Dragon's World

53.

~Six Days Later~

I wake up with kind of a jolt as I feel anxiousness creep into me.

Today is the day of the citizenship ceremony. We'd decided to split the ceremonies over two days. Since Rune cannot marry an outsider, but both the spiritual ceremony and the citizenship ceremony must be held with moonlight present, we're doing the citizenship ceremony today and the wedding and spiritual ceremony tomorrow.

Rune is not next to me this morning. Kassenna made him sleep in a different room due to something she referred to as 'old tradition,' but I'm still not satisfied with its logic. So when I wake, it's with the other half of the bed cold and no lighting whatsoever, especially since it's late at night.

I manage to find a light switch, flicking it on to reveal both the ceremonial dress and the wedding dress in the room with me. Kassenna thought it'd be easier to just get dressed up in here, rather than having all that staff and my brides maids trudge all the way up the castle. I agreed but when I was going to sleep last night, they still looked like random people standing in the corner of my room, leaving me to fall asleep with more unease than I'd had before.

"Good evening, my almost sister-in-law! Today is only the beginning! Are you ready?" Kassenna bursts into the room almost immediately after I flick the lights on.

"Jeez, Kass. I haven't even showered yet and the ceremony doesn't take place until like, six hours from now. That gives me more than enough time to un-zombify myself," I rub the sleep from my eyes as she heads for the dresses while I head for the bathroom.

"Actually, the citizenship ceremony starts at eleven thirty because Rune decided we needed to get as close to midnight as possible, since that's dragon stem peak time and high rise moonlight time," she explains as she examines the dresses. My eyes nearly pop out of my skull.

"Wha-?! Kassenna, why didn't you tell me this earlier so I could at least plan on getting ready sooner?! It's eight at night! What do I wear to this thing, the moon stone dress? Do I need to bring anything? Is this public or will it just be us?" I start firing off questions as I quickly run out of the bathroom and head for the undergarments we'd set out this morning for this whole night.

"I must've forgot. It's okay though, this is what we have royal servants for!" She claps and a set of five women trudge into the room, all lined up before me as I'm grabbing my undergarments.

"Allow me to take a quick shower first?" I hold a single finger up as I look to Kassenna, a little embarrassed. Nobody's seen me completely naked before so I'm kind of nervous.

"Oh, M'Lady, we provide bathing services as well. We'll all have a job in helping you prep for your very special day, please allow us," one of the staff pipes up as I inch my way towards the bathroom again.

"I'm...truly flattered by your offer but I actually think I'll do the showering part on my own. Thank you though," I give them a little nod of thanks as I quickly step in the bathroom and close the door.

"I guess she's shy," I hear Kassenna's voice echo outside the door. "Help me grab the jewelry and makeup from the wardrobe room, though. We'll need the perfect crown for this occasion," with that, a little bit of shuffling is heard before the door closes and leaves the room silent.

•••

After showering and dressing in at least my undergarments with Rune's big bath robe wrapped around me, I step out into the room where I'm greeted by Kassenna and all the staff.

"Okay, Ness, just take a seat, tell me when yes and when no, and relax. They'll do literally everything for you, plus Angelica here has a keen eye for design, so it'll definitely look good," Kass steps to the side a little to reveal the first woman who spoke out earlier.