Millie spent half the night and most of the next day working on Charlotte's dress with Charlotte herself working with her. Both women enjoyed sewing and doing needlework, it had always been a very relaxing hobby for them, and Millie had often seen it at as way to release stress. Well one way to release stress. She had two common methods of stress release. Sewing and taking her fury out on abandoned buildings, fallen trees, and the occasional asshole. Charlotte quickly learned that Millie was a woman who Dolores would describe as "A lady who at times will wear gloves of lace and an iron gauntlet at other times." In other words, she was a woman who could hold her own but was still in touch with her feminine side.
"I started teaching myself how to sew when stealing clothes started to get more risky." Millie explained as was sewing a sleeve on to the dress. "And when I realized that I wanted to wear something nice for my husband once in awhile."
"Really?" Charlotte said, as she was doing some embroidery on the skirt of the dress. "From what I've seen, your husband thinks you're the most beautiful woman in the world."
"Oh he does. He thinks I'm lovely no matter what I wear or how I look. But I still like to impress him. Surprise him with something different."
"I decided to learn how to sew when I found out it was one of my mother's favorite pass times." Charlotte said. "According to my father, he would come home almost everyday to find her doing some sort of needlework while singing to herself. So not only did I learn to sew and embroider but I would also sing for my father, especially whenever he was really sad and missing my mother."
"Did it help?"
Charlotte smiled as recalled the first time she ever soothed her father's grieving heart. She had been playing hide and seek with Niffty and was looking for a hiding spot. She decided to hide in the old chamber down the hall because she presumed that no one ever went in there and that Niffty would never think to look for her there. But when she opened the door, she discovered her dear father sitting alone in that room, weeping over the portrait of her mother that hung there. She had been too young at the time understand the reason for the king's sorrow but immediately wanted to do whatever it took to make him smile again.
So she slowly approached him from behind, he turned around and tried to wipe his face with a handkerchief.
"Don't cry Papa." She had said. "I'll make you happy again. I'll sing to you, Niffty always said music made you smile."
And so she sang the lullaby that Niffty had taught her, unaware that it had been the very same song her mother used to sing all the time. Hearing from his daughter's lips, the man's tears became renewed and flowed even more. For a moment the child feared that she had made things worse.
"Oh Papa I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you even more sad. Please, please don't cry."
But then king smiled and said with all the love in his heart.
"They're tears of joy my little dove."
Afterward he swept her up into his arms and she hugged his neck tight. From then on, she decided to sing only for him and that in itself made it easier for him to bear the loss of his one true love.
"Yes it did." Charlotte said. "Oh I miss him so much. I pray every night that he's still alive and that he'll come back someday. If he doesn't, I don't know what in the world I'm going to do."
"Well." Millie said as she pulled the threaded needle through the fabric. "Technically, if your father does not return, you will eventually have to take his place. Become the new queen of Germany."
"Yes, about that." Charlotte suddenly started to look very uncomfortable. "I don't think I want that."
"What do you mean? You are a princess and the king's only heir. By birthright, you are meant to someday ascend the throne."
"But I don't think I can be a queen. Ruling a kingdom takes so much. It takes someone who never makes mistakes and always knows just what to do. Someone who is strong and brave and does everything right. Someone who's not me."
"Well I'm no expert on how the monarchy works but surely there must be more to the royal title than that. I mean look at who we have for a queen now, she does nothing right. Not to mention she's vain, selfish, and cruel."
"Oh believe me, I'm not saying that she's the better option. But I can't be the one to take her place. I don't know the first thing about being a leader and to be honest, I never really wanted any of that in the first place. All I want is to live a simple life with my friends and my family and people who are kind to me. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"Of course not." Millie assured her. "Just because you're a king's daughter, doesn't mean you're not a person with the same wants and dreams as any other commoner. Blitzo says that's the problem with many humans. They have a habit of thinking that only certain people are allowed to be imperfect. That royals and nobles can't have feelings or ever be afraid and unhappy. That bad things can't ever happen to them or that they can't make a few mistakes form time to time. Or to just simply want to love and be loved."
