"It does what now?" Sylvia asked, leaning back into the couch behind her while she sat on the floor with her legs sprawled. Dirella sighed, as if taking to a child. She was currently standing in front of a large mirror she had conjured, preening herself in preparation for the ball.
"In layman's terms, a bracelet that does timey wimey stuff," she said, still focused on her hair. She had hours to prepare, in fact the hunters had to be there first to set up a perimeter. Yet, she insisted on beginning the long and arduous process now.
"Ah. Gotcha," Sylvia nodded, making a finger gun at Dirella. Dirella didn't even notice. The door to the bedroom opened, and there stood Darian in full hunter gear.
"We had better go, honey," he managed to get the last part out through gritted teeth. This indicated that his parents, Mr and Mrs Jenkins, were nearby.
"Not so fast," Dirella said, finally turning away from that damn mirror to pay attention to something else for once. She walked over towards Darian, inspecting his armour with a finger on her chin in thought.
"No that won't do," she decided, turning around to rummage through her cupboard. Darian and Sylvia exchanged a confused look, before a bubbly Dirella appeared once more with a white shirt in hand.
"You can still be professional, but you also can be fabulous," she beamed widely, excitement in her eyes. Darian tentatively took the shirt, holding it out in front of him. He then shrugged, pulling his own T-shirt off over his head to reveal strong, thick muscles over his back.
"Darian!" Sylvia exclaimed, holding a hand up and looking away from her friend who was pretending to be her boyfriend.
"What? I may as well flaunt it," he said, inspecting himself in Dirella's mirror by pushing her gently out of the way. Years of welding an axe apparently does wonders for the body.
He then slipped the white shirt on, tucking it in his trouser pants. It was a long sleeved ruffle shirt, with a frilly jabot to match. Sylvia would never have been able to pull it off, but Darian did look smashing in it.
"Best of both worlds," he said, doing a couple of stretches to test the material. His muscles bulged under the fabric, but it did not rip. Perfect for a hunter with a sense of modesty, or even one without.
"Alright NOW we really must go," Darian said, and Sylvia followed him out of the room. They made their way down the stairs to where Fleur and Mr and Mrs Jenkins were waiting. Darian's father gave him a disappointed look when he saw the frock, but said nothing.
"Sylvia wait!" Aliyah came running up then, hair already braided for the ball. Sylvia blinked, never having seen traditional elf braiding before.
"It's beautiful..." she muttered, completely dumbfounded in the presence of Aliyah once more. Aliyah blushed, smiling sweetly at her.
"I know you are not a guest, but I would very much like to have a dance with you," Aliyah said, taking Sylvia's hand gently. She smiled.
"I would love that."
***
The ball room of the castle was huge. When stepping through the door, you would find yourself on a large balcony overlooking the dance floor. This balcony framed the entire dance floor, and was dotted with odd love seats and couches for tired or intoxicated guests.
A large staircase made of marble cascaded down onto the dancefloor, with beautiful guard rails lining either side. The ceiling too was a statement of opulence, with intricate designs marking the roof that seemed to stretch upwards forever.
The hunters had positioned themselves around the venue, standing silently against the wall. Out of sight of the guests, but still close enough to intervene should someone get a bit too rowdy. The King had not greeted them when they arrived, instead was too busy rushing around with final preparations.
The guests were beginning to arrive now, a stream of chiffon, tuille and gemstones shining in the evening light. All were adorned in brilliant masks, some crafted in the image of an animal or bird, others more abstract in design. Yet Sylvia stood, still and silent.
She was positioned on the dancefloor against the wall, whereas Darian had been posted upstairs by the punch bowl. The Jenkins anticipated if a fight were to break out, the punchbowl would be a prime location.
Dirella then arrived, her purple dress flowing as she walked. It was a strapless dress with a deep plunge to just below her naval. Where the plunge ended, a skirt exploded with tuille and frills to accentuate her curves. Her arms were held delicately in front of herself, and she had on a brilliant diamond necklace. On her face, Dirella had a simple white mask, yet Sylvia knew the fox mask would be hiding somewhere within the folds of that skirt.
How she could afford it, Sylvia had no clue. But Dirella was smart, and Sylvia was sure she got a great deal for the items.
But she wasn't interested so much in Dirella as Aliyah walked in.
Their hair was still in braids, intricate knots that twisted and twined throughout their hair. They also had gold rings looped through their pointy ears, drawing attention to their elf-like looks. But it was the outfit that had Sylvia's jaw on the floor.
Leaves were everywhere. They started at Aliyah's neck, framing it perfectly and elongating it. They then framed their shoulders perfectly, making them broad and defined. Before the leaves then fell down, being drawn in at the waist by an elegant golden flower chain loop clearly made by painstakingly linking them all together. Their mask was also made of smaller leaves, starting between the eyes and flushing outwards to make an almost sun like appearance.
It was quintessential Aliyah, and Sylvia lived for it.
"It is not too much, is it?" Aliyah whispered to Sylvia out of the corner of their mouth. Reeling in her jaw off the floor, Sylvia shook her head curtly.
"It's.... It's perfect. I can't wait to dance with you," she smiled, before coming to a sudden realisation.
Sylvia didn't know how to dance.
Y'all know this isn't a Wattpad book without a ball scene. What do you think of the costumes? I wanted to depict something that was still our main characters, but elevated a little.
Hope you all enjoy, see you in the next chapter!