Once Upon A Princess

22: Starry Night

Had Amelia looked in her closet before dinner, she might've guessed some of her diplomatic duties would have entailed attending parties. Party dresses of every color, shape, and style filled an entire wall. It seemed each was meant to oudo the next, and by the end of the rack they were so elaborate they looked ridiculous to even attempt to wear.

By the time it came around to getting dressed for the ball, the princess found that just thinking of the overwhelming amount of time she'd have to spend trying each one on had been too much, and so she'd simply picked one at random out and declared it perfect. It turned out to be a good fit, and so that was that.

It was almost possible to forget about the nightmare she'd had last night when she was looking at herself in the mirror, finally free of the handful of seamstresses that had taken forever fussing with her hem and neckline. Her nightmares were getting more confusing and with that more frightening, and looking at the dark circles under her eyes and paler-that-usual face only reminded her of how little sleep she was really getting. It felt like her nights were now full of fitful dreams and restless, wakeful hours wishing for the sunrise.

At least Gell employed a full staff of stylists to beautify every attendee, armed to the teeth with needles, creams, pins, and ribbons. Her hairdresser had done her hair up in a pile atop her head, letting a few stray curls fall to frame her face. The dress she'd selected was shimmering silver silk, long-sleeved and studded with fake jewels down the arms. To accent the shiny tones of the dress, the hairdresser had placed a few diamond hairpins in her hair, and now she felt she looked like a starry sky. The dress, billowing out in the bottom, hid her skinny legs and accented her waist. Even with the lack of sleep, she had never looked better, she thought. Maybe the ball wouldn't be so bad.

Her reverie was broken by loud voices at her door. Someone was talking harshly to Jackson, and Jackson was shouting back.

"What is going on?" Amelia exclaimed as she whirled around and strode to the door. When she opened it, expecting some kind of standoff with a Gellish soldier, she found only her own guards, Jackson and Brand, glaring at each other. Both looked at her and straightened up, but kept their faces hard-lined.

"Nothing, princess," Jackson replied. "Brand will be accompanying you this evening. That is all." He nearly spat the words out before fast-walking down the hall, towards the bedroom the three guards shared when they weren't on duty, which was next to Amelia's. She heard the door slam shut.

She turned a bewildering glance to Brand, whose face had turned neutral.

"What just happened?"

Brand nonchalantly shrugged, as if the good-natured Jackson hadn't just turned a one-eighty in attitude.

"He gets upset when things don't go his way, I 'spose."

Maybe that was true. Amelia had never seen him act so mad, though. She waved her guard inside, brushing off her worries for now.

"Well, you can come in now that I'm changed now. I guess we'll be going down soon."

She went back into her room, sitting on top of her bed and smoothing out her dress. She felt nice, but inside butterflies were seeming to burst in all corners of her gut, threatening to spill out and expose her anxiety.

Brand came in too, closing the doors and standing with his back to them. He put his hands behind his back, widening his legs. He smiled at Amelia; he had a truly disarming smile.

"You look lovely, princess."

She blushed. She knew she was blushing, but there was nothing to hide it. Brand was good-looking, and older. It felt nice to get a compliment from him.