"Quickly now Eva, the party will soon arrive" "Okay mother" I dip my hand more into the concussion-filled bowl and applied it to my hair, the concussion effect doesn't last long on my hair, it would change my hair color for at most a few days, then my hair would slowly start to return to its original golden blond color, then I'd have to reapply it again when the fake brown color would start to fade.
I quickly finish applying the rest of the concussion, washed my hands, and put the rest of the concussion into a brown glass bowl container as mother always made sure I had my things properly stored, I put a piece of cloth over
The jar and with some rope I wrapped the edges to close the jar and placed it under my bed, took a bath scrub from on top of the bed, and scrubbed myself clean with the rose water that filled the bath bowl, at the end of the bath was spotless and smelt like roses, next I washed the concussion off my hair, what was originally golden had now turned to a dark shade of brown.
I took the oil I had previously kept on my bedroom table and applied the special oil made by aunt Evan on my hair, it helped the dye last longer and made my hair shine, it also smelt like the flowers that grow in the forest, I cleaned the remnant of the oil from my hand on a cut piece of cloth that I kept on my bedroom table, I picked the jar of oil and kept it the same place I kept the concussion.
Mother made sure I had a new set of gowns every time the Head General decided to pay a visit, but what I now had on was the most beautiful piece I had ever seen, it was peach with little glittering stones by the box cut collar that stopped right where my chest started, a beautiful see-through lace fabric was used for its long sleeve that stopped right at my wrist where more stones were; the dress hugged my upper half and hung flay and loose from the end of my ribs down to my ankle and there were even more glittering stones between where the dress hugged my frame and where it stopped, it was simply breathtaking.
I walked to my table where a large polished metal was sitting, it was a sad excuse for a mirror I could, however, see my reflection although it was blurred the dress still looked beautiful. I looked like a princess;
We did not have much, our whole village tried to get by, in fact, since the king took the throne all the villages of Solis became poor, because of the overbearing taxes, over-strict measures, soldiers clamoring down on the people and whatnot, our town was even one of the most thriving, thus why the Chief general would bother inspecting here himself, and since my father Mr. George Woodson was selected the mayor, our family therefore had to host him, funny thing is we have to dress all fancy and act all pretentious whenever they visit, not that I hate that part of it or anything, but they are the ones making us poor in the first place, it just all seems wrong, mother shares the same thought too, but we keep our mouths shut over here its one thing for a man to speak up its another whole scenario for a woman, so we all both men and women keep quiet and just make sure that their visit is as pleasant as possible, the happier they are at the end of the visit the more considerate they would be when allocating the taxes and the more we will be left alone, thus the seamstresses in the village always made sure I had really decent dresses each time the general and his troops visited, but this time they had really outdone themselves, the dress I was currently wearing was absolutely spectacular. Out of curiosity, I went over to the box where the new clothes were kept and checked to see what else they had in store, there were a total of twelve dresses, which was twice the number they had made two years ago and every piece was way more exquisite than that of when I was fifteen. "Eva, you'd better be ready young lady, they will be here soon enough"
I heard mothers voice getting louder as she got closer to my room, I quickly placed the clothes back, closed the box, and stood up just in time before she opened the door, my posture was weird but at least she didn't catch me peaking "All done mother ", I quickly and awkwardly replied
"Really?", she asked crocking her left brow with a slight smirk on her lips" what about your hair?" she went to my table and pulled out the only chair there "sit, I'll fix it for you"
I sat and she started work on my hair, braiding it in comfortable silence, when she was done braiding she pulled it back in a low bun with two curled locks of hair in front one on either side of my face, framing it, when she was done she turned me around, took a good look at me and her smile grew
"you look beautiful, my beautiful daughter"
"thank you ma, the dress is amazing"
Mother smiled and nodded in agreement, then the smile left her face in an almost comic way "that doesn't mean you've gotten away from your scolding for opening the dress box, you know those clothing get sold after all this, so the expenses for this visit will be paid back to the towns folk" my face fell my eyes fixed on my still bare feet "so we have to keep them clean until the last moment"
"yes mother, I know I won't open the box again"
"Good, And also remember to be careful in front of the general and his soldiers" mother was now referring to my behavior so I replied nonchalantly
"yes mum"
"I am serious Eva" her tone became stiff, more strict "you really have to be careful, they are bringing an extra guest and they are staying even longer this time, almost half a month, I don't want anything to happen to you" now she was referring to my hair and the fact that the king had ordered every female child with my hair that is not of royal or high rank to be killed, I looked at my mother straight in the eye when I replied
"yes, mother, I will be careful"
"Tessa" That cut us away from our talk, mother turned to see who was calling her, father stood by the door with a dashing suit
"you both look really beautiful, I'd hate to disrupt your talk but, Mr. Bentley's son just brought word, the General will soon be here it seems as though they passed by Mr. Bentley's tavern"
Mother looked back at me "Quickly wear your shoe"
She then left with father to the entrance. I quickly inserted my feet into the pale-colored footwear that was classy but simple with embroidered details that complimented her gown well and ran to the entrance of our house.
What was once a small family cottage seventeen years ago had now been renovated by the villagers into a two-story building mansion, with an excessively large area on the ground floor for the parlor or sitting room, its walls newly painted a light pale shade of peach that made the room look even much more bigger, five large paintings of nature hung on the wall covering up some of the wall space finally comfortable cushions with flower prints on them filled up almost half of the ground space along with a fireplace, the ground floor also had the dining area that was designed to dine at most eighty guests;
The upstairs had two wings the west and right-wing had twelve bedrooms each and one storage room on each side.
The extension of the building was, first a cottage where the women that volunteered to act as servants during the visit slept along with the generals helps and did some of their work, like cooking, washing, and ironing,
The second building was bigger than an average cottage this was where the soldiers that journeyed with the general stayed, finally there was the barn, for the animals and the stable for the horses.
This big mansion was designed and built by the towns folk in other to please the General and suit his expensive taste so far it seemed to have worked, the smile on the General's face as he approached our house seems to prove that point.