I take my time in the shower, reviewing the dance moves Nox taught me in the hope that it might distract me as well as improve my actual dancing tonight. Once I’m out, Elowen guides me to sit at a small vanity, Elora already seated at one to my right.
Elowen’s magic is a brilliant red, and she uses it to manipulate the air to dry my hair, gently guiding the element sothat, when she’s done, there is a soft curl at my ends. Then she leaves the room, coming back with my dress in hand.
“It’s stunning,” I whisper in awe. I hadn’t seen it completely finished yet.
Elowen smiles widely before guiding me to a part of the room where a divider is set up, Elora getting the same treatment when her lady-in-waiting comes out with her own gown.
My dress is a rich, dark green with twin panels of soft pleated fabric coming up from the cinched waist to cover my breasts and attach to a cape at my shoulders. The cape flows down nearly to the floor, covering my otherwise exposed back. Though most of the middle of my chest and sternum are free of fabric, a thick embroidery of what looks like the bare branches of a tree dipped in silver starts on one side of the dress and stretches across my bare skin to the other side, offering a little more modesty. I wonder if it’s completely irrelevant, however, when twin slits split my dress all the way up to the top of my thigh.
Elowen shows me how to adjust the cape so that it can either come around my shoulders more or stay held back. “Come, you must see yourself.”
Walking out past the divider, I take in Elora from across the room, her beautiful russet-colored gown complimenting her fair skin and red hair and showing off her lovely curves. “Elora, you look beautiful,” I gasp out.
But she shakes her head while she walks towards me, her eyes glassy as she draws them over me. “Rhea, you areethereal.”
Stepping up to a large gold-framed mirror propped up against the white stone wall, my hands tremble as I take in my reflection. My skin holds a slightly darker pigmentation, time spent training outside these past weeks having given it a kiss of a tan. It glows against the dark hue of the dress, my honey-blonde hair curled perfectly and hanging to just above my hips. I had chosen to keep the dragon necklace on, the blackpendant shining between the panels of fabric against my chest. Elowen opted to keep my face bare of anything more than a light lip color, the soft pink brightening the green of my eyes. Swallowing, I wait for the familiar feelings of self-doubt to rise—the ones that whisper that I’m not worthy enough to wear something this lovely. But the longer I stare at my reflection, Elora smiling brilliantly at my side, the more that anticipation fades away until all I feel is simplybeautiful.
“Nox is going to lose his mind when he sees you,” Elora cackles, smoothing a hand down the tulle of her own dress and causing the bits of gold to glitter under the light of the spelled flames as she does.
“And is there someone who is going to lose it when they seeyou?” I ask, lifting a brow.
Elora snorts, twisting in front of the mirror to look at the back of her dress which dips low into a V-shape. “I’m sure there are a few who will be excited to see that I have crawled out of my cave of books. We’ll see if I decide any of them are worthy of a dance tonight.”
We laugh as Elowen walks over to the vanity I was seated at and carefully removes something from a satin pouch. “There is one more piece, Lady Rhea,” she says softly, returning to my side. She shows me a diadem made of silver and glittering diamonds, a large flaring sun set in its center while a crescent moon lays beneath it. Shining bursts of stars surround the celestial markers in different heights, making the piece look larger than it truly is. A design of swirling diamonds, like that of a misty sky or churning sea, makes up the bottom portion.
I shake my head, meeting her gaze. “There must be a mistake; I did not request this.”
“His Highness, Prince Nox, did,” she answers, her lips twitching as she does. She motions for me to face the mirror again, standing behind me as she carefully places the diadem onmy head and weaves strands of hair around its sides to hold it in place.
When her hands leave the small crown, there is an abrupt and sharp tugging on my stomach, making me gasp as an image bursts to life in my mind:
A woman, her hair so blonde it’s nearly white and eyes a green that matches my own, adjusts the same diadem over her head. The woman hums as she smooths over her black and white silk dress with her hand. A dark-skinned man with black hair to his shoulders comes up behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist.
“Are you ready, my love?” he asks, kissing the shell of her ear. “We can’t be late for our very first ball.”
She laughs, turning her head to the side to meet his gaze. “I’m so very happy you are here with me. I do not think I could have done this—rule them—alone.”
They kiss, and my stomach is pulled on sharply again as the image fades and I find myself staring at my own reflection.
“Are you alright, Rhea?” Elora asks, her fingers gently touching my forearm with concern.
I shake my head, blinking in confusion. “Yes, I—” I’m thankfully interrupted when someone knocks on the door.
Elowen leaves my side to answer it, speaking in a low voice before gently shutting it. “His Highness is here to escort you, My Lady.”
I swallow, pushing the odd experience to the back of my mind for now. Elowen gathers the other ladies-in-waiting and heads for the door, Elora following behind them.
“I’ll give you guys somealonetime so he can properly drool over you,” she teases, pushing her glasses farther up her nose. “But I’ll see you on the dance floor!”
I laugh as I wave goodbye, my smile growing wider when I hear her whistle and compliment Nox in the hallway. And then he steps into the room.
Air is pulled from my lungs at the sight of him, my body going both taut and loose at the same time. “Stars above,” I whisper, drinking every detail in with hungry eyes while he does the same to me. The onyx lapels of his jacket shine while beneath it, a deep blue button-up shirt—the top few buttons left undone—shows a hint of his light brown skin. Black trousers and finely made dress shoes of the same color complete the outfit; the entire ensemble is enough on its own to send my heartrate soaring. But it’s what rests on top of his wavy black hair, a few rogue strands hanging over his forehead, that leaves me surprisingly coiled with desire. A crown made of black metal, its short triangle-shaped spires inset with large diamonds, holds my attention even as he closes the door and begins to walk towards me. At its center is the same flaring sun as the one on my diadem—except that crescent moons flank either side, facing in opposite directions.
“In all my dreams, I could never have imagined anyone as absolutely perfect as you are, Rhea.” His gaze pores over me once more, unabashedly lingering on every dip and curve. I take a step towards him, revealing the slits that show an expanse of skin on both legs, and Nox’s eyes become a churning midnight storm, his hands flexing at his sides.
“The diadem was a surprise,” I tell him, sliding my hands up the firmness of his chest. Warmth from his fingers permeates my sides as they rest over the exposed skin there. Nox shrugs, as if dressing me in a crown in front of the kingdom—in front of thecouncil—was nothing short of expected. “And it matches yours,” I add on with an arched brow. This time, the corner of his mouth lifts followed by a gentle squeeze of his hands.
“Is it a bad thing that I wanted everyone to know who you are to me? To this kingdom?”
