The Willow's Diamond (on a break)

Chapter 31

"Shall I pull THE gown out?" Izzy asks.
"Yes, and the matching tiara, please," Grace smiled to herself.
Leaving a trail of water behind them as they walked from the bath to the bedroom, Izzy pulled a green and spruce trunk out from under the bed with golden hinges as Grace discarded her towel and put on her dressing robe.
Opening the dusty chest; lays a perfectly preserved A-line, silk and tule emerald green gown embellished with gold and amethyst brooch and matching jeweled belt.
Green and purple amethyst; the family colors, can you tell?
"Is it still there?" Grace asked, referring to the matching tiara hidden beneath the gown.
"It is," Izzy replied, holding up the headpiece. Emerald teardrops surrounded a single amethyst stone, all encased in a thin gold barrier, a leaf design that repeated itself around.
"Shall we be scandalous this evening and wear our hair down?" Grace smirked, sitting down at her dressing mirror.
"How daring are you thinking, my lady?"
"Remember when the Duchess of Hastings wore white and silver with the feather fan to the ball for the Prince? That daring," she grinned.
Izzy smirked, feeling a bit devilish, "I know something that would work perfectly," Pulling out the supplies.
An hour and many hairpins later, Grace's hair waved down to her back. Tight coils were loosened and layered over each other for volume while the top section was pulled and loosely braided back into a bun at the nape of her neck, leaving a few strands loose around her face and down the sides of her head for added texture and volume.
A style that shows meticulous attention to detail, featuring elements of a story; her story.
A charming chaotic mess.
After positioning the tiara, Grace stepped into the legacy gown. Why did she refer to it as THE gown? Or the legacy gown? Simple, her mother wore it, as did her mother, and now she was wearing it and soon with Ashlynn when the time was right.
Over time, it had been altered to fit the latest fashion, but it was the same fabric and roughly the same design. It looked a bit out of date, but the detail and love it was shown made it regal and jaw-dropping.
Grace's goal exactly.
"I believe that is everything, my lady," Izzy spoke, taking a step back to admire her work.
"I shall be down in a few monuments, I wish to say goodnight to the twins before we depart. Would you make sure everything is prepared?" Grace asks, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Of course," Izzy bowed before exiting, leaving Grace alone to look at herself. Her eyes grazed over every little detail: her hair, shoes, gown, makeup, etc.
She looked like her mother, so much like her mother; it made her heart swell compared to when people said she looked like her father. That made her skin crawl, she physically felt sick after she received that "compliment". But right at that moment, she felt proud to be a Fawn, something she'd never experienced before.
A small voice spoke from the doorway, "Wow,"
Snapping out of it, Grace turned to the doorway and saw both the twins with their mouths open.
"Shouldn't you two be in bed?" She laughed, walking over to them.
"It's only half past six, we still have another hour and a half," James frowned, crossing his arms.
"You look just like that painting of Mom that's hung in the library," Ashlynn said, receiving a confused look from James.
"What do you mean?"
"There's a painting of Mother hung in the library. Now that I think about it... that dress is beginning to look like the one she's wearing in the portrait,"
"I didn't know we had a portrait of Mother in there. Or any portraits of her..." James voiced, glancing at the ground.
"Yeah, Robert said that Father burned everything that was Mother's,"
Grace reacted, "This is true, but some staff hid items for us in the attic. After Father passed, Robert came to me with this information, so I arranged to have them out."
Ashlynn only looked more confused, "Why?"
Grace could not help but sigh, "You two did not know Mother, and I cannot exactly bring her back to life, so this is my way of allowing you to know her," she took both of the twins' hands into hers, "You both deserve to know what she was like. She loved us before she passed and well after, and I am so sorry you both do not recall her for you were so young, but I do know this is what she would have wanted, and I know she watches us every day from above,"
By now, both twins are teary-eyed, "Don't you have a ball to attend?" Ashlynn laughed, trying not to cry.
"I do, don't I?" Grace laughed, "Be good and sweet dreams tonight," kissing them both on the forehead and hugging them.
"Don't stay out too late," James instructed, forcing Grace to giggle.
"Will do, my lord," she smiled.
"Go, you're going to be tardy!" Ashlynn urged, pushing Grace towards the entryway to the carriage waiting for her.
"I'm going, I'm going!" She laughed, stepping out onto the gravel.
"Good luck, my lady," Izzy smiled, assisting Grace into the carriage.
"Thank you, Izzy. I mean it," she grinned, shutting the door. The nerves quickly settled in.
Oh my god, this is seriously happening? She was the diamond of the season, and she was going to a ball for her.
Normally, her element was earth, but this night, she is water.
Powerful enough to drown you, soft enough to cleanse you, deep enough to save you.
It was HER night.