While turning toward the floor-length mirror, my sister’s voice had me halting instantly.
“I told you not to look yet!” she scolded me as she rushed back into the room, balancing the rest of the beauty enhancers Lynelle provided us.
I huffed out a breath at her as I tightened the strings of my robe. “Avery, I need to see if I like it!”
“And you will do just that once I amfinished,” she stated as she pointed to the chair in the corner of the room where I was told to remain.
“Fine,” I huffed as I sat back down, the force of my dramatic landing on its cushion making my body bounce.
“Excellent,” Avery cooed as she spread all the items out on a small table.
Closing my eyes, I felt everything she did, from lining my lashes, dusting my cheeks, and painting my lips.
“How did you learn to do all of this, anyway?” I asked as my eyes remained closed.
“You learn quite a bit when things are forced upon you daily. Now hold still before I get this rouge on your teeth,” she demanded.
I stifled a giggle at her bossiness while she finished her self-proclaimed masterpiece on my face.
“Open your eyes,” she ordered. “How does it feel?”
I smirked. “As if I have paint on my face.”
“Well, you essentially do,” she said with a laugh. “Zaela, it’s time for the dress!”
A figure appeared in the doorway a moment later, but it wasn’t Zaela.
“Lynelle,” I breathed, and she watched me with eyes that seemed to already be filling with tears as she stood beneath the door’s arch, draping a cream-colored gown over her arms.
“The tailors have just finished it. I rushed to get it here since Zae had to help the boys get ready.”
I smiled softly. “She’s always looking out for those two.”
“Indeed she is,” Lynelle admitted as she took a single step in.
“I, um, I will go see if Veli needs anything downstairs,” Avery announced as she rushed out the door.
I stood from the chair and sucked in a sharp breath as nerves worked their way through me. Lynelle then approached me.
“My dear, it’s a custom in our mortal culture for a family member to escort the bride down the aisle, but I’m not sure if it’s the same for the fae.”
A smile tried to form on my lips, but it refused to meet my eyes. “It’s the same for our culture as well,” I answered.
She pressed her lips together as her eyes roamed over me slowly. “I am so very sorry for your loss, my dear. There has been so much of it on both sides of this.”
“Indeed, there has been,” I whispered. “And thank you. I’m forever sorry for yours as well, Lynelle.”
She waved her hand at me to brush off my remark, as if my birth hadn’t played a part in her own husband’s death. She then carefully hung the dress on the wall beside her.
Lynelle gently placed each of her hands on either side of my arms and looked into my eyes. “That is neither here nor there, sweet girl. You have the weight of the realm on your shoulders, and you are now fightingforus instead of against us. You are our hope.”
She caringly moved my body to twirl before her, so I now faced the wall that was at my back a moment before. Her hand reached out toward the table at our side, and she picked up the beautiful hairbrush that had been resting atop it. I nearly let out a sob as she pulled it gently through my hair.
“Are you alright, Lia?” she asked in a calm whisper.
My lungs released a shuddering breath that felt as if it rattled my entire body. “I just…” No words found me as I desperately tried to explain what I was feeling.
“You don’t have to speak of it if it causes you pain.” Another pull of the brush through my hair nearly had me ruining the work Avery had done to my face as tears threatened me.
