Chapter 9: Wedding Dresses and Messes

"ELLIE!" Laci called through the door. She groaned and rolled so she hid her face in Jason's chest.

"It's to early Laci! Let me sleep."

"You can't we have to go dress shopping," Rian called out.

"Please don't tell me all of you are out there! "

"Well we won't but we are," May piped up.

"Come on Ellie," Nora pleaded.

"Oh go yourself!" Ellie said. "I am not in the mood to go dress shopping."

"To bad your wedding is in a week! So you have to!" Iliane now put in.

"Why me? Honestly, why can't Laci be married first, I just want to sleep."

"You always want to sleep!" Anne and Sara said at once.

"Jason! " All of them cried together. Jason laughed and climbed out of the bed.

"Sorry my dear but I have to," he said before lifting her out of the bed.

"JASON! " Ellie whined as he opened the door and deposited her in the hall.

"Please get her a nice dress, bye ladies," Ellie glared fiercely at him but he only smiled at her. Ellie was picked up off the ground by her sisters and led to her room.

Ten minutes later they all headed into the busy streets of the town. They went to every single dress shop on the main market square. Either they were ignored or treated badly, making the sisters furious and leaving the shop. Rian was the one to spot the last dress shop. It was a small simple building.

They looked at the displays for a minute before entering the shop.

"This is beautiful!" Rian said as she ran over to where a gold dress was at. It had silver trimming on it.

A young woman sat behind a large counter, reading a large book, when they came in. She looked up and was a bit surprised to see so many people enter at once. She quickly got to her feet to greet them. "Hello Ladies how may I help you?"

"Our sister here is looking for a wedding dress," May said quickly.

"May!" Ellie complained.

"What you are, now hush up," May snapped making Ellie fall silent.

"Well I will need your measurements, if you would please follow me," the woman said as she indicated towards a small area surrounded by mirrors.

Ellie took her place on the stool and let the woman take her measurements. "If you don't mind my asking, who are you getting married to?"

"I don't mind, I am getting married to Prince Jason, more of an arranged marriage actually."

"He seems like a nice enough sort of man."

"At first he was a bit annoying but I got over that. He's a wonderful man, actually gets along with my sisters."

"All of them are your sisters?" The woman said in disbelief.

"Oh yes, all twelve of them. I actually have three younger sisters as well but they went back home with mother for a few days. They should be back by the wedding."

"I have four sisters, all of which own a dress shop. They work on the main street. Did you stop by there?"

"We tried every shop and quiet frankly I don't care much for them. They were exceptionally rude to us. I can't say there dresses weren't pretty but they are too simplistic."

"The court style reverted back to being simplistic a few months ago."

"I noticed that as well. My sisters and I really like to stand out, not that you can hide thirteen girls. Also I think my sisters have taken a liking to your dresses," she said indicating back to her sisters.

The woman looked up and in fact they were all talking excitedly over some of her dresses. Ellie stepped down from the stool. "You've just found yourself thirteen new customers. I'm Ellie by the way."

"Jessica," she said quietly.

It was about two hours later when they finally made their way back to the castle. They all went their own ways when they got to the castle. Ellie, May, and Laci headed down the halls.

They were surprised to come across Arthur. They all stopped facing each other. Ellie and May watched as Laci's stance changed instantly to a guarded one. It was rare to see Laci in such a position unless she was defending one of her younger sisters.

Arthur was about to say something when a woman's voice cut in. "Hello my dear cousins," Ally said from behind them. They all whirled around to see their tall, blonde cousin. She was the same age as Laci but shorter.

"Hello Ally," Laci said in a strained voice.

"Arthur! Well it's so great to see you again. What brings you here?"

"I've come for Ellie's wedding," no one missed the anger that resonated through his voice.

"Well it's good to see all of you again. Now tell me Laci, how have you been? I haven't spoken to you in years. We used to be so close."

