I stood in front of the mirror and held my breath as Dilera and two other maids wrapped blue satin around my waist.
It was my wedding dress. And even though I despised the idea of trying it on, now that I was wearing it....
~Damn, I look good in blue.~
At Altan's request, the dress was done in the colors and fabrics of Pani Rastra. Hence, the different shades of blue silk and satin of the dress. The light fabric caught in the slightest breeze and rippled, reminding me of the way the ocean looked from an airplane, and the blue made my eyes pop.
The dress was done in the style of a Kiziljer dress. So, it was very similar to the kind of dresses I usually wore around the palace: a long flowing skirt made from yards and yards of fabric, a tight top that showed off my stomach, and a sash that was thrown over my shoulder and connected to my skirts. It reminded me of a Sari, a traditional South Asian dress worn on earth.
The last detail I noticed about my dress, and probably the most beautiful, was the gold embroidery that covered every inch of the fabric. Embroidery that I now knew signified a noble or a royal in Ot Ulut. The same gold artwork was often found on the clothes that Altan wore.
"What's wrong, M'lady?" I looked up to meet the eyes of Dilera. I had gone off into a daze staring at the dress.
"Nothing." I shook my head and realized the other maids had disappeared while I was off in thought.
"Shouldn't a bride be excited to see her wedding dress?" She asked and smiled at me.
I attempted to smile back, then found myself moving away from the mirror. "Do you think you'll ever marry, Dilera?" I asked and moseyed toward an armchair.
"Me?" her eyes widened at the unexpected question. "No, I don't plan to marry."
"Why not?" I sat down in the chair, and the skirts flowed off my leg, exposing my knee.
Dilera fiddled nervously with her hands. "I'm the oldest of my siblings." she answered, "I took this job to support my family so my younger sisters could get married. My parents could not afford a dowry to marry me off."
"I see." I silenced, surprised at her answer. "But if you could, would you like to get married?"
Dilera's mouth opened then closed before she answered, perhaps surprised by the question, "I- I'm not sure." she finally said, "Perhaps if it was a good man who would love me."
~If it's a good man who loves you.... Isn't that the common criteria for even on earth?~
I sighed inwardly at my thoughts.
~Who knew that putting me in a wedding dress could make me so melancholy?~
"M'Lady, come, let's take your dress off." Dilera said, probably pleased to change the subject, "If you sit in it too long, the fabric may wrinkle."
I nodded and came back to the mirror where Dilera began to unwrap the skirt. I watched her work silently and still pondered the idea of marriage.
"What are most marriages like in Ot Ulut?" I asked, and again Dilera seemed to stiffen at my question.
"What do you mean, M'lady?"
"You said your family would need to pay a dowry," I elaborated, "Does that mean most marriages are arranged by the parents? Or by the government? Or do people marry just because they love each other?"
"Are you speaking of the love-marriage of the Earth nomads?" She asked.
"What's that?"
Dilera sighed before she began to answer. "I've only heard about it, but apparently, among the earth nomads, people only marry if they are first in love."
~Well, that sounds very normal.~
"So only the Earth nomads do that?" I asked.
Dilera nodded and folded my dress lightly onto the bed. "Everywhere else, marriage is usually arranged by the parents."
"What about His Grace's parents?"
Dilera froze at my question, and I suddenly realized I should not have asked it. "The Late Duke, as well as His Grace's mother, have both passed." she answered.
I felt my stomach unsettle with the answer, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to them, or how long ago it had happened. I wondered if Altan still missed them, or if...
~No. Stop. I know what I'm doing already... I'm feeling sorry for Altan, and I'm not allowed to do that. I'm not allowed to feel anything for him.~
Silence followed her answer and Dilera quietly helped me put an orange dress on and only spoke after we finished. "Now that I think about it, your marriage with the Duke is a bit like a love-marriage."
"Oh?"
~That shows how little you know.~
"I always thought the idea of a love-marriage was very romantic." she continued as she tied at a black bow around my waist.
I watched her work at the bow to make it look perfect. "Have you ever loved anyone?" I asked.
Dilera paused at the question, then stepped away from me, "There was a time when I thought that I did." she answered, and I wondered if she would tell me more. "When I was young," she began, and I suddenly felt privileged that she would share such a story with me, "I met a boy a bit older than me in the street market, he bought meat skewers from my father, and I thought he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. I came home that evening and declared to my mother that I had fallen in love."
