I gave three knocks to Zara's studio door. Shay was probably waiting for me to go inside so he could leave.

The door opened in front of me, a creaking sound being heard all the way down the quiet hall.

In front of me a woman with dark skin and eyes stood, her stance reeked of confidence. Her ebony skin was beautiful and flawless along with the outfit that she wore. A blush pink dress went down to her knees and matching high heels gave her about 4 more inches in height. Her caramel coloured hair was braided and draped across her left shoulder.

"Yes?" She's asked with a voice like silk.

"Uh, my name is El. The King sent me to see you." I said quietly, intimidated by her.

"Oh El! Yes he told me you'd be stopping by. It's lovely to meet you, please come in." She opened the door wider and stepped aside so I could enter.

I stepped into the room and took a quick look at my surroundings.

The studio was smaller than I thought it would be.

A foyer led into a room probably 20 feet long and 20 ft wide. The walls were painted a dark grey and jewel toned crystal lanterns hung from the ceiling casting a pretty glow over the room.

A black circular stage rested in the centre of the room, a wall length mirror on the back wall.

Racks of fabrics and rolls of cloth and took were lined against the left and right walls, and cases and drawers of beads and jewels were next to them. Sewing machines were placed randomly throughout the area.

A walk in closet was on each side of the foyer and I could see the rows upon rows of dresses through the open doors.

A young girl about 16 stood in the back of the room, running a piece of blue fabric through the sewing machine.

From the back of her head I could see red hair that fell straight around her shoulders. She wore an emerald green ,skin tight shirt and black pants.

I stood awkwardly in the doorway as Zara walked farther into the room.

"So I hear you have a special evening planned." She winked.

"Uhm I guess so." I mumbled.

"Well I've been instructed to find you a dress for tonight." She smiled. "Jeka." She called.

The girl looked up, a pair of think back glasses sliding off her freckled nose.

"Y-yes." She stuttered.

"Go find me a gown in the left closet, blue, green, or red." Zara ordered, her voice kind yet demanding.

I could tell just by being with her for s few minutes that Zara was a confident woman. She was fierce and strong and that scared me a little but also made me want to be a little like her.

The girl Jeka brought out three dresses in each colour and hung them on an empty rack next to the stage.

"So I see you more of the ballgown type. You need something to accentuate your waist." Zara thought out loud. "Okay...strip." She turned away to fiddle with one of the dress bags.

"W-what?" I stammered.

"Strip? It's fine I'm not paying attention." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

I stared wide at at her back while she unzipped bag after bag. Jeka turned away from me to give me some privacy and I gulped before unzipping the workout jacket and pulling it over my head.

I kicked off my shoes, slid off my spandex shorts and was now left in a bra and underwear, feeling exposed.

Zara turned around and noticed my awkward stance with my arms covering my bare stomach.

"You're fine honey, i'm not judging you." She shook her head. "Jeka lets try the green ones first."

Jeka pulled a emerald green dress off of a hanger. It's top was sleeveless and shaped like a heart. I let her pull it over my head and zip it up in the back. She adjusted it a few times while Zara stared, tapping her chin.

The dress was extremely flattering on me and I almost gasped. I had never worn dresses before except for the little flower printed ones when I was a little girl. Now there was never an occasion to and the only ones who wore dresses were the Untouchables.

I ran my hands across the silk skirt and smiled softly.

"Next." She said and I furrowed my eye brows. I thought it had looked nice. "Let's do the red, I think it will be more suitable for the occasion."

Jeka nodded quickly and hurried to take the dress off of me.

I stood bare again as she grabbed a dress. Like the first time she helped me into it and zipped it up.

I started unblinking at my reflection in the mirror.

The dress was absolutely stunning. The thin fabric was almost sheer and went up over my chest and crossed where my neck started. The skirt was long and flowed at my waist creating a train of fabric on the floor. The fabric over my stomach was sheer so you could see my skin underneath.

"That's the dress." Zara smiled victoriously. "You look absolutely stunning."

"Thank you." I said awkwardly.

