommon instance of a younger girl being so often in the company of two older boys."

"How much younger are you?" I murmur, curious.noveldrama

"About three years younger than Elias," she says, almost passive as she concentrates on my dress.

I blink in surprise when I realize that that makes Pippa just about Juniper's age. God, Juniper, pregnant... but she's just a baby. It's a ridiculous thought.

"I'm about five years younger than

Gabriel," Pippa continues. "But it didn't seem to matter that I was a girl and a baby - the three of us just got along so well. Gabriel - he was always so funny. He was full of pranks and energy. Elias and are more restrained and...bookish, I guess is the right word. But Gabriel - he really got us to go on adventures, brought such spirit to our lives."