a pin into my hair and reached for another one.
“Precisely,” Jasmine returned as I fixed another pin. “I’ll finish with the bald one.”
“You can’t like them all, Jazzy,” Dora entered the conversation.
“I don’t like them, little precious,” Jasmine retorted. “And this is important, Dora, so listen. I don’t have to like them.”
“All right!” I called an end to that, shoving in another pin and hearing a giggle from Dora.
“You might want to know, you’re fifteen minutes late!” Jasmine called back.
“Bloody hell,” I whispered, shoved in another pin and then stared at myself.
Some tendrils were hanging down beside my face and along my neck, and turning my head side to side, the back seemed just to be a mass of messy curls attached to my skull.
But I didn’t have time to do anything more and I didn’t know what I was doing in the first place.
Though at least now you could see the necklace and the pearls in my ears.
I’d have to do.
“Come out, Ellie!” Dora cried. “We want to see you!”
I had buttoned and laced my own self in my clothing, and after besting that feat, I could just say it was good the Nadirii practiced intense stretching to augment range of motion.
I looked into my own eyes and whispered, “Nothing for it.”
And there wasn’t.
There was nothing for it.
By some twist of a malcontented fate, I was stuck with a taciturn betrothed who, when he deigned to look at me, studied me like I was some specimen he was mildly curious about.
A male who was also surrounded by arseholes (his father) and louts (his men).
And from this dinner forward, that would be my lot.
Mine and Dora’s.
And for some reason that was entirely unexplainable, I was drawn to him so deeply, his inattention when we were in each other’s presence cut like a blade.
I had slept not a wink the night before. I tossed and turned, my mind filled with his face (and his shoulders, and the way he filled out his leathers, and his short-clipped black hair, and his beard, and his tattoos, not to mention his sky-blue eyes).
Bah!
I had not spent much time with men (save True). They unnerved me (save True, and of course the ones I was battling).
So I’d never felt such as this in my life.
Even for True.
I moved out from behind the screen and stopped to look at the trio who were all belly down on the bed, side by side.
All of them were staring at me.
I put my arms out to my sides. “Well?”
“Holy goddess,” Jasmine breathed.
“If I wasn’t already in love, I’d be in love,” Hera said. “With you.”
“You look like a princess!” Dora cried.
I studied my girl a moment before my gaze slid to Hera.
She was pursing her lips.
I turned back to Theodora. “I’m already a princess, Dora. And darling, this is important. A gown does not make a princess.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “But now, you look like one who’ll ride to her fairytale prince on a unicorn.”
I opened my mouth to cease this bent, but Theodora wasn’t done.
“You already ride faster than anyone, Ellie. Faster than lightning. And you can notch five arrows to a string in a thrice and let fly. Five. Even Serena can only do three. And Queen Ophelia told me that princesses are made, they are not born. So you can light up the night with starbursts and butterflies and ride Diana standing and wear a gown meant for a queen. Serena can’t do any of that. And you couldn’t do any of that when you were born. So you were made a princess. And how beautiful you are right now proves it, because you look this lovely, and you can still do all of that. No normal fairytale princess can do any of it, save the gown. So you’re the real thing!”
Oh heavens.
Suddenly I felt like crying.
And I realized then I didn’t need some male I did not know to be impressed I could notch a bow with five arrows while standing on my galloping horse and let fly.
All I needed was Dora to feel that way.
Clearly agreeing with me, Hera threw an arm around Dora and pulled her into a sideways hug.
I expended the effort to control my emotions before saying softly, “Come here, my lovely. I want an embrace before I attend dinner.”
She made a show of being annoyed she had to climb off the bed and she made another show of how difficult it was to trudge the six feet to me.
But when she