"We will do some quick alterations and then have the dress delivered to your room." Zara announced and clapped her hands, signalling for Jeka to get to work.

Jeka gabbed a cushion the had a few sewing needles in it and began to place the pins wherever the dress needed to be more fitted on me.

When she was done I got dressed quickly and stood off to the side as Jeka took the dress to the sewing machine.

It was cold in the palace and my lack of warm clothing, or really clothing in general was not in my favour. Goosebumps arose on my legs and on my arms under my jacket.

I remembered that I was supposed to press the green button on the little device Shay gave me when I was done so I found in my pocket and pressed it.

"So are you excited?" Zara walked up to me.

"For what?" I asked confused and then noticed my error," Oh for tonight? Yes!" I lied with a smile.

"Well you look lovely in that dress, i'm sure the King will love it." She smiled.

I was about to ask why his opinion mattered but the the door opened behind me and I moved out of the way, probably to my benefit.

Shay stood halfway in the doorway. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Thank you." I turned to Zara and she took both of my hands in hers.

"Of course, I am sure I will be seeing you again soon. Enjoy your evening." She smiled.

I nodded again and waved bye to Jeka who didn't see me because she had her face pressed close to the dress.

The moment the door closed behind us I let out a loud sigh.

"How did you get here so quickly?" I mumbled.

"I didn't go far." He said quietly, we were both careful to keep our voices low.

"Well thank you." I whispered and he just nodded once in acknowledgement.

We travelled through the halls in silence until we reached my room.

"I will be here at 8:00." Shay said before I unlocked my door and stepped inside.

The first thing I did was go to find some warmer clothes. These thin exercise garments were just not going to do anymore.

I found a white wool sweater and black,cotton, skin night pants.

My clock said it was a little after noon. Eight hours until the fated dinner.

I was fixing my ponytail in the mirror when my stomach grumbled so I decided to head to the kitchen for lunch.

When I opened the door I was met with the back of a guard. Oh right.

The guard turned around at he sound of my door opening.

"Yes miss?" He asked, his eyes practically popping out of his skull. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the fact that I was trying to leave.

"Um I was just going to get some food." I said as I tried to manoeuvre around him.

He stepped in front of me to block my path.

"I can't let you leave miss, but I will have someone bring your lunch to you." He assured me, still in panic mode.

"Thank you." I replied before stepping back in and closing the door.

So not only have they taken me away from my home, forced me to work in this god forsaken palace of hell, and strip me of my freedom but they take away my social interaction too.

The only reason I left my room was to see Charlie or Alfie. They were the two I had learned I could trust.

Shay was there but I couldn't be as open and forward with him. If he and I were going to have any sort of friendship and mutual understanding it would be in secret.

After being rejected from my ability to socialize I went to lay down on the bed.

Being cut off from the world was not something that I had imagined ever happening to me.

When I was back home with the rest of my classification I had a job, the television, the radio, and people who came into the diner to keep me updated on all that went on in Karnevia but now that I was in the centre of it all, the headquarters of the city I lived in, I had no idea.

The was no daily news with Jetta Romanoff, no economy report fuzzing through the radio at the diner, no quiet chatter of customers to fill my ears. Nothing.

A soft knock at the door caused me to sit up and it opened a cart rolling through the door and a person along behind it.

I grew extremely confused as to why the particular person would be bringing me my food.

"Theo?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I saw this on my way here and thought I might as well bring it." He shrugged and rolled it up to my bedside.

"Oh." I responded softly.

"Shay sent me to give you a message. He would have done it himself but Michael called him into a meeting." I frowned at the mention of Michael's name and Theo almost smirked. "He wanted to tell you that you will have a guard stationed outside your room at all hours. If you need to leave you must message him on the device he gave you."

"Yeah I figured that out on my own..." I trailed off.

"Sorry. Kings orders." He apologised. Whenever Theo talked he showed no emotion but I could tell that he meant it.

This led me to wonder if maybe Theo was like Shay and didn't agree with the Kings orders either.

I let out a loud sigh. "I know."

