Behind The Glasses

Chapter 20 | A Marionette.

"What's your name?," I ask as she shows me the shade of lipstick she had previously mentioned. I nod my approval.

"It's Blair, ma'am," she supplies handing the colour to who I assume is the make-up artist.

I proceed to get to know the rest of the crew as they help me get dressed. When my nails are finally dry, the one person who hadn't done anything stands, grabs a small bag plus the lipstick and proceeds to put it on my lips. "I guess I made your job a lot less interesting," I joke when she's done applying the colour.

She laughs, picking up a few of her brushes and dusts them across my cheeks artfully. "To be honest, I was never planning to cake you in make-up. You're naturally beautiful. As soon as I saw you, my plan was to accentuate," she informs me, now brushing lightly over my eyebrows and lashes. After removing my earrings, she clasps a beautiful necklace around my neck then grins. "Done."

Standing up, I look myself over in the giant mirror. I look the part now the big question is: Can I act the part?

"You look wonderful, ma'am," Blair praises clutching her clipboard to her chest.

There's a knock on the door and a man I don't know strolls confidently into the room. He gives me a short curt bow of his head before introducing himself. "Arthur Okuda, at your service, Your Royal Highness."

"Pleasure to meet you." At least he looks somewhat capable.

"It's time to go, Your Royal Highness," he informs, holding the door open for me to walk through. I nod.

"Thank you ladies for being my fairies. I love what you've done with the little time you had to prepare. I do hope you will be with me next time. Thank you, Anna for the effortless look, Bethany for the art in my hair, Mia for these nails, Zora for the gowns and of course, Blair for making sure the ship sailed smoothly." I haven't been doing this long but implanting foundations with people around you helps keep their trust.

"You're quite welcome, Your Royal Highness," they chime as they curtsy. The bowing and curtsying is going to take time to get used to. I nod, turning towards the door to leave.

Arthur addresses the ladies, "What just happened in this room must not leave this room. Thank you ladies." Short and to the point. Effectively sending his message loud and clear.

"Oh wait," Zora says abruptly, handing me my phone. "Your gown has pockets," she informs, bowing and retreating back into the room. I should really stop forgetting my phone everywhere.

I'm led down a hallway towards the elevator. Hunter comes out of a room in the same hallway as mine and joins me on my walk. He's wearing a tailored tuxedo that looks like it was made for him. However, all of his clothes always seem to say, 'I was made specifically for my owner, Hunter Knight.' Stop drooling, Archer.

"You clean up nice," I joke as we pack into the elevator. Hunter and I in the back, Arthur and 2 my little ponies with guns in front, shielding us from view. He gives me a small smile, nodding at my comment, letting me know he heard me. Oh yeah, I'm Princess Lateef Remi Gamal-Khan right now. Stoic.

The elevator stops before we get to the ground floor only to have Arthur tell whoever it was to take the next lift. At least now I have someone looking out for me who's good at their job. I'm loaded into a heavily tinted SUV along with Hunter by my side.