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Calliope and Caliara showed up next, the two of them still rubbing sleep from their eyes and grumbling about the horrible weather outside.
“It’s not good for it to rain on a wedding day,” Caliara sighed, her small bottom lip jutting outwards in a pout as she stared out the window.
“Says who?” I asked, kneeling down next to her and pushing her still sleep mused hair out of her face.
“Everyone, ever.” She rolled her eyes at me, as though I was the most ridiculous person she had ever conversed with, and I laughed lightly.
“Where I come from, rain on your wedding day is seen as a blessing.” I smiled, tilting my head at her. She frowned, her eyebrows knotting in the middle and making her look so much like Cyrus that I had to blink a few times, “Aknot, when wet, is harder to untie. Marriage is seen as the string of two people’s lives being tied in a knot. So, if it rains on the day you’re wed, it means your knot will be harder to untie and your marriage is going to last forever.”
Caliara’s face lit up at my words, a cheek-splitting grin coming across her features as she took in what I was saying.
“So you’ll be here forever?” she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet, and I nodded my head, returning the grin she was giving me. The guilt of lying to her made my stomach turn uneasily, and suddenly I regretted eating so much.
After everyone had eaten their breakfasts, Kyanne and Rosa included, I was hurried into the bathroom by Gracie. My usually clean counter tops were now covered in different cosmetics and brushes, hair pins and things that made me wonder if Gracie was considering torturing me in here.
She had barely started when there was another knock on my chamber’s door, and I frowned, looking round the archway between the two rooms and watching as Caliara opened the door, letting in the two women dressed in all black.
“You didn’t think I was going to be able to do this by myself, did you?” Gracie asked when she saw the look of unease on my face at the newcomers. “They’re here to help me get you ready, and to help do Calliope andCaliara’s makeup as well.”
“Calliope is wearing makeup?” My tone must have given away my surprise, because Gracie laughed as the two women made their way into the bathroom with us.
“Not a lot, but some, yes.” Gracie smiled at me, “Kira, this is Yvaine and Sereia.”
The two women in front of us fell into a deep curtsy, and I fought hard not to flush scarlet. No matter how often people did that, it never made me feel any less awkward.
“Thank you for trusting us with this, Your Majesty.” The elder of the two said, flashing her pearly white teeth as she smiled at me, “I am Yvaine,”
“Lovely to meet you, Yvaine.” I smiled politely back at her, “That makes you Sereia.”
The younger girl nodded, her cheeks tinged pink as she stared at me, wide eyed.
“Please forgive my sister, she does not talk.” Yvaine placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder in a reassuring gesture, her eyes boring into mine. “But she is talented at what she does.”
“I have no doubt.” I smiled, trying to put Sereia at ease.
I turned myself away from the mirror at Gracie’s request, she was adamant that the final look was to be a surprise, and I knew better than to argue with her.
Sighing, I closed my eyes, letting my shoulders sag slightly as gentle hands took over combing through my hair, a finger under my chin tipping my head back and seconds letter massaging cold creams into my face. The nip of a sleepless night started to pass the longer I sat with my eyes closed, the chatter between Gracie and Yvaine soothing. Calliope and Caliara drifted through from the main living room at some point, too, their voices joining the conversations and making us all laugh.
I wished Emily was here. Badly enough that my heart ached in my chest, and I struggled to catch a breath, tears stinging behind closed lids, threatening to streak through the makeup on my cheeks.
The sound of my chambers’ door opening and closing was constant in the background of the chaos, people dropping in gifts, topping up tea pots, and delivering more and more bouquets of flowers. We could barely move for flowers.
After who knows how long, Gracie cleared her throat behind me.
“You can look now,” she said, but even now I could hear the smile in her voice.
I blinked my eyes open, wincing at the bright light of the room after being in the dark for so long, and stood from the stool I had been sitting on. My legs had turned to jelly long ago, and I winced as I stood, rubbing my hands on my thighs to try and move the blood in them again.Gracie, Yvaine, and Sereia were all standing back, wide grins on their faces and nodding their heads at each other.
Turning on the spot, I took a breath and prepared myself for what I was about to see.
The gasp that came sounded like me, but the woman in the mirror’s lips parted at the same time as mine. Her skin was clear, pale with perfect pink cheeks. Her freckles had been accentuated, enough so that they stood out even more than usual, and her eyebrows tamed into a perfectly matching pair. Gold shimmered from her eyelids, which were framed by thick, long, black lashes.
Her hair was breathtaking. Half of it curled downwards over her shoulders, a braid falling down her back, and the other half wound delicately around the throngs of a silver crown. Greenery that matched the falling ivy leaves outside the castle decorated the silver alongside her hair, and bright, clear Jade diamonds were dotted along the band.
I turned my head, and watched as the woman in the mirror turned her head at the same time. Realisation that the woman in the mirror was, in fact, me, took me a lot longer than I would have thought.
“What do you think?” Gracie asked, her tone shrill as she bounced on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands together like an excited child.
