~By the Lion's Mane: See You Again~

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The day of my wedding dawned bright and clear and perfect. Outside, a fresh blanket of pure white snow covered the ground, and the sky was a cold, clear blue. My maids came bursting in while I was still sitting in my canopy bed, blinking my eyes and staring out at the gray waves through my large windows.

“Come, Lady Rosaline, we have so much to do to have you perfect for your wedding!” the maids exclaimed, throwing back the sheets. They dragged me into my washroom, where the tub was already steaming with fresh, hot water.

They quickly undressed me and helped me into the tub, where I sank down as they scrubbed every inch of my body with all kinds of soaps and herbs and other beauty remedies until my skin was pink. They washed my thick hair, scrubbing at my scalp until I grew irritable.

After my bath, I wrapped myself in a warm robe by the fireplace while they brought my breakfast and combed my hair as it dried. They had curlers sitting on some hot coals, growing warm. I wondered why they thought my hair needed more curls, but I didn’t ask.

The whole time, they asked me questions and chattered excitedly non-stop. I didn’t pay it much mind until they began to talk about that night.

“Are you nervous about your wedding night, Lady Rose?” and “How lucky you are to have such a handsome husband!” It went on, their girlish questions and silly giggles grating on my nerves. They talked and talked as my patience began to wear thin, and I grew anxious. Caspian didn’t expect anything of me, did he?

After my thick hair had finally dried, they put the hot curlers in, winding my locks around them tight. Then they began to apply color to my face, adding pink to my cheeks, bringing out the color of my lips, and blackening my eyelashes and adding thin lines of kohl to my eyelids. These materials were far different from the makeup I remembered ladies wearing in England, but when they showed me my face in the mirror, I was amazed. I barely looked like the same girl.

They began to help me dress about an hour and a half before the ceremony was to begin. First came the corset, cinched tight to make my already small waist unnaturally so. I cursed the Telmarines who had brought this damned thing to Narnia as I was leaning over, clutching the arm of a chair, while the maids pulled the laces.

Then came my skirts, and then the dressmaker came bursting in with her girls. “Oh, Lady Rose! You’re going to look so beautiful! And your marriage is going to be just perfect, because we have found everything you’ll need!”

I wasn’t sure what she was talking about at first, but she quickly cleared things up.

“‘Something old’ is the King’s mother’s tiara. He told me to give it to you to wear this morning!” She held it out, glittering softly in the winter sunlight.

It was beautiful, delicately twined silver, inset with many small diamonds, but not enough to make it look ostentatious. It took my breath away, and I was embarrassed to feel tears pricking at my eyes.

“And ‘something new’ is the dress, of course. As for ‘something borrowed’ I’ve found you the garter I wore in my wedding.” She gave me a suggestive grin, handing me the lacy white garment to put around my thigh. “And for ‘something blue’ we’ve got a whole bunch of forget-me-nots to braid into your hair! They’ll be so lovely, especially since there are so few flowers in the winter…”

I was momentarily choked up, thinking about those flowers and how they had grown in little clusters in the forest. We had passed them often on our hunts, and I remembered a time when Edmund had swept up a handful and teasingly presented them to me, back when he was still a king. How long ago that seemed now.

Tears threatened, and the dressmaker and maids cried, “Oh, you musn’t cry, Lady Rosaline! You’ll ruin your face! No tears yet!” They mistook them for tears of joy and happiness.

The dressmaker continued to talk as she put the flowers into my hair. “Since we don’t have a sixpence, a Narnian Tree will have to do.” She slipped the silver coin into my off-white slipper. “And now you will have the perfect wedding, the perfect wedding night, and the perfect marriage,” the plump lady said with a warm, motherly smile as the maids and her assistants cooed over me.

When I was done being dressed, and the final touches had been added, they stood back as I walked to my mirror. When I looked into it, I was stunned.

Before me stood a young woman with rosy cheeks and lichen-green eyes and hair the color of burnished copper that framed her round face with smooth, loose curls. My dress was white, of course, even though that itself was a lie.

It made me feel guilty again, but I couldn’t deny its beauty. Even though it was winter, it was strapless and showed off my shoulders, which were lightly dusted with freckles. The fabric hugged my figure until it swelled slightly as it fell over my hips. It was adorned with small silver beads and the palest of blue flowers sewn on and delicate lace. It fell to the ground and trailed slightly behind me.

The dressmaker came up behind me and set the tiara on my hair and draped the veil over my face. She smiled into the mirror at my reflection, and then told me excitedly, “Come now, we mustn’t keep your husband-to-be waiting!”

I nodded numbly and followed her, the maids picking up the train of my dress as I held up the front and followed her out of my chamber to my wedding.

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A/N: I'm sorry these first few chapters have been so short. They'll definitely get longer as I go. Thanks for all of the likes and votes and for reading!