Shadow's Throne

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Mare

I wake up to soft lips meeting my own and feel Maven's familiar warmth hovering over me. He pulls away and I open my eyes with a smile, meeting his own flame-filled eyes.

"Good morning beautiful," he says, pulling me out of the covers.

I laugh a little and meet his eyes. "Good morning."

"Ready for our big day?" he asks me, taking my hands in his own.

I break into a huge smile, pulling him into a hug. "Of course."

We break away and Maven pulls me out of bed and leads me to our balcony where a table for two filled with all of our favorite breakfast foods sits. I immediately take a seat and dig into the decadent waffles while Maven does the same.

"If this is what it's like being a bride, I want to get married every day," I tell Maven, as I take another bite of fruit covered in whipped cream.

Maven just laughs and we finish the rest of our breakfast in silence, instead, listening to the various birds singing in the courtyard below us.

After breakfast, Maven is whisked away from me by his servants and my own begin to fill our bedroom with beauty products and everything else I need to get ready to become a queen.

A rosewater bath is drawn for me and I soak until the water is cold and then I'm thrown into a robe while multiple girls cover me with lotions and moisturizers. They polish my nails, throw on layers upon layers of makeup, and even redye my purple ends.

The constant pampering and the different hands on my skin trying to turn me into someone else reminds me of my time in this palace before, but not as Mare and instead as the girl who pretended to be a silver. A girl who had to pretend to be someone she wasn't in order to save her life.

I quickly cast those thoughts away, refusing to think about my past and all it entailed. Today is about Maven and me only. It's about our future. And that's all I'm worrying about from here on out.

After the servants are finished dying my hair and putting on my basic makeup, I'm left in my salon in my bathrobe. Gisa soon enters, a dress bag and multiple others all up her arms. She throws them onto a couch, taking the time to carefully set down the dress bag, before running over to me and pulling me into a hug.

"I can't believe my sister's getting married!" she exclaims, and I laugh at her excitement.

"Trust me, I never thought the day would come either," I reply, and we both giggle at the comment.

We fall into silence and Gisa takes my hands in her own, a soft smile on her lips.

"I'm so happy for you Mare. After all you've been through, you deserve this."

Tears spring to my eyes no matter how hard I try to keep them in and a soft smile forms on my lips. I pull Gisa into a hug in response and we stay that way for a while before Gisa breaks away to go and grab one of her many bags.

"Enough with the sentimental stuff. We've got a bride to get ready," she says pulling out various makeup products.

"Oh dear," I whisper to myself as she throws me in a seat in front of the mirror and gets to work.

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A few hours later, I'm looking in the mirror at a completely different me.

Before, when I got my makeup done, I was always pretending to be someone I wasn't. But this makeup, the way Gisa did it, highlighting all of the features she knows should stand out, using her artistic touch to bring a masterpiece to my face, I look like myself. The lightening girl is still here. I may have darker lashes and shimmery eyelids and lips, but I can still see myself behind all the glamour. The red hue to my cheeks is still there, in fact, Gisa added more blush to make it stand out even more. My brown hair with the purple ends is down and curled, but the sides join in the back to make a beautiful braided masterpiece.