Castle of Lilies

Chapter 2

Genevieve's PoV

Standing in front of my parents in the small throne room, I take notice of the way the steps up to just the two thrones are slightly slanted and how the floor is stone and not marble like the rest of the castle. But engraved in the stone are the names of all the fallen warriors in previous wars and battles. The walls are covered in tapestries depicting the different battles at different wars in different places. The ceiling is painted with a mural to one of the most famous battles in our history, the civil war. When some rebels decided to overthrow the monarchs and after many battles they agreed to have a council and a monarch that would consult. Beside me stands Lillia who has her head down and her eyes focused on the ground, her hair covering her face. My mother clears her throat announcing "Genevieve," my mind wanders to how my name would sound if Lillia said it. Her honey sweet voice pronouncing it.
"You are to attend tonight's gala, Lillia you will too, so both of you will be dressed accordingly." my mother continues. Lillia's head snaps up at her name being mentioned, then she looks nervous as she stands rooted to the spot. Taking her hand we quickly leave the throne room and arrive back at my chambers. They're the same as they were when we left, my red silk bed covers thrown to one side and my dresser still covered in bobby pins and hair elastics. My floor is scattered with shoes and odd socks. My pictures on my walls are still skewed and my curtains left hanging and not tied up.
Beside me I notice Lillia still standing silently and hyperventilating. I grip her shoulders to get her attention before motioning for her to take a deep breath in, and then out. She copies my motions before she slowly calms her breathing and instead starts rambling, "Omg! I can't go to a gala, I'm just a servant! I've never been to a gala. How would I know how to react, how would I even know how to eat or dance or even speak. And how do I dress for that. The only fancy dress I have I'm wearing now and so I can't wear this it's much too casual. I mean it's a gala! A royal gala."
As she paces my room I take in her frame and build. She's slightly smaller than me so I go into my closet and head to the back where my older dresses that are slightly too small for me now are. From the selection I pick a knee length satin red dress that's embellished with jewelled red lace around the bottom of the skirt. I pick out some red heels and a simple red headband as well. Then in case she doesn't like that one I pick a simple full length silver one that has a simple silver sash belt that ties as a bow around her back, a pair of simple silver heels and a small diamond encrusted necklace and pair of white elbow length gloves for her. With all the items in my arms I exit my closet and place them on my bed. I pull her into the bathroom and gesture for her to use the shower. She shakes her head in protest but I shove her into to and threaten to turn it on while she's wearing her clothes but she soon smiles and accepts, shooing me out so she can shower in private.
A few minutes later she re-emerges with her hair washed and towelled. I show her my dress options and she points to the silver one. I shove the dress in her arms and shoo her back into the bathroom to change. Once again she emerges but this time in the dress. And by the monarchs she looks stunning. Her slight shoulders are caught perfectly by the capped sleeves and the slight dip in the neckline exposes her collarbone, her hair is pulled over her shoulder and she turns to me as I zip it up for her.
She puts the heels on and then sits down in my glass chair in front of my dressing table and I stand behind her, smoothing her hair down her back. I notice how it has a tinge of red to it almost as though a cherry has been brushed through it but not enough to displace the black. Deciding on the style I want, I get started. I take the top section of her hair and sweep it to the left before braiding it and accentuating each strand. Then I take the under section of hair and braid that, before wrapping it around into a bun. Then I take the first braid and wrap that around the bun, carefully tying them both in place.
I stand back proud of my work as Lillia admires herself in my mirror.
Then she suddenly stands up and walks into my closet as though she's a woman on a mission. So I sit and watch her muse over different dresses anxious to see the one she chooses. Eventually she brings out a blush pink tulle a-line dress that has a skin coloured top with matching silk sewn over the important areas with flowers embellishing the edges. It's gorgeous. And she brings out a pair of cute patent block heels that mean I'll actually be able to walk. Then she lets me get changed before sitting me down in the glass chair and undoing my hair she did this morning. Then she starts on a new one.
She starts by French braiding my hair down my head but stopping when she reaches the base of my skull. Then she puts the remaining hair into a hair elastic and then she puts that into a bun, all without bobby pins.
Nodding she looks at my clock and sees its six o'clock and then she visibly starts to panic again, her breathing quickening and she starts to pace again. I pick up the book we're reading and hand it to her, indicating for her to read, in the hope that it will calm her down. She sits down and starts to read and before we know it it's seven o'clock and time to take our places in the grand hall.