Lily of the valley

36

The morning was cooler than most, a fresh breeze meandered across the vast red desert. Katherine found herself being draped with fine white silk and her lithe body measured by a group of hushed seamstresses. Light poured through the window, the sun was hot and ivory. A young hairdresser wrapped Katherine's snowy hair around his skilful fingers and pushed her locks up into different styles, at each one he let out a dissatisfied huff. Lily kneeled on the floor in Katherine's eye line, she ate a fresh pink apple while watching the measuring.

"Your hair is too beautiful down madam, I cannot find an up do that satisfies." The young gentleman complained and complimented the princess.

"Leave it down then." Katherine responded as a series of emerald rings were slid onto her ring finger for the measurement. The lady of the mountain was not in the mood for idle chatter, she felt she was standing at a precipice; staring down at the stormy waters into which she was about to plunge. The Queen of sunlight had effortlessly used her talents for beguilement to push the wedding forward to that very evening. Men found themselves wretchedly incapable of denying her. Across the castle servants and nobles alike worked and planned to get everything ready for the long awaited night.

The court hairdresser, Adam, stroked his elegant black beard and analysed the princess's albino beauty. Blonde waves hung down to her waist, when she moved her locks flowed and danced in the air. It would be a shame to hide hair like that away. The huddle of dressmakers began to stick pins in the fabric and urged Katherine not to move nor to breathe too heavily. She was imprisoned in silk.

Adam began to root around in his leather kit bag for a much sought after tonic, he had been saving it for a special occasion. The potion, which had had procured from a travelling herbalist, was said to entice glorious hair growth. The reviews had been glowing. Adam began to work it into Katherine's hair, from root to tip, he massaged it into her scalp. Katherine watched a flurry of red sand blow across a dune beyond the castle's threshold; she spared no thought for what the people that surrounded her were doing to her, as they prodded and poked.

"How was your evening?" Katherine called out to Lily from the cage of limbs that preened and fussed at her. Lily blushed at the thought of that rooftop and those stars.

"Like something from a dream." Katherine demanded to hear every detail, she wanted to live every thudding beat of the heart and every lusty breath. Katherine had often dreamt of being in love, to be lost in another person seemed to her the greatest joy. Once she was married all hope of that dream would be extinguished. A hot tear welled in the princess' eye as Lily spun her tale of desire and of her glowing heart. It was all she had ever wanted.

The seamstresses began their task of sewing Katherine in to the swathes of white and gold silk, the gown was modest yet elegant, with flared sleeves that grazed the floor. Meanwhile Katherine's hair was growing beyond her waist, it grew longer and longer till it hung around her ankles. Long white waves had turned into a wedding veil which Adam began weaving threads of silver and pearl into. Lily looked up at her ward with pride, the flower of the mountain had blossomed into a mythic beauty.

Queen Thea strode into the room and was taken aback by the sublimity of the young princess, she paused to take her niece in.

"You are ready." The Queen of sunlight decreed.

"I don't feel ready." Katherine looked down at herself and smoothed her skirts, she had not seen herself yet.

"Nonsense, you are a vision." Queen Thea found herself a spot in which to sit so that she could mentor the princess. The atmosphere between them was tense from the night before but they were duty bound to carry on as if nothing had been discussed. "I have a wedding gift for you." Thea opened the ornate, golden jewellery box that she had walked in with and showed Katherine the contents. A necklace of silver from the mines below the mountain, a mountain flower hung from the chain, a large diamond was set in the centre. "Your mother gave it to me as a gift for my wedding." Thea pulled the necklace from the box and approached Katherine, she hung the jewel around the bride's neck. "Beautiful." Thea then turned to Lily who still wore a grey serving frock. "I have a present for you too Lily." The Queen handed Lily a parcel of white tissue paper which the young woman unwrapped with a sense of wonder.

The dress was entirely silk and a rich forest green, the bodice was steel boned and embroidered with golden leaves. It was the most beautiful thing that she had ever owned. Lily gushed over the fabric, she could not thank Thea enough. The Queen smirked at the young woman's gratitude, she knew the power of a good dress and was pleased to pass that power on.