I smiled at her story, and at the simplicity that was young love. I had probably felt the same way about a boy that I had met in the first grade. "did you ever meet that boy again?"
Dilera's smile turned down as she recalled the story and she nodded her head again, "Shortly after I declared my love," she said, "The boy was introduced to Kiziljer as the heir to the Dukedom."
My heart clenched in my realization. "It was Altan?" I asked and said his name without thought.
"Yes." she answered, and I wondered at why she would tell me such a thing. "But don't worry, M'lady." She smiled brightly again, "I no longer love him. Instead, I've become My Lady's number one fan! And I root for the love you share with His Grace!" she smiled childishly, and I found myself wanting to smile back at her, she was so cute in that moment. "Your marriage and your love will end the War of Old and go down in history!"
My smile dropped, "oh."
~How am I supposed to respond to that?~
A knock at the door startled me, and I jumped a little. Dilera rushed to answer the door, and I found myself relieved that our conversation was over. From her words, I felt both guilt and a pressure of responsibility: I felt guilt from being the one who was now engaged to the boy she used to love; But I also felt responsible to be this person she hoped for: to be the girl who could end a war with her love.
"The Duke is requesting your presence." Dilera said and turned back to me from the open door. My guard stood in the doorway looking as hefty as a double-decker bus, ready to escort me to wherever Altan was.
"Tell the duke," I said to the refrigerator of a man. "That I do not wish to see him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stood on my balcony and ran over the plan of escape again in my head. Cai had come again last night to tell me the plan, although I'm not sure why he had needed to. I had very little part in the plan. Basically, my only job was to not get caught, which would involve staying quiet and not being too clumsy: the quiet part; I could do: The not-clumsy part; I wasn't so sure about.
Cai had been near-flabbergasted when I told him I didn't know how to use any of my Water Mage abilities. And Because of that, he had to basically make an entirely new plan in which he did all the work and I was just the useless damsel following along.
I huffed and looked at my hand. I didn't know how to control my power in the slightest, in all honesty, I wasn't even sure if I had any power at all. Nearly every time I took a bath I would attempt to manipulate the water to some extent but I had never had any progress.
Either way, I was at least glad that he had agreed to help me.
Debt or no debt.
~I just hope the debt isn't something really big and bad.... What if he asks me to kill somebody for him?~
I shook my head at my own thoughts. Surely he wasn't that bad of a guy. He could have killed me and he didn't, and now he's helping me escape. Considering all of that, he was not that bad of a dude...right?... Although something about him still gave me the heebie jeebies... Unlike Altan, who seemed at his core a good human... I wasn't getting the same vibes from Cai.
~He is equally handsome, if not more, though.~
I scowled at my own thoughts.
~Can I stop being horny for a second?~
Right now, I needed to focus on getting out of this Palace, and getting away from Altan. If later I need to escape from Cai too, I'd deal with it at that time.
Right now, is time for me to deal with something else...
I looked at a clock that hung on the wall inside my bedroom and sighed. It was almost time.
A knock sounded on the door with that thought.
"Speaking of the devil." I whispered.
My guard poked his head in the door, and before he could speak, I answered his question. "I do not wish to see the Duke today, either."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You have been avoiding the Duke for three days now." Dilera announced as she dressed me in a blue sundress that was apparently the traditional clothing of Pani Rastra. The clothing that Altan had requested to be shipped in for me was finally here. Now, everyday I could pick from the most extravagant clothes from both Pani Rastra and Ot Ulut.
"Yes." I acknowledged Dilera's words.
"Did you argue with the Duke?" she asked and began to tie a white ribbon in my hair.
"I did."
Dilera sighed like a mother at my short answer. And when she stepped back from tying the bow in my hair, she placed her hands on her hips. "Well, you better make up soon." she said, and I was surprised at her sass. "The first wedding guests will arrive tomorrow. That includes the Duke's many siblings as well as the King of Ot Ulut. It will not look good for either of you if you refuse to be in the same room as him."
~Imagine how bad it will look when I run away...~
"You don't have to treat me like a child." I crossed my arms and looked at Dilera.
She surprised me when she smiled then. And I realized that I had grown closer with her over the time I had been here. And suddenly I hoped that she wouldn't be punished when I attempted escape. Surely she would not be blamed for my escape... or maybe she would.
"All of that being said," Dilera went on, "The Duke has asked me to escort you to him this evening."
I scoffed, "Well, you can tell the duke-"
"He said today he will not be taking 'no' for an answer."