Thanks for the smattering of reviews. My writing style is casual and may not always be true to character, but as I threw most of the book content away, this is for fun. Don't take it seriously.
Chapter 2
Brini, Tory, and Gretta swept back inside the room with their arms full of underclothes. Karigan groaned audibly from where she sat in the bathtub. Erina and Stace were each holding one of Karigan's hands, diligently scrubbing at her nails. Her hair had be washed and rinsed multiple times before her aunts deemed it clean enough, and it now hung in a wet loose coil over a shoulder, smelling of rosewater.
Throughout this process, she had been slowly given several cups of kav and a few biscuits, but nothing else as it was pointed out that she had not been laced into her corset yet. A vile thing constructed of heavy silk and whalebone.
Karigan's eyes flit to the pile of colorful clothing on the bed, "How long have you had those?"
Brini sifted through the pile while angling her head to peer into the trunks, "We had these made up when we got the invitation. Undergarments are just important as what goes over the top," she chastised gently. She picked up an almost iridescent silk chemise that had narrow offset shoulders with a hem line that ended at her knees. "This will go on first."
"I'll catch my death in that," Karigan said primly, drawing her knees up to her chest.
"First layer," Tory called out cheerfully, "Then your corset, petticoats, and stockings."
Karigan eyed the ensemble critically, "You've already picked a dress?"
"Well there were only a few that truly matched those," Stace commented with a nod towards the open mahogany box that she had revealed to her niece. Inside were a pair of exquisite dancing slippers made of stiff embroidered sea green satin and fine Rhovan leather. Karigan had marveled at the slippers design, "Wherever did you get these?"
"These were your mother's of course, along with her gowns and jewels," Tory said kindly, "And she wore these for a similar occasion such as tonight."
It had proven easier to manhandle Karigan after that and they succeeded at getting her into the bathtub with little mishap.
Karigan now stood and eagerly reached for the thick linen cloth offered to her as she shivered in the cool afternoon hour. Erina came around with another cloth and began to rub her hair dry, clucking as Karigan tried in vain to get away. Gretta had already laid out a gown upon the bed and drew Karigan closer, with the maid still attached to her hair.
It was as if it were made of air and sea, for it's silvery color showed shades of blue and green as the light shifted. Yet it was a simple design with little embroidery nor jewels inset in the bodice. The skirts were full and filmy, the sort that Karigan secretly would love to twirl in, and ended with an ever so slight train in the back.
For someone who did not enjoy gowns as much as the next girl, it suited her perfectly. Her aunts gathered and began to assist her in dressing. The silk chemise was in fact, wonderfully soft and cool against her skin, but the corset was a contraption fit for torture, she decided. It only fit under her bust and went to the top of her hips, but her lungs felt the restriction every time she drew a breath.
The stockings were also of a light silk, a translucent ivory was only a few shades lighter than her skin. With a sigh, Karigan sat gingerly upon her vanity chair and allowed Erina to assist her in rolling them up each leg, securing each with a ribbon garter.
Two layers of satin petticoats followed, and then finally, the gown. Nervously, Karigan shifted as Erina held her long hair clear as she was laced in the back. Her shoulders were bare and so were most of her arms. She looked down when prompted and slid her feet into the surprisingly comfortable slippers. Feeling her foot slide ever so slightly, she looked up at her aunts, "They feel a bit loose, what if they fall off?"
Gretta snorted, "Then take care to not run amok and loose them."
Stace ran an eye over her critically before turning and picking up a pair of elbow length white gloves. "These ought to do when you are ready."
Karigan chuckled, "Am I not ready now?"
Erina, who was still holding the mass of hair, exclaimed in dismay, "Oh miss, really."
Karigan heaved a dramatic breath and plopped back down on the vanity chair. "Do your worst then, but no curls."
The maid shrugged and went to work. Her hair was worked into a loose chignon that featured intertwining little braids wrapping around the crown of her head and then were tucked into the woven hair at the base of her neck. Little wavy tendrils were left to trail on her bare shoulders, and tiny seed pearls were carefully secured throughout her hair. Although the entire process took less that twenty minutes with several hands working at once, she fought the inclination to keep batting at the hair that was tickling her skin. Stace had caught her hand and tsked, "One pull and it might all come down."
Karigan had scowled and glared at her aunts in the mirror, but did not resist as they slipped a delicate silver chain bracelet on her wrist and a simple pearl drop pendant around her neck.
She had heartily refused all the cosmetics put before her but finally relented to a bit of pink rouge on her lips. "My face will be covered anyways," she grumbled.
It was nearing the early hours of the evening when she was finally deemed ready, gloves on, and allowed to proceed downstairs once it was ascertained that Stevic would in fact be in the harbor for a good portion of the night.
Karigan accepted a dark velvet hooded cloak from Erina and moved to step outside before Stace's squawking stopped her in her tracks. "You do not mean to go on foot?!"
Her niece frowned, "The L'Petrie Manor is but a mile away through the woods, Father is using the carriage and I cannot arrive on the back of Condor."
Gretta went upstairs and returned with a pair of half boots, "Then at least wear these until you arrive, and change on the grounds."
Her sisters looked scandalized, "Gretta!"
The woman only raised an eyebrow, "Better than arriving with ruined slippers, and besides, you know where you are going, yes?"
Karigan grinned and accepted a hand from Stace as she took the slippers off and slid her feet into the boots, "You do not forget your way in the woods."
Gretta smiled back grimly, "And I have never forgotten your excursions with those young lads from the manor house."
Karigan wrinkled her nose with a chuckle, drawing her hood up and peeking outside before briskly walking towards the treeline.
Brini hissed out the door, "Walk slower, you are a lady, not a merchant going to market!"
Karigan adjusted her gait with a roll of her eyes.
Stace called out, "Mind your skirts and your manners!"
Karigan grit her teeth and lifted a hand in acknowledgement as she found the path and disappeared into the thickets, skirts firmly in hand.
Zachary wearily held out his arms as his tailor fitted him with a new waistcoat of midnight blue. The corresponding coat was a dark navy, shot with silver and completed with an overall simple look.
He absolutely loathed it.
The room that he stood in was likely Lord L'Petrie's own, and for that he was also acutely embarrassed, for while the lord boasted a large estate that stood on the outskirts of the city of Corsa, it was filled to bursting with guests. The Weapons he chose for this trip either had to sleep in the antechamber attached to his, or in the general servants quarters.
Laren was attending at his behest, and was clad in an almost severely styled high neck black gown with a full black face mask. She sat in an armchair primly and watched as his valet assisted him with his coat, handing off his domino mask with a slight bow.
Zachary took one look at Laren and quipped, "What is your theme, big sister? Evil Witch? Black Death?"
Laren's eyes narrowed, "Is there a reason that you no longer have your short beard? Or are sporting a new haircut?"
Zachary straightened his cuffs and shrugged, "Anonymity?"
She sniffed and sat back, "You look a decade younger, like you came out of the schoolhouse. Baby face."
He offered her a dazzling grin, "All the better for you to see my features."
She stood and motioned for him to spin, "You will do, but you are counting on the fact that you won't be recognized."
Zachary fastened the mask over his eyes and the bridge of his nose, "And I won't. No one will be dancing attendance upon me, or think to look into the crowd."
Laren sighed and brushed off a piece of imaginary lint from his shoulders, "Are you sure this is the way you wish to do this?"
He nodded once briskly, "It is."
She looked at Willis, who opened the chamber door, then smiled encouragingly at her King, "After you then sire."
