Voiceless Bird

Chapter 12

|| Day 1 Opening Parade ||

Did I Ever Learn How to Dance?

Robin never mentioned it, and I promptly forgot about it as preparations for the Aureas Tournaments reached a peak. Day One of the tournaments were beginning and the Opening Parade would start in a few hours.

"Ohh!" Meraella gasped in delight at the dresses that appeared; one for every girl.

All of the girls in the Academy were gathered in a large room, to prepare for the Opening Parade. I looked around at all the different faces that I had only caught a glimpse of during mealtimes. The range of dresses materializing on each of the girls varied in design, but the primary colours of gold and white were matching. The dresses and hair were all magically done up by the Academy, saving the time and stress of doing it manually. As the appearance of the dresses made its way to the first years, Meraella's was the first to appear.

I saw Amie's eyes widened in awe as Meraella's dress slowly, from her toes to her head, materialized on her. Her dress flowed all the way to the floor, waves of silky white layering upon each other and a simple, but elegant gold bow around the waist; highlighting Meraella's slim figure. The shoulderless lace sleeves reached the middle of Meraella's forearm and her long hair was interlaced with pearls and golden leaves.

"Wow..." I heard a third year girl near me exhale in disbelief. Wow indeed. Meraella looked like a fairy tale princess that had just stepped out of a book.

On her wedding day.

Meraella smiled bashfully, "I guess Remi has good taste..."

Amie's face looked in between awe and disgust. It was a rather strange combination of expressions. Then Amie's dress appeared on her and she promptly forgot about how stunning Meraella looked as she peered across at the mirrors. Amie's dress was short and spunky, a bit like her personality. It was strapless, the bodice white with intricate gold patterns and the skirt flaring out like a tutu—ending mid thigh. Her hair was done up in a complex and pretty bun held together by a stylish gold hairpin.

Amie screwed up her face slightly, "This was better than expected, especially since Primo chose it."

I frowned in confusion, Remi chose Meraella's dress and Primo chose Amie's? Didn't that mean that Robin chose mine? Oh no, I didn't care much for what I wore usually but for the Opening Parade of an event that only happened every five years... I was dreading what would appear on me, but it was too late—I could only cross my fingers and hope it would at least be decent.

I felt a tingly sensation start from my toes and made its way up to my waist. I squeezed my eyes shut as the strange feeling rose over my chest. As my dress had been the last one to materialize, everyone had finished admiring their own dresses and I could feel all eyes on me. The feeling reached a peak around my head and I could feel it slowly fade away.

The collective gasp that ran throughout the crowd made me hesitantly inch my eyes open. I felt dread rise up; had Robin's choice really been that bad? My jaw nearly hit the ground as I gazed at my reflection in the mirrored wall; and it wasn't because the dress was horrible, in fact, it was quite the opposite.

The dress was breathtaking.

The bodice was full of small gold birds that gradually scattered out to the bottom of the dress that brushed the ground. The halter neck that circled my collarbone was entirely gold and dipped down in a slim gap to the the middle of my chest. My hair was done up elegantly, a delicate gold pin holding it up and a few artful strands left loose. The black dress was skin-tight before flaring out from the top of my thighs in meshy lace layers.