The Choice: The Heir fanfiction

13~ fashion and fear

  We wake up the next morning to lots of noise.
   Neena is rushing around. "Princess! Princess there are press here.  They won't take no for an answer.  They want wedding details from the bride and groom.  Shall I get the guards?"
  I sigh.  "No.... We'll be right out. Please serve them tea in the parlor."
  "Tea in the parlor?" Kile mumbles.  "You seem more and more like a girl every day."
  "Shut up and let me pick you out some clothes."
  "Fine." He grins.
  "Neena, bring me a selection of Kile's clothes.  Things that I would like.  I'll dress him."
  She bows and leaves.  I go into my closet.  It's still a mess but I dig around until I find my short purple dress.  I start changing right where I am.  "Kile, can you figure out how to lace up my dress?"
  "Uh.... I think?"
  I turn around and hold up my hair so he can lace up the corset-back dress.  It takes a few minutes but he finally gets it done.
  "Thanks Kile.  I guess you are useful." I tease.
  He rolls his eyes.  Neena comes in with a pile of his clothes and I sort through them.  I pick out a purple shirt that matches my dress with a gray vest and gray pants.  I get him a black bow tie and smile.  "Fabulous! Go get changed and we will do something about your hair."
  "What's wrong with my hair?"
  "Oh honey... What isn't wrong with your hair? I love it, but it's just not in style right now."
  He huffs.  "You're the fashion guru." He takes the stuff and goes to the bathroom to get changed.
I sit down at the mirror as Neena begins to brush my hair. I'm admiring my ring as she brushes and Kile comes out.
"You really can't do much normal stuff for yourself, can you? You've finally got the hang of getting yourself dressed, but you can't brush your own hair?" He flicks a piece of my hair. "Poor privileged princess..."
I roll my eyes. "I was never expected to do this for myself. Taking away Neena from me would be like someone taking away your books."
"Point taken. But doesn't it ever drive you crazy that you don't have the freedom to... I don't know... Take a bath yourself?"
"I suppose if I wanted to draw my own bath, nobody would stop me. I've never been inclined to do so, though... And chances are, you won't ever do that again. You've lived here your whole life but you have never truly lived as part of the palace "experience," shall we say? It's a whole new world... I'm sorry..."
"What are you sorry for? Sure I'll have to get used to random guys dressing me and getting me ready, but I've got you. That's all I care about. Besides, if I want to send them away, you can pick out my clothes and make my hair exactly how you want it."
"What makes you think I could do that?"
"Because you have the best style in the country.  And you're better at doing things for other people than you are for yourself."
  I bite my lip.  "I'll try..." I whisper.  "Let me start by trying to fix your hair. If I screw up, Neena is a miracle worker." I smile.  I get some gel and a comb and I very carefully brush the gel into the mess of hair.  I give it a smoothed back, stylish look to where it no longer looks messy, but incredibly attractive.
  "There," I say after a while.  I examine my work.  "Not bad...." I smile then guide him to the mirror.  He poses stupidly in front of it and grins.  "My little Eady is a professional hairdresser now! She can do stuff!" He picks me up and kisses my nose.  I roll my eyes.  "Ha-ha.  I need Neena to finish my hair so put me down."
  He smirks and does so.
  Neena starts to put my hair up like always but I stop her.  "Maybe leave it down?  Don't even put anything in it... Just curl it."
  She nods slowly.  "Yes, miss... Going for a different look today?"
  I shrug a bit.  "I'm not trying to intimidate anyone today. I'm trying to look like a lovesick girl.... Which I guess is the closest to the truth right now."
  "You aren't completely lovesick?" Kile gasps jokingly.
  "No, no... Sadly, that's the true part.  It's the girl part that feels strange.  I've always tried to be bigger and better and older. I've wanted to be a woman, not a lady or a girl.  I guess now that that might be happening, it's strange to be able to look like a girl but have the power of a woman."
  He nods very slightly.  "I had no idea you weighed this much on your appearance every day."
  "Well I have to.  If I dressed in frilly pink dresses with my hair in pigtails nobody would ever take me seriously.  I learned that from a very young age.  So it's always sharp lined blazers and killer heels and tight dresses.  Something that will grab people's attention and make them listen to what I am saying."
  "Wow... I didn't realize that anyone had trouble listening to you. When you speak, the room falls silent.  You could command anyone to do anything and they'd have to obey.  You have a power to your voice that makes people respect you and be slightly scared by you.  You should have heard how terrified all those selected boys were.  They had no idea what you would tell them to do because they knew they would do it.  They were always asking me for advice on how to talk to you and I told them the truth: there is absolutely no way to talk to Eadlyn Schreave.  She will pretty much always hear you out, but it's never talking directly to her... It's talking up to her because you are here," he holds up one hand.  "And she is here." He holds another one, much higher.  "And that is not a bad thing... It's like talking to a mystical creature... When you get comfortable, it's a beautiful thing... But it takes you a long time to warm up and when you do, it's so easy for you to shut everyone and everything out when you feel pressured."  His hand finds my cheek gently.
  "We're all afraid of you.  Everyone is afraid of you for different reasons. I'm afraid of you because of all the power you hold over me.  If you one day decided to shut me out, which you've done before, I'd be crushed.  If you ever decided that you didn't actually want a husband... I don't know what I'd do.  You have the power to hurt me in ways I've never been hurt.  Your words are your strongest weapon because you know how to use them.  Nobody is going to ignore what you say because your words hold all the weight of the world."
  I search his eyes and whisper, "are you really afraid of me?"
  "Terrified," he mumbles.  "But it's a good scared.  Keeps me on my toes." He smiles very softly and then kisses me slowly.
  I kiss back and become absorbed in my thoughts.  Isn't that what I always wanted? For people to fear me?  Why does it feel so bad when someone says they're scared of me?  This is also why I love Kile more than anything... He's not afraid to tell me the truth, even when that truth is how scared he is of me.