The ribbon was pale, almost the exact colour of fresh cream, and made of daintily-spun silk. It danced in Cassandra's experienced hands, weaving through the long locks of my dark hair with elegance and precision. I didn't wince when Cassandra pulled my hair up and back as she braided it. She pulled pins from between her lips as she worked, sliding them into my hair to hold it up in an elaborate style.
"Where did you learn how to do this?" I asked, genuinely awed. Cassandra was even younger than I, probably no more than eighteen or nineteen. Though she is the niece of the head butler, Arnold, she was only ever meant to serve as a temporary handmaiden for me until they found someone more suited. But at this point I was pretty sure I would never willingly let her be replaced.
"My mother was handmaiden to his majesty's cousin," Cassandra told me. I watched her reflection work, her delicate brow scrunched in concentration and her eyes never leaving her work for even a moment. "This was back before lady Annabeth married that lord up in Theris, mind. Although his name escapes me now..."
"Lord Rayne," I supplied immediately. "Although I'd heard she was a lady."
Cassandra stopped short, her eyes meeting mine through the mirror for a moment. She looked surprised, and maybe a little impressed. "Very good, my lady. Rayne was definitely the name. I think I had also heard that they go by both lord and lady, come to think of it. You know the ins and outs of the royal family well."
I knew about Lord/Lady Rayne's fluidity of gender, as well as their marriage being an arrangement that left neither they nor Lady Annabeth happy. I had briefly considered Rayne as a patron and lover before setting my sights higher. As to where my in-depth knowledge came from... I supposed that I could have told Cassandra that I had used my grandfather's mercantile sources to study in-depth the political situation of Amella to better find a time and way to insinuate myself into King Edward's life. That working as a chambermaid to the queen had only ever been a way to make an opportunity to meet the king in private and seduce him.
But that would make me seem incredibly manipulative.
Even if it was true, I preferred the castle staff to think of me as one of their peers who just so happens to have been chosen and elevated above her station by pure chance.
I settled for shrugging an uncovered shoulder. "One picks things up when working in proximity to the royalty. And Cassandra, I've asked you before to simply call me Arabela. Or just Bela, or Belle. I'm no highborn lady, just a fellow woman who happens to have the king's eye."
"Of course, my la-'' Cassandra stuttered and finally corrected herself to "Mistress Arabela. Now, please hold quite still so I can get your hair just right."
Had she meant the title "mistress" to be a term of respect, or a joke about my role as the king's mistress? I smiled, deciding that either way was fine with me.
We were both silent as she passed the brush through the bottom half of my hair one more time, then finished the braid. Her handiwork left my dark, shiny hair pulled back on my head in two wide braids, which eventually conjoined at the back and merged into a larger plait that went down past my shoulders. Interwoven through the whole mass was a pair of cream-coloured ribbons, which added a pop of contrast.
I had initially wanted to finish the look with an elaborate silver jewelled netting around and within the braids, but had nixed the idea before Cassandra had started on my hair. As she held a small hand mirror behind me and angled it so I could see the full effect, I decided I was right not to add the glittering detail: this hairstyle spoke of elegance without opulence, beauty without much pretence. Silver and gems, though beautiful, would have pushed the style towards the gaudy.
"It's perfect," I told her, and Cassandra flushed in pleasure.
"I am glad my lady likes it."
"More than like it, Cassandra. It's amazing. Your mother taught you very well."
My handmaiden looked pleased at the praise. Speechless, she opted for a simple curtsey, and I couldn't help but grin at her reaction. A few mere months ago, we would have been equals, but now she was flabbergasted to receive praise from me. I was certainly moving up in the world, even if my new position would last only as long as the king's personal interest in me. Of course, I fully intended to keep his interest for a long, long time.
"Shall we add on the rest of the dress and see the final product?" I asked, standing and turning to face her. I wore a long, white, diaphanous shift. Suitable for bedchambers and as undergarments, but it showed off far too much body to be worn beyond. The thin material clearly showed off the white bra underneath, padded to help accentuate the swell of my breasts.
I was plenty curvy already, and had chosen clothing to accentuate my... assets.
