BOOK THREE - promised series
Espheros is inhabited by more than just the human species. Shifters and Immortals walk the earth amongst them, hiding in the shadows.
There are some humans, however, who are very much aware of what moves through the dar...
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I left that afternoon to rehearse my reception, where a lot of Sentinels would be present along with the Ancients and the queen herself. To say that I was nervous would be a very crass understatement, though unfortunately nothing at all seemed to ease my nerves. Reagan told me time and time again that there was no need––as if my brain did not know this.
My body was adamant on acting on its own accord, and therefore the frantic beating of my heart was as uncontrollable as my sweaty palms. I was even aware of how many times I needed to swallow––such an insignificant thing, though as soon as I grew aware of it, it ceased to be an automatic biological occurrence. It felt as though my body itself rebelled against presenting myself in front of thousands of faces that would be painfully aware of mine, though I wouldn't have the time to register any of theirs.
Feeling an impending sense of dread move through me, I bit down hard on my teeth as I was being prepared for the real thing now. There was a lady with emerald-green scales for clothes doing my hair, braiding a part of it with slender, artistic fingers. She pinned some of the braids somewhere in the back.
I noticed she had her hair done similarly. She lacked the stones, however, that she intricately weaved into my hair. She used emeralds that shone like her scales and white moonstones. I wondered if the colors had been chosen purposely to match my eyes, though the green in mine was much duller than these rocks.
The dress I'd been squeezed into hugged my figure with an intensity that made my mouth drop as soon as I'd caught a glimpse of myself in a reflection provided by the window across from the entry to my bedchambers. There was no vanity in my chambers, but I was glad. Seeing myself in such a figure-complementing but revealing dress only added to my anxiety, making me feel incredibly self-conscious.
Once the lady doing my hair finished her piece of art, I was picked up by another female with blue scales covering her thin body.
She'd walked me through the process countless times, proving to possess an insane amount of patience. Her pale face was framed by dirty blonde hair that clung to it. Ariena smiled at me in greeting.
"Are you ready, Lera Catherine?"
I provided a shaky smile, shaking instead of nodding as I probably should have.
"You will be just fine," she assured, though I doubted I would be.
Ariena was dressed in simpler and plainer clothes than I was––she was only to accompany me down to the massive amphitheater which was built intertwined with the eastern side of the palace, just as much a part of it like the towers were. My dress glimmered in colorless rocks scattered across a satin fabric that stretched over my body. The torso was tight, while the dress loosened around my hips. My décolleté was left bare, to be accented by a necklace of Reagan's choosing during the reception.
The worst part of it all was that I would need to walk up to the queen and be assessed whether I was worthy of being both promised to Reagan and to oversee one battalion of Sentinels. It was really a very strange gathering that seemed to serve more than just one purpose as I'd initially thought. It all melted into one single event with thousands of watchers sitting around the amphitheater.
