Hours later, after I had been appropriately scrubbed and bathed (which I took care of myself), polished, coifed, and ungracefully laced into a dress with my eyes closed, I was allowed to see the finished product.
I had been right to allow the seamstresses creative license with the dress. In a thousand years, I couldn’t never have come close to thinking up what they’d fashioned.
The dress was deep blue, the color of sapphires, and shimmered in the light. The fabric, light and iridescent, reflected the light all on its own. But that was nothing compared to its adornments. Tiny clear gemstones, possibly diamonds, were sewn into the material. Thick at the bottom, gradually fading into a sparser layout as they crept up the dress. The gems sparkled and twinkled like so many stars in the heavens. The bodice fit snuggly to my chest and stomach, billowing out at the waist perfectly to come to rest upon the floor. The scoop neckline was lower than I was used to, but not so low that my skin flushed red. The sleeves were made of slices of fabric that reached nearly to my elbows, each with a gemstone adorning its tip, my skin peeking through the fabric as I moved.
Standing back, I took a shaky breath. The dress was very nearly as beautiful as the night sky and that was saying something.
Mattie had forgone an updo in favor of pinning small sections of my hair with matching silver clips, encrusted with clear gemstones, each shaped like a leaf just behind my temples. The rest of my hair hung loose around my back and shoulders, tickling my skin where it was exposed in long waves, polished and shining. A slim silver crown sat above the clips, a lone sapphire cut like a teardrop fastened just below the delicate tip.
They left my arms bare, not wanting overdo it. My eyes were lined in deep blue, and that and the dress transformed my boring grey-blue peepers into a deep, true shade of blue, that twinkled like the gemstones I was wrapped in.
I smiled at them, tears welling on my lids.
Leyona tsked me. “No crying now, Milady. You’ll sully all our good work.” She told me with a grin.
I laughed. “Sorry, it’s just…you’ve made me beautiful.” I looked at both of them meaningfully, reaching out and taking their hands.
Mattie spoke up. “No, Milady…you was already that way.”