The Unforeseen [EDITING]

Chapter Twelve

     It was another torturous process of primping and pampering. From the moment Timena was forcefully awoken, she was being fitted, prodded and prepped for the celebration.
"Alright, I need you to take another deep breath and suck in again." Ida, the seamstress directed her as she tightly held onto the corset strings.
Timena's eyes widened. "I cannot suck in anymore." She yelled.
When the strings were tied and diminishing most of her air supply, she walked away angrily to survey her appearance. The top portion of the dress along with the shoulders of the material, tightly held up her cleavage and were sleekly patterned in gold and silver, with a few emeralds tones and beadings— the lower half was a deep shade of red with gold floral designs running down the length of all sides of the dress. Her hair had been brought into a bun with a few braids, twists and gold accents. Timena's cheeks were dusted in pink and her lips, deeply red with lip paints and she allowed nothing more on her face after that. She left her neck bare.
Timena's gaze lingered as she chuckled quietly, she could only imagine what all of the guests would say.
"Everyone might call me a whore, mother." She chuckled.
With a challenging brow, Adelia placed a hand to her hip. "I dare them to try."
"You look beautiful." Delacroix stood at the entrance of the room with a hopeful smile.
"Doesn't she, to think you've been wearing baggy clothing and armor your entire life," Adelia added, tinkering with the dress a bit.
Rolling her eyes, she shrugged her mother's hands away as she tried to focus, taking a few deep breaths.
This isn't me.
"Could I have a moment, alone." She suggested and after a moment the women began to leave. "Not you Ida, I need you to stay."
When everyone had left the room, Ida turned to Timena, her brows furrowed in confusion as she noticed the devious smirk on her face.

The room was teeming with royals from the neighboring kingdoms as well as some from the farthest kingdoms. Timena's breath hitched in her throat and it felt as though her chest was tighter than the corset strings that had been around her waist earlier. The audible gasps brought a smile to her lips as she straightened her shoulders and held her head high, masking any nervousness.
She began to walk inside, the crowd parting immediately.
Muted whispers and gasps could be heard as she made her way to the back of the room to where her family stood waiting for her. With Ida's assistance, she'd been dressed in an intricately patterned thin, black leather doublet that consisted of two large straps that crossed over her chest diagonally. With it, she wore a pair of form-fitting dark trousers and her worn-in black combat boots.
Queen Adelia's mouth hung open in horror as Timena approached them, Delacroix smirked as she looked between them both.
"Hello, mother."
"Don't say a word to me." Adelia composed herself before looking away.
After acknowledging each of them with a brief nod, Timena was met with another face. Silas stood with authority in his usual black attire, greeting her with a bitter smile as he eyed her clothing. His smile turned appreciative as she turned away from him before being seated.
  Vassar thanked his guests emphatically for their presence at the engagement celebration before bringing his speech back to his daughter and Silas.
"So again, I thank you all for joining our family today to celebrate the engagement of my eldest daughter, Princess Timena and King Silas Stokrev. It is with great joy that myself and Adelia give away our daughter to such a fine king, comrade, and leader. I trust that he will guard her life better than he does his own, cherish her absolutely and that they live a life filled with love and happiness." Vassar chuckled before being seated and turning his attention to Silas.
Silas stood up, adjusting his doublet. His face was cold and devoid of any emotion. "I thank you, Vassar and Adelia for welcoming me into your family and giving us your blessing. Let it be known that I do intend to guard your daughter's life better than I do my own, I also intend to cherish and worship her for the rest of our days. Timena may not know it yet, but the happiest she will ever be is with me... well besides when she's sparring or shooting arrows." He said, igniting the crowd's laughter. "If there were any doubts about my feelings for her before, this should put an end to them, at least until we're to be wed." He looked down at her, a promise in his lingering gaze. Timena looked away as she was becoming increasingly annoyed.
Looking toward the crowd, she could see the faces of annoyance, lust, even genuine happiness, but mostly jealousy and envy. Her thoughts came to a sudden pause as she saw more food being placed on the banquet table and her eyes lit up eagerly.