Til Death Do Us Part - Red Queen Fan Fiction

Chapter 16 - Is this what you want Mare

When we are done picking the dresses and Kilorns suit, we head back to our rooms. The makeup artist and hair stylist will be coming to my room to finish our looks. About 2 hours before the feast starts, the dresses arrive, tailored the way we all asked. Kilorns suit also arrives, and our shoes shortly after.

The hair stylist works on Kilorn first, putting gel in his hair to spike it up. He refuses to have any makeup done, and we agree that would be taking it too far. I must admit, when they are done with him, Kilorn looks cute. Where Cal is dangerous, dark and handsome, Kilorn is sweet, innocent and safe. And that is not such a bad thing. Not with this war. Cal is not the safe bet. I should know.

Cameron's hair is next while Farley has her makeup done. Because Cameron has curly and thick hair, the stylist decides to straighten it for a change. It looks amazing, and helps to cover her neck and throat tattoos. The makeup for Cameron brings out her beautiful oak skin, and gold on her eyelids make her eyes stand out. She looks amazing and I tell her that the minute she is done. Farley asks that her hair be placed up, in a sleek ponytail. They add extra hair, which they call extensions, and make her ponytail long as thick. They give her a makeup look that accentuates her beauty, with a dark blood red lip and a cat eye flick. I admit, the red dress and the hair and makeup make Farley look stunning and dangerous. I admire her, and compliment her too. She tells me to shut up of course, but I still repeat the words.

"Your turn Miss Barrow" the hair stylist says. The makeup lady starts on my face, adding a thick paste called foundation. Because I worked outside during the summer, I still have golden sunkissed skin, so they match my face to my body. She adds what she calls bronzer to my cheekbones, making them look sharp. She adds a nude lip colour to my lips, and outlines them so they look even more plump than they are. On my eyes, she mixes dark browns and light colours. She calls it a smokey eye, and finishes off with a smaller cat eye flick than what Farley has. A couple of more products and my face is done. My hair is swept up, with bits of it curled and pinned. My hair has grown, so I have enough to frame by face perfectly. She adds some tendrils of hair around my face, to make the look elegant. A couple of studded jewelled earrings and I am allowed to look in the mirror. I don't recognise myself. I look, well, I look like I can compete with Theresa today. Like I don't look so plain and ugly next to her. Farley was right, I look like a Queen. If the queen was a red.

...

Once we are all dressed, the event starts. We all look immaculate, and even some of the guards and maids turn their heads when we all walk towards the ballroom. It makes me smile, because I cannot wait to see Theresa's face. And Cal's. For some reason, I hope I look good enough. When we get to the entrance, the place is packed full of silvers. There are people everywhere, music and food. Drinks. Conversation. The ballroom is dimly lit, intimate. There are white and silver flowers everywhere, and the theme of the rest of the event is red and black. The colour that best represents Cal and his reign. His Kingdom. It looks rich, royal.

I look around, trying to find someone familiar. My eyes land on the person I deep down was looking for, Cal.

...

Cal POV

I see her eyes first, the dark brown I was so used to seeing in the morning after sleeping beside her. My eyes then travel to the rest of her face, her full lips, her neck, her cheeks. Beautiful. Her hair is swept up, and a couple of pieces of hair frame her face. My eyes then make their way down her neck, the neck I used to kiss, her cleavage, her hips, the hips I used to grab. I try and stop bringing the memories to mind.

The dress clings perfectly to her frame, and the sheer material starts just above her upper thighs. I catch a glimpse of her legs, sun kissed from the summer sun. I bite my lip hard, to stop myself from thinking what I keep thinking. Bad things, things that I shouldn't be thinking on me pre-wedding party. I should be thinking these things about my future wife.

Someone is talking to me but all I keep staring at is her and the way she bites her lip. The dress is made for her. She was... made for me.

...

Mare POV

He is staring. And I mean staring. His eyes make their way from my lips, to my neck and cheeks. He looks at my hair, then his eyes travel down my chest, my hips. He bites his lip when he looks at my hips and I wonder what on earth he is thinking about. He then looks at my legs, and I remember the dress shows my legs from upper thigh down. He bites his lip, and I can see he is trying to concentrate on something else. Something other than my legs. I remember wrapping my legs around his waist. Its my turn to bite my lip. Someone is talking to him, but he is not paying attention. He keeps staring. They turn, to look at what has got the King's attention. When they see me, they start to stare too. In fact, plenty of people have turned to analyse my dress, my hair, my makeup. Me. I feel naked all of a sudden.

"Ok" Farley says and grabs my elbow. "We need to move out of the line of sight" and we make our way to the drinks table. Cameron starts to converse with one of the soldiers, they compliment her dress and hair. She smiles, and I see that deep down under the years of hard work, slaving away, is a girl who wants to be loved too. Kilorn is gone, and when Farley and I look around, we see him with Maria. We laugh with each other, and toast to Kilorn.

"At least we can say this visit wasn't a complete waste" I say as I take a sip of white wine. Its bitter, but a couple of more sips get me used to it.

"Well you certainly made an entrance Mare. You should have seen Theresa's face" she laughs to herself. I almost kick myself because I didn't get to see it. I was too busy staring at Cal staring at me. "Actually, turn around, she is still staring". I do what Farley says, and what do you know, its exactly what I expected from Theresa.

If looks could kill. She is wearing a beautiful dress, made of what looks to be glass. Silver panels, all over her dress. Her hair is down, long and beautiful. Looks as though she has hair extensions in too. Her makeup is dark, and her look is not what I expected from Theresa. In fact, it is more a style I would expect from Evangeline. She looks at me, takes a sip of her wine, and turns. She hates me even more than I thought she could. I turn back to Farley, but the look she gives me makes me turn back around, wondering who is behind me right now.

"Mare Barrow. Looks like you have enemies greater than me" Evangeline. She smiles, not in her usual way. Genuine. She looks happy. She is wearing a silver dress too, but it is jewelled. Extremely jewelled. Her hair is in a long braid. She looks beautiful, as always. Dangerous too. No one should be fooled.

"I never thought I would live to see the day someone hated me more than you do" I reply, smiling back. I lift my glass to toast her, and she does the same. She turns to Farley, nods, and toasts with her too. "Farley, this is Evangeline". Farley nods politely and excuses herself, letting us talk. "What are you doing here? I thought after the whole Theresa and Cal situation, you wouldn't have returned". She nods, knowingly.

"I wouldn't have, but to be completely honest, I just wanted to see this Theresa character crash and burn. We both know she is not fit to be by Cal's side" she says as she takes a sip of her wine. Of course she would think that. Samos family has always made it known they are the only ones worthy of the crown.

"Of course...you are supposed to be by his side" I say. It has always been known that was her only wish.

"No Mare" she takes another sip until the glass is empty. "You are". She places the glass down, and walks away. Just like that. I don't believe my ears, Evangeline would rather see me up there. A red. A Queen. What the hell is happening to this world. Has everyone gone mad. I take a page out of her book and take a large sip until the glass is empty.