Silver (On Hold)

Chapter 13: Dresses and Distresses

That's her dress above. I do not own the image. It's by a fantasy artist, Nene Thomas, and is called 'Lady of Fate'. I love her work. Jezebelle's dress is based on 'Asiria', and Mary is based on 'Lovers'.

I scowled in the mirror. "What the actual heck is this?"

"It's a mauve ball gown with ruffle detail through, miss."

"This is... terrible. If I burn it afterwards, will she mind? It looks like Pepto Bismol pukes on an eighties prom dress."

"I agree that it is not the most tasteful in the selection, but maybe on certain girls-."

"Lily, admit it. This dress is atrocious."

"It should be ceremonially burned, miss," the maid finally agreed. "I don't even know what it is doing in the closet."

I sighed, stepping out of the dress. "What else do you have?"

The redhead paused in thought, before snapping her fingers and disappearing. She returned with a pile of emerald fabric. She handed it to me before retreating to a space by the vanity.

"Try this, miss. I think you'll like it."

I slipped into the creation and am surprised by what I see. It had a halter neckline and nearly no back to speak of, except a two inch thick band in the middle of my lower back. It hugged all the right places. The white and black locks of hair stood out even more. The edges were trimmed neatly in gold thread.

"Sit," the maid demanded.

I walked over to the vanity and thumped down in the chair. She started twisting and tugging my hair. I heard a clink of metal. My head felt a bit heavier. Lily loosed a few strands to fall around my face. Once she finished with that, she started with my make up. She chose a dark pink for my lips and a-shade-away-from-black green for my eyes.

"Miss, you should dress up more often."

"But I won't."

Lily just smirked and spun me around to see the fruit of her labor. My eyes widened in surprise. I turned my head a little and saw the gold and emerald piece placed on the back of my head, like half of a crown. She enhanced my face rather than smothering out the details.

"Thank you, Lily."

"No trouble, miss. Let's go see how the others faired."

I put on the slippers that she brought and walked out of the room with her. Jeze was already standing there in a ball gown-style silk skirt. It was white with gold threaded detail. Her top matched her skirt and was corset style with long lace sleeves. Her hair was in a curly tail and braided with a gold chain and a string of pearls. Her wings spread out behind her like a gauzy cape.

"Where's Mary," I asked.

"Still getting ready. She should arrive soon. You look lovely!"

"Thanks. You look nice as well. You dress is very unusual. I like it."

"Thank you," she replied with a smile. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I'm so excited!"

Footsteps echoed from around the hall. Scarlyt appeared in a blood red gown sewn with little white flowers. Her black hair was perched in a bun on top of her head and styled with white lilies. She dropped the illusion she normally kept up to hide her wings. They were shaped like those of a monarch butterfly. They had the color of mist through a window.

"Oh good. You two are ready. Love the dress, Princess. You shine as per usual, little star."

Jeze beamed. "Thank you so much for everything, Scarlyt!"

"No trouble, Princess."

"Yea, you are rocking the red," I told her.

"I rock everything, little star. Don't forget it."

"Yea, yea," I said waving my hand at her. "Pompous old bat," I muttered under my breath, as she turned around.

"What did you say?" She looked over her shoulder and raised a brow.

"And fabulous in a hat." She laughed.

"I do, don't I?"

We heard a loud crash from one of the rooms down the hall. It was followed by a scream. Scarlet narrowed her eyes.

"Lily?" She looked at my maid who was the only one around.

"Aye, milady." Lily walked down the corridor as quiet as a whisper. She threw open the door and gasped. "Oh, my!"

The three of us scurried to join her. "What is i-," Scarlyt stopped as our eyes landed on the wrecked room. "Oh, my indeed," she breathed. Her eyes weren't focused on the room.

On the bed lay Mary in a lavender ball gown. She had her foot placed on the stomach of her maid who had a purple flower in her hand.

"Princess, please let me put this-." Mary cut off her maid.

"No! No more damned flowers!"

"But milady insisted!"

"Three is enough! Get off of me! Scarlyt, call of your dog!"

"Elise! Three flowers is fine. Now, stop harassing our guest," Scarlyt commanded. Elise immediately pulled back from Mary and curtsied.

"As you say, milady."

"Elise, I believe Anna required some assistance. Take Lily with you."

"Yes, milady." The maid curtsied again before leaving the room. Mary stood and straightened her dress. Her hair was partially pulled back. She wore was appeared to be a crown woven into her hair using the purple flowers. The ends of her hair were curled into long glossy spirals. The back of her dress had ruffles which sat like flower petals stacked on top of one another."

"What kind of flowers are those," I asked.

"Purple gardenias," Mary hissed. "Nobility and secret love, aren't you being a little too obvious, Scarlyt?"

"To get through that fool's head? I don't think I'm being obvious enough. I did select a mask that would help cover your scar. I'm regretting that now. Your wings should be fine without an illusion. Just keep them folded up."

Mary sighed in defeat. "What's the mask?"

Scarlyt walked over to the vanity. She opened the wooden box resting on its surface and removed a delicate looking artifact. It was a Venetian mask that was had half light purple butterfly wing, presumably to cover Mary's scar. It transitioned to silver, covering from the brow to the cheekbone. White, symmetric swirls danced around the mask. The wing was made from hairthin metal and studded with three large purple gems on the outer portion of the top wing. The metal had teensy cutouts for superfine detail. Even though it barely covered the scar, people would be too busy studying the details to notice.

She grabbed a gold mask with several thin gold rods sticking out from its top half. "For the sunshine of our lives." She handed it to Jeze. Huh, the mask did look a little like the Sun. "At last, but most certainly not least, the wolf lying in wait." She handed me a thin metal mask that covered the top portion of my face. It was gold tone and depicted a howling wolf on my left cheekbone and a full moon on my right brow. The moon was a large pearl. The wolf was silver, but it lacked the intricate carving of the rest of the mask. This made it stand out. The whole body looked like the top half of a wolf's face. It even had delicate ears.

I grinned at it. "Cute."

"Now then, ladies," Scarlyt started. "Shall we get this show on the road?"