Arranged

24: White Wedding (Part One)

Kalia managed to slip into her bedroom and onto the balcony before she had to accompany her sisters in the pamper room to get herself ready for the wedding. They were already being worked on, and she was waiting her turn - the last but certainly not least. 

It was two in the afternoon, three more hours to go until the ceremony. She had been trying to work through her nerves during brunch, but they grew like sunflowers in her stomach, rapidly urgent and hard to ignore. It seemed staring out to into the beautiful garden where the wedding would take place, watching men take things from place A to B while women decorated the place with expensive looking lanterns decked with crystal gems and opals, while a mixed gender ran around making sure everything was going according to plan. Everything was white. The enormous tent, the tables, the decor... she would blend right in. Kalia laughed humourlessly at the thought.

A white wedding.

That's what they were calling it, the public. The kingdom's very own gift to the slow approaching winter. It was supposed to be white and cold and snowing - but it was still quite warm with cool breeze as autumn lingered, which was a nice for Kalia. She just came out of the cold and she was already getting used to the nicer weather, and didn't want to bid it adieu just yet.

A knock on the door pulled her away from the balcony, and she followed Tia to the pamper room where her sisters stood, looking pretty as ever.

"You girls look... wow," She said half-breathless, mouth drooping open, feeling a sense of joy wash over her for a brief moment.

"Well, if we look wow, imagine how you're going to look when they're done with you!" Ophelia giggled, a large smile plastered on her face. She loved weddings, and this was her sister's. It's safe to say she was excited, and she seemed oblivious to Kalia's non-acceptance to the ordeal, even though she was on the verge of being forced to spit back an 'I do'.

Almost two hours or so pass, and hair and makeup were out of the picture for Kalia. She didn't want to look in the mirror, so she let her sisters marvel at her on her behalf while she stood on the podium to get fitted.

Ophelia sat unladylike in the circular plush arm chair, her golden hair falling around her as she plucked a grape from its stem with her lips in a delicate manner, like a goddess in the comfort of her throne. "You know, I really don't see the point in spending all that time dressing up in that big fancy gown," she states matter-of-factly. "In a few hours they'll be on your bedroom floor, if the Prince sees you looking like that." 

Kalia's eyes widen at her sister and she resists the urge to throw a pin at her from where she stood on the golden podium. The poor seamstress was having trouble holding it all up without her moving around. So instead, naturally, she shoots daggers her way with her eyes, and Ophelia only smirked in her seat.

A knock sounds at the door and a woman that she hadn't seen before stepped in. She was pretty. No, she was beautiful, Kalia thought, but in an unconventional way.

"Hi," she smiles, her tone confident and kind, a European twinge to her accent. There was something behind her smile that Kalia was yet to understand. "I'm Carmen. King Emrys' wife."

Ophelia almost chokes on a grape, and all eyes turn to her. "I'm fine," she says, downing some bottled water. When they look away, Ophelia mouths, "What the hell?!" to Kalia, and she can see the shock on her face.

Kalia's eyes told her sister to behave before she turned back to Carmen with a nervous smile. "It's wonderful to meet you, Carmen."

She smiled back. "Celeste told me where you were, and I thought I would see if you needed any help. I just flew in."