"But it's selfish of me isn't, it?" Charlotte sighed, feeling a little ashamed. "Knowing how my stepmother treats everyone and me being too cowardly to do anything to stop her."
"I think it's perfectly natural and understandable to feel this way. And right now, what in the world could you possibly do to stop her? You don't have an army or any special powers. If you were to barge into the castle right now, and demand the throne, you'd probably be killed in three seconds flat. It would be foolish for you to try something right now."
"So I'm not a coward for hiding like this?"
"There's an old saying 'Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.' However there's another one that says 'The essence of fighting is the art of moving at the right time.' In other words it's wise to seek a peaceful solution first, but if a battle cannot be avoided, then be sure to strike at the right time and that will require patience. You're by no means a coward for hiding Charlotte, you're just waiting for the right time to intervene on your people's behalf."
Millie's words made Charlotte feel better but she felt that the alp was giving her too much credit. Charlotte really was afraid of someday facing her stepmother again and maybe someday becoming the new queen. For she knew that being the head state did not mean a life of ease and luxury, not for a true monarch. Becoming queen met that she would not sit to feast until her people were fed. That she would not rest until her people were safe. That from beggar to above, each member she would defend and serve. That each and every life rested in her hands, and if anyone's life was lost or led to misfortune, it would be on her head. She didn't know if she had the strength to be all that for her people.
For as long as she could remember, her stepmother had said that she was weak, pathetic, and useless. That she could never lead an army or fight in battle. That her kindness was not enough and that it was a wasted virtue, that her hopes and dreams were the musings of a fool, and that love was the greatest weakness of all.
"You have no strength! No ambition! Nothing!" She would say. "You will never be queen!"
Many times she believed her stepmother's words despite how much it hurt her. But other times she would remember something that Niffty had once said while comforting her.
"You are like your mother, her strength came from her heart. She never brandished a sword or fought in a war but she was the strongest and most courageous person I ever knew because she gave to others everything she had to give and always offered a tender touch to those who had been scorched by the world's cruelty. And at times, that's more than enough."
It was those words lingering in the back of her head, that would give her just a little ray of hope that maybe, just maybe her stepmother was wrong.
"One more stitch and there!" Millie said putting the finishing touches on the dress. She stood up from her chair and held it up for Charlotte to see. "Well? What do you think?"
The dress was very pretty and would suit someone like Charlotte very well. The garment consisted of a wide, yellow skirt, a pink corset and puffy, taffeta sleeves, all decorated with embroidered flowers and plants. The soft pink and the yellows would surely highlight Charlotte's pale complexion and her golden hair.
"Oh it's beautiful." Charlotte said looking over the dress, taking care to study each detail. "I love it, but are you sure it'll fit me?"
"Well I haven't made the alterations yet so try it on and I'll do some draping and pinning."
Millie made the dress fit Charlotte perfectly and when the time came for them to go down into the square to perform, she wore it proudly. The alps grabbed their instruments, Alastor threw on the dark cloak Millie made for him, and they hitched up the wagon for the trip.
Poor Alastor was so terribly nervous about tonight. Charlotte could tell from the way his ears occasionally twitched from underneath the hood of his cloak and it made her feel a little guilty. She didn't want to make him do something that would make uncomfortable but she knew the deep down he wanted this. A chance to join the world. To not have to hide away from it like a pariah. She saw it growing up, every time she would ask him to join her and Vagatha on their trips into town and he'd say no, but there would be a longing in his eyes. A longing to go out strolling on the street, to freely walk about like an ordinary person, to be apart of the happy crowds. She knew he wanted that more than anything.
She didn't care how different he was, he had as much right to be in the world as everyone else and she was going to see to that.
"It'll be alright." She assured him with a gentle grasp to his hand. "I promise."
He smiled softly and blushed a little underneath the hood, grateful that she couldn't see.
"I hope so." He told her. "I really hope so."