Dani flailed about. I was saved by a knock on the door. A guard poked his head in and said that Dani was needed somewhere else.
“I’ll be back in a little to help you get dressed. Your new clothes are in the chests. I’ll help you pick one out. You want to make a better impression than your entrance,” Dani said.
I remembered all the hostile faces at the court. “Is it that important?” I didn’t think I’d made too many friends at court.
“Sweetie, I’m from LA. Appearance is always important.”
Dani gave me a quick hug and left.
After she left I discovered I’d lost the stopper to the bottle. The music was driving me crazy so I emptied it. The rest of the magic playlist tumbled out like ketchup. I had to smack the bottom a few times to get out the last few beats of electronica.
Still I felt alone without Dani in the room. She’d been the only friendly face I’d met so far. No one else at court wanted me there. And I wondered how many wanted me dead.
Chapter 10
The bath was relaxing. I just lay in the hot water and scrubbed the dirt and grime off my body. I thought of Severin a lot. I wished he could be at my side. There was so much I needed to ask him. And I wanted him with me and in me. I needed him in a pure animal sense.
After my bath I looked over the dresses that were inside the large chest near the bed. They were soft and flowing. The material wasn’t silk or anything I recognized. The colors were bright and dazzling but none of them seemed cheap or loud. There was a full length mirror in the room and I could check out myself. For a moment it took me back to when I was a child and I dreamed of being a princess. That was before I learned about my mother’s true nature. After I did it didn’t seem safe to dream anymore.
I folded the dresses neatly and left them in the ornate chest. Then I thought about my father. How was I going to track him down? My mother had taken him to Nightfall with her. She was here in the palace. Did that mean my father was here too? It didn’t seem that way. I just had a feeling he wasn’t around. But then where was he and how could I get to him?
I couldn’t come up with any answers. So I was in a depressed funk when Dani came back to my room. I saw R’Agan and N’Tasha waiting outside the door.
“Time to get ready.” Dani nodded towards the other two. “I think the two of us can handle getting you into your dress.”
“Go on enjoy yourselves,” I said to my two very reluctant in-name-only ladies in waiting. The pair left without giving me so much as a “thank you.”
“Those two really don’t like me,” I said.
“Those two only like what they see in the mirror,” joked Dani. “Come on let’s get you out of this GI Jane get up and into some proper princess clothing. As they say on Rodeo Drive, look the part, be the part. Did you make a selection?”
“I couldn’t choose, they all look amazing.”
“You mean they all look the same to you?”
“Yes,” I confessed.
“They’re not all the same.”
Dani kicked open the chest and rummaged through it. “Men have it easy, they have suits and then everything else,” she said. “Girls have a lot of choices. Here. This one is perfect.” She held up her selection. “Elegant, slightly formal but not too formal, bright but dignified.”
“If you say so,” I muttered.
“Trust me. If you want to make an impression, this is the dress to do it in.”
I hoped she was right. At that moment I felt less like a princess and more like an infection everyone wanted to cure.
The dress was a mix of blues, one dark and deep, the other a perfect turquoise that made me think of the waters off an island beach. It slipped over my head and laced up at the waist. Slits in the back allowed my wings to poke through. Dani pulled tight on the laces. Soon my waist felt like it had a python wrapped around it.
“I was hoping to avoid the corset,” I
“I’ll be back in a little to help you get dressed. Your new clothes are in the chests. I’ll help you pick one out. You want to make a better impression than your entrance,” Dani said.
I remembered all the hostile faces at the court. “Is it that important?” I didn’t think I’d made too many friends at court.
“Sweetie, I’m from LA. Appearance is always important.”
Dani gave me a quick hug and left.
After she left I discovered I’d lost the stopper to the bottle. The music was driving me crazy so I emptied it. The rest of the magic playlist tumbled out like ketchup. I had to smack the bottom a few times to get out the last few beats of electronica.
Still I felt alone without Dani in the room. She’d been the only friendly face I’d met so far. No one else at court wanted me there. And I wondered how many wanted me dead.
Chapter 10
The bath was relaxing. I just lay in the hot water and scrubbed the dirt and grime off my body. I thought of Severin a lot. I wished he could be at my side. There was so much I needed to ask him. And I wanted him with me and in me. I needed him in a pure animal sense.
After my bath I looked over the dresses that were inside the large chest near the bed. They were soft and flowing. The material wasn’t silk or anything I recognized. The colors were bright and dazzling but none of them seemed cheap or loud. There was a full length mirror in the room and I could check out myself. For a moment it took me back to when I was a child and I dreamed of being a princess. That was before I learned about my mother’s true nature. After I did it didn’t seem safe to dream anymore.
I folded the dresses neatly and left them in the ornate chest. Then I thought about my father. How was I going to track him down? My mother had taken him to Nightfall with her. She was here in the palace. Did that mean my father was here too? It didn’t seem that way. I just had a feeling he wasn’t around. But then where was he and how could I get to him?
I couldn’t come up with any answers. So I was in a depressed funk when Dani came back to my room. I saw R’Agan and N’Tasha waiting outside the door.
“Time to get ready.” Dani nodded towards the other two. “I think the two of us can handle getting you into your dress.”
“Go on enjoy yourselves,” I said to my two very reluctant in-name-only ladies in waiting. The pair left without giving me so much as a “thank you.”
“Those two really don’t like me,” I said.
“Those two only like what they see in the mirror,” joked Dani. “Come on let’s get you out of this GI Jane get up and into some proper princess clothing. As they say on Rodeo Drive, look the part, be the part. Did you make a selection?”
“I couldn’t choose, they all look amazing.”
“You mean they all look the same to you?”
“Yes,” I confessed.
“They’re not all the same.”
Dani kicked open the chest and rummaged through it. “Men have it easy, they have suits and then everything else,” she said. “Girls have a lot of choices. Here. This one is perfect.” She held up her selection. “Elegant, slightly formal but not too formal, bright but dignified.”
“If you say so,” I muttered.
“Trust me. If you want to make an impression, this is the dress to do it in.”
I hoped she was right. At that moment I felt less like a princess and more like an infection everyone wanted to cure.
The dress was a mix of blues, one dark and deep, the other a perfect turquoise that made me think of the waters off an island beach. It slipped over my head and laced up at the waist. Slits in the back allowed my wings to poke through. Dani pulled tight on the laces. Soon my waist felt like it had a python wrapped around it.
“I was hoping to avoid the corset,” I
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