Into the Depths

Chapter 5

The day had finally arrived. After much stress, planning, and an unexpected viewing, the day of Cotillion had finally arrived. It honestly seemed like a dream.

Or a nightmare to one stressed designer. Evie had spent the two days from the viewing completely redesigning Mal's dress. It had taken a lot of work, time, and several coffee runs by Doug but the dress was finally finished.

Thank Gods I had Mal's measurements, Evie thought as she fluffed the skirt as the dress rested on the mannequin. There would be no way I could have kept this a surprise from her if I needed to redo the measurements.

The only regret she had was that she hadn't had the time to work on her own dress. Then again, the Cotillion was for Mal. Mal was going to be who the spotlight was on, it would make sense for her dress to be the higher priority.

"Evie, that dress looks amazing!" Ruby Fitzherbert's voice said from behind Evie. Whirling around, Evie couldn't help but smile at seeing the youngest Fitzherbert daughter standing there with Lucy Charming and Doug.

"Yeah Mal's going to love it," Lucy said with a grin. "You've really outdone yourself this time Evie."

"All it took was about half the coffee in Auradon," Doug said, shaking his head as he walked up to Evie. "Oh, I have the finishing touch—Ben had asked Uncle Doc and the others if they could mine a purple gem for a necklace for Mal. It finally arrived-I think Ben would have been happy with amethyst but my dad and uncles went for a fancy sapphire instead, hence the wait."

He pulled a medium sized box out of his pocket and opened it, showing the contents to Evie. The blue haired girl couldn't help but gasp at seeing the tear drop necklace with the purple gemstone in the middle. It honestly was perfect for Mal's new dress.

"Did he know?" Evie asked as she took the box from Doug. "That I was changing Mal's dress?"

"I think he suspected," Doug chuckled. "But honestly Uncle Doc said they got the request months ago. Fancy sapphires aren't the most common things in the world though hence why it's arriving now."

"It's a good thing you changed the dress Evie," Lucy spoke up. "That necklace definitely wouldn't have gone with the yellow and blue one from the viewing."

Evie smiled and unclasped the necklace to put it around the neck of the mannequin. "There. Now it's perfect."

It truly was. Evie didn't mean to brag but for only taking two days to create, it was some of her best work. A dark purple dress with shimmers of blue that made the skirt almost look like the night sky. It was long enough as to not cause a panic amongst the more conservative royals but it was still short enough that the Isle side shown through.

Evie hoped people wouldn't notice how it slightly resembled Mal's coronation dress but it was the best Evie could do in a short time frame. Oh sure, she could have reached out to Jane and just changed the color on the established dress but what kind of designer would she be if she did that?

"Hey Evie?" Ruby spoke up. "We have a surprise for you."

Evie looked at the younger girl in confusion, turning from the mannequin. "What do you mean?"

Lucy and Ruby smiled at each other before each girl grabbed Evie's hand, gently dragging the older girl to Ruby's room. There, on a mannequin much like Mal's dress, was Evie's design for her own dress.

"Guys!" Evie gasped. It was beautiful! The last time Evie had seen her dress, it was barely halfway complete when she had changed gears to focus on Mal's.

"Doug told us what you were working on when we saw him on one of what had to be many coffee runs," Ruby said. "We know Mal's been under a lot of stress but so have you."