"That was until I found you with him," Laci stressed.

"Oh yes of course! How could I have forgotten? You were always jealous of my good looks weren't you?"

It wasn't Laci who reacted first but May. Her fist slammed into her older cousin's jaw, knocking her hard into the floor. Laci and Ellie gapped at their sister. May never got this physical with anyone. She was the more timid one who tried to avoid fights as much as possible.

"How dare you! You insufferable woman! You have no right to be here. You have no right to even talk to her! You selfish jerk!" May said. Her voice was filled with pure and utter hatred, something that was never heard in her voice. Ally got to her feet, glaring at her younger cousin.

"I suggest you watch your tongue May, you are, after all, younger than me."

"Yes but I am not as horrid as you are! I would never do something like that to family! You are no better than that bastard of a mother of yours." May said. Ally's eyes narrowed and she launched at May, which was a very bad idea.

May grabbed her cousin's arm and brought her knee up to connect with her stomach. She shoved her hard into the stone floor below. Ally rolled and kicked May in the shin. This didn't phase her one bit. Ellie grabbed May, knowing what would happen. "No, May she isn't worth this!" Ellie forced May back against a wall.

Ally scrambled to her feet. "How dare you speak about my mother so! At least she is alive."

This time it was Ellie who hit her. Everyone watched as she slammed hard into the wall. Ellie shook her arm out. "Stupid, selfish, hateful, slut," she muttered under her breath. "She may not be alive but you know what they are one hundred times better than you are. You should watch what you say around this family. Unlike you we actually learned how to fight. Thirteen of us and you, you will sorely regret crossing us!"

Laci pulled Ally to her feet. "You will regret the day you did this to me, I promise to get my revenge for this!" She hissed in her cousin's ear as she shoved her off down the hall.

"Why did she even come? I just invited our uncle, I didn't realize she would be coming as well," Ellie said through gritted teeth.

"It's not your fault; I never said what really happened." Laci said quietly. She turned to face Arthur, her eyes flashing. "You shouldn't have come either. Why did you even bother to come?" She snapped.

"I came to see you. I wanted a chance to explain what happened. I wrote you and you would never reply back to me. I've been trying to tell you for the last five years!" Laci looked at him for a long moment but turned and walked off.

May and Ellie watched her walk off. "You shouldn't have come back Arthur. She was just getting better." May snapped and ran after her older sister.

"Ellie?" She turned to face him.

"I'm sorry Arthur, I can't help you here. She loves you just as much as ever but whatever happened has made her hate you as well. Like I said you need to go take care of whatever has happened between you two."

"I can't if she keeps running off like she does!"

"Corner her it's the only smart thing to do."

Nora headed down to the kitchen. She was exceptionally hungry and she was pleased that the kitchen staff let her eat.

They had been here only a few weeks and she was already bored of the place. Most of the guest would begin to arrive tomorrow and she had spent the better part waiting for Laci's birthday celebration. It was the best celebration they had had yet. Never had they had so much fun.

The royal family had even come to join in. Rian and Ellie had performed their dance that no one had seen before. She could have laughed at the look in Jason's eyes when he watched her. He never took his eyes off of her the entire time. Of course it wasn't surprising.

Nora was thrilled for her sister, she had found the perfect man for her and it wasn't even by choice either. She only hoped the rest of them could be so fortunate. Laci had found Arthur but something had gone horribly wrong. May just seemed to get annoyed with every man she came across.

Down in the kitchens one of the cooks handed her a plate. She was grateful and took her seat. It wasn't long before the door swung open to reveal a tall, brown-eyes man. His black hair was cut short and he wore a long black cloak.

"Hello mother," he said happily to one of the cooks. Laya, who had served her, smiled up at her son.

"Hello Erick, what brings you home so soon?"

"Father said he had important news to tell me." He shrugged his shoulders. "Not surprising in the least. How have things been going?"

