Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Blinding

I flickered my eyes open as I woke up from sleep. Rolling my head to the right, I stared at the empty space where Murtagh should be. He wasn't there. The boys had pulled him out for one last night as a single man.

I wouldn't get to see him until I walked towards him to get married.

Today was the day. I had spent a night having odd dreams that Selene seemed to pick up on. She had gotten fussy at least half a dozen times last night for no apparent reason other than the fact that she was just upset.

Rubbing my hands on my face, I let out a groan. Within seconds, I heard feet running down the hall outside my bedroom. The door clicked open, and Fen was promptly throwing herself onto the bed.

"Morning, Mommy!" Fen greeted me as she wiggled up to my side.

"I'm glad that you seem to have the energy to get up this morning, want to give some to me?"

"Silly mommy!" Fen giggled as two more people hustled into the room.

"A thousand good mornings to you, your highness," Frida said as she and Lydia moved about the room. "Tis a fine day to get married."

"Ah, that." I sighed. "I suppose the weather is still holding?"

"Quite, your highness." Lydia said as she came over to the side of the bed I was laying on. "now come on, we've quite the morning ahead of us. Come now, little princess, your mother needs to get ready."

With a devious giggle, Fen rolled away from me and sprung from the bed. Letting out a sigh, I rolled onto my left side and sat myself up into a sitting position while swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

"Alright then, what is the first thing on our to-do list?" I asked as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"First things first," Lydia said with a smile. "bath time, we shall get you smelling a mountain rose freshly coated in the morning dew."

"Is there such a thing?" I asked as Lydia directed me to the bathroom.

"As of last night," Lydia said in a questioning tone. "yes."

"Well then, let's get smelling like a mountain rose freshly coated in the morning dew," I said as Lydia filled the tub with hot water and started to pour different bottles in. When she was done, I was ordered to strip and get into the water.

Complying with my demanding maid's wishes, I untied my nightgown and let it drop to the floor before stepping into the scented water. Lydia immediately started working on my hair while I soaked.

While my hair was brushed meticulously, I ran my eyes down my body. My stomach was now similar to where it used to be, save the stretch marks. My hips still were curvy, but in a muscular way, and my thighs were slim from hours of practicing the Rimgar.

Lydia had me sit in the tub until the water ran cold and my skin smelled like a mountain rose freshly coated in the morning dew, whatever that meant. Wrapping a robe around my body, I left the bathroom to find Frida working on Fen's hair.

Fen was getting her brown hair done like in mine, pulled back into a bun. Her brown locks looked beautiful, framing her face just right. My only worry was that her eyes were going to be clearly shown, and with the number of people attending today's wedding, would she have a panic attack? I didn't know.

"Love, how do you like your hair?" I asked her after Frida was done. Fen looked at me in the mirror and smiled broadly.

"Today is your day, mommy," Fen said while puffing her chest out. "don't worry about me, I'll be fine."