Edge of the Barrier (The Barrier Series Book 1) by Aleese Hughes

Author:Aleese Hughes [Hughes, Aleese]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Writ Keepers Publishing
Published: 2023-10-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Twenty

The three sisters had assisted Anne in wiggling out of her ration distributor jumpsuit. Anne thought their helping her undress slightly unnecessary. But then she felt grateful for the help as her ladies-in-waiting pulled the tight dress for the luncheon over her head and straightened it underneath her hips. Anne had never worn a dress in her entire life. The bare feeling on her legs made her feel naked as one breeze after another blew up into the skirt.

Anne’s ladies-in-waiting left, then a makeup artist came in, the woman from Anne’s entourage. With a few expert strokes, Anne’s face glowed with deep contours and a silver, gray, and black combination of eyeshadows on her lids. The makeup artist, who still hadn’t offered Anne her name, had called it a “smokey eye.” Anne thought the look well-named because it did look like a thick layer of smoke had settled above her eyes.

Hair was next. Gwen strolled into Anne’s room and clapped her hands in delight.

“You look lovely!”

Anne wrinkled her nose as she turned on herself about twenty times in the reflection. The curve to her chest and hips looked much too defined inside the tight, short dress. And even though she could recognize that the makeup looked good, she couldn’t help but think it was too heavy.

Gwen chuckled as if she could read Anne’s mind. “I’m going to give you a piece of advice that may very well get you through this trip: You never dress for yourself—you dress to impress.”

Anne let out a long breath of air and let Gwen sit her down in front of the vanity for the third time within the hour. Gwen slid a gargantuan bag off her shoulder and set it down on the counter with a “thud.”

“We want to accentuate the beautiful health and length of your hair.” Gwen began digging in the bag’s contents with her neatly manicured nails. “You know, just to help with the first impression.”

Anne gulped. “How many female courtiers will be there?”

Gwen tapped her chin with a thick curling iron she’d pulled from the bag's depths. “Let’s see … Probably most of the younger courtiers. None of them will want to miss an event such as this. So, you’ll see about a hundred of them at the luncheon.” She clicked a button at the bottom of the hair tool to turn it on.

“A hundred?!”

“And that’s just the young courtiers who will be competing for the prince’s hand at The Crown Ball. The older, most of them married, will also make a decent appearance. They’ll add at least another hundred to the party.”

“Two hundred?!” Anne watched her reflection as her face grew abnormally pale—even underneath all the makeup.

Gwen smiled as she ran the iron through Anne’s hair. “Don’t worry. I highly doubt you will have a chance to meet and speak with each one individually. Most of them will not want to have anything to do with you.”

“Why?”

“You threaten them, Anne. You threaten the entirety of what the capital has been for all of us for centuries.

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