Her Dawning Empire: The Prophecy

Chapter 79

The second day.

I let out a breath as I matted down at the satin material of the dress. The first day of the festival was well and over with and, now, the second had begun- the birth of Horus. The day, in itself, represented justice and focused on the unequal segregation between the upper and lower regions of Aaru. For this, Horus had worn both red and white to represent both the upper and lower classes.

As with the tradition, I was wearing a white satin dress that followed the outline of my curves with a trim of white lace at the bottom. The males, conversely, wore red clothes to represent the opposing side. Together, the white and red was symbolic of the much needed unity between the two.

Again, I grabbed the diadem, but this time it was a gold one along with a gold necklace and arm cuffs. My hair was half pinned and half down, cascading in loose curls down my back. When I had placed them all on, I spared a final look to the mirror.

Beautiful.

I stilled at the voice within my head, knowing all too well about that familiar lick of a whisper that didn't belong to me. The very remembrance of the voice made a shiver dance across my spine, but when nothing followed for a full five minutes, I heaved a sigh. There was no use focusing too much on that what I could not control. I knew, in the end, it would just consume me if I thought about it too much. Turning my gaze, I halted slightly when I saw the splash of red near the bed in my peripheral, making me turn hurriedly. My first thought was blood, no doubt from my recent experiences yet it was far from what I had thought. Nearing the bed, I looked in confusion at what was lying before me on the bedside table.

Flowers?

I picked them up tepidly as though they would sting me if I touched them for too long. It took me a moment of inspecting it before I connected the dots in my head and I couldn't help the wide smile that graced my face.

Emut.

I recall when we had taken the small walk and he had picked me a flower. "You like red"- that is what he had said and, now, there was a bundle of the same blood-red flowers on the bedside table. He had taken the time to go back there and spared the thought to get me the flowers. The receiving of any gift, from a male, was foreign to me. I had only received an odd gift from Sue and sometimes even Marie, but never from a male. The very thought of it made me blush, but I quickly schooled my expression when I heard the door creak open, placing the flowers hurriedly in a vase on the beside table.

Thankfully, it was Arun and Ayla who entered, both too engrossed with arguing with each other.

"I've already said no! Hanna, tell him!" Ayla urged, hands on hips before looking at me and I raised an eyebrow questioningly at her words. In turn, she sighed before gesturing over to Arun with a violent jab of her finger whilst he stood moping.

"He wants to wear white like us." She explained, turning back to Arun to spare him a glare and I let out a giggle as I looked to him giving her the same seething look. He was wearing a bright red sheer tank top, with roses adorning his head like a blood crown.

"Well, it's not fair! I want to match with you two!" He complained and I walked over to him, placing a hand against his arm in comfort.

"If it's any consolation, I think you look dashing in red." I admitted honestly as it did go with his pale complexion, suiting the colour of his blood-red willowy lips.

He blushed at this, a colour that made me think back to the flowers in the vase and I couldn't help but blush myself. Thankfully, they didn't notice as that was the precise moment that Ayla nudged a blushing Arun out the way and looked to me pointedly.