Dragon’s Breath

My jaw clenches with every word that leaves Evalene's mouth. She sits across from me with the dressmaker beside her, several fabrics splayed out in front of them, each a different shade of white.

"I would say we should go with cream, but it clashes with your skin tone. We wouldn't want you to look more washed out than you already do," Evalene says picking up the 'cream' colored fabric and tossing it to the side.

"Then might I suggest we go with eggshell, your majesty?" Leo, the dressmaker, says, picking up another piece of fabric that looks exactly the same as the other one.

"Absolutely not, eggshell just wouldn't look good with her hair," Evalene replies.

All the muscles in my face tighten, and I try my hardest to keep from screaming out in agony. I've been here for nearly two hours listening to these two fight about which shade of white suits me best. I'm about ready to lose my mind.

"Then how about porcelain? I think the princess would look stunning in porcelain," Leo suggests.

Before Evalene can respond, I see my opportunity and quickly cut in, "I choose ivory. I think ivory would suit me best. It's my wedding and my dress so I get to choose and I choose ivory." My words are harsh, hopefully reflecting my inner turmoil.

"Ivory simply will not do," both Evalene and Leo shout in unsettling unison.

"I am not changing my mind. I do not wish to spend my day listening to you two argue about this for the rest of forever. I believe that it was you, Evalene, who told me that you had other matters you need to attend to, so it's best if this is over with quickly," I bite out through clenched teeth.

Evalene sighs, sticking her chin up. "Fine, ivory will do. Now we must discuss the style of the dress, along with the embroidery we will be using."

Great, it's one thing after another. My suffering will never end.

"For the style of the dress, I would suggest an A-line gown. This style is fitted at the bodice and flows out to the ground with an unbroken line. This style of gown looks particularly well on those with a larger bosom," Leo says the last part shooting a glance at my chest. I clench my teeth and shoot him a deadly glance, to which he quickly looks away.

"Do as you like for the style. Instead of doing embroidery, I would like for a pearl lace to be placed on top of the dress," I instruct.

"What a marvelous idea, Your Highness," Leo praises.

Evalene scowls at me. "If you knew what you wanted the dress to look like from the beginning why didn't you say something?"

I try to keep from shouting as I respond, "How could you expect me to get a single word in with all the squabbling? Let's just finish the planning for the dress."

"Right, your highness, for the lace we have duchess, guipure, or broderie Anglaise lace," Leo says, placing the three different kinds of lace in front of me.

I look over the three different lace designs. Picking up a thin piece of lace adorned with a swirling pattern of flowers and leaves, I examine it for a moment.

"What is this piece called?"

"Ah, you have a good eye. That is the duchess lace," Leo says with a bright smile.

"Duchess lace will not do, I much prefer the guipure lace," Evalene cuts in, picking up another piece of lace with a much simpler design, made up of most lines.

"My apologies Your Majesty, but I happen to like the duchess lace. And I am not changing my mind," I argue.

"Fine then, carry on," Evalene huffs. Although Evalene agreed, it's evident she isn't happy about it.

"Right, now that we have everything settled, the last thing we need to deal with is your measurements. Please follow me, your highness," Leo says, lifting a hand for me to stand up.

I follow him over to another corner of the room, in contrast to the rest of the room this area very clean. Whereas the rest of the room is covered in pieces of fabric. He has me stand on a small stool still with my arms at my side, then proceeds to measure my waist, hips, breast, shoulders, and arms. This whole process takes a grueling fifteen minutes.

"Now that's out of the way, we will begin assembly of the dress as soon as I have all the materials bought and cut to your size. Thank you for your patience, Your Highness, Your Majesty," Leo says with a bow.

I as we're about to leave the room, Evalene approaches me, "You are free to do what you will for the rest of the day. First thing tomorrow, we will be selecting jewelry, and having you measured for shoes."

Damn this wedding! I'll walk down the aisle barefoot if I have too. What's the point of spending all this money and getting so dressed up for a ceremony that's only going to last a few minutes? This all feels so pointless.

"I have plans early in the morning tomorrow. But my afternoon is free for whatever you need," I inform her.

"Do what you will," Evalene says, pushing the room door open hurrying me out.

I leave the room only to see Geoffrey walking towards the fitting room.

"I assume you just finished up the plans for your wedding gown with mother," he asks politely.

"Yes I have," I respond in a sour tone.

"Seem like she put you through the ringer, looks like we'll both be walking on egg shells with her today," he jokes obviously trying to make an effort in out 'relationship'.

"It would seem so. Are you working on your clothes for the wedding today as well," I question.

"Of course have to make sure I look dashing on my wedding day," he says smugly.

Rolling my eyes I walk away from him continuing on down the hall. On my way to my bed chambers, I encounter Daniel who is talking with some maids and a few guards. When I see him I wave.

"Hello, your highness," he greets with a slight bow.

"Hello, Daniel," I respond.

"If you'd follow me for a moment, Princess, I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about," Daniel says, inching closer to me.

I follow Daniel until we're out of the castle and in the garden.

"I apologize for taking you out, but I didn't want to risk anyone hearing us," he says.

"I understand," I say.

"In order to keep people from suspecting what's really going on, Gregory's going to be keeping you busy with planning the wedding. While you're dealing with that, we're going to be training men for the ambush during the wedding. Try not to worry about that for now," he tells me.

Why is it that everyone else gets to do the fun stuff I'm going to be stuck planning a wedding?

"Is there anything I can do to help? I'd rather not sit by while you guys do all the hard work," I ask.

"It's better if you don't, we wouldn't want Gwen catching on. The best thing you can do for now is to keep a close eye on Gwen," he says.

What he's saying makes sense, we don't want to alert the enemy. But I want to feel more useful. There has to be something I can do. I've been sitting back for long enough.

Daniel stares at me for a moment, then places a hand on my shoulder.

"I know you want to do more, and once the wedding comes, trust me, you will. But if you get too involved with the planning, Gwen's people will start to get suspicious. Please, just hang in there for now," he convinces me.

"Alright, but please keep me updated. I don't want to miss a thing," I say.

"I will, Your Highness," he assures me.

After our brief talk, Daniel escorts me back to my chambers.

"Have a good day, your highness," Daniel says with a bow then leaves.

I go into my room, settling on the bed. I can't believe I have to go through more wedding planning. If just one day of it's like this, I don't know how I'm going to survive the next two months.

I hear a light knock on the door. Before I can attend do it, Gwen walks in. She has her head down and strides towards me oddly slowly.

"Her majesty the queen wanted me to let you know that you are to help with the menu for the wedding. Also, his majesty wants you to meet him in his study. There's a...messenger from your horde waiting there for you," she tells me with a light grin on her face.

What! A messenger from the horde?

"I'll be going right away, Gwen. Thank you," I say.

With every passing minute Nora gets closer and closer to her wedding!! I hope you liked the chapter if you did don’t forget to like and comment.- Ray