Daughter of Water

Chapter 18

The corset I currently had on cut through my waist worse than the ones Mary had put me into. Though it did not take long for the news of Mary missing to make its way around the mansion. So in her place, another similar girl took her place as my handmaiden and had worked me into a corset that went with a dress that was elegantly blue. It was as if I was wearing the ocean.

An informant of Clarence's had told us that the ball was to be a masquerade so matching the dress was a mask that covered the area around my eyes and a bit of my nose. Not like anyone would know who I was but it was bound to be dangerous for me to be there.

"My lady, please bear with it a bit longer," Sylvia said as she tightened yet another strap. Anymore and I will pop like a balloon. Because of the little air able to make it into my lungs, I just nodded and kept my hand on my stomach, trying to focus most of my flesh into the bodice.

"In the ballroom, there will be more than fifty guards and many more outside awaiting orders from Prince Fier at any sign of danger or suspicion. One wrong move from us and we will be in a great deal of trouble." Francis's voice drifted to me from the other side of the old fashioned room divider where he sat with Curtis, waiting for me to finish dressing.

"Okay," I squeaked out and tried not to breathe afterwards, even though I really wished that I could get out of this thing. But to fit into the pretty blue dress, I had to wear the corset.

"Are you alright Princess Arina? You sound strangled," Curtis said as I heard a rustle from the other side of the divider. I looked back at Sylvia who answered for me.

"She is fine sir Curtis and sir Francis. She is merely being fitted into her corset." The quiet clearing of throats was adorably echoed from the other side as I could tell without looking that they were probably blushing.

Corsets must the equivalent of bras down here.

I felt a gentle and small tap on my shoulder and looked behind me to see that Sylvia was done with the corset and had tied it off to secure it. Once she was sure she had my attention, she led me over to the flowing dress and began trying to move me around so that I could climb into the dress.

"Now my lady Arina, if there is even a whisper of danger at all then we shall leave using sickness as an ample excuse to get out of the castle. Understood?" I nodded the best I could and tried to breathe, the little air able to get into my lungs difficult as I struggled to get into the dress. The more I struggled, the more it hurt so eventually I stopped moving and let Sylvia do the work from there.

"She nodded sir Francis," my new maid explained as she finally got my arms and body into the dress and began to tie up the back. More strings? I swear, this girl is out to kill me.

As I tried to think of something other than the burning in my lungs, I looked at the chair the dress had been set on and noticed a hand fan that matched the dress.

Sylvia moved from behind me to my front to adjust the bodice so that the corset didn't show and disappeared behind me once more to finish the strings.

"Sylvia, is she nearly done? We must depart sooner than not." With one final fluffing of my dress, she handed me the fan and walked me out to be presented to my two escorts who looked almost as good as I did. Almost... A girl in a dress like this and being tortured in a corset has to look better, if only for a few hours.

The two men had stood and watched me with awe as I tried to manage walking in the ridiculous heels that, not surprisingly, matched the dress and fan. The handmaiden had done up my hair to rest on the back of my head while little curls rained down around my neck. Little pieces of beads and pearls had been put into the hair as a decoration as well. To put it simply: I looked like a princess.

"My lady," they both said and bowed at the waist. Trying to remember how women did it, I remembered back to an old movie I had seen and grasped the sides of my dresses and lifted just the tiniest bit and curtsied. Just with that movement alone, I felt like I shouldn't be in a quiet mansion but commanding attention in the castle of some nobleman. It is weird to think that just a few days ago I was driving a car, studied Calculus and was in a chlorine filled swimming pool that dried out my skin quicker than salt.

"Let us be off," Curtis said and offered his elbow to me. I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm and focused on keeping up with his tall frame.

"My lady," Francis said on my other side and offered his arm too. I did as I had done with Curtis and put my hand into his arm too. I felt like I was coddled and treated like a proper lady and not the teenager I knew I was. I was already having slight withdrawal issues with my phone and computer but it was more the sun I miss. The feeling of the closest star in our solar system putting its dangerous rays on my body while I swim in the ocean was a feeling I was missing immensely.

"Please take it easy my lady. Let us take the lead and you just look pretty while we eat and dance." Oh, believe me Francis, I am not going to be able to eat anything. Now I am not a big girl but I do have slight curves. Corsets give me more curves but not in a normal way.

"Of course. Lead on," I said and we went to the front of the estate where I had never been before and noticed a carriage that was decorated nicely but looked ordinary to me. I knew it must have been through good connections that we even got this carriage though. Aberdeen was to the side, waiting for me but he wasn't the one that was hooked up to the carriage. A normal looking horse was connected to the extravagant box. When I detached myself from the masculine escorts, I felt a bit wobbly, like a colt on new legs.

My steed met me halfway and let a little glimmer of that glow show on his snout. My hair responded to him and I put my hand on the side of his massive head, pulling him closer so that I nearly held his head in my arms.

Be safe, he said to me. I closed my eyes and for the first time in my life felt the threat of tears. Not because of the corset but because Aberdeen was the only constant in my life. He had watched me from the quiet gentle waves of the ocean as I grew into the woman I am today. Every single moment he was by my side, I felt more at peace than I ever did as a child, as a babe, as a teen. When I looked into his dark watery eyes, I saw what he saw. Not a child.

But a woman.

"Aberdeen, I will return to you. I promise. You are the only family I have left." He quietly whinnied in response.

You are all I have left my lady. I squeezed him a bit tighter and wished beyond everything that he could come with me.

"My lady, the party will commence soon. We must depart," Francis said behind me. I kissed my steeds glimmering stripe and released my steed's head from my arms.

Before you leave my lady, take this with you. I was surprised when Clarence appeared by my side with a box that looked older than the person carrying it. He bowed his head as he opened it.

With a sharp intake of breath, I gazed upon the rippling opal. It shimmered with a blue luster and seemed to glow a bit from within.

If you have this with you, then if you ever feel threatened or afraid, I will be by your side as fast as my hooves can carry me to where you are. I lifted the piece of jewelry from the box and examined it.

"My lady Arina, this was your mother's before you. It has been in the Liquis family for generations and can finally be passed to you as your father's sword was." I nearly dropped it after he said it was my mother's.

"Thank you Clarence." I motioned for Sylvia to come to my side and help but Curtis appeared before she could and offered me his hand. I set it in his hand and he moved behind me to put it around my slender neck. It felt warm against my flesh as if it were a living thing.

If you need me, do not hesitate to summon me, Aberdeen said and I hugged him once more, afraid for what I would see at this party.

"We must depart my lady," Curtis said with a stern voice. With one last hand on my steeds face, I turned and walked as gracefully as I could manage in the heels on the gravel. Francis offered his hand to me and helped me into the carriage that shook at first but settled once everyone was inside.

All I saw before the door closed was my steed looking more proud than my surface parents had ever looked at me.