Reckless Magic

“What is going to happen to Lilly?”I called after him, fuming.

“I don’t know,” he replied softly.

“Well, aren’t you going to dosomething?” I accused, tired of being told what to do.

“Lilly Mason lied to me, and shelied to the Crown Prince, she is on her own. I ca

I stood in the foyer, flowers inhand, staring at the door. I was so angry I could spit.

“He’s right dear; you do have to dowhat Kiran asks,” I turned to see my aunt standing in the door-frame leading tothe kitchen, arms folded, with a concerned look on her face.

“Ahhh!” I let out a small scream offrustration, threw the flowers on the floor and stormed up to my bedroom. If Iwas going to be treated like a child, then I was going to act like one.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I rummaged through my closet,throwing piece after piece of clothing into a pile on my bedroom floor. Icouldn’t decide what to wear, against my will, to the dance. My nice clothesseemed too dressy and my casual clothes seemed too dumpy. I contemplatedwearing the Kingsley uniform just to spite Talbott, but decided that hewouldn’t care and I would look like an idiot.

I’d never been to a dance beforeand I didn’t know what to expect. My high school experience had thus far been adisaster and the last thing I wanted to add to my long list of high schoolembarrassing moments was an opportunity to willfully show off what lack ofdance moves I had. The only thing, in fact, that could get me to go to thedance was a royal decree, which was apparently what I was up against.

I was not sure if I even took thewhole Monarchy thing seriously yet. It didn’t seem real and the truth was I hada hard time believing there was a King out there that actually had authorityover me. It was even harder to believe that one day that King would be Kiran.

I rolled my eyes and began torummage through another section of clothes. I paused on a black strapless dressI had worn to a funeral for one of Aunt Syl’s coworkers. The dress wastight-fitting, but had a ruffle that started mid-thigh and ended at the knee.To the funeral I wore a black, cardigan to cover up my shoulders, but I couldgo without one for the dance. I stomped my foot, frustrated, realizing thatthis date was the last thing I wanted to do tonight.

I found it hard to believe thatKiran was doing this with my best interest in mind. It seemed more like a wayto torment me more than anything else. A date with Talbott, who completelylacked personality and didn’t like me anyway, all while watching Seraphina VanCuren throw herself at Kiran sounded more like torture than a high school riteof passage.

“How are you doing sweetie?” AuntSyl peeked her head in the door and talked softly, soothingly. She had probablyheard me stomping my foot and grumbling for the last couple of hours to knowthat I was just a little upset.

“I have nothing to wear,” I pulledmy head out of the closet and glanced at the clock: 6:30. At least I hadalready showered.

“This came for you,” she saidtentatively and stepped all the way into my room, pushing the door aside with alarge white box, wrapped in a soft pink ribbon.

When I didn’t respond, she walkedover to the bed and laid the box on top of my rumpled covers. I could see herwatching me out of the corner of her eye, while she opened the box and revealedsoft pink silk wrapped in silver tissue paper.

Since I didn’t move to examine thecontents of the box, Aunt Syl did the honors by slowly unwrapping the tissuepaper and pulling out the garment. She held it up, with a soft gasp. The dresswas absolutely stu

“Who’s it from?” I asked, althoughI could probably assume.

“Oh here, this came with it,” shehanded me a piece of ivory cardstock, embellished with an elaborate snakecircling around to eat its own tail; surrounding the snake were dainty liliesand intertwining with the snake was an ornate golden crown. I realized I hadseen a lot of snakes recently and pondered their meaning as I grudgingly readthe hand written note.

I wanted to be the one to take you tonight.

Know that I’ll be thinking of only you.

“What a bunch of bull-sh—“

“Eden,” my aunt cut me off sharply.“It is a nice gesture, and a beautiful gown,” she held it closer and sighedsoftly. The dress was beautiful. I stepped closer to examine it and rubbed thesoft silk between my fingers. I couldn’t find a label and wondered whatdesigner was responsible for this magnificent creation.

“No. I am not going to play thesegames,” I said firmly, letting the material drop from my hands. I walked backover to my closet and ripped the black funeral dress from the hanger.

“Absolutely not,” my aunt shook herhead. “Come with me if you’re going to be stubborn.”

Aunt Syl laid the pink dress verycarefully onto my bed, laying it out perfectly. She touched it one more timeand gave another soft sigh, before turning on her heel and beckoning me tofollow. We walked down the hall into her bedroom.

The master bedroom was gigantic andlooked like a page directly out of pottery barn. Her bed always perfectly made,was adorned with a lavish comforter and probably fifteen pillows. I imagined thatit was also gathering dust since she was never here to sleep in it. We walkedpast her settee and 52” flat screen TV and entered her bathroom.

The bathroom itself looked like aspa, but the real treasure was in the back…. her walk-in closet. Aunt Syl’s onlyvice was clothing. She loved shopping and had a closet full of clothes totestify. Aunt Syl was really quite the bombshell. Her thin frame and trendysense of style made it easy for us to share and swap, so I was excited to seewhat she had in mind.

She took in a big breath as ifpaying homage to the closet gods and let her fingers slide across the racks ofclothes until she reached the back. I saw her slowly, and carefully, pickingher way through the many formal dresses she had accumulated. Her fingersbrushed softly, almost reverently over their various materials, moving them outof the way gently. Finally, she came to rest on one. She pulled the hanger downand turned around to face me.

I smiled. This was one of herfavorite purchases. She picked it up in the middle of the summer and hadn’t hada chance to wear it yet. The emerald green dress was strapless and short, witha curving bodice. Small black and gold beading covered the front, giving it thelook of a corset, while the waist was cinched even smaller with an oversizedblack belt. At least it would give me curves.

I took the dress from her and gaveher a small kiss on the cheek. I turned to head back to my room, but not beforeI grabbed a pair of killer black heels. Once in my room I dressed in seconds,maneuvering my body in ways I didn’t think possible to get the zipper all theway up in the back. I slipped on the heels and pulled my black waves into anunruly bun at the base of my neck. It was messy, but it would have to do.

I headed to the bathroom, where mymakeup awaited. I was in the middle of painting on a quick retouch of brightpink fingernail polish when I heard the doorbell ring. They were just going tohave to wait. I smudged my black eyeliner on, while Aunt Syl answered the door.A little bit of mascara and some bright pink lip gloss and I was ready to go.

I grabbed a beaded black clutch andstuffed it with the essentials, and made my descent down the staircase. Ialways imagined the walk down the tall, wooden staircase, to be somewhatmagical on my first date when I was a little girl. Unfortunately, I neverimagined my first date to be with someone who despised me, to a dance where Iwas sure to make a fool of myself, by orders from a Royal Prince who likes mebut has been forbidden to talk to me; but I never had much of an imagination.