Enthusiastic?
Maybe eager?
She had been enjoying her communications with Harbin. To think she could spend more time with him thrilled her.
And if he wore those tight clothes? All the better.
She wondered if she should warn the rest of the ladies about their clothing, but she decided not to. After all, she was like a mother to them.
Telling the girls to be careful not to stare at their well outlined male parts took all the fun out of it. She knew they would. They may be ladies and raised to be proper and dignified, but they were not dead inside.
Her gaze wandered to Veta.
Veta would say something.
She would completely say something. And of all of them, Veta would certainly be interested in experimenting with the Rhimodian male parts.
Princess Caoimhe straightened her headdress, and her fingers traced the embroidery of her dress’s front robe. Diado made final adjustments to the robes and confirming the princess was perfect for her arrival on the Rhimodian homeworld.
Though he picked and poked more than necessary. "Be careful with that," Bianca said, tapping him. "She needs to be able to move."
"Of course. But it must also stay in place," Diado replied as he clipped in one of the fasteners.
"Move, yes. Run and do flips? No. She needs to be comfortable."
"A member of royalty is never comfortable," Diado snapped. "Perfection is nevercomfortable."
Diado drove Bianca nuts. He thought he knew everything.
She instead focused on a few last-minute bits of advice for the Imperial Princess. "Princess, you must be cautious. Remember, the presentation would be wasted. They are very logical and literal beings. Smiles would mean nothing to them. You cannot lead anything with your emotions."
As she continued, she saw that Caoimhe was having a hard time keeping her expression neutral.
The reflection in the window showed Freya behind her, making faces at Caoimhe.
"And another thing," Bianca said and turned.
Smacked into Freya.
Her eyebrow raised. "Are you mocking me?"
Freya grinned. "I would never do such a thing."
"Of course, you wouldn't," Bianca said. Her gaze darted from Freya to Caoimhe and back. "No, you girls never would do such a thing." Her words were thick with sarcasm.
Caoimhe nodded, her expression returning to a proper, somber state.
“You can do this, my child,” Bianca said.
Caoimhe nodded, ever so slightly, or she might knock her headdress loose.
She didn’t want to mess up the white overdress she wore—white, with red embroidery. Everyone else was dressed in red to surround the Imperial Princess. It was a show of power, but also of peace, Caoimhe in her white.
A sign of truce.
The red symbolized the Terran Empire, but the embroidery faded away down the collar toward the bottom of the dress. By the time you saw the feet, everything was white.
Symbolism.
