Fragile Destiny (The Aether Chronicles) by Suzanne Lazear

won’t.”
    That was a bit of a disconnect. She was behaving so strangely. How much of it was her being a girl, and how much of it was everything that had happened to her?
    “Of course we can,” he reassured her. She looked as if she might cry, and Noli wasn’t as weepy as most girls. “Some of the applications I sent for have arrived.”
    Actually, applying to universities would give him something to look forward to. Steal a jewel. Duel his uncle. Find his sister. Attend university. Protect a world-altering artifact. Take back the kingdom. Marry the girl he loved. Just a day in the life of an exiled prince.
    She gave him a smile as large as the sky. “Good. But we’re still going to the ball.”

Six
    The Museum Ball
    Noli clipped a feather fascinator to her hair as she got ready for the ball.
    Pretty , the sprite crowed as she caught sight of their reflection in the mirror.
    “No. You can’t go out like that, I’m sorry.” Jeff blocked the door to her room with his body, a hand on each side of the door frame.
    “You’re not the boss of me, Jeff,” she snapped, fluffing her carefully created curls to ensure they covered her pointed ears. “I’m tired of everyone treating me like I’m a little girl. Don’t make me throw my knife at you.”
    His face fell as he entered her room. “I was making a joke. You … you look beautiful.” A sigh escaped his lips. “The older brother in me doesn’t want to acknowledge that you’re not a little girl anymore. You’re a woman grown, ready to make her own choices.”
    “Oh.” She smoothed her voluminous skirts, then looked up at him in earnest. “I’m seventeen. I’m not a little girl anymore.”
    “No, you’re not.” Jeff shook his head, sadness in his eyes, as he sat on her desk chair. “Also, you’re pretty good at throwing knifes. I saw you in the yard with James.”
    Earlier she and James had been having another sword lesson, which had ended with knife throwing, her favorite. “I like learning how to use a sword.”
    Noli pulled on net gloves, which she’d bleached then tinted with tea, trying to match the cream underskirt of the dress, and threaded gold ribbons through them.
    “Are you really applying to all those universities?” Jeff rearranged the things on her desk. “I saw the applications on the kitchen table.”
    “Yes,” she replied. V had brought over the applications and she’d started filling them out.
    “Impressive.” Jeff gave a nod of approval. “Your marks must be better than mine.”
    “Not really, but V seems to think I can do it.” If he believed in her, then she had to try. She tucked a lace fan in her handbag. “Do I look all right?” Noli twirled in front of the looking glass, trying to glimpse the dress from different angles. She’d taken the rosettes off.
    “You look amazing. Did Mother make the dress?”
    “I did. Will you tie me up in the back? Please?” Not knowing what else to do, she’d slit the back and laced it up like a corset.
    Jeff stood and laced her up. “Well, that’s different.”
    “ That’s the point.” She took her new cream under-bust corset and put it over the dress. It was decorated with gold lace flowers. “Lace this up too, please?”
    “What is with the corsets over the dresses? Aren’t you supposed to wear them under your clothes?” Jeff’s nose scrunched in confusion. “The corset tool belt you have makes sense, but this is just odd.”
    “It’s a fae convention, but apparently it’s making its way into this realm. I happen to like it.” She’d discovered that at the corset maker’s when she’d gotten the corset by trading fabric and things from her mother’s shop.
    He shook his head as he laced her up. “I’ll never understand ladies’ fashion.”
    Noli checked her appearance again in the mirror. “Perfect.”
    “Darrow better realize he’s lucky to have someone like you,” Jeff muttered.
    “I do, Jeff. I do.” V stood in the doorway. He twisted