Nobles

Ch. 20: So, you have three weeks

Skylar had been dozing off in the car, she had been at the dress shop for a fitting of her wedding dress for the official wedding that had been set for March nineteenth.

It was still a long way away, but the dress was to be hand sewn and embellished with embroideries and beading, so they needed all the time they could get. It was not just any dress, it was the dress of the crown princess and it had to be a big deal. No expense spared; nothing was too much.

To Skylar it had seemed a little over the top with some of the ideas the designer had come up with, it was her dress, it should represent her just as much as the title she bore. Through vigorous negotiations, they had come to a compromise Skylar was sure she and everybody would be ok with.

The fitter had said that though they had over four months it would still be a lot of man hours to get it done in time. Skylar was used to fittings and waiting from when she had been modelling, but she still got tired from just standing there.

Philo had gone to London to do some business, and she had decided to stay back in Maridioch and start her intensive course in Maridi.

She wanted to learn the language.

It was still all gibberish to her. She had learned a lot of words and could hold a basic 'give me food and drinks at a restaurant' conversation, still it was hard. The grammar alone had her head spinning, she had never considered herself dumb or hard at learning, it took a lot from her to prove that during her lessons. It was a goal, she wanted to be able to hold her speech for the people at the weeding in fluent Maridi, all she could do was work, work, work, and she would get the hang of it.

The muffled sound of her phone ringing drew her from her tired daze. She found it in her purse and accepted the call.

"Octavia," Skylar said with a smile. It had been a while since they had seen each other, with all of them being so busy. They tried to talk as much as possible, and Octavia had been a big help with the dress when Skylar had felt she was being pummeled by traditions and demands by the design team. Octavia was fluent in etiquette, but knew the loopholes, and gladly filled Skylar in on her secrets.

"Skylar, I need your advice."

"Sure, what's up?"

"Are you alone?"

Octavia sounded nervous.

More than usual.

If it was an intimate kind of advice, maybe it was good Philo was not there. It would be uncomfortable for her to talk about sex with Octavia, and maybe have to give her some advice, when she was still not letting Philo near her like that. It seemed a bit hypocritical to know a lot about sex, and tell others how to do it when she was not practicing herself. She still wanted to help Octavia because talking about stuff like that with the queen or Philo would maybe put a strain on their relationships.

"I'm in the car with Damon from security. I'm in the backseat, don't worry."

Octavia sighed, expressing her relief with being able to talk freely. "I've been invited to this charity thing in New York and they expect me to bring a date."

"That sounds like fun."

"I think so too, but a date. I have plenty of men I could ask but I'm really trying not to give Reki any excuse to stop paying attention to me. If I bring a date, he might think I'm falling back into my old habits, but it's been weeks since I heard from him last. He sent me a bouquet of flowers and I thanked him, but then nothing." She paused. "Do you think I can ask him to go with me? Maybe I could tell him I need him for security or something?"