"May I dress you?" Thea asked of the handmaiden, she gestured fro Lily to hand her back the bundle of silks. Lily nodded, overwhelmed with emotion. No one had ever dressed her before, it had always been her wrapping gowns around Katherine's frame. Lily stripped to her undergarments and the Queen of sunlight began layering the dress, petticoats, corsets, and finally the overdress. It was tight and uncomfortable but gave her such a sense of nobility and confidence.

"Now you look worthy of serving a Queen." Lily curtsied in thanks before moving to the mirror. She wept at the vision, she was royal, she was divine. Finally she felt like one of those dazzling, regal women whose shadows she had always been lost in. Thea wiped away Lily's tears and Lily thanked her again. Soon it was time.

Strings and trumpets heralded the arrival of the bridal party, the open desert was their cathedral, the sand had been covered with dried mountain flowers to represent Katherine's symbolic journey from peak to dune. Thea waked her down the aisle, through a vast crowd of nobles in coloured silks and glistening diamonds. They hid beneath parasols and behind lace fans, though only moonlight beat down upon the scene. The sky was inky and the stars vast.

A priest dressed all in white stood on a marble platform surrounded by candles, columns and melancholic statues of the Gods. Prince Solomon was dressed in all his regalia. A heavy golden crown rested upon his brow, he wore a leopard's skin wrapped around his waist and ruby jewels across his scarred chest. The pressure that bore down on him was numbing.

"Be strong. Tell him nothing." The Queen of sunlight whispered into Katherine's ear as she kissed her cheek and gave her away. The flower of the mountain climbed the marble steps to stand amongst firelight and beside her betrothed; who did not move his head to look at her and instead stayed fixated on the heavenly lights. The priest began to warble words that he had recited a thousand times, he called upon the Goddess of love and unity to bless their bond. Katherine and Solomon entwined their fingers, palms facing the moon. The priest placed a red burning candle on the bridge of their fingers, scarlet wax slid down the wick and into their palms. Meanwhile the priest spoke of bonds made in blood, Katherine and Solomon avoided each others gaze like it was poison. They spoke 'I do' and it was done. Music rose into the night and hand in hand Katherine and Solomon walked up the aisle and retreated back into the quiet of the castle.

They stood together in the empty halls, there was nothing to say to break the weight of the silence. There were heavy expectations on them both that night, the marital bed awaited. The pressure between them mounted and mounted until it was too much to bare, like being trapped fathoms below the sea.

"What now?" Katherine broke the quiet. The prince shrugged, all he wanted was to be alone, away from this young girl that had just been chained to him by the law and by the Gods. He began to walk and she followed, Katherine spent the journey in frantic thought about how she was going to play the next twelve hours locked away with the prince. Solomon led her to his bedchambers for they had nowhere else to go, they were on the ground floor with large doors leading into a private garden and secret exit onto the wild beyond the city walls.

"Make yourself comfortable." Solomon grunted at his wife while he poured himself a drink, his hands were shaking. "Wine?" Katherine accepted his crystalline glass of red, syrupy comfort. Perhaps she would become like all of the Queens she had known before, whose only solace lay in that red poison. Solomon drew back his curtains so they that could gaze upon the moonlight lit cactus garden beyond his window.

"We don't have to... you know." Solomon sighed and clicked his neck, he had been holding a great deal of tension.

"No, we don't, and we won't." Katherine began her mission of tearing down his walls, he seemed relieved. "As I said before, we cannot escape each other so let us just be friends." The prince nodded and sipped from his glass.

"You're right. Drink." Solomon topped up her glass, he leant back in his chair and seemed to relax somewhat. Once the alcohol rose to their heads they were more at ease and found that they were not so different after all. They spoke of books, and art and of royalties suffocating liability. They newlyweds chatted until they passed out in their drunken stupor, both still in their separate armchairs.