The day of the ball arrived sooner than I would have liked it to. I had spent my days in the stables, heavily watched by either Seraphina or by Devlin. I did my best to ignore both of them and told myself that I was doing nothing wrong. I was spending time with a horse, a horse who needed me as far as I was concerned. Xion didn't seem like a cruel rider and she didn't behave the way an abused horse might have. She moved like an angry mare who was tired of being misunderstood and was used to getting her way. I had no doubt that she bullied her pasture mates out of their extra grain.

But I was not to be bullied. I had been pushed around enough in the time I was here; she was not going to be another addition to the problem. When she would try to swing her rump at me in her stall, I would shove back. I had been around a lot of tough horses, fillies that had been hurt by their previous owners, colts that had attitudes bigger than their bodies. She was going to have to do better than stamping her hooves and pinning her ears.

I would catch her and release her a dozen times. I would groom her, pick her feet, tack her up, and take it all off. I swapped out her bits for a handful of others that I found in the tack room, watching her reaction to each of them. Bonds were not built overnight, but I had no idea how much time I really had. And I needed a horse I could rely on. A horse that I could trust with whatever was left of my life.

Unfortunately, spending all the time in the barn meant I was entirely unprepared when the day of the ball did finally arrive. Much to my disappointment.

And when Daisy flounced into my room, I nearly tumbled over from just one glance at my dress.

"That cannot be for me," I stated.

"I told you that you would regret giving her all that freedom," Seraphina sighed. She leaned her massive form against a wall. I feared that if I had many more fittings with darling Daisy, there was going to be a rut in the wall.

"You are going to look divine," Daisy assured, holding up a sleeve.

And it was the kind of dress that would befit a goddess. I was not a goddess. I barely wanted to go to this damn thing at all.

"I can't wear that."

"Just because humans have silly rules, does not mean you need to follow them when you are being housed by a vampire," Daisy protested. "You will try the dress on and if you hate it, I will do my very best to make one of your other dresses presentable."

I gritted my teeth, but eventually agreed. Because, obviously, I would hate it. I had to hate it if I could not be comfortable in it. The dress was a long thing, with a beautiful shimmering overlay. The problem was what was beneath. The base fabric was a collection of stitched leaves. Denser on the bodice and down to midthigh before the pattern grew sparser and lighter. Over my breasts and hips, the leaves were clustered closely, the colour of the ocean at midnight and towards the tips of the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt, the scattered leaves became the colour of fresh frost.

When I faced myself in the mirror, I gasped. Though one could not see my belly button or the shape of a nipple, everything that explicitly needed to be covered was. But there were peeks of flesh on my hips, on my ribcage, just below my collarbones. And the pale leaves towards the floor did little to cover my legs.

Seraphina who was still dutifully staring at a wall, not even glancing towards me, said, "You will not be the town outcast here for wearing a gown like this. Though I cannot promise that there will not be gossip, it will not be of the same capacity as it would be if you were around humans tonight."

"I don't know," I confessed. I hated it much less than I had hoped. When I twisted my hips, the skirt followed like a cascade of ice shards. My mother would faint if she ever even heard I was wearing something like this.

"I do know," Daisy announced. "You look amazing. You will be the envy of every woman in that room and I spent far too long on this dress for you to hate it. Please wear it. You have to know that you look incredible. Seraphina, would you be a gem and get that cuff from the chamber? You know the one."

"I don't know if--"

"She is his mate, Sera. Xion will not complain."

While Seraphina stepped out, Daisy sat me down in a chair and began styling my hair. It fell down my shoulders in white sheets, barely a wave in it. Her hands moved my hair this way and that way, showing me how it would look up and down. It seemed she had more ideas than there were words in this world.

"You'll have to take care of yourself from here. I have to get ready as well."

"You're going?" I blurted, completely astonished. Daisy was lovely, that was for certain. But she was also the help.

"Things are different here, Lark. This is a party for all. It's a celebration. Is a kingdom really celebrating if only the elite are enjoying themselves? Here, everyone that is able, pitches in. And everyone who wants to attend is welcome. Now, decide what you are doing with your hair. I'll see you soon." She gave my shoulder an affectionate squeeze before she floated out of the door.

I pulled my hair into a single, long artful braid. I tugged strands just so, making it look as if I had descended from a windy mountain just to attend the event. I was admiring my work when Seraphina returned. A beautiful silver cuff was on each of my wrists, the hammered surface catching the light and reflecting it around the room.

"Are you sure it will be alright if I wear these? I would hate to upset someone," I pressed, even if I didn't truly understand why the bracelets were so important.

Seraphina sighed. "I would not be concerned with anyone becoming upset with you. Just understand that if you wish to lay low, this is not the way to do it."

I twirled in front of the mirror once more. No, this was certainly not the way to avoid the eyes of the many.

"What would you do in my position?" I asked, the question out of my mouth before I could think better of it.

Seraphina watched me for a moment, her gaze studying my face then dripping down to the cuff at my wrist. "I cannot answer that the way you want me to. I am assigned to you. I want to protect you. I know how I would feel if anyone tried to take me away from my family. But he is my brother. I see his side just the same as I see yours. A normal courtship would not have worked in these circumstances."

"That does not make it right."

"No, it does not. But tonight that cannot be fixed. Your options are to go to the ball or to not. That is it."

"I feel like going is rewarding him," I confessed. I hated that I was telling her all this. She was his sister after all, there was no way of knowing whether she would keep these things to herself or blurt them all out. But, right now, she was the only person I had.

"Then throw a drink in his face at the end of the night to make your feelings very clear," Seraphina suggested, the faintest ghost of a smile tugging at her mouth. 

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What is the last movie you watched?

I watched the Netflix documentary about the abuse in the boy scouts.