Chapter 24
April 3rd - Grythen
Kismette paced in the backstage nervously before sitting down in her chair, her fingers fidgeting mindlessly with her dress. This ball was not only the annual Spring Ball, but also a formal introduction of her to the rest of the court and the country as the red star holder, a healer.
She checked her nail polish again for any signs of it being eroded at all. She placed her hands on her lap, sighed, and then checked her teeth again for the hundredth time. She had her dress fitted the day before and her nails painted about an hour ago. There was nothing else she could do except to wait for the hairdresser and the make-up artist to arrive, and waiting was something which always made her nervous, especially before a big occasion.
“Sorry, we’re late!” A huge lady with big wild hair lifted herself up from the last step of the spiral staircase and leaned heavily against the chest of drawers. “Whoops!” she breathed, her laughter filling the whole room in loud comfortable booms. Another girl popped up from the stairs, heaving herself up with her forearms. She was skinny and tanned, and had piercings all over her face, topped off with a slick, neon green hairdo. The two of them couldn’t look any more different from each other.
The funky girl sat on the floor. “God, Ali,” she laughed between her breaths. “This is the hardest place to find, ever, ever, ever.”
The huge lady let out a series of booming laughter again. Kismette could not stop herself from laughing along with her.
“Right, so, this is Jackie,” the laughing lady jerked her thumb towards her companion, “and I’m Aliana. Just call me Ali. So how do we address you?” she smiled.
“I’m Kismette,” she replied, trying to avert her eyes from the lady’s enormous chest. It was so odd-she was the one embarrassed when the other was the one wearing the dress.
“Right, so let’s start work now,” she said as her skinny companion starting to unpack her bag. Kismette’s jaw dropped at the sight of so many brushes, sponge and palettes with colourful circles lined in them. They were almost countless. She pointed at them randomly.
“What do you need so many of… them for?”
Jackie looked up momentarily. “Hmm? Oh, these brushes? They have their own purposes. See, this-” she pointed at a fairly large brush, “-is for the face." Her finger moved to another brush. "Foundation, concealer, powder, blush, eye, eyebrow, eyeshadow, blending, crease, lip,” she continued, pointing to a different brush with every word. The spunky girl then picked up a pair of metal tweezers and leaned in, whispering, “Sit down. Don’t move. Close your eyes.”
Kismette did as she was told. A sharp pain manifested itself on her eyebrow, and she jerked back immediately, staring frantically at the make-up artist and the shiny metal she was holding in her right hand. “What was that? Did you inject me with make-up?” Kismette gasped as she rubbed her index finger on her brow bone. The soreness went away at once.
Jackie and Aliana stared at each other wordlessly, then burst into a hooting laughter.
“Darling, she’s plucking your eyebrows!” Aliana said between her gasps for air.
“Oh man, I’m a bloody plastic surgeon now,” Jackie wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with her last finger. “You see my eyebrow, Kissy?” she lifted a section of her lime-coloured bangs and continued, “It doesn’t get this nice curve naturally, you know. And I’m going to give your eyebrows a nice curve too by plucking some hairs out. I was going to give you an ice pack later, but it seemed your fingers can do a better job. Being a healer sure has its perks, huh.”
“Hurry up, bimbo,” Aliana scoffed, “I still have to do her hair after you’re done. Oh, whatever, I’ll just do it now. I don’t need to face part anyway. You stand in front of her while I stand at the back,” she commanded, and the two experts did their job simultaneously.
After a flurry of painful and ticklish meddling on her face, slight pulling and jerking at the back of her head and continuous warnings from Jackie not to open her eyes or “the powder may get into your eyes”, Kismette finally opened her eyes again. The light was so bright it hurt to see and she blinked a few times, staring blankly before her vision registered a refined and elegant girl sitting right in front of her.
But it was just the mirror.
“Eh!” Kismette jumped up from her seat.
“What? Didn’t like what you saw? Your derriere is on fire?” Jackie grinned at her.
Kismette blushed, not knowing what to reply. “Uh, I… I look so… my freckles are gone,” she simply said.
Jackie waggled a tube of nude coloured paste in front of her. “Concealer is your best friend,” she smiled.
Aliana inserted a band with ribbons into Kismette’s hair and hugged the girl’s shoulders. “But then again, some people think defects are cute, like dimples, so learn to love your flaws, Honey. I went through a lot before I learnt that big can be beautiful too.”
“Dammit, Ali, you’re going to put me out of job,” Jackie pouted.
A monotone rang in the air. Kismette reached for her mobile phone instinctively.
“Oh man, that is your ringtone? I’m so gonna bluetooth you some tunes after your call,” Jackie crossed her arms as she shook her head dangerously. The brunette widened her eyes and suppressed a grin before pressing the green button on her phone.
“Hello, Iko. Oh. Okay. Really? Now?” Kismette made a face. “Okay, I will. Thanks, Iko. Bye.”
“My mentor won’t be coming. And worse, it’s time for me to step out,” Kismette whispered urgently, pressing her fingers together restlessly.
Jackie slapped Kismette's back with a resounding smack. “Deep breathe, Kissy!” her glossy black lips commanded and she inflated herself as a demonstration. “Believe in yourself! You have the power to move mountains, girl.”
