Sea Of Seagulls: A Pirate and Fae Tale

Chapter 8

Shaye glanced at the selection of dresses her maid brought into her room before she woke up. She only had today and tomorrow to know everything she would be wearing for the ball. Shaye laid her head back against her pillow and slept for a few more hours.

Shaye woke up yet again but this time it was around noon. The only thing that convinced Shaye to get out of bed was the selection of shoes that were on the floor in front of her dresser. Shaye sprung out of bed to admire the selection.

One shoe was black with an extremely tall heel. No way I would survive the ball in these Shaye told herself. The next pair of heels were blue. They were beautiful but she just did not like the shade. If only they were darker or lighter.

After scanning each pair, Shaye found the perfect ones. They were gold with a hint of rose gold. Wire flowers wrapped up the heel. Gold accents covered the rest of the heel. It was beautiful. Now she looked for a dress. She dreaded looking at dresses because they never fit or looked right.

Shaye had been given 10 dresses. She immediately knocked out 6 options. Too poofy, too tight, too loose, too many problems.

She laid the 4 remaining options out in front of her. The first dress was ruby red. It was slightly too sparkly. Her second option was a white dress. Shaye was hesitant because this was a ball she was attending. Not her own wedding. The third one was a rose gold dress. It would match her shoes perfectly. The dress had a rose gold base. Translucent gold fabric layered on top. More gold fabric draped over her shoulders. Her only reason for not being sure was that she would look too good and others would become jealous. In the end, she picked the third dress. She thought about it for a sec and decided she didn't mind making the other girls jealous. It might be fun watching their faces as she walked in.

Next was jewelry. Shaye chose a necklace with gold, rose gold, and diamonds. The necklace was elegant and not too heavy. She chose hanging earrings with the same pattern as the necklace. Her crown was not bulky as most girls wore. Shaye chose a beautiful yet simple one. The diamonds formed almond shapes on all of the pieces. Her ring that she received from Turner was gold as well. It's almost as if he chose all the jewelry before her.

Shaye tried everything on and moved in front of her mirror. She looked beautiful. Her hair was not done so her white hair just flowed down her back. She looked like a queen. One day she would be queen. The thought scared her so she took all of the stuff off and returned to her normal duties.

After many hours of boring meetings and listening to the planners of the ball ask her twenty thousand questions, she returned to her room. Shaye loved going to balls. They had one almost every year. This one was different, bigger, better, fancier. She had only been to a huge ball when she was 9. That was during the 10th anniversary of the war. She didn't remember that one well, but she sure would remember this one.

The last day before the ball consisted of testing makeup and hair. For makeup, she chose a simple classy look with gold eyeshadow. Shaye hated wearing makeup but she had to for an event this big.

She sat in a chair for the remainder of the day as stylists tried different ideas on Shaye. They tried various types of curls that all looked the same to her. They tried doing buns and braids. Shaye hated all of them. Shaye was sick of them pulling and pinning her hair so she sent them off.

She put the hair from each side into a twist. She pined them together at the back of her head. Shaye created two braids with the rest of the two small pinned pieces. Her hair still held some of its curls. There, that wasn't so hard.

Shaye's last concern was about the missing wyrdkey. Shaye felt as if the thought was burning a hole in the back of her head. She had an idea but it was too risky. The girl was gone already and probably was over halfway done with her journey home.

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Theodosia noticed Noelle go into her room in the middle of breakfast that morning. She had spent two nights with her so far and Theodosia had grown quite fond of Noelle. She still wouldn't pet Hercules though. She learned he was an arctic wolf pup and was only two months old. And Noelle has raised him ever since he was born.

"The ball is tomorrow!" Noelle exclaimed from the other room.

"If we are going to get there in time, we better start traveling now."

Theodosia groaned. She didn't feel like going back outside in the cold. But she had to get to this ball.

Noelle walked out of her room with her hands full of large sparkly dresses. And set them all down on the clean end of the table.

"What's this?" Theodosia asked, eyeing the dresses.

"Haven't you ever been to a royal ball before?"

"Of course." Theodosia lied.

"Well then take your pick."

Theodosia looked through the mounds of dresses. Each one is prettier than the last. One pink one caught her eye, so she grabbed it and zoomed into the bathroom to try it on. It had flowery white lace running down the dress. And pink mesh sitting underneath the folds of the dress. The dress wasn't puffy, it cascaded down to the floor in silking waves. She looked amazing.

Theodosia walked out of the bathroom, light on her feet, and saw Noelle twirling a huge green dress in the light of the morning.

Theodosia gasped, "You look beautiful."

"Why thank you," Noelle said with a grin.

"We better get going now, it will take a day's journey."

"Actually, walking takes at least three days."

"We aren't walking."

Theodosia gave her a confused look as they heard the sound of galloping outside. Noelle bursts open the door to reveal two large Asterion horses. One black like the midnight sky. The other one was white. The horse blended in with the snow. Their long silky mane blew in the gusty wind.

"Wow, this is...,"

"I know," Noelle confirmed with a chuckle.

"Now let's go, the festival awaits."