His Mortal Bride

♱Chapter 10♱

I almost didn't recognize the girl standing in front of me. The red, mermaid-styled ball gown fit just to my curves. Red lace and beading accentuated it. My hair was pinned up elegantly. Piper had done my makeup as a dark smokey eye and dark maroon lipstick. I looked better than I think I ever had.

"Oh! One last thing," She said excitedly and rushed over to the drawers of jewelry. All were perfectly laid out like a jeweler's case. She grabbed a necklace and earrings delicately.

"I picked these out for tonight," Piper said and went around me so she could place the necklace around my throat. I looked in the mirror with wide eyes. "I knew diamonds and onyx would be perfect for any dress."

I stared at the beautiful diamond and onyx necklace in awe. I brought my hand up to touch it and sucked in a breath.

"Do you like it?" Piper asked hopefully. I made eye contact with her through the mirror.

"I - I -" I could barely protest. I wanted to tell her that I couldn't accept all of this. I wanted to tell her that I didn't deserve this. I sighed. "I love it," I finally told her, knowing that protesting would go no where. And of course, I did love the necklace.

She smiled at me and I smiled back and continued to inspect myself in the mirror.

"You look stunning," A voice came from behind us. I gasped and turned around.

"Mother," Piper smiled. Irina stood there in her black, lace dress and large diamond crown. She gave me a soft smile and neared us.

"I just wanted to check in and go over everything," Irina informed us.

"Go over what?" I asked in confusion. Irina started walking around the walk-in closet, looking around.

"Tonight is mostly based on the customs that have been upheld by our kind for centuries."

"Customs?" I questioned. Now it made a lot more sense why Alec's party was being treated more like a ceremony.

"That's what I wanted to go over with you. This isn't just Alec's birthday tonight. It's the first night the kingdom gets to meet you. This ceremony is about you just as much as it is about Alec," She told me seriously, keeping her eyes on mine almost like she wanted to make her point clear and make sure I understood. This just made me even more nervous.

"You're to be beside Alec all night. You and Alec will have to dance in front of the whole kingdom," She stopped there even though she sounded like she had more to say. Her eyes glanced over to Piper's. I looked to both of them in confusion.

"What? Is there something else?" I asked. They both looked back to me. Irina smiled sympathetically.

"No. We just know this is a lot for you," Piper said a little quickly. I nodded slowly and blew it off.

"So I'm guessing there's no cake and happy birthday song?" I asked and they both looked at me in confusion. I shrugged and chuckled a little.

"I guess it's a commoner thing," I told them. They laughed a little. They settled down and Piper came up to rub my shoulders. She smiled at me and put my earrings in.

Irina walked over to the middle of the closet. Piper and I both turned to watch her. She put a code into the new glass case. The glass front retracted into the stand and all three of us stood there looking at the tiara for a second.