"Very well actually, we are preparing for the prince's wedding."

"Jason is getting married?"

"Yes, to the sweetest girl I have ever met. She's come to the kitchens a few times; she has actually helped us clean. For a future queen she sure doesn't act much like one."

"Our father taught us to be independent, he didn't like us to rely on others on things we could do ourselves." Nora said without thinking.

Laya smiled at her. "You're father was a smart man. After all having to raise thirteen girls he has done a wonderful job."

"Thank you but we were really more self-taught. He was usually working on paper work or something of that nature. We did our best to do as he asked."

"Well then that is still good none the less. Oh Nora this is my son Erick that I was telling you about. "

"Hello Erick," she said with a smile. He smiled at her and shook her outstretched hand.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Nora."

"Nora?" Ellie called as she entered the kitchen. "Ah I knew you would be in here, hello Laya."

"Hello Ellie, come to grab a snack?"

"No sorry to say I can't. Nora, our cousin has returned."

"Which one?" Nora asked slightly confused.

"Ally of course."

"What happened to your hand?" Nora said surprised.

"Oh it's really nothing; I just hit Ally in the jaw."

"Ellie, why in the world would you do something like that?"

"Actually May hit her first. She was insulting Laci and then she insulted their mother. Do you really believe I would stand to see her say anything so hateful? No I won't."

"Where is Laci?"

"She is hiding herself out somewhere in the castle. I can't say I don't blame her. May is getting her hand looked at. I came to ask if you wouldn't mind taking Rian, Tally, and Gira back to the dress shop. All of your dresses have been finished. Iliane is coming with you as well. "

"Is this one of those we need to get rid of the younger siblings while you all look for a plan of action?"

"Yes it is, since you are all too young to attend, we need to figure out a way to help Laci at the moment. Arthur is back and I hate to see her in such a state."

"What? Arthur is here and no one told me?"

"It wasn't something we wanted to shout to the world Nora. You know how sensitive she is about the whole thing. So will you please?"

"Of course I will. However, you all better come up with a very good reason as to explain all of this."

"Oh trust me there is a lot to tell. I'll stop by later tonight Laya."

"That is fine dear would you tell Jason I say hi."

"I will, he should be working at the moment. I'll drag him down for a few hours. Come along Nora we have work to do."

The two exited the kitchen. "That is our future queen?"

"Of course it is. Why do you ask?"

"I was just surprised is all, she is quite beautiful."

"All of them are very beautiful. Now your father is speaking with the blacksmith, so you should find him there."

"Thanks mother, I will come see you again later." He kissed her on the cheek before leaving the kitchen.

"What's going on Ellie?" Anne asked when all of them had arrived.

"It's about Laci," May said quickly. "We all know that five years ago things between her and Arthur got a bit rocky. Alright a bit doesn't very well cover it all."

"The point is he is back and she is in a horrible state. Now there is little the rest of us know about what really happened but you should all at least know it involves our dear cousin Ally."

"That explains why Laci refused to talk to her, let alone write to the girl," Olria said.

"Yes well Ally is here, unfortunately. I had no idea at the time but now that I do she has crossed a few lines that were not meant to be crossed," Ellie said.

"What did she do?" Talya asked. "Does it have something to do with why both of your hands are bandaged?"

"Yes it does. She started to insult Laci so I punched her. Of course she launched at me and got my knee in her stomach."

"Then I had to break it up only to have her insult Laci and May's mother, at which point I punched her."

"She did what?" All of the sister's yelled. No one was allowed to say anything about any of their mothers or they would sorely pay the price. All of their mothers, excluding Rian and Ellie's, had died in childbirth. Risa had practically adopted all of the children and taken care of them in a sense.

"I know, I know, we are all very mad but Laci will get her revenge, I have no doubt about that. What we are going to do is make Ally's life here a living hell. Do you all want to help?" May asked with a devilish grin.

They all nodded their heads and circled together.