Know Who to Count On

Chapter 13: Now Presenting Countess Melody

Melody woke the next morning to someone gently shaking her shoulder. Liara stood over her, a smile spreading across her face once she saw Melody's eye open. "Rise and shine, bride-to-be, today's the big day!"

Melody sat up groggily and looked around the room, waiting for her mind to catch up on all the events of the previous day. Part of her had been certain that she'd wake up in her room, this whole adventure nothing more than a fever dream and she'd have to get ready to clean the room of whichever sister had actually been chosen as Alexis' new wife...but here she was. She hadn't dreamt it all and now she had to reconcile that fact with herself. This was all real.

"What time is it?" she asked. She usually woke with the sun, but this room didn't have any windows.

"About eight, but you probably slept longer because those headache pills can make some folks drowsy," Liara explained as she bustled around the room. "No time to worry about that now. We let you sleep as long as we could because we figured you needed it, but it's getting late. The wedding is in two hours. Let's get you dressed and dolled up!"

Melody pulled herself out of the bed she'd shared with Liara the night before. She barely remembered anything after Mrs. Stonewright had left. She thought she remembered some talk about Alexis and Simon planning to go back to the other bedroom to see if they could scrounge up two suitable patches of floor to sleep on but after that was blank. She began heading to the bathroom as Liara set things out on the dresser, clearly getting ready to give Melody a makeover of some kind.

Melody returned after taking care of business and Liara pointed her to a chair at the small nearby table. "Eat. Even if you're nervous, see if you can get something in you." Melody obeyed and picked at the cold breakfast. After a bit she declared that she was done and Liara helped her strip out of the nightgown and they began the process of getting her into the wedding dress. It wasn't a terribly complicated procedure, but it did take a bit more than the gown the night before. A few more strings to cinch, a small train to attach and what turned out to be the most difficult part, making sure Melody's bra straps didn't show.

"I don't remember these giving us trouble when we were in the shop," Liara complained. She finally got them in the right spots and moved on to the next step: makeup. Liara didn't want to put too much on her since she'd be wearing a veil, but it felt wrong to go completely without so she kept it simple. Usually the makeup part would come into play more when people would be seeing the bride at the reception, but they were skipping that part even though no one else was aware.

Melody half expected Liara to comment on her bad eye, but the girl applied the makeup to both sides of her face, holding back the hair when necessary and letting it back down after. She then proceeded to pull Melody's hair up and began pinning it into an elegant updo with a few scattered tendrils hanging down. She left Melody's bangs alone, seeming to have accepted that if that was how Melody liked them, she wouldn't change it.

With all of that done, Liara grabbed the simple veil they'd purchased and worked it gently into her hair, careful not to undo the rest of the work she'd just finished. "There you go," she said, putting the veil down and up, making sure everything looked right. "All that's left is the shoes. Let me go grab them." The wedding shop man hadn't put up near the fight on the shoes that the other woman had and Liara slipped the low heeled white shoes onto Melody's feet while she sat. "Perfect," Liara declared as she stood up. "Made it with time to spare. Wait here a moment while I check on the men." Melody watched as the smaller girl darted out the door and she turned back to look at the mirror in front of her.

"Who are you?" she asked herself after a moment, confused by the sight of the woman in the wedding dress. That woman looked ready to marry a man, take care of a county and care for a family. That's not me, she thought, but before she could get too deep down the rabbit hole the door opened again and Liara returned.