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"Please. He's not coming. He's an obnoxious, arrogant, loud-mouth bother." George said sternly.

"Still, he's your brother." I smiled, as we made our way down the hallway, "And it's not as though he could be any worse than you."

"And yet you still agreed to marry me. There has to be something about me that you like."

"I suppose you have a handsome enough face." I chuckled, and so did he.

Before reaching the ballroom, I turned to George, grasping his hands.

"The documents for Dot's adoption, you've got them ready? Signed?" I asked.

"I have." he smiled.

"Good." I nodded, "Wonderful. I should like to give it to her at the wedding.

At last, I turned away, and we entered through the large extravagant ballroom where servants rushed about in preparation for the wedding, that was finally happening after nearly a month of waiting. Fran and Alice conversed with each other as they meticulously scrubbed floors, and Trinity ran about reprimanding everyone for working too slowly. Anthony strode about the room, sprucing up the floral arrangements, tailed by his new friend, Guy the cat. I turned back to George, assuming my manager-like role over the wedding.

"You've written to all your siblings?" I asked, to which he nodded, "All of them?"

"I've invited Henry." he rolled his eyes.

"Right then. I've written to Lafayette and Lucien, as well as all of the rich folk you associate yourself with. And you've hired a caterer?" I demanded, folding my arms, and he nodded again, "And Anothny will arrange the flowers, I'll check in on his progress. The girls should be decorating and Samuel should be working on his speech or some such. What else are we in need of..?" I pondered for a moment, "Right! A musician! How did we forget? And your fancy friends, I suppose, would prefer an entire orchestra. I'll see to that right away." I made to leave but was stopped by George, who grabbed my arm and whirled me around.

"Darling calm down. You don't want to overwork yourself before your wedding." he smiled warmly, "Besides, you've not even chosen a wedding dress yet."

"There's time enough for that after everything is done." I tried to pull away, failing.

"Nonsense. You'll do that now. You need a break, you need to do something fun." he said, before turning and calling out, "Alice! Fran, Trinity! Come, Rose is going to choose her wedding dress today, and I don't trust her to select a proper dress on her own."

"I'm perfectly capable of choosing a wedding dress myself," I argued as George released me.

"Don't kid yourself, dear." he laughed, before striding into the tumult of wedding preparations and leaving me with the girls.

"It's gotta happen at some point, Rose." Fran shrugged, grabbing hold of my arm.

They pushed me out of the castle, leading me down through the busy afternoon streets. We at last came to an upper-class shopping district, entering one of the many lavish stores. A bell clinked as we pushed the door open, to reveal rows of white dresses lining the walls. My mouth fell slightly agape at the sheer number of them. I softly touched the fabric of the nearest dress, a long and silky one, as a woman came around the corner with measuring tape and various other tools in tow.

"May I help-" she stopped as soon as she laid eyes on me, "M-My God. Is that you? The King's future wife? Come to my store for her wedding?" she looked as though she might faint.

"I am, yes." I said shyly.

"What are you looking for? I'll help in any way I can."

"I'm not entirely sure." I shrugged.

"And that's why we're here." Trinity placed a hand on my shoulder, before making her way to a rack of dresses, rifling through them.

"Did you make all these yourself?" I asked the woman, as Fran, Alice, and Trinity sorted through several dresses.

"I did." she nodded, happily.

"Well, in any case, I should be honoured to wear one for my wedding."

"And I should be honoured as well, Miss Alcott." she smiled.

"Seeing as how you're an expert on dresses, then... What do you think would suit me?" I questioned.

"Funny you should ask... See, when I heard of the wedding, I - being the wedding dress seamstress that I am - well, I thought about what sort of dress might suit you. Would you... Would you care to see it?"

"Of course." I beamed, as she led me to a back room.

After searching through the many dresses, the woman finally pulled out the dress. It was beautiful, a classic white, sweeping gown, with lavender undertones, and delicate lavender lace and adornments climbed up the dress, becoming denser as it reached the bodice. It had a scooping sweetheart neckline, with sheer lavender sleeves, again decorated with a similarly coloured lace.

"It's lovely." I marvelled, "But I have to ask...Why this one in particular?"

"Not only does this dress' colour defy the customary pure white as you defy so many customs women are forced to endure each day, but the purple, I think, is symbolic of your love to the King. The red of the royal family, and the blue of the revolution, once enemies, now joined. In holy matrimony, no less." she smiled.

"That's... Very poetic. I think it's lovely. Would you allow me to try it on?"

"My dear, I'll allow you to have it for free, should you take a liking to it." she said sweetly.

"I couldn't possibly-"

"Nonsense. Try it on." she urged, stepping out of the room to allow me to change.

