A King's Curse

Chapter 4

Okay, just real quick, this picture is NOT what Brie looks like. It's only what the dress looks like later on. Kk, now back to the story.

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Brie sat on her bed, back against the headboard with her knees up to her chest. She rubbed her hands over her face, her fingers instinctively running their way to the little bumps and acne scars. She had terrible acne when she was in high school, and she had constantly picked at her face. It had been one of her many insecurities.

Now, the acne had long disappeared, except for the occasional blackhead or blemish, but her face had been left with many tiny scars. And whenever she was feeling anxious or stressed, Brie's fingers would find their way to her face to scratch and pinch at them, trying to stimulate some form of relief.

To her surprise, her face felt unusually smooth. She could not feel any blemishes or signs of acne scars.

Hopping off the bed, Brie scurried over to the vanity and looked into the mirror, turning her face over with her hands. She almost gasped. Her skin was exceptionally smooth, free of any and all scars or imperfections she had not even 24 hours ago.

Her eyes were even brighter in color and liveliness. She also noticed her hair was shinier and looked the healthiest it had ever been. The blond strands glistening in the dim candlelight. Her hair wasn't as nearly fair or beautiful as Thranduil's, but it was close to Elven quality. Her hair had always been prettier than average. Her dad said it was something that she got from her mother. But now, her hair was truly beautiful. She could pose in an ad for hair shampoo. 

Heck, she could model for a skin product, hair treatment, and even contact lens advertisements.

Brie let out a small laugh.

Was it the fruit she ate this morning that was making her see things? Maybe the berries were fermented.

She literally looked like one of the Elves. Minus her lack of height and thicker thighs. She also guaranteed her double chin wasn't a common trait among the race of supermodels either. It was something she got from her dad -- the double chin. It looked adorable on him, especially when he laughed. But Brie hated it on her. For pictures, she made sure to tilt her chin upwards and stick her tongue on the top of her mouth, just so the crease would be less prominent. Sam always told her not to worry about it, but it wasn't that easy to forget about.

And there was also the little part about her ears.

Once upon a time they had been pointy, like her mother's. Brie's ears had reminded her father the most about her mother. And when her mother was alive, she always felt a special connection between her and her mom because of their shared attribute. Not that they had already been close because of their relationship, but it was something that only they had. They were the only ones in their whole town who had pointy ears, and at that time at the age of four, it had been extremely special to share something like that with her mom.

Then, when her mother had got in that car accident, it was as if that special bond had died with her.

Years trickled away and eventually, Brie found herself hating her ears. The other kids were vicious with their bullying and picking, saying that her ears grew into that nasty shape because she never ate her greens. Some of them called her an ugly elf, or Santa's slave, and would tape Christmas lists on her back for her to give to her "master." And many of her classmates would run up to her at the playground and tug on her ears and push her over.

She had walked home almost every day, crying and hugging herself. One time, a group of older boys caught her sobbing on her way home and cornered her by a large tree. They yelled at her many nasty things, and at the time she didn't even know what most of them meant. They had slapped her and kicked her. Then one of them threw a pocket knife down at her feet and told her to go cut her ears off.