Once I’m scrubbed, shaved and fully moisturized, I step back into my room, wrapped in a fluffy towel. Arianna is waiting for me, already dressed in a long black dress. It has a halter neck and no sleeves. The dress becomes a sheer black lace above her knees and trails to the ground. Her hair is pulled into a sleek ponytail, the light color contrasting her dress perfectly.
My brows lift when I take her in. “First of all, wow. Second, how the hell did you do that so fast?”
Arianna grins. “A lady never tells.” She pats my bed. “Now, sit and let me work some magic.”
She starts adding rollers to my hair, and once they’re in, she fusses with my face. “Stop squirming.”
I grimace. “Ari, I think you’re great and all, but I can’t keep my eyes open when you’re coming at me with a pencil.”
I have done my makeup plenty of times, but I’ve never let someone else do it for me. Watching the sharp pencil near my eyes is unnerving.
Arianna sighs, “Look, you are the guest of honor tonight. You need to shine if we’re going to convince people to go to war with us. So, you’re going to put on your big girl panties and let me do your makeup, got it?” She finishes the statement by holding up a lacey black thong.
I grab at it. “This isn’t mine.”
I like it, though. There’s a small opening at the back, where two silk ribbons crisscross into an ‘x.’
“Rosie had our entire outfits ordered new. Here.” She throws a bra at me. It’s a matching lace, but there’s no backing.
I hesitate. “Uhm, how?”
I don’t see any hint of lingerie tape in the bra. How is it supposed to stay on?
Arianna pulls her dress aside to reveal a similar bra. “They’re charmed!” she notes, smiling. “It will stay on and push up your boobs until you want it off. The stockings are the same. They won’t ride down unless you want them to.”
I take the stockings from her, gaping at them. “That is the coolest thing I’ve seen here,” I note, seriously impressed.
Arianna grins and turns around. “Now, put them on. We’re getting you dressed before I finish your hair.”
By the time Arianna is finished with me, I hardly recognize myself. I’m dressed in a long silk emerald gown. It falls loosely around my legs, and there’s a long slit going almost all the way up my thigh. The dress has two small straps but has an open back, so low that I’m seriously concerned my thong will show if I shift the wrong way. But Arianna assures me there’s a charm for that, too.
She’s styled my hair in loose, elegant waves and pinned half of it so it flows over one of my shoulders. My makeup is simple but brings out the blue of my eyes.
“It’s perfect, thank you,” I say from the bathroom, swirling to try and see more of my dress in front of the mirror.
Arianna beams. “You’re a masterpiece!”
I spin, loving the silky feel of the dress, swishing against me, but pause when I look at my exposed arms.
“Did Rosie send a wrap or something?” I ask, eyeing my old scars and the newer scratches from the forsaken.
“Absolutely not,” Arianna answers, her voice like steel. “Own the battle scars. Wear them with pride.”
I cringe at the marks but nod.
“You’re going to do great tonight,” Arianna promises, heading to my door. “I’ll see you down there.”
“Wait, we aren’t going together?” I ask, confused. “How am I supposed to get halfway around the realm in time?”
Arianna rolls her eyes as she opens the door. “You’re not. You and your fated boyfriend are going together.”
I freeze. “Ari, no. I can go with you, I’ll see Sin there. It’s fine.”
Arianna steps out the door and turns back to me, grinning like a maniac. “See you later, Vivian. And try not to smudge the makeup,” she finishes before apparating out of sight.
I frown at the spot where she just stood.
Well, that was dramatic. Why open the door if she was just going to apparate out?
