But she didn’t mean that.
She meant, Be careful and stay safe.
How I knew this, I didn’t know. I just knew her eyes were troubled, even alarmed, and that freaked me way the hell out.
“Madeleine, our sleigh is waiting,” Apollo cut into these thoughts and I looked to him to see he had his hand extended to me.
“Remember everything…eh…vree…thing. We want to hear it all on your return,” Loretta ordered, coming forward to fuss with the folds of my cloak as I moved to Apollo.
I had a feeling from Apollo’s earlier look that I wasn’t going to be having girlie time “on my return.”
I was coming to love my girls. But from that look, I was good to wait until the morning.
I didn’t share this with Loretta.
I told her, “I’ll remember, honey, promise.”
I got close to Apollo and he took my hand, lifted it and curved it around the inside of his elbow. Without delay, he moved us to the door.
Right before we went through it, I looked over my shoulder at Meeta.
She was watching me with a weird intensity that was unsettling, her expression clouded. Then, she strangely lifted up a hand, only a slim forefinger extended, and touched the tip of it between her eyes.
I didn’t know what that meant. I just knew it meant something.
I obviously couldn’t ask and I couldn’t think on it either. Apollo was moving swiftly and I had to think about keeping up with him and not tripping.
Before I knew it, we were in one of his sleighs with the furs over our laps and he’d snapped the reins. The chill air bit at my cheeks and through the heavy (but not as heavy as fur) velvet cloak. I shivered for more than one reason as my eyes lifted to the torchlit castle.
Apollo must have felt it for he curved an arm around me and tucked me close to his side.
That felt better.
He then dipped his head and murmured into the top of my hair, “Your beauty tonight is unsurpassed.”
That warmed me all the way through to the point where my toes curled in my beaded velvet slippers.
Because I knew what he meant and what he meant meant the world.
I looked exactly like his dead wife. But tonight, I knew I looked better.
It might be greedy and wrong to love that, but I had to admit, I did.
Then again, even I was stunned at how awesome I looked.
I had help and not just Loretta and Meeta’s awesome skills with hair and makeup.
There was no other way to describe it, my gown was sublime. A dark green velvet that skimmed my figure to the bottom of my h*ps and flared out into a full skirt. The velvet led up to a strapless bodice but this was covered in a fabulous topaz lace which melted down my torso, disappearing at my hips.
The lace formed a Sabrina neckline and dipped a little at the back, which was kind of backless. The kind of part was that the velvet came only to the small of my back and up my sides, but that extraordinary lace covered my skin, providing an elegant, peekaboo back done up the middle with lace covered buttons.
The dress was sleeveless so I wore long, bronze satin gloves that fit tight up to my mid-upper arm. My feet were covered in flat green velvet slippers with a thick suede sole and topaz beading at the pointed toe.
My makeup was heavy, smoky and fabulous (Loretta’s doing).
And the neckline of the dress was so perfect I needed no jewelry at my throat. But Loretta gave me emerald and topaz chandelier earrings to put in my ears as Meeta linked chain after chain of emerald and topaz bracelets around my right wrist.
And last, my hair was swept loosely back to a smooth but large, lovely chignon Meeta fastened at the nape of my neck then, on each side close to the bun, she slid in extravagant combs that had ends which were large sprays of emeralds and topaz that glittered against my hair.