Wedding Day 6

Sala let out a woeful sigh " Well none of that matters now. You will be the Lady of Ironstone now. Also, Pelham wants to know your patronymic, if you have one. He said that it was for the ceremony. " Sala chuckled as she pulled her to sit in front of the mirror.

" Mulhn" Maya absently mumbled, taking a seat at the dressing table, and letting Sala, do whatever she needed to do.

Sala nodded " Are you nervous? Don't be. Do you know what is required of you on your wedding night?" Sala asked as she brushed Maya's hair looking at her reflection.

Maya nodded, smiled, and frowned realising that the northern traditions were different from the southern ones.

" I know about ours, but the northern ones might be a tad different" Maya's lips set in a thin line, and puffed her cheeks.

Sala stifled a smile " Don't worry dear. It's simple. Yield to your husband. " Sala plainly explain as she twisted a strand of her hair.

"Yield? As in, let him do whatever he wants to me?" Maya asked a little outraged and shocked.

Sala hummed and nodded as Maya's frown deepened, and glared at Sala through the mirror for her lack of tact or common sense.

" Uhmm...What if he wants to hurt me ?" Maya asked still glaring at Sala through the mirror.

Sala chuckled " No husband would like to do that to you on their wedding night. They have other things in mind. You shouldn't worry. Master is very smitten with you. I doubt that he'd touch a hair on your body without you saying so." Sala eased her worries, placing a hand on her shoulder, and giving her a gentle squeeze.

" I know after what happened with Haren, you think Master might be the same, but the two couldn't be more different. I don't understand where he gets it from. Their parents were good people, really good people. Might be the mad uncle, but that one died." Sala paused, and sighed " What I'm trying to say is that don't think of anything else, and follow your heart." Sala finished her lengthy speech as she twisted the other strand of hair on the other side, and joined the back with a brightly coloured hairpin.

As Sala added the finishing touches to her hair pulling on a few thin locks of hair on her sideburns, and a few stray ones on her forehead. She straightened herself and had a good look at her simple yet elegant handy work, clasping her hands in front of her full of joy and pride.

" You look breathtakingly beautiful Maya," Sala exclaimed sniffing as she moved back a step a let out an emotional sob, placing her hand over her heart.

As Maya stared at the woman in the mirror she couldn't believe that the girl with tousled hair that sat at the table earlier was the same one in the mirror.

Sala clapped her hands " Now let's do something about those bruises " Sala picked up a tin of powder from the table, patting the puff on her face in an attempt to cover the marks, but Maya shook her head and wiped her face, and stood up from the chair. She'd forgotten about the elixirs that Pelham had given her. She fished them out of the bed sheets, and drank the lot in one go, hoping that would work better than the powder.

When she took her seat at the table Sala skipped the powder and moved forward putting golden colour on her eyelids, black on her lashes and lastly on her lips, not very different from her already rosy lips. When Sala was finally done, she stood straight beaming smiling wider than, she'd ever seen before.

" I love weddings" Sala beamed as Maya stared at herself in the mirror unable to recognise herself. A little splash of colour here, and there, had made her look like those high-standing ladies parading around with a dungeon in their hand batting their long eyelashes at men to gain attention.

" Dakran won't know who you are" Sala excitedly said as she walked to the bed to pick up the corset. Maya frowned at her words, looked at herself, and picked up a kerchief off the table to wipe everything off. She wanted Dakran to know, and recognise her, it was absurd.

Sala gasped as she turned around, and saw Maya wiping the tint of her lips, glaring at herself in the mirror.

" What are doing?" Sala asked a little exasperated.

" You said that Dakran won't recognise me..what if he runs away?" Maya said with a pout and turned to look at herself in the mirror.

" Maya" Sala sighed and frowned, " In a good way. I know you're nervous, but don't be silly. Come let's get you dressed." Sala beckoned, and Maya reluctantly stood up and walked to where Sala was; unsure whether Sala was making her feel better or worse.

" Slip out of that nightgown of yours, and let's get you dressed," Sala said as she picked up the corset off the bed, and studied it for a moment.

" Do I have to wear that ?" Maya asked as she looked at the contraption with an apprehensive look, as she slipped out of the nightgown. Sala lowered the corset to meet her gaze.

Sala pursed her lips " You don't have to, but you'll have to wear something under the dress to keep you warm. I thought you might say that so brought this instead" Sala placed the corset back on the bed and picked up a lacy chemise, and held it in front of her.

" And that will keep me warm?" Maya frowned a little suspicious as she studied the piece of see-through cloth that wasn't thick enough to keep the flies away let alone keep her warm.

Sala chuckled " No but ...Dakran will be the one who sees you wearing this" Sala amusedly said as she gave the chemise a wiggle.

Maya's eyebrows quirked up both in surprise and shock, opened her mouth to retort but under Sala's expectant gaze, she caved in and nodded " I'm tired of arguing with you, so do whatever you want" Maya conceded a little exasperated while Sala's smile grew, giddy.

Sala almost skipped a step as she jumped towards her holding the chemise and slipped it over her head, with a wide grin as if she was the one getting married. When that was done she proceeded with the dress the little shawl, and the sash over her head and finally out of the wooden box, she pulled out a pair of thick heels cobalt blue shoes and pushed them at her feet.

Maya slipped into her shoes, while Sala impatiently waited for her to finish getting ready, shivers of cold sweat began trickling down her back, and angst quickly crept into her heart. Will she be enough? Lacking, she had thought it over and over and she was lacking even though Dakran didn't seem to think of it that way for now. What will happen when he will come to realise that she wasn't enough? A Lady of his rank, someone from high-standing people, refined and graceful. She was none of those things. She wasn't even close to being, enough.