The Last Dahlia

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"But what about the sword?" she asked out loud.

"What sword?"

"Nothing, I was just talking to myself," Yuehwa said quickly. "Sorry to have woken you up, I was just curious that's all. Go back to sleep, It's still a couple more hours before the sun rises." Straightening herself up, she headed for the open window.

"Where are you going? The door is that way," the princess said, pointing the opposite direction.

"You know I don't like entering through doors." Giving the princess a quick wave, she leapt onto the window sill and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

#

At the break of dawn on the final day of the tournament, Yuehwa tried her best to remain still as she allowed the princess's trusted maids to put the dress of liquid gold onto her slender frame. The inner layers of the dress were made of the smoothest silk, but the shimmering layer of gold on the surface was what transformed it from any other into one that was fit for the most beautiful woman across the five kingdoms.

Still, the outfit felt more like a burden on her shoulders.

"How is it that you can wear such clothes on a daily basis?" she asked, letting out a huge yawn in the process.

"You look beautiful," princess Naying exclaimed, studying Yuehwa carefully from head to toe.

Under the rays of the rising sun that had begun streaming in through the open windows, Yuehwa's cheeks took on a soft glow, her jet black hair that was usually hanging loosely round her shoulders pulled back into a regal up-do at the back of her head. The palace maids were putting the finishing touches to her hair, the crowning jewel being a golden hairpin lined entirely with pearls, which had been given to the princess by her father on her eighteenth birthday. When the work was done, everyone sucked in their breaths, staring in disbelief at the girl standing before their eyes.

"What? Does it look terrible?" Yuehwa frowned, inching over towards the mirror. The dress was so heavy that it was limiting her movements, and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

The reflection in the mirror was someone she almost couldn't recognise. "Oh my goodness," she exclaimed, slapping her hands on her cheeks. "What the hell have you done to me! This is ridiculous. Am I still human?"

"You look absolutely stunning," the princess said. She walked over and handed a golden mask to Yuehwa, watching as the latter slowly hooked it around her ears. With the mask obscuring half her face, no one would be able to tell whether or not the girl standing before them was truly the princess or someone else altogether. "No one will ever be able to tell."

Yuehwa flapped her arms in the air, marvelling at the weight of those sleeves. "This is the first and last time I'm doing something like this," she declared. "The next time some princess is being forced into marriage, I'm just going to walk away and pretend I didn't see anything. So, have you decided who you want to marry? Gi, Feng or neither of the above?"

Princess Naying sighed, collapsing down onto a nearby chair. No matter what, her father would have her betrothed to someone by the end of today and none of her options would be the one man that she was willing to marry.

Walking over to her, Yuehwa gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Chin up, I said I was going to help you and I always keep my promises. If none of them catch your fancy then that's that. You can always stay here and keep your father company for another year."

"You really have a way out of this?" Naying looked up expectantly.

Yuehwa simply laughed in response. "Come on, it's time," she said. Hitching up her long skirt slightly, she started walking towards the door. "Stupid skirt, people really need to wear more comfortable clothes."