The Call to War

Chapter 13

Tess stood staring into the mirror in her room in the floating castle, taking in the sight of herself in the dress for tonight's celebration. The dress was a shimmery black, long sleeve, and stopped right below her knees. After two years practically living in her armor while covered in dirt and grime, it was hard for her to believe the girl in the mirror was her.

"You look so beautiful," her mother gushed as she stood beside her looking in the mirror. "This dress just shows how much of a beautiful young woman you are."

"I don't know," Tess replied with a lack of confidence. "I mean this is supposed to be a celebration. Shouldn't I wear something a little brighter?" Tess then gave a little tug on the frills at the ends of one of the sleeves. "And maybe a little more mature?"

"This dress is mature," her mother replied. "They add a playful touch, while the dress overall accentuates your beauty."

Tess looked at her mother in the mirror. Despite being older, her mother was still gorgeous, and the bright rose colored dress that gently hugged her body showed her womanly figure.

"I don't know, shouldn't a more mature dress show off more of my figure?" Tess suggested.

"Are you trying to show off for someone?" Claire teased from the side, wearing a black dress that did show off her figure above her waist, before flaring out slightly and stopping a little above her ankles.

Beside her was Caria, wearing a green dress that stopped mid thigh, with a pair of black tights. She was making a failing attempt to keep in a snicker at the comments.

"N-no," Tess stuttered as she blushed with embarrassment.

"Tessia darling," her mother said as she gave her a side hug. "There are many ways to show maturity with your appearance, and this is one of them." She then stepped in front of her, and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "This dress shows your beauty, and I'm sure Arthur will see that. If not, then it's him that needs to mature. Now I need to get going, I need to join the rest of the council for when we all come out."

With her mother walking out, the male members of their teams walked in as Tess kept looking in the mirror, turning to get a view from different angles, before sighing.

"What?" Caria asked.

"It's nothing. I guess I can agree with my mother about the dress, but I really did want something to...show off in," Tess replied.

"Seriously? I was just teasing. I agree with your mother, Arthur will be able to see how beautiful you are," Claire said reassuringly.

"I don't know. I mean, until I kissed Arthur back in school he kept treating me like he did when we were kids. I feel like if I ever want our relationship to progress I need to be the one to make it happen," Tess admitted.

"So you want to what? Show off your body so he wants to bed you?" Darvus commented, earning him a smack in the back of the head by Stannard, and a punch in the stomach by Caria.

"No, I just want him to see that I'm growing, maturing. I don't want him to keep seeing me as just the teen girl he left, I want him to see me as a woman."

"Are you trying to make him want to propose or something?" Thomas asked innocently.

"No, yes, I don't know," Tess said in frustration. "I'm pretty sure to a certain degree I get how he thinks, and I doubt he would want to get married before the war was over. I just..." she sighed. "Arthur grew up a lot, and I want him to see that I did too. That I'm not a little girl anymore, that I'm a woman now."

"Ok, please don't hit me," Jerry said looking at Caria and Claire, before looking back at Tess. "But it does sound like you are trying to at least get him to think about your body."