Cadha (#wattys2016)

The Dress

Okay guys! Here's the extra chapter 😀

It took a little longer than I thought it would to finish, but I hope you can appreciate it anyways. 😄

------

I woke up to Reid sitting on the edge of my bed.  "Good morning sleepy head. I thought you might want to sleep in a little longer than yesterday morning.  How does it feel?"

            "Amazing," I said in a groggy voice.  "Wait a second, you're wearing different clothes."  The night before he had been wearing a worn out white top with a brown belt and tan pants, but that had been changed out with a customary Scottish outfit; a long sleeve white shirt that still showed off his well muscled chest and arms complimented by red and blue plaid tights  a dark blue plaid sash and his dark brown boots from before. His bright red hair was still long and curly, but it looked as if he had at least washed it.

            "Well, I had to look more presentable if we were to be going in front of the king.  I also got you some new clothes."

            "You didn't," I said astonished.

            "I did. And you'd better like it too.  I'll leave so you can try it on." With that he went through the door and closed it behind him.

            I looked around the room and saw a small package sitting on the washstand.  It was wrapped in brown paper and white yarn.  I untied the thin yarn and peeled the brown paper back from the clothes hidden inside.  The first thing I saw was the dark purple fabric that made up the beautiful dress.  I pulled it the rest of the way out of the paper and was surprised to see that it was a two piece dress.  They were both made of the same fabric, but the upper half was a type of corset with long billowy sleeves.

I took off my old dress, which was covered in stains and rips from the few days travel.  I slipped the corset over my head like I'd seen the ladies from great houses have done by their servants. The softness of the dress amazed me.  Compared to my handspun dress it was like wearing a cloud. I pulled the skirt section of the dress up and tied it just above my hips above where the corset reached.  The skirt of the dress was filled with multiple layers of fabric which gave it the perfect amount of volume.  It was long enough that it just brushed my ankles and I couldn't help but marvel at the feeling just wearing this dress gave me.  I felt like a true princess.

I looked in the mirror on the washstand and grimaced at the sight of my face and hair.  My face was filthy and my hair was a ratted mess; it just ruined the look of the beautiful dress.  I quickly took a cloth from beside the wash bin and scrubbed my face until there wasn't a trace of dirt left on it and my cheeks glowed a bright red.  Then I ran my fingers through my hair until I had eliminated all the tangles.

I chanced a look in the mirror and was surprised at what I saw.  The dress accented my hair perfectly.  The dark colors of the dress and my hair made my skin fairer than I had ever imagined was possible.  Even my normally muddy brown eyes showed off golden glints here and there throughout my irises.

Just then I heard a knock on the door.  "Are you done trying it on," called Reid from outside.

"Come in and see for yourself," I told him.

I heard the door open and turned around to see him come in.  He was a few steps in when I turned around, but when our eyes met he stopped and just stared at me.

"Cadha," he said my name as if he was in a dream.   "You look amazing!  I obviously picked the right dress.

"Thank you so much!" I said running to him and wrapping him into a tight hug.  "It's beautiful.  Much too beautiful.  It must've cost you a fortune."

"Almost, but it was worth it.  Worth it to see my dear in a dress that matched her beauty."

"Stop trying to compliment me,"

"But it's true."

"Just help me with this corset.  I've got it tightened part of the way, but it's just too hard to get my arms back there for very long."

"Oh, okay.  I've never done this before."

"I wouldn't expect you too.  Just pull on the strings, it should tighten the entire corset."

I grabbed onto the washstand to steady myself just in time.  I think Reid thought that he had to pull with all his might to get them to tighten, because that is exactly what he did.  I screamed out, "Stop! Not that hard, You're going to squeeze my guts out."

"I'm so sorry," Reid said "I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear."

"How about you just loosen your grip on the strings a bit. That should help with my breathing problem."

"Good idea."

Then he slowly relaxed his pull on the corset until I could breathe again.

"Just hand the string to me and I'll tie them off."  He did so and I quickly tied them into a small bow, letting the rest of the string hang down the back of the skirt.

"How about we go get some breakfast downstairs," Reid suggested.  "That's what I came up here to tell you in the first place."

"I could never thank you enough Reid."

"You already have. Let's go eat."

He held out his arm for me and escorted me downstairs.  We entered the dining area and I saw that our food was on a table, ready to eat.  It was an full breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, sausage, buttered toast, and a homemade black pudding.  It was much more filling than the previous morning's breakfast of berries and would definitely last us until dinner.

The kind innkeeper's wife gave us some bread and cheese to eat for lunch today and wouldn't let Reid pay for it.  It was midmorning when we left the town, but there were already people filling the streets.  We hurried off down the East road leading to Airdiere.  We were still a full day's walk away from the palace city, but I was filled with excitement.

------

AN:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter 😄 and I hope you had a happy New Year's Eve!!!

I'm really surprised... I'm almost to 1k reads! This is a HUGE deal for me ☺️ Thank you so much to everyone who has read my story

If you have any suggestions or liked this chapter PLEASE comment or vote 👍

- Thanks -