"Does everyone dress like that where you come from?" Lutherian asked curiously. I looked down at my sleeveless lowbacked sundress.
"Oh, no, not everyone." I opened the closet, fingering the beautiful elvish gowns. They were all colors of the spectrum, blues, whites, every color I could imagine. I ran my hand over a blue velvet gown, and my mind flashed to memory.
"I love you…more than anything," Legolas said, stroking my cheek.
"Then why must you go, why are you leaving me?" I cried, resting my head on his chest.
"Because melamin, Middle Earth hangs in the balance, surely you understand?" He pulled away to look into my eyes, searching them with his own.
"I do Legolas, I will just miss you so," I traced one of his eyebrows with my fingertips. "My love is selfish Legolas, I am not good enough for you," I looked down, suddenly ashamed.-
I blinked, my mind returning to the present. Lutherian and Tinuel were looking at me strangely.
"Princess?" Tinuel questioned gently.
"Hm, sorry," I turned to look at her," I want to wear this gown." They exchanged looks.
"Certaintly," Tinuel said quickly. Lutherian began to place jewels and combs on the dresser.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" Tinuel asked, in a failed attempt to look innocent.
"Like you know something I don't."
"We know lots of things you don't," said Lutherain, "now come, we must prepare you." She unzipped my dress, and it fell to the floor.
"Prepare me for what?" I covered myself with my hands.
"The prince has requested an audience," Tinuel held the velvet blue gown in her arms. It looked extremely small compared to my thicker waist.
"Where these gowns?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes…before…"Tinuel trailed off.
"Well, um…I don't think my waist is small enough," I eyed the dress. Tinuel looked at me, then at the dress, then back at me again. Although she was silent, her eyes agreed.
"Never fear," Lutherian chirped," That's what corsets are for…
After they had squeezed me within an inch of my life, they wet my hair in attempts to tame the unruly mess." Good luck," I said, as Tinuel tried to run a comb through it.
"I think," she said after a minute," that we will need some of those rose mint leaves." Lutherian left the room, returning later with a glass vial full to the brim of clear liquid. Tinuel poured all of it on my hair and combed it through. Deftly, and with the expertise of someone who has been dressing hair for years, she braided my hair intricately, leaving some of it loose. They adorned it with a thin silver crown, carved into vines and rose.
"Mithril," I whispered, looking closer.
"You'll remember. In no time at all you'll be completely recovered," said Lutherain, standing back to admire her work. "Now look," she turned me towards the mirror over the vanity, and I marveled at my reflection. The gown was low necked, lined with a silver material; it was a tight fit even with the corset. The corset…had pushed everything up so that the low neckline was quite revealing. They had pulled my hair back, so that the elvish ears I had always hid, thinking them a deformity, were prominent and visible. The dark blue of my dress, brought out the blue in my lavender eyes, a strange blue that seemed to be lit from behind. They contrasted with the dark tone of my complexion. I looked…elvish…I shook my head, stifling a smile.
"You both did a great job," I hugged them both," thank you."
"I am sure the prince will find you irresistible." Tinuel said slyly, winking.
"Cute." There was a knock on the door, which I answered with relief. Legolas lingered in the doorway, a single flower in his hand. When he saw me, his breath caught in his throat, and his eyes widened.
"How exquisite you are," he whispered, "no, I cannot describe your beauty with that word." He said something in elvish, and although I did not understand it, I felt my face flush.
"Thank you," I said, my gratitude bringing a look of extreme pleasure to his blue eyes.
"Here, I brought this for you," he gently twined the flower into my hair; it was red, contrasting with the rich velvet blue of my gown.
"Oh, thank you," he took my arm gently, and began to escort me down the hallway.
"Do you remember that dress?" he said evenly stealing a glance at my face.
"Yes, and no," I looked at him, " I touched it, while I was looking through the closet, and I think it gave me a flashback…a –a memory." His hand traveled down my arm, and his fingers twined through mine.
"You wore that dress the day I left to join the fellowship of the ring, surely you remember that?" His eyebrows raised in question.
"All that I remember is you saying that you had to leave, and my not wanting you to go…I didn't think I was good enough for you," I said.
"You said- your love was selfish Melamin."
I dared to look into his eyes, and the intensity I saw in their crystal depths startled the nervous sensations racing through me.