A Minute Before Midnight

~Chapter Two~

"Like I said before, I'm only here out of curiosity. I'd heard that the new princess was here, and I was just wondering what all the fuss is about."

The Queen narrowed her eyes at him. "You expect me to believe that? After all, you are part of the Tenebris, and we are part of the Lux. We are simply not able to trust each other."

He chuckled, surprising me. "Well, you may believe that, but I don't." His eyes flicked to me for a moment, before darting away.

The Queen sighed. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat-" Finn smirked. "I have business to tend to. Princess?" I nodded, lowering my eyes as I followed them out.

"Princess." Finn said. I stopped, my heart pounding as I turned to face him. He smiled, and I wished not for the first time it wasn't sarcastic.

Remember.

I nodded, and continued behind them.

"What was that about?" Ash asked me, looking over his shoulder at me, briefly.

"I honestly don't know," I whispered.

***

I gasped as the strings for my corset were tightened. "I can't breathe," I choked out.

"Well, Princess, that's the point." Tay chuckled, and I grumbled a few words under my breath that a princess should have no business saying.

"Okay," Tay said. "All set." She twirled me in a half circle so I could see my reflection.

And I can honestly say the first thing I noticed was how big my boobs were.

"Oh my God," I groaned. "My boobs are not that big.I cannot go out in front of a whole kingdom looking like this." I pointed to my breasts for emphasis.

Tay laughed. "I'm afraid you have no choice." I heaved a sigh and turned back to my reflection. Even if it did make my body look better than it really was, the dress was beautiful. It was royal blue, with black lace designs running across it. Besides that, my hair was done so that it was curly, and pushed to one side of my neck. I was wearing black gloves that stretched up to my elbows. As for shoes, I wore none. We as a people didn't like shoes, for some unknown reason. I had on simple makeup; extended lashes, blush, eyeshadow, and lip gloss.

I shuddered out a sigh. There was no way I was going to make it through tonight.

"Let's not forget about the dancing," Tay tortured me further. I glared at her. Two days after I'd gotten here, I'd had to start taking dance lessons.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Tay called. I turned around just as Ash stepped in.

"Princess, we must-" He stopped midsentence and swallowed at the sight of me.

Tay laughed. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Ash continued staring at me. He blinked and answered Tay while he held my eyes. "She's quite the sight."

I smiled, still blushing, knowing that was as close a compliment as Ash could get. He cleared his throat.

"Princess," he said. "We must go. Your entrance is in two minutes." I nodded and lifted the skirt of my dress to walk over to wear he was. He held out his elbow and I wrapped my hand around it.

"Ready?" He asked me.

"How bad can it be?" I asked, trying to convince myself it wouldn't be as horrible as I assumed it would be.

Ash actually smiled; it was so rare on him that I savored the moment. And I thought, Maybe this won't be so bad. As long as he's nearby.

That thought helped me make it to the stairs. I could hear Lacrimosa by Beethoven starting, and I took a deep breath to calm myself. We started down the stairs, and I fought the sudden urge to run. But I didn't. Mostly because Ash gave me a warning look that said, I will chase you down and tackle you if you try to run.