"I'll talk to him about getting you something in here to keep yourself occupied. It must get boring after awhile." He looked around my lavishly decorated room.

"Quite." I answered simply.

The sound of the door opening made us both look behind us.

Lux stood there, my new dress in hand and an embarrassed look on her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to intrude." She looked down.

"I was just leaving." Theo said and stood up.

"Thank you." I called to Theo as he strode out of the room, he nodded at me in a 'you're welcome' then he was gone.

Lux waited until the door closed to speak.

"So you've got the Minder commander, the captain of the Hunters, and the King of Karnevia all wanting your attention." She winked.

"I do not." My jaw dropped and she stifled a giggle.

"I have never seen Theo talk to any girl in this castle, let alone voluntarily." She said as she hung up the dress in the closet.

"He was just passing on a message." I explained.

"Sure." She exaggerated the word. "So that's why he was here." She teased.

"Yes it was." I scoffed playfully.

"Well what about Shay? He seems to have taken quite the liking to you."

"No he's just doing his job." I shook my head.

"And what about the King? You have a romantic dinner planned for this evening." She swooned.

"Don't even bring that up." I rolled m eyes and she sent back a chorus of laughs.

"Alright, alright. Eat up and then you can get ready." She responded and then began to set up the makeup on the vanity in the closet.

I uncovered the silver dish in front of me and smiled at the bowl of pasta.

A little paper note was taped to the inside of the lid and I pulled it off.

'Enjoy your lunch dear El. Charlie.'

I smiled softly and then began to eat.

Once I was finished I traveled to the closet where Lux was staring at a few pairs of shoes.

"Oh you're done. Let's get you dressed." She clapped her hands and I laughed.

I undressed and let Lux help me put the dress on.

"You look beautiful. Really El." She grinned.

Then she placed me in the makeup chair and bargain to curl my hair. When it was curled she pinned it up in a bun, letting one ringlet fall down beside my ear.

She then started on my makeup, swiping a few brushes across my skin and then coating my lips with a matching lipstick, the same colour as my dress.

"I can't decide between these two shoes so let's try them on." Lux announced and then brought the shoes over.

I fiddled with the straps until I got the first pair on and she nodded with the look of accomplishment.

"That's it. You look wonderful." She beamed.

Lux walked outside and glanced at my clock on the table.

"Shay will be here any minute."

I nodded and ran my hands down the fabric, smoothing it out.

A knock on the door signified Shay's arrival and I gulped nervously. I was not prepared to attend this dinner.

Lux opened the door and Shay walked in, his eyes widening when he took in my appearance.

"A- Are you ready?" he stuttered and I saw Lux stifle a laugh and turn away out of the corner of my eye.

"Yes." I nodded.

Shay nodded and then turned to walk out. I waved at Lux and then followed him.

When the door closed Shay waited for me.

"Are you ready?" He said through his teeth as we started walking.

"No. I'm trying." I seethed back.

"Just play along. Behave and don't get yourself killed." He responded in a low tone so no one but us could hear.

I nodded. "Thanks for the pep talk."

He scoffed next to me and I could see him roll his eyes.

Within minutes we were at the Kings door and my hands were trembling.

"I have faith in you." Shay whispered.

I bit my lip as Shay opened the door and I stepped in while he stayed in the hallway.

"You look beautiful by the way." He smiled softly and then the door closed.

Now I was alone.

"Ah El, so glad you're here." The phony, cheerful voice of King Blakesley greeted me and I put a smile on my face before turning around to face the monster behind me.

--

hey you awesome, lovely, beautiful readers! So i attached an image of the dress El wore at the top so can see what it looks like. Also thanks for reading my story, it means alot. So if you are actaully taking the time to read my liitle A/N i just want to say a few things (: 

1: You guys are super cool for reading and dont be afraid to let me know what you think as you read, i would love your feedback

2: please vote if you wanna haha

3: thank you thank you thank you for reading 

Also let me know who you think El can trust. and if you have any already, who do you ship? 

Much much love my lovelies, xx -m