Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Preparations

“So, as long as I take it at night, Ima gonna be fine, correct?” Skye asked hesitantly.

“Yes, and at about the same time each day as well. It’ll taste terrible, but don’t adjust it in any way. You don’t know how it’ll react with other ingredients. Peggy has the full list of ingredients. She knows how to prepare it for you now, and will teach you how to do it yourself later,” Lidia advised while sipping a cup of tea Peggy had just finished making.

Skye’s mother was beautiful. Her long, dark brown hair with sprinkles of white in it, and light tan skin tone made her age hard to pinpoint. Her eyes were a light brown shade, and her nose was elegantly pointed. She had a classical beauty about her that many admired. Lidia was also quite intelligent. She avoided politics as much as she could, and was an avid fan of history and literature. She was also interested in fashion and gossip, unlike Skye. She was considered a shining example of what it meant to be a lady of stature.

Skye loved her mother, but there had never really been that paternal warmth her female counterparts had talked about. The closest she came to it was her relationship with Peggy. It had honestly made her jealous when she was young, but Peggy had proved to her that bonds were what made a family.

After Lidia had set her tea down, she grabbed the box and set it in her daughter’s lap. When Skye saw the breathtaking blue dress after removing the lid, she felt a lump form in her throat. As she took the dress out of the box, Peggy helped to unfold it while Maevis fluttered about giddily.

It was a sky blue wedding dress. It had an off-the-shoulder neckline with tight-fitted sleeves that belled out slightly at the cuffs. The material was soft, but thick. Trimmed with shimmery white threads that had tiny pearls every half inch. The embroidery on the front would compliment Skye’s figure when she wore it, and the bottom flowed, but didn’t drag, which she loved.

“It was my best friend’s wedding dress.. She died in an accident years ago, but was happily married beforehand. I think she’d be flattered if you wore it,” Skye’s mother had tears forming at the corners of her eyes now.

.....

“Are ye sure? What about the dress father had made? Won’t he be angry Ima not wearin’ it?” Skye questioned nervously.

Lord Moonstone had meant for her wedding to be a display of his wealth, therefore his power. Skye had heard him say as much to Lord Fowler as she’d been out walking around the castle with Peggy one evening after dinner. The wedding dress he’d had made for her was worth a decent-sized fortune. Not putting it on display while he could would mean he was basically wasting the money he’d spent.

“But you already wore that dress! And it was a failed marriage before it was even out of the gate. Do you really want to wear that gaudy thing again?” Lidia protested.

“But father-” Skye tried to argue, but her mother cut her off.

“Don’t worry, you’re father won’t care about it anymore. That was more for the Fowlers, than anything. It was his way of showing the difference in their influences. Did you notice who some of our guests are? Nobles, diplomats, guild leaders.. Did you see the people Fowler invited?!” Lidia stopped to take a breath as her inner gossip girl came out; “Mitch Herman, Arthur Yale, Richard Yaris! Criminals, the lot of ’em! And the man invited Them into My Home....Oh!”

“Hahahahaha! Tis always a treat to see ye feisty, me lady,” Peggy teased as she freshened Lidia’s tea.

Skye’s mother cooled her ire as she’d sipped. It had seemed like she was going to say something else, but stopped herself. Skye wrote it off as that she’d simply reeled herself in. However, Maevis had noticed her hesitation. There was something else pertaining to the Fowlers that had subsided her ire for her. Like she knew in some way that they wouldn’t be an issue much longer.

Which Maevis found hinky since they were supposed to become business partners, or so she’d come to understand. It might’ve just been that she wouldn’t have to deal with them directly, now that Skye wasn’t marrying Jacob. ‘Maybe Lidia had nothing to do with the lord’s business dealings..’ Something itched at Maevis about that explanation, though.

Her exterior was more...arrogant than that. Like she knew they would get their comeuppance in some way. Maevis shook her head slightly, trying to refocus on the conversation at hand. They’d been speaking on whether Skye should freshen up again before she dressed as they gently folded the dress back up.

“I can run ye another bath, but it will take a wee bit of time. I’d forgotten to tell the men to dump the tub before we made our way here.. I must be gettin’ old,” Peggy replied, looking a bit downtrodden as they finished getting the dress into the box.

“Never ye mind, Peg. I just bathed but an hour ago or so. I don’t need another, it would be wasteful,” Skye stated as she slowly dragged her hand over the box.

The dress was beautiful, and Skye couldn’t have been happier about her mother’s gesture. The contraceptive had been a shock. Peggy had mentioned something about teaching her how to make one months back, but Skye hadn’t wanted to discuss the reasons for needing one back then. Now that Tidas was to be her husband again, she suddenly found herself brimming with questions.

Maevis had explained most of what she needed to know in the hut. She warned of the pain she’d feel, but that it was over very shortly for most women. And that it would just be the first time he entered her. Maevis wouldn’t speak about what came after, which annoyed Skye. She would just smile knowingly at the lass before changing the subject to her and Tidas’ history.

The knowledge Skye wanted now was more about what men liked, rather than what they did. She knew Tidas found her attractive, but would she disappoint him due to her complete lack of knowledge? The things he’d done to her in there hollow.. Skye didn’t even know men and women could do other things together like that! She didn’t want to give Tidas a reason to go looking for a mistress. When she was honest with the group of women and voiced her worries, her mother quirked an eyebrow at her in confusion.

“Did you not read the contract you signed, my sweet? Tidas can’t have another woman without losing you. And the same in reverse for you as well. He also made sure that your dowery would be transferred to your ownership upon any ‘void’ of the contract,” Lidia informed her daughter with a soft smile.

Skye was astonished. Tidas had done more for her than she’d ever thought a man capable of. He had made her his equal, and hadn’t batted an eye about it. She sighed and smiled at the image of his face popping into her mind’s eye.. But her current issue still remained.

“That makes me feel a bit better, but I want him to want me-” Skye began to explain herself, but Maevis cut her off.

“You’re joking, right lass?! Of course the man wants you! Any and all can see it but you, you silly girl,” Maevis chided Skye, but with amusement all over her face.

“I know he wants me now, but... What are some of the things men like their woman to do for them?” Skye asked bluntly.

Maevis and Lidia shared a look. Skye’s mother wouldn’t speak because of the awkwardness. Maevis felt uncomfortable because her last experience was over a hundred years ago. It was Peggy who broke the tension in the air with her gruff laughter.

“Just ask him, ye silly lassie! The three of us can’t tell ye what only yer man knows,” Peggy paused to hand Maevis a tiny ceramic thimble she could use as a tea cup: “Just like we could never tell him what you like. Those are things couples discover together.. Or at least the ones who want to last, anyways.”

The three women stared at Peggy, impressed with her logic. Maevis and Lidia nodded in agreement with the old servant, then looked to Skye for her thoughts. She had crossed her arms and was pondering Peggy’s words. When she couldn’t find any other work-around to the issue, she’d conceded with a sigh.

As the three older women shared a smile, a knock came from the entry of the courtyard. Maevis had spilled her few drops of tea in her rush to hide inside the picnic blanket. It was one of her mother’s servants, coming to notify them of the time. Skye needed to start getting ready, and Lidia needed to attend to the guests who were beginning to arrive.

Peggy grabbed Skye’s dress box, and