Author's Note: For Dragon, who probably would've murdered me if I didn't give her a Scabior fic tonight. :)
Written for…
All About You Challenge. Prompt: Center a fic around the word Sapphire.
Daily Weird Prompt Challenge. Prompt: tiara
Dangerous Beauty III
"Are you sure you have everything ready for tomorrow?"
Angelica took the checklist from her pocket and began her seventh recital of the day. "Dress, check. Shoes, check. Veil, check. Tiara…" The young brunette frowned at the unchecked box.
"What's the matter, dear?" her mother asked from where she was finishing mending the girl's veil.
"My tiara," she said through gritted teeth. Of all things she had to leave in her brother's hands…
She stomped over to the staircase. "SERAPHIM, GET DOWN HERE!"
Scabior flinched at his sister's yelling from his position in front of the bathroom mirror. "Alrigh', alrigh'," he muttered, quickly finishing rubbing cream into his scaly hand and tugging on a single frayed brown glove.
He marched down the stairs and frowned at the permanent scowl on Angelica's face.
"What 'ave I done this time?" he asked her, leaning against the banister.
"I want my tiara."
"Your what?"
"My tiara. The white sapphire tiara you promised you'd buy me? You said it was going to be your wedding gift."
"I said that?"
"You did, Sera," their mother confirmed. Scabior winced at the name.
"Where is it?" Angelica demanded.
"Hmm? Oh, right, that tiara. I hid it … for safety's sake."
She didn't seem convinced, reaching for her wand.
"Alrigh', relax!" he said, scurrying around her. "I'll go get it."
"And don't come back without it!"
:-:
It was already dark by the time the eighteen-year-old reached the store, but luckily Treadgold's Treasures stayed open late.
He felt out of place in the pristine store with its glittering display cases full of gold and diamonds, and old Madam Treadgold herself, who wore even more jewelry than the display mannequins.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked, grimacing at his clothes.
'Probably think I'm gonna steal somethin',' he thought as he walked up to the counter.
"I'm lookin' for a tiara."
She perked up a bit. "Of course, sir. We have a fine selection of tiaras, circlets and crowns over this way."
Treadgold led him to a small corner display that had over thirty headpieces. Scabior could feel the security charms pulsing as he took a closer look.
"I'm sure your wife would love this one," she went on, pulling out a diamond and rose quartz jeweled gold tiara that he thought was more than a little over the top.
He snorted. "It's not my wife. My sister's gettin' married tomorrow, ye see," he said lazily, leaning against the ivory wall. "Not that fond of her husband-to-be, honestly. Bit pompous if you ask me."
"Perhaps if you told me what your sister wants, sir?" Treadgold prompted.
"Ah, right. She might've said something about white sapphires."
Treadgold hummed to herself as she examined all the available choices, finally pulling out a thick gold frame with diamond-like jewels adorning the rim.
"Will this do?"
Scabior shook his head roughly. "Nah. Doesn't look right." He inched closer to the display, weary of the charms.
He'd seen his sister's wedding dress probably a hundred times over the summer as she and their mother planned every inch of event, and he knew with absolute certainty that Treadgold's choice wouldn't work at all.
"This one," he decided, pressing a finger to the glass to point out a silver and diamond headpiece.
"Those are not white sapphires, sir, they're real diamonds," Treadgold said, trying to pry him away from the display.
"It's perfect. How much?"
"Fifteen hundred galleons."
He shook his head, grumbling as he pulled out the pouch his mother had given him weeks ago when he'd promised to acquire the infernal item.
:-:
"He's late!"
"I'm sure your brother will be here any moment, dear," Reyna Scabior said gently, helping to smooth the wrinkles in her daughter's dress.
"He's probably broken it or lost it, if he even got it at all," Angelica seethed. "He can forget about walking me down the aisle!"
"I thought I told you to relax, Angie," the young man in question said from the doorway. He had cleaned up a bit since the last they saw him. He now wore proper black dress robes and had his brown and red-streaked hair pulled back in a ponytail. His one mangy brown glove had been switched out for a pair of sleek black ones for the affair.
"Where is it?" his sister demanded, not allowing herself time to be relieved.
Scabior pulled an ornate box from behind his back and lifted the lid to reveal her tiara. Angelica snatched it up immediately and closely examined it.
"These are diamonds!" she squealed. "I asked for sapphires!"
"But you like it, don't you?" he said, taking it from her hands and pulling her over to a mirror. "The silver matches the earrings Mum's lending you, and the diamonds go with all that glitter on your dress." He gently places the tiara on her head as she scowled at his reflection.
"It's … not horrible, I suppose. I'm going to make sure the girls are ready." She pointed a finger at him. "Don't go anywhere."
"You look so handsome," their mother said, coming over to fix his robes. "A gentleman, just like your father. I don't see why you can't dress like this all the time, Seraphim."
He wrinkled his nose at the thought. "What, like that puffed up fool Angie's marrying? I don't think I'm really cut out for the life of the rich and snobby, Mum."
A/N:
This wasn't at all what I had planned for the third installment in the series, but it certainly does give me some more ideas... :D