I quickly pulled the dress on, deciding immediately after examining myself in the mirror that it was the one I would wear. The one I would wear on the day that red and blue, the King and a revolutionist, George and I, would be married. I stepped out of the room, eager to show the girls my dress, and found them gathered outside, waiting for me. They gasped upon seeing me, their faces displaying joyous smiles.

"That's it. That's the one!" Alice clapped her hands together, excitedly.

"How much?" Trinity turned to the woman, opening her pouch, full of coins given to her by George.

"Free of charge. To show my appreciation for Rosalie." she said to Trinity, before turning to me, "It's damn well time Britain had a Queen like you, Miss Alcott. I sense a revolution for women is well underway, and who would've thought it would have sprung from the castle itself?" she laughed.

A few moments later, we were back out on the streets, the lavender dress wrapped safely in a paper package. The sun began to slowly sink into the sky as we took our time getting back to the castle, basking in the calm evening light. I looked to my friends, smiling.

"It's strange, really." Fran remarked, suddenly.

"What is?" I asked.

"Just being here, now. I remember when we first met. You threatened to hit us with a book or something along the lines. I remember how much you hated the King, and how each day you tried to escape. And look at where we are now."

"Which reminds me..." Trinity crossed her arms, "I believe you owe Alice."

"Damn. I'd hoped you'd forgotten about that." Fran sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out some coins that she tossed to Alice, "I was just trying to have a nice moment between friends..." she feigned annoyance, as Alice giggled.

"What's that about?" I said, quirking a brow.

"A few weeks after we'd met you, Alice and I made a bet. I thought you'd never in a million years love the King, but Alice believed you would, someday. And Trinity, of course, doesn't engage in such foolish affairs as bets."

"Well, you are the one a sixpence poorer, Fran." Trinity retorted pointedly.

"Oh haha." Fran rolled her eyes.

"Now that you say it though, it is pretty odd. Remembering everything from back then." Alice sighed.

"Yeah, like Trinity and Samuel's ignorance to their own feelings." Fran chuckled, causing Trinity's face to heat up.

"Well, you're one to talk. What about you and..." Trinity paused for a moment, searching her brain for answers, "And Anthony?"

"Anthony?" Fran glanced at Alice nervously, before shifting her gaze to me, and then finally back on Trinity, "That's preposterous, I don't have feelings for Anthony. He doesn't particularly take to... Women."

Trinity barely flinched at the news, which warmed my heart. If only we lived in a world where everyone cared so little about whom people chose to love and not love. But I hadn't figured that Fran knew about Anthony, it seemed as though he'd wanted to keep the news to himself.

"Then who? You must be infatuated with someone?" Trinity rasped, trying to steer attention away from her and Samuel.

"Might I remind you that I grew up with six brothers? Quite frankly, I'm not interested in men at the moment, I don't need to add another one to my family." Fran scoffed.

Trinity and Fran continued on their banter, as Alice and I fell behind them. We walked in silence for a few moments, before I spoke up.

"I never really wanted to press you for answers... But I feel as though I know of everyone's past but yours. Would you perhaps tell me?" I asked softly.

"I-I-" she looked shocked for a moment, before regaining her composure, speaking slowly, "I didn't really have much of a past. My parents were both drunks, I ended up in danger because of their actions, and the King saved me. Gave me work at the castle. That's all, really." she shrugged.

It was short, but at least she'd opened up at all. Alice was typically a very sweet a kind girl, and so, the icy wall she put up each time I asked about her past, never ceased to surprise me. She was even more closed off than I'd ever been, and that was saying something. Nonetheless, it was a start. After a short while, we made it back to the castle, where we parted ways. I headed upstairs to George's bedroom, or rather our bedroom, I suppose, to find it vacant of people. I placed the dress down, before slipping into a nightgown, and laying down in bed.

Sleep was quick to come as I closed my tired eyes, fatigued from the wedding preparations. Sometime in the night, the door opened, causing me to wake. I opened my groggy eyes to see an even groggier looking George. He slumped into bed, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"And you're bantering me about getting rest," I smiled, as I ran my fingers through his soft brown locks.

"I got the musician," he said proudly, "Or rather the orchestra for my... What do you call them? Fancy friends?" he laughed, kissing my forehead, "Did you find a dress?"

"I did."

"May I see it?"

"Indeed. On the day of our wedding." I replied, and he rolled his eyes.

"I wish it were sooner." he sighed.

"A week is too long?" I laughed.

"If I had it my way, we'd be wed this very instant, my love." he whispered, kissing me softly, before closing his eyes, and falling asleep.

"I love you." I whispered, before joining him.

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