Cassandra stepped around me and helped me into my dress, then laced the back tightly. The cream-coloured silk was a perfect match to the ribbons in my hair (having been cut from the same cloth), but with small embellishments done in silver thread. It was a sophisticated colour, but without treading into the rich colours the nobles touted. Beautiful, but understated, clearly telegraphing that I knew I was not the same as them, but without making me look forgettable.
The fabric pinched around the ribs and waist to show off the generous swell of my breasts and hips, and the cut at the front left an appreciable wedge of cleavage visible. This was covered by the layer of white I wore beneath, to give the suggestion of modesty, but the thin fabric was translucent enough to leave little of my chest and collar to the imagination. The same was repeated at the bottom, the hem of the dress itself being cut high enough in places to be nearly scandalous, but the layers of white covered enough to allay those concerns.
The overall silhouette of the dress was modest, but it was shaped to show off my best features, and enough of me was covered only by the diaphanous layers that the end result was undeniably sexy. The message was an imitation of modesty and innocence, with an obvious undercut of sexuality. What could better sum up my narrative of a lovely handmaiden, young and naive, being seduced by her king?
"It's perfect," I said again, and Cassandra nodded her agreement as she walked a slow circle around me, tugging hems into place and smoothing fabric.
"It's beautiful, but it's very... daring..."
"His majesty, King Edward, has come to expect a certain amount of daringness from me," I confided, and Cassandra blushed from her chin to her ears. How could she live in this den of vipers and still be so innocent? "I am, after all, going to be announced tonight as his official concubine. It would be unbecoming to look anything less than appealing."
"You certainly look appealing," she hedged, still blushing. "I suppose it makes sense to show the lords and ladies exactly what drew his majesty's attention."
"Just so." I settled back into the chair before my wide mirror, and Cassandra took her place at my right side. She looked so natural there that it was almost a shock to think she had only begun working with me this very morning. "We should have just enough time for makeup and finishing touches, then we will adjourn to the hall adjacent to the ballroom to await my... would it be pompous to call it a 'grand entrance'?"
"Not pompous, mistress Arabela," Cassandra assured me. She swiped a small brush across a palette and began applying a thin layer of foundation. "Most of the point of this ball is to announce you, after all."
She worked quickly, evening out my skin tone without altering it too much. My skin is darker than most of the Amellan nobility, being that my family comes from Sawarra. My hair, thick and dark and glossy, would never pass as native to this continent. It would take too much effort and product to try and match the fair skin and hair tones of the court, and I had no interest in doing so anyway. I was proud of my heritage, proud of looking different even as I walked and talked just like those around me.
Red tint drew attention to my lips and made them look sensual, while the barest tint of silver on my lids made my wide, brown eyes stand out even more.
I was careful to use the silver colouring only rarely - I had gotten it as a sample from an alchemical supplier my father bought from, and replacing the small bottle would cost more than the dress. "It may be expensive and a bit finicky," the old man had told me, "but it won't make you blind like lead or mercury. Seems like more than a fair trade to me."
My father had been leery of investing in the absurdly expensive makeup, and it had only been at my insistence that he had given in. The products were slowly gaining popularity among the elites across the continent, and pretty soon that investment would pay itself back tenfold. If my father had listened to more of my suggestions in the last six or ten years, we might have been well enough off that I wouldn't have needed to try and seduce my way into the king's lap. I might well have done it anyway, but I wouldn't have had to.
"We're done," Cassandra finally said, snapping me out of my reverie. I shook off the memories and assessed my reflection.
"Splendid, Cassandra. Absolutely splendid."
Cassandra bobbed a quick curtsy again and busied herself with a last-minute check, making sure the silvery pins in my hair were secure and that there were no imperfections in the makeup. Once satisfied, she led the way, going as far as opening my door for me like I was a real noble. "You don't need to..." I started, then gave up. I wasn't going to talk Cassandra into skipping the formality in just one day.
I turned down the hall and walked at what I would call a stately pace. Certain and confident, without being in a rush. I had spent months practising it when I was a little girl.
My stately pace became more of an unstately stoppage as the queen herself, Rosalyn Greyhill, stepped around the corner from the hallway that led to her rooms. She was heralded by a lady-in-waiting and a handmaid, and followed by two more handmaidens that carried her royal train so the hem wouldn't get dirtied in the hundred or steps between here and the foyer. She stopped as she spied me, and the two young ladies behind her narrowly managed to catch themselves in time to avoid bumping into her highness.
