I am so so sorry it took me so long to post the chapter. I am going to try and post these chapters as soon as I can. Don't worry, I am still writing and do not plan to stop anytime soon.

I closed the door. Something creaked. I flinched.

It was just the floor, I reminded myself.

A heartbeat. It had felt like a while since I had heard one.

I looked over to see a servant at the end of the hall. He froze when I approached him.

"Take these to the kitchen," after a pause I remembered, "And let Lucian's servants know that he has gone to bed early."

I handed him the tray. He nodded and bowed before leaving me in the hall.

6: 59.

I had already checked the time before I had left. Of course the fitting room had to be all the way on the other side of the house.

Hour's bell rang. It filled the house, muttering any and every noise in the house.

I sped through the halls. I had to weave around some of the maids and servants. Others I just sped through.

The door came into my sight. I yanked it open.

Mother stood with her back to me, facing the two women her. Fine silk dressed them from head to toe, though they were not as fine as what dress my mother. It had not been too long since I had last seen them. Just last month they imprisoned me into a constricting jersey gown trimmed in gold for my father's yearly ball.

The door slammed behind me. Whatever words were on her lips were quickly lost, abandoned.

"You are late," She remarked. Her attention still on her subjects. Her voice was calm, but it still had that fatal fresh sting of a sharpened blade glossed across it.

I caught a glance at the clock above me. The little red hand clicked out its fourth second of 7:01.

Lucian. He dove for the hole in a wall of trees. I was chasing him though the forest like I had last august. He dove through a hedge, and I had let it take minutes before I was able to catch up and catch him, dragging him into a bed of flowers.

My mother's eyes were now looking at me. I dropped my head. "I," What? The words clung to my lips. They were crisp in my mind but would blur into nothing by the time they reached my lips. They tingled there, torturous and just out of reach.

I had to say something. Anything.

"I… Forgive me," My voice was too dry. Too weak. I forced some strength back into it. "I had lost track of time."

The air itched with silence, like a single nail cutting down slowly across a chalkboard. It took its time, letting the creaks and grumbles file off its edge.

Mother cut it off. "Forget it. We have wasted enough time already. Seconds lost cannot be fixed with petty apologies. Babbling any longer will just rid off more of it. Sol! Luna!" The two seamstresses tensed. "Fit her into her dress. I will be back in half of the hour, and I wish not to come back to any mistakes." She left, the clicking of her heels cut off by the door slamming shut.

The male held his hand out and I let him assist me up onto the pedestal. If I was remembering right, the highlights of his hair had changed from gold to red since our last appointment. The girl had not changed much, just a different tint of color in her face. She opened her wardrobe and pulled out the dress. It was as beautiful as it had been before, only this time it fitted better.

Maybe a bit too well considering that my mother must approve of it first.

The silver fabric had a nice metallic glimmer to it. The sleeve was transparent but was elaborately embedded with diamonds, rubies and gold. The back of the left shoulder was embedded with the Goldblood's crest, something that should mean more to me than my blood and honor.

As beautiful as it was, it probably would have looked better on Jonathan than it did on me. Don't get me wrong, it fit the body perfectly, it was the face that was out of place.

"Missy," The voice echoed inside my head, but the lips that spoke them were far in the glass in front of me. I knew I should have smiled. Usually I do when I hear him say that, but it just made me do the opposite. "Missy, over here!" He started waving his arms. I closed my eyes, but he would not disappear.

My gut twisted.

"Missy," His tone changed to something I have never heard before. "Missy!" I flinched. "Look at me, Missy!" I did not have a choice. My eyes opened. I had never seen him mad before. It was so strange. Unnatural. Like looking at a beautiful monster, if such a thing even exists.

The ground left my foot. My body never hit the ground. Something had caught me and forced me back on the pedestal.

"Are you ok, Goldblood?" The guy asked.

"I can loosen the dress if it's too tight," The girl offered.

"No!" The flinched. "The dress is fine. I… am fine. Do not ever speak of this.

In the mirror, could see the two of them finally lose their grip on her. The real monster. Her fair skin was paler than usual, nearly the color of snow. Her eyes were as blood red as her scarlet lips. Only the sharpest eyes could see the subtle tremble. The ugly face would not stop looking at me.

The mirror could have been cracked, and she would not have looked any more broken than she did now.