Sorry for the delay in posting this update. My beloved MacBook died on me and it took me a while to replace it. Then, life kinda happened.
"All done, Your Majesty."
"Thank you," Emma said, as she reached for the mirror lying on the vanity in front of her and lifted it to inspect her hair. Her stylist had created a beautiful crown braid for the evening that Emma knew from past experience would end up hurting just as much as any of the tiaras she wore on a semi-regular basis. Thankfully, at least with this crown, she wouldn't have to worry about damaging millions of pounds worth of jewels on her head throughout the night.
"It looks wonderful, Alice. Thank you so much for coming out today," Emma praised, as she turned in her seat to face the woman behind her, who was already busy packing away her things.
"I'm always happy to come whenever you need me, Your Majesty."
"I appreciate that." Emma allowed a slightly uncomfortable silence to stretch between the two women as Alice gathered up the last of her things. "I hope you'll be able to enjoy the rest of your Christmas Eve, and I truly hope I haven't pulled you away from your family for too long," she eventually offered.
"It's fine," Alice assured her, with a small smile, "My husband and children promised to have fresh cookies and a movie waiting for me when I get home, so I'm hoping they've cleaned the kitchen too."
"I hope they have," Emma chuckled. "Merry Christmas, Alice."
"Merry Christmas, Your Majesty. Enjoy your evening, and I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Emma nodded her head in agreement and watched as one of her Ladies-in-Waiting ushered the stylist out of her bedroom.
She truly hated pulling good people away from the ones they loved over the holidays. Thankfully, Emma had been able to find a team of people who not only enjoyed working with her but were also happy to accommodate her frankly awkward scheduling too. Alice had been her hairstylist for longer than Emma had reigned. Even though the other woman's family had grown over the years the two had known each other, Alice still came out every holiday season to make sure that her Queen was looking her best for Christmas Eve with her family and Christmas morning's church service. The woman was an absolute saint, and Emma made a mental note to offer her a pay rise as part of her holiday gift.
Emma turned back around to stare at the different dresses she had to choose from for the evening, then flicked a look over to where another of her Ladies-in-Waiting was standing in the corner of the room.
"I can take it from here, thanks. You're dismissed for the rest of the evening."
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" the older woman stuttered out, taking a step forward and towards her Queen.
"I'm sure," Emma told her. "Go and make the most of what's left of your Christmas Eve, Katherine."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
Emma offered Katherine a tight smile and then turned back to her dresses once more. Closing her eyes, she reached out a hand and took a step forward. When her fingertips brushed satin fabric, she peeled them open and reached for the short-sleeved, dusty pink dress she'd chosen. As she slipped the gown from the hanger and tossed it down upon her bed, Emma couldn't help but think of how much her aunt would hate the dress she'd picked. It looked like it would barely reach the tops of her knees, and the deep V-neck on the gown would be sure to make a few eyes pop, but she didn't really care. Only her family would see her in the dress that evening, and if she had things her way, nobody would be seeing her at all. Christmas Eve should be spent in front of the television, watching festive movies and eating freshly baked cookies, not attending fancy dinners that took dozens of staff members to prepare, before retiring to a drawing-room to open gifts. Nobody opened gifts on Christmas Eve, but apparently, her ancestors had missed that memo.
Emma slipped off the silk dressing gown she wore and picked up the dress to slide it over her head. Thankfully, it wasn't the type of gown that needed zipping or buttoning from behind, so after quickly arranging the fabric to make sure she was fully covered, Emma dropped down onto the chaise in front of her bed and slipped her feet into a pair of nude, strappy sandals. When the last buckle was tightened, she pushed herself up to her feet and headed through to the bathroom to apply her lip gloss.
"You can do this, Emma," she whispered to her reflection in the mirror. "You're the Queen - you can leave any time you want. All you need to do is stay long enough to see everyone open their gifts, and then you can come back and hide in your bedroom. It'll all be fine."
She didn't really believe any of the words she'd spoken. Dinner with her family had a way of dragging on for hours at a time, and she knew that her aunt would insist upon everyone watching as family members took it in turns to open their gifts. It was always painfully awkward, but it was what they had done when Cora was a young princess, so naturally, it was how things must be done now. It would be the early hours of the morning before they had all finished, and Cora would begin to panic about everyone getting enough sleep before the big, staged walk to church the following morning. Honestly, Emma could not imagine a less festive way to spend the day.
Unfortunately, she didn't have many options to change the family traditions that had been in place for generations. So after gliding on a soft pink lip gloss, she lifted her head, pulled back her shoulders, and strode her way confidently through the room towards the bedroom door.
It was as she was pulling the heavy piece of wood shut behind herself that Emma became aware of that feeling of being watched. It was a feeling she'd quickly gotten used to as a member of the royal family, but one that always worried her whenever she was alone in her private quarters. Turning slowly on the balls of her feet, she braced herself to see who was loitering in the corridor and sighed with relief when she spotted her cousin lounging against the wall.
"I figured you might need an escort down to the dining room," he explained, pushing away from the wall and reaching up to straighten his tie.
"You figured right," Emma chuckled, looping her arm through his own as they made their way down familiar halls and corridors before she stopped suddenly to ask, "Wait! Where's Mary-Margaret?"
"She's waiting for us close to the dining room."
"Good! For a minute there, I was worried you'd left her alone with the sharks," Emma chuckled.
"I hope you're not comparing your delightful aunt to a shark, Your Majesty," David scoffed, mock scorn filling his tone. "No… no, that won't do at all. She's clearly more of a hyena."
"I see you still haven't gotten over The Lion King," Emma giggled, as she did her best not to picture her aunt's face on a cartoon hyena's body.
"How does anyone get over The Lion King?" David demanded, and Emma had to turn her face into her cousin's shoulder to smother her loud bark of laughter.
Emma's look here is based on a Jen look from her time spent in Monte Carlo in June 2014.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.