The Faerie Queen by Lucy True

Author:Lucy True [True, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Supernatural Romance
Publisher: Persephone Press
Published: 2018-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

It’d been a little discomforting to strip down and bathe in an unfamiliar place, but at least these faeries didn’t treat her with hostility and suspicion. They weren’t as deferential as Chiara supposed they would be to a full-blooded faerie child of Titania, or at least a half-blood who’d grown up among them, but she hardly cared.

The warm water closed around her, inviting her to do more than just wash away the grime from her journey. She sank down into the claw-footed porcelain bathtub with a sense of relief. With a silver filigree screen between her and the fae handmaidens sent to attend to her, Chiara took her time washing her hair and body, and enjoying the water. By the time she was done, the water looked filthy with the dust of the past few days spent on the road. Chiara couldn’t recall ever being so dirty in her life, even after long, hot afternoons spent digging in her flowerbeds in the summer.

After the bath, the faerie maids each performed a different task to prepare her for Titania’s ball. One ran a silken cloth over her hair until it was dry. She then brushed it and gathered the smooth, straight honey-blonde locks by one section at a time to wrap them around heated curling tongs. Another of the maids sprayed her with perfume, a light scent that reminded Chiara of baby powder, and then applied make-up to her face.

The third maid presented her with two dresses. After choosing one, Chiara had to keep herself from squirming like a badly behaved puppy while the woman dressed her from head to toe in finery.

Once the fae women finished their ministrations, Chiara hardly recognized herself when they permitted her to look in the mirror. The lavender dress had a corset-like bodice that laced up the front, and puffed sleeves that tapered along her arms into flowing lace cuffs. There were several silver buckles at the waist, which only emphasized her slender figure above the full, floor-length skirt of the dress.

From the choker-like collar of the dress to the top of the bodice, silver lace was the only thing covering her chest. Her hair dangled around her shoulders in golden curls, with a few loose braids woven into it on either side, left unfastened so the ends would interweave with the rest of her hair.

“This is insanity,” she muttered while the maids added a crown of flowers to her hairdo. In her mind, Chiara had dubbed all the hair devices, make-up tools, and wardrobe the Implements of Beautification. “They certainly worked.”

She squared her shoulders and pursed her lips at the mirror. If the faerie maids hadn’t shooed her out of the room, Chiara would have spent the entire night gawking at her reflection.

They left her standing on the balcony overlooking the first floor of the palace. She could see inside the well-lit ballroom, where faerie women whirled with their dance partners, their colorful dresses blending into a rainbow of hues. The men wore

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