Chapter 8: Coronation Preparation and Clear Winners
I fluttered my eyes open the next morning to the scent of flowers and earth. I look up to see Eli's face rested on a pillow, awkwardly under the covers. Awkwardly topless. Oh goodness what the heck happened last night. I sprang out of bed and observed myself. Same as ever. I remembered us kissing and falling asleep, but not Eli stripping his shirt and us sliding under the covers. I lay on the side of the bed, waiting for Eli to wake up to get an explanation.
A few minutes later he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. I threw my face in front of his gaze but all he did was bear a wide smile. He hugged me into his chest and I laid my head down on his shoulder.
"Why are you topless and why were we underneath the covers?" I mutter into his shoulder, kissing him on his neck. He laughs. Why would he laugh?
"I wasn't going to sleep in my day clothes and you were shivering like a small dog. So I went downstairs borrowed a pair of pajama pants and came back up to cover you with sheets. I curled up next to you because you were too beautiful to leave," Eli smiled and looked down into my eyes. I grinned and stretched up to kiss him on the lips.
"What would you have done if we had…done what you thought?" he asked perplexed.
"Though I have hardly known you for a day and a half, I wouldn't have cared because I can tell that we have something special," I got up and smiled at him. He smiled even wider back. I smiled the biggest smile possible. He laughed hard.
We heard heeled footsteps come down the hall. The Queen. She couldn't know that Eli was here! She would surely freak out. Eli had heard the steps too and looked into my eyes with fear. He ran out of the bed and threw himself right underneath it. I laughed a little.
"That's your master James Bond hiding plan, Eli?" I ask in a whisper.
"I'm not Eli; I'm an old shoebox…"
I sigh and go sit on the bed and wait for the Queen to come. She glides in with a grin and bows.
"Ready for your grand coronation?" she practically skips with joy.
"Yeah I'm so ready to pick a guy to marry today," I awkwardly smile at her. She returns with a smile, too.
"I have your dress in this bag," she claps her hands and a card soldier brings her a huge dress bag and a shoebox.
"Wow, this is really happening," I mutter in a semi-excited way.
"Let's dress you up!" she laughs.
We walk into my grand closet and she unzips the dress bag. There in front of my eyes is a long ballroom gown in the most beautiful shade of green. It was identical to Eli's eyes. Around the torso there was a white bow tied to the back and the ribbon it was made of was beaded with pearls. The skirt of the dress had many layers of tulle and a bottom silk layer. It had small off the shoulder puffed sleeves, similar to the ones on Belle's yellow gown from Beauty and the Beast. I loved it. Not only was it a change from my usual blue, white, and pink routine, but it was breathtakingly detailed.
The Queen left me alone as I slipped off my night gown and slipped on the beautiful dress. She came in after and buttoned it up in the back. She handed me a pair of white sparkly heats with a peep-toe that matched the gown gorgeously.
A few minutes later a group of weirdly dressed people came in. There were five of them, three women and two men. They had makeup palettes, nail polish, and every hair styling tool imaginable.
"These stylists are going to enhance your already natural beauty before the big ceremony. I'll meet you downstairs after they finish so we can have breakfast," the Queen says before she leaves the room.
The stylists all smile broadly at me and sit me down in a chair in the middle of the closet. Eli was still under the bed, I remembered. I looked out the closet doors and saw him roll out from under the bed and stand up stretching out his back. He made eye contact with me and smirked. Then he went running out the door and down the stairs to get his clothes back, I assumed.
One stylist took my hands while another slipped off my shoes and grabbed my feet. They began clipping, filing, and painting my nails a beautiful shade of ivory. Two people were curling and clipping my hair back with what seemed like tiny pearl-like beads. The last one, a girl, was picking out shades from her palette of makeup to apply later. The shades were mainly neutrals that she picked out, along with a light, rose pink blush. The lipstick was a soft yet deep pink that looked very pretty. Its opacity was unbelievable.
I began to relax in the chair. This is it. I thought about it long and hard. I was going to stay here, get married, maybe see my parents one day in the future, and wait to rule the giant kingdom until the White Queen retired. This was my new beginning.
I closed my eyes softly as the woman with the makeup palette dusted over my skin with a light base powder. She applied a liquid foundation over it and then began on my blush.
I felt the two stylists doing my hair in an intricate design on top of my loose curls. The two doing my nails were already almost done, as they were applying a top coat on the pretty ivory nail polish. The one, a man, painting my toes turned on a hair dryer and began to dry the paint. The heat from the dryer felt nice on my skin after a chilly night of sleep.
The woman doing my makeup gestured for me to close my eyes and she began to apply primer, then shadow, then liner, and finally mascara. Soon enough all the stylists finished and helped me up, leading me to a wall-height mirror in the closet.
I looked deeply at the girl staring back at me, unsure if her name was Clare. She had tiny, ivory pearls cascading in her curls, lightly holding strands back a little. Her eyes were gleaming a soft blue and her cheeks were the perfect shade of pink. She looked more slender than usual because her humungous ball gown hit her waist just right. Her nails were done with little blue roses on them, yet it all looked subtle. Elegant, if I may.
It took a few glances into the familiar eyes to realize that the stunning girl in the green was really just the Canadian girl from the back desk in Degrassi.
The makeup stylist reached up (because she was very, very short) and put a strand of pearl, matching the ones in my hair, around my neck. In between the two biggest pearls in the front was a tiny silver cross that gave me the reminder that even though I was about to become the secondary ruler of an underground kingdom, God still had a plan for me even though I did not yet know what it was.
I walked out of the closet as the stylists smiled at their work and wandered quietly out my bedroom door. I was again alone and for the first time actually appreciated it. I sat down carefully on the bed and let my mind go blank for a few seconds. This was it. I was going to be a princess. It was every girl's dream, right?
I walked out my door and was fed promptly by the stairs a glass of milk and some wheat toast. After quickly eating it through nerves I made my way carefully down the stairs, holding my heels in my hands to avoid tripping. Once I was halfway down, I could hear the murmur of loud voices and cheers from outside the castle walls. I finally got to the bottom where the Queen was holding her hand out with a big smile.
"Are you ready to become a kingdom ruler?" she asked and I nodded softly. Here goes nothing, right?
Thank you very much for reading my stories especially to the dedicated readers who have been with my since the day I began writing Clare in Wonderland or And the Wedding Bells Ring. I hope that you will all go to my profile and check out my personal website at www. Livibooks .webs. com.
Love,
MadameLivi
