Disclaimer: Any scenes, characters, names, terms, ideas, worlds, titles,
and writing style that belong to Tamora Pierce are not mine.
Chapter 3:
Varice said slowly, "Now we apply the red from this pot." She applied it carefully to Eos's face, who was by now tied down and gagged with the magicked rope. Varice held up a small mirror, barely large enough for Eos to see an inch of her face to Eos's eyes. "You see?" Wistfully she added, "You have the potential for such beauty...you don't even need face paint for people to see it." Eos snorted. After years of scarring her body with accidents and seeing distorted versions of her face in pools of water, she believed that she was deformed. Varice stepped back and looked at Eos, then quietly went into another room and came back with a large, ornate mirror. This she set in front of Eos, and watched Eos's astonished face. Eos said slowly, "How did you magick the mirror to show me that image? She's...beautiful, more beautiful than any of the models I've seen so far, but she can't be me." Varice smiled sadly, then replied, "That's you. Why did you think Tristan chose you and came back to Carthak so quickly? With your beauty you could charm Mithros." Eos shook her head in disbelief. "That's not possible! That....she's lovely! I must be scarred and ugly from my years in the forest." She critically examined the radiant image in the mirror. The woman in the mirror had delicate, exquisite features on her porcelain face and wavy auburn hair cascaded down to her small waist. Unlike many Scancrans, her almond shaped eyes were a rich hazel color, and were accented by the full red lips and high cheekbones. Her body was lithe, slender, with gentle curves and supple limbs. Her hands were slender and small, similar to her feet in that aspect. Her skin was a slightly golden color from life in the sun, but was visibly soft. The woman in the mirror was....perfection.
Eos stared, enraptured, at the mirror and paid no attention to her surroundings for the first time for many, many years. Now with a thoughtful, excited look on her face, Varice said, "Now the dresses." Eos's eyes went wide. Varice, still contemplating didn't notice and started to ruffle thought the huge closet Tristan had provided with Eos's forced measurements. Varice selected thirty gowns for Eos to try on, and told the furious Eos that neither of them had a choice, so she might as well do as she said. The first gown was too flashy; the second, a gown made by a controversial designer, left Varice in tears from laughing. The third, fifteenth through twentieth, and the last four gowns were pronounced perfect, and so the "nobility lessons" began. Dancing, music, culture, history, speaking, etiquette, flirting, the subtleties of Carthaki court...all were taught to Eos in a matter of weeks while the Carthaki noblewomen eagerly prepared to fight over Tristan Staghorn (the thought of which left Eos in tears from laughing).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's notes: Thank you to the author Rainfall for reviewing my fanfic! Any feedback is appreciated.
Chapter 3:
Varice said slowly, "Now we apply the red from this pot." She applied it carefully to Eos's face, who was by now tied down and gagged with the magicked rope. Varice held up a small mirror, barely large enough for Eos to see an inch of her face to Eos's eyes. "You see?" Wistfully she added, "You have the potential for such beauty...you don't even need face paint for people to see it." Eos snorted. After years of scarring her body with accidents and seeing distorted versions of her face in pools of water, she believed that she was deformed. Varice stepped back and looked at Eos, then quietly went into another room and came back with a large, ornate mirror. This she set in front of Eos, and watched Eos's astonished face. Eos said slowly, "How did you magick the mirror to show me that image? She's...beautiful, more beautiful than any of the models I've seen so far, but she can't be me." Varice smiled sadly, then replied, "That's you. Why did you think Tristan chose you and came back to Carthak so quickly? With your beauty you could charm Mithros." Eos shook her head in disbelief. "That's not possible! That....she's lovely! I must be scarred and ugly from my years in the forest." She critically examined the radiant image in the mirror. The woman in the mirror had delicate, exquisite features on her porcelain face and wavy auburn hair cascaded down to her small waist. Unlike many Scancrans, her almond shaped eyes were a rich hazel color, and were accented by the full red lips and high cheekbones. Her body was lithe, slender, with gentle curves and supple limbs. Her hands were slender and small, similar to her feet in that aspect. Her skin was a slightly golden color from life in the sun, but was visibly soft. The woman in the mirror was....perfection.
Eos stared, enraptured, at the mirror and paid no attention to her surroundings for the first time for many, many years. Now with a thoughtful, excited look on her face, Varice said, "Now the dresses." Eos's eyes went wide. Varice, still contemplating didn't notice and started to ruffle thought the huge closet Tristan had provided with Eos's forced measurements. Varice selected thirty gowns for Eos to try on, and told the furious Eos that neither of them had a choice, so she might as well do as she said. The first gown was too flashy; the second, a gown made by a controversial designer, left Varice in tears from laughing. The third, fifteenth through twentieth, and the last four gowns were pronounced perfect, and so the "nobility lessons" began. Dancing, music, culture, history, speaking, etiquette, flirting, the subtleties of Carthaki court...all were taught to Eos in a matter of weeks while the Carthaki noblewomen eagerly prepared to fight over Tristan Staghorn (the thought of which left Eos in tears from laughing).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's notes: Thank you to the author Rainfall for reviewing my fanfic! Any feedback is appreciated.