Villainous [Wattys 2021 Shortlist]

MALEVOLENT 31: Bone and Flame

Delilah hated her wedding dress.

The white monstrosity restricted her movement as it billowed around her, resembling a cloud. Her handmaidens fussed around her, tightening her embroidered whalebone corset - in the old, traditional fashion - until her ribs cracked, and piling her hair on the crown of her head in an elaborate pattern. She closed her eyes in bliss at the feel of the long, sharp metal hairpins sliding against her scalp until only the pearls at the end were visible.

Despite all her plotting and scheming, she felt sick to her stomach. Every time anyone asked her a question and she opened her mouth, she felt bile rising. She hadn't seen Dante since the eventful night in her room a few days past, but knowing he was in the palace somewhere, being kept far away from her by what she imagined to be a veritable army of courtiers and ambassadors from all four nations, set her blood on fire. Every time someone entered a room, she couldn't help but look. Every time she settled in for the night, something inside her clenched as she wondered if he would reappear.

He didn't. It looked like he'd taken her words to heart.

Her nerves about the upcoming wedding coupled with the anticipation of seeing Dante again made her almost completely unable to eat. He was here, after all this time, here. In her palace, breathing the same air, eating food cooked from the same kitchen and walking the paths she'd treaded all her life. In unguarded moments right before falling asleep her mind had wandered to him against her own will, and she'd wondered if he was alive and well and if she would ever see him again. She'd never imagined this, never thought he would convince them to leave his capital and especially not to see her. What must the council think about their relations now? She couldn't even begin to think about that yet - her head was already too full.

When Mala entered the room, tears sprang to her eyes. "Oh, Delilah... You look so beautiful." She took her daughter's hands. "You're shaking. And you look so pale... Are you ill?" She felt Delilah's forehead. "Nerves, I assume. Don't worry, daughter. You will be all right. Your betrothed is an honourable man, he will treat you well. You've gone through so much hardship, but today is your day. I know you're nervous now, but you're going to enjoy it."

Delilah nodded mutely. The white dress seemed to drain all the colour out of her bronze skin and orange hair, sucking the fire and life from her.

She met Kaya's eyes over the heads of the other handmaidens and was not reassured to see so much concern there, but there was no time to talk, only to exchange nods. Kaya bustled around arranging the back of Delilah's skirts and she felt some comfort at the other girl's presence.

The procession began and they filed out of the room, Mala slipping away to take her allotted seat. Gaol took her place and offered Delilah his arm as was proper.

She took it and felt the seam where flesh ended and his metal hand began. She remembered the feeling of severing it with Ifling.

Gaol was speaking but Delilah's ears seemed to be underwater. She stumbled over her tight satin slippers as they walked. Had the tailors made them extra uncomfortable so she wouldn't be able to run away? They bit into her heels with every step.

The double doors were open, decorated with flowers, and they walked into the great hall where every head in the seated assembly turned, lit with the light of the setting sun through the western windows. Delilah's skin burned; she hadn't felt so many eyes at once since the public were pelting stones at her. Her betrothed stood at the end of the aisle, the man she was meant to share a bed with tonight and every night for the rest of her life, but she didn't even look at him. Nell lurked in a corner with other servants all dressed in sandy robes, a head wrap covering her hair, far from the Sun Warriors' seats. Finias had been given a place of honour near the front by the royal family, but the Valian embassy had been placed at the very back of the hall.