Aliana laughed and simply pulled Kismette in an enormous hug, her red bouncy curls tickling Kismette's nose. “Quit worrying. Smile, Sweetheart, and the world will smile with you,” she said soothingly. She patted Kismette’s shoulders and led her out of the room.
“And now,” somebody with a microphone announced grandly from the other side of the curtain, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have come to the highlight of our Ball. Today, I stand here proudly before all of you to present our nation’s pride and honour, the healer of our century: Kismette, House of Larazest!”
The curtains parted and the audience went wild with cheering and clapping. Kismette stepped forward and waved shyly. Evelynn waved back at her, smiling happily. Some of the men standing at the back whistled at her. She grinned back, remembering how the mischievous boys would whistle at her window to call her out to play when the sun is good.
She stepped down the stairs as daintily as she could, hoping that she wouldn’t trip over her skirt and tumble down the stairs. After all, Iko did say that she could take all the time she wanted and everyone would still wait.
***
Chairon let out a long whistle, like how the boys at the back alley do when they see a pretty girl. “Oh damn, Zee! Did you really take a good look at her? She looked like a fairy coming down to Earth! Nobody ever looked so beautiful walking down some stupid curved staircase. She's a vision! She's… Aw, I can’t describe her!” he laughed a little too loudly before checking himself, and elbowed the solemn warrior beside him playfully. “Come on, don’t tell me nothing happened when you both were alone!” he wriggled his eyebrows, suggesting something more explicit.
“You watch too many serial dramas, friend,” Zaelem gave his buddy a dry look, and then continued to stare into what Chairon assumed as empty space.
“Ah, that was all in the past,” he laughed again, turning to slap Zaelem casually on his back like he was hitting an unmovable boulder.
Zaelem gave Chairon an irritated squint which the latter was used to seeing. “Please stop getting so excited. Or at least stop jumping on the sofa with your butt. You’re making me go up and down too.”
Chairon chuckled and shook his head, and tried to spot Kismette from all the guests. The healer had finally finished talking with her friend and was making a beeline for the chocolate stars on the buffet table.
“You know, my uncle told me that Mistress Larazest loved chocolate,” Chairon spoke softly, almost inaudibly, his gaze still fixed on Kismette. “Did you know that?” he turned abruptly to Zaelem. The latter shook his head.
“Ah, so you both aren’t so close after all. Oh yea, you’d better not be my rival ’cause I kick asses,” he ended the threat with his fists readied near his jaw like a boxer, his easy laughter filling the spaces between their conversations. “Alright, seriously now, do you think I’ll have a chance with her?” he asked.
Zaelem watched as Kismette piled a small hill of chocolate stars on her own plate gleefully before causing a small commotion when she accidentally bumped another lady, effectively spilling her drink on the floor. Her eyes grew round as plates. “Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!” she repeated rapidly, alarmed by her own clumsiness.
Zaelem turned his attention back to Chairon. “Yea, why not?” he answered.
“Thanks, pal. I needed that. You know, the King and all the Segaris have a meeting now, so Jeremy’s not here to keep a tab on me. It’s fate that I will get to know her tonight, I tell ya. Try not to think of this conversation when you see Jeremy the next time,” Chairon grinned. He stood up and walked swiftly towards Kismette with a handsome smile embossed on his face.
“Mistress Larazest, may I introduce myself-Chairon, House of Viken,” the well-dressed warrior announced grandly and swept her a deep bow. Kismette knitted her eyebrows. That blond mane of his was strikingly familiar. Have she seen him before… somewhere…?
“May I have the honour of dancing with you?” he asked gently as he held a hand out. A couple of girls behind Kismette gasped, huddling together in frenzy and whispering Chairon’s name incessantly like silly teenage girls spotting their idol.
Kismette blushed. There was a very attractive vibe coming from this man. His sky blue eyes were warm and welcoming, and his golden smile could match the shine of his suit. He was almost too much to look at.
“My sweet lady, a dance with you will be all I ask for tonight,” he said tenderly. The girls behind her giggled and whispered even more.
Kismette looked at Zaelem uncertainly. She could guess that they were friends, for nobody except Chairon would approach him. Zaelem sat a little straighter and shifted his gaze above her head, refusing to acknowledge her gaze.
“I can’t dance,” she managed to squeeze out an excuse, taking small steps backwards. Most of the ladies were watching the both of them now, but Chairon’s attention on her never lessened, ignoring the rest. It was flattering, to say the least.
An annoyed whisper caught the edge of her ears. “What’s wrong with her? Playing hard to get?” one of the girls behind her seethed. She shot Kismette an angry look, only to realize that Kismette was looking at her too. The girl bit her lip and looked at the floor mutely.
“Well, I can lead you. It’ll be easy,” Chairon smiled reassuringly. He leaned forward a little, his eyes shining at her. “Please?”
EDIT: I've decided to give everyone proper gowns and reshot the pictures. Sorry to anyone who read this chapter before 28th August '09!
Ning: If you were wondering where Kismette saw Chairon before, it was in Chapter 18, when she was asking for directions to go to school. :)
Also, some picspam coming up soon. ;) Enjoy!
Previous: Chapter 23
Next: Chapter 25