“Thank you. Before we begin, I know he isn’t your favorite person, but have you heard from Everard lately?”
She shook her head.
I still had no idea if he was dead or alive. Worry gnawed at me like a hungry snake and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.
I sighed and went to work.
CHAPTER40
REDBERRY20
No peeking,” Kaiden warned, leading me forward.
“No peeking,” I promised, keeping my eyes firmly shut.
“You look amazing, my lady,” Clover said.
“Stunning,” Erodel said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Kaiden let go of my hand. There was some thudding.
“Ready,” Will said.
“You can look now,” Kaiden announced.
I opened my eyes. Everyone was in the courtyard. The sky above us was golden with afternoon sunshine.
“Good job!” Shana told Clover.
“This way,” Lute called. I turned and saw myself in a full-length mirror he had dragged into the courtyard.
Oh.
After the dress had come out of the dye vat, Clover had taken off the sleeves and gone to work. I wasn’t allowed to look at it, and when I asked her how it was going, she made growling noises and shooed me away.
The dress was amazing. The color turned out to be a breathtaking rust, almost as deep as Isadau’s hair. The neckline was a variation of a Queen Anne, but instead of the triangular shoulder pieces, the embroidered straps were rectangular, flowing into complex bell sleeves, layered with rust and cream and bordered by wide bands of gold thread embroidery. The chain of Digi’s amulet was hidden under my neckline.
The fitted bodice transitioned into a light-as-a-feather outer skirt, slit on the sides to expose an even thinner cream skirt underneath when I moved. A two-inch-wide embroidered cloth belt caught my waist and from it, on a cord of a deep beautiful blue, hung the wooden puck of the Demarr crest. Clover had matched the color scheme with uncanny precision.
The hair from my temples was gathered up and plaited into an elaborate braid, leaving the rest of it free to drip down my back in wavy locks. I’d had to sleep in wooden curlers, and it was hell, but my hair looked spectacular—shiny and wavy. Clover had woven a matching blue cord into it and secured the whole thing with a cascade of tiny gold chains. I had done my own makeup and adjusted it with her feedback to match the Rellasian formal occasion standards. My shoes were tiny blue slippers with little heels.
It was as if all of my fantasy princess fantasies had somehow come to life.
I looked . . . I looked . . .
“You can’t cry, my lady!” Clover snapped. “You’ll ruin your face!”
“I won’t cry,” I promised.
Kaiden rolled his eyes.
“What do you think?” I asked him.
“You’re pretty,” he said.
“I’ll take that.”
Erodel offered me his arm. He was the picture of elegance in a silver doublet edged with light blue. A slender sword hung on his hip. Companions weren’t allowed at the joedurar, but as a ranowen, he could escort me all the way to the doors.
