Bo and the Beast (Book #1) (Completed)

28. All For Her

Bo spent her birthday morning sprawled on her bed taking naps and reading more of the Knight's Conquests series. She knew she should really be holding back so that the Beast could catch up with her in the books, but she couldn't resist reading the next book where Lady Wastrel rode her skeletal horse into battle on the opposing side to Sir Sterling. The books had long ago stopped being romance, and had instead turned into sprawling epics. Bo couldn't wait for anyone when a war against the undead and mortal men was sitting right there on her bedside table.

Fil and Chan appeared at midday with a meal, specially prepared and delicious. It never ceased to amaze her how they could transform vegetables into such scrumptious dishes. She downed it all and chatted with Fil for a few minutes before he had to zoom off to finish chores. Bo then filled the rest of the afternoon with a nap and some exercises in her bedroom. Finally, the sun began its slow descent and it was nearing the time the Beast had asked that she spend with him.

Madame appeared only a few minutes after the sky dimmed to a musky red. She came into Bo's room with the air of someone on a mission.

"Bo, we are going to meet the Master in around an hour. Would you be willing to let me dress you for the occasion?" She asked it with such professionalism, even if it was the strangest question to be asked. But at least the Service-Matons were finally learning to ask her permission instead of forcing her to do something.

"I have to be dressed specially for whatever this is?" Bo asked, glancing down at her black pants and crimson jacket. They were clean and she'd thought she'd looked capable and neat in them.

"It is not required, but since it is your birthday, we thought perhaps you might like to make it special."

Bo bit her lip and glanced at the closet. There were a lot of clothes in there that she never would have dreamed of at home. Very pretty clothes. And if it was supposed to be her birthday, why shouldn't she be wearing them? It wasn't as if the Beast was trying to make her wear them as a show of his dominance, or anything. She didn't even have to change if she didn't want to.

"I suppose it would be okay," she said, turning to Madame with a smile. "What did you have in mind?"

"Whatever you wish to wear," Madame replied, moving over to the closet and opening the door with her clamps. Bo followed her in, and looked around. The dresses and blouses looked so different now that she was thinking of wearing them. They were like bouquets of flowers, and she was allowed to choose whatever ones he wanted.

She spent a few minutes holding up various different dresses to check them against her silhouette. There were short, long, pale, and bold ones amongst them. None looked quite right, and Bo began to despair that she would never find the right one. Until her hand trailed across watery silk and she realized she held the folds of a familiar yellow gown.

The last time she'd worn it, it had been something she was forced to do. She'd shivered as the Beast stared at her, and been forced to act against her will. But now it offered itself to be redeemed. She could reclaim this dress as something positive.

"This one," she told Madame, pulling it down from the hanger and handing it over. The Service-Maton didn't remark on the selection, and merely helped Bo fold her clothes and slide the dress on. As Madame zipped her up, she realized that it was actually a beautiful dress. She hadn't noticed it before but beading as delicate as spiderwebs traced the bottom of the dress, and the bodice shimmered like dew. Madame even brought over a pair of delicate slippers in the same silky material but of the color of a midnight sky.

"Let's get your hair ready," Madame said, guiding Bo out into the bedroom. She brushed through Bo's black locks and then coiled an upper section into a small bun. She wrapped a yellow ribbon around it, and then produced some strange device that she used to create curls in the loose bottom section of Bo's hair. When she was finished, she showed Bo in a mirror the result.