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“You lookamazing.”
“Thanks,” she said, giving a sassy little courtesy. The smile faded from her face, however, when she saw my hair.
“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you have an appointment with a hairdresser today?”
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My shoulder-length hair had been straightened, the slight curl flattened out, my hair more flowing and silkier—I loved it. It was still purple, however.
“I did. And I got it cut and straightened, see?”
“But it’s still purple.”
“Yup, it’s still purple.”
She shook her head emphatically as she stepped over to the door to shut it.
“I think it looks cool. Just that the king’s going to have a heart attack when he sees it.”
“He’ll just have to deal. He wanted me at the ball, here I am. I took out my nose ring. That’s the one compromise I’m willing to make.”
She laughed. “That’s certainly something. Anyway, speaking of your father…” She reached into her purse, taking out a small envelope. “He was going to bring this here personally. But when I bumped into him in the hallway and he found out I was coming to drop off your dress, he asked me to deliver it.”
“Couldn’t do it himself?”
“Please don’t take it too personally, Ava. The king’s very busy with greeting the nobility coming in, preparing the guard for introductions and all of that. It’s a big night, as I’m sure you can tell by now.”
I took the envelope and opened it. Inside was an elegant piece of linen paper, with only a few sentences written. The first instructed me to remember what Oscar and Giselle had taught me about being elegant and graceful and princess-like. I couldn’t help but smirk—if only he knew what was in store for him.
As I read the other sentences, however, the smirk began to fade from my face. What he’d written was surprisingly sincere—they were words about how he knew that I was going to do great, how much he’d been looking forward to this night for years. When I was done reading, I folded the paper and set it on the nearby desk. Was my father simply saying what he felt he needed to in order to make sure I behaved? Or was the letter his way of reaching out to me, trying to mend fences?
“You alright?” Kinley asked.
I shook my head, coming back into the moment.
“Yeah. Fine.” Wanting to move away from the subject of the letter, I nodded toward the dress rack. “What’s going on here? How come there’s two bags?”
Kinley beamed, as if she’d been waiting for me to ask the question.
“It’s part of the surprise.” She stepped over to one of the dress bags, picking it up and laying it on the bed. “Open that.”
I did as she asked, slowly pulling the zipper along the side of the bag. Huge puffs of lace and tulle greeted me, followed by that familiar pink color.
“It’s my dress.”
“That’s right,” she said. “And it’s all ready to go. I’ve adjusted it to your latest measurements, with the, um…”
I laughed. “With the five or so pounds I’ve put on since getting pregnant. You can say it.”
“Yes, even with the little bit of extra weight, it’ll fit you like a dream. How the dress looks, well, that’s another story. Anyway, if you want to wear it, here it is.”
My eyes went to the other bag. “And what about that?”
She grinned. “That’sthe surprise.” Kinley stepped over to the bag, scooping it up and bringing it over to the bed. She zipped up the other dress bag and moved it from the bed, making room for the new one. “Look! I can’t wait for you to see what’s in there.”
With a touch of apprehension, I placed my hands on the bag and began to slowly unzip.
“Now, just a word in my defense,” Kinley said as I unzipped. “This was something of a custom, rush order. All the same, I think I did quite a good job, considering the time constraints.”
I was beginning to get excited. With eager hands, I opened the zipper the rest of the way, revealing what was inside.
