Page 98 of A Witch and Her Dragon
“Don’t need it anymore.” I reach up and wrap her fingers in mine, then press a kiss to her knuckles. “Alina changed everything, Mama. I’m free.”
Her one good eye goes a bit misty, and she pulls me in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Raelan. And so happy for youboth.”
“Will we get to see the princess?” Clarice asks, finally turning away from staring at the castle. Her hazel eyes—light like my father’s—are made more vivid by the snow, and her long dark brown hair catches in the chill breeze.
She’s growing up so fast, I realize.Bothmy sisters are. Soon I’ll have to worry about boys chasing them around. The very thought makes me slightly nauseated.
“Can we, please?” Gilda adds.
I pull away from Mama and once again have to resist the urge to tousle Gilda’s hair. “You will. She’s looking forward to seeing you. She would’ve been here to greet you, but she had to get ready for the ball. So, in the meantime...” I give them all a smile. “How about we get some pastries and cocoa? I might be able to sneak a few.”
Gilda’s face brightens into a grin, but Clarice says, “You won’t get us kicked out, will you, Rae?”
“I’ll try not to,” I say, tucking Mama’s hand into the crook of my arm and starting up the castle stairs. Then I toss a mischievous look back at my sisters. “But no promises.”
Chapter 44
Alina
“THERE. TAKE A LOOK, YOUR Highness.”
Ms. Fairhaven lowers her fluffy makeup brush and takes a step back, allowing me my first glimpse into the vanity mirror.
I catch my breath.
Ms. Fairhaven has been doing my hair and makeup for these events for years. Typically, we opt for soft, subtle colors: a bit of rouge on the cheeks, a subtle gloss on the lips. But tonight, she’s turned me into a masterpiece of blues and grays and twinkling silvers. My eyelids are painted in shades of charcoal and smoke, my lashes bold and dark. My cheeks are tinted pink, and my lips are a glossy crimson.
She’s pulled my hair back into a half-up, half-down style, and I tingle with anticipation as I turn my head slightly to admire the claiming mark adorning the side of my throat. Ms. Fairhaven didn’t try to hide it. She knows how much this mark—my bond—means to me.
Behind me, Yuki jumps off the bed and pads across the floor on quiet paws. He takes a seat at my feet and tips his head. “You look...” He tips his head the other way, gaze considering. “Like a woman.”
I can’t help but to let out a sudden laugh. “Ugh, why do you have to say it like that?” Reaching down, I trail a hand over his head, then scratch him gently behind one ear. “But thank you.” My gaze flicks to Ms. Fairhaven, and I reach out to place a hand on her arm. “And thank you too.” I take a deep breath and glance into the mirror. “You really think this is okay? It’ll certainly make a statement.”
My lady-in-waiting finishes putting her brushes and palettes away, then turns to regard me. Her smile is soft, her cheeks pink from the warmth in my bedchamber. “I think it’s lovely.” Her gaze flicks to the scar on my neck. “You’re not the same girl who left here. You’re a woman now, Your Highness.” She tips her head, her smile turning playful. “And women get to have all the fun.”
“See?” Yuki says. “I told you.”
With a roll of my eyes, I look at myself in the mirror once more, my fingers inching up to touch the mark on my throat. It’s in the shape of Raelan’s jaws, a perfect oval where his fangs pierced me. Even now, when I recall that night, the scar tingles with warmth. I wonder if he can feel it, wherever he is on the grounds right now.
I know his mother and sisters are coming today; he was so excited to see them. It’s precious how much love he has for them.
“One more thing,” Ms. Fairhaven says. She walks away, disappearing into my closet, then returns a moment laterwith a jewelry box clasped in her hands. “I’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity for you to wear this. And I think tonight is the night.”
She opens the jewelry box with a click, then pulls out a gleaming silver necklace. Stepping behind me, she says, “Lift your hair,” then proceeds to clasp the necklace about my throat.
It’s tight, a choker more than anything else, and the glittering blue and silver gemstones draw even more attention to my new scar. I lift my fingers to trace them along the metal, a surge of excitement rising inside me.
“Well?” Ms. Fairhaven regards me in the mirror. “What do you think?”
I meet my smoky-eyed gaze in the mirror and get a tremble of anticipation at the thought of Raelan seeing me like this. “It’s perfect.”
Theres a gentle knock on the door in the sitting room, and Ms. Fairhaven goes to answer it. After a short conversation, she returns to me and says, “It seems some young ladies are here to see you. Shall I—”
“Yes!” I push to my feet and hurriedly pad across my bedchamber and through the doorway into the sitting room, Yuki right behind me. I haven’t seen the girls since our first semester ended, but they all accepted my invitation to the ball, and I’ve been waiting anxiously for them to arrive.
Grasping the door handle, I pull it open to find a maid standing there, my three roommates gathered behind her.
As soon as Lyra sees me, she announces, “Goddess, Alina! You look...” Her crimson eyes sweep up and down the length of my body, and she arches a brow. “Well, I wasgoingto say sexy, but”—she points at my hastily tied robe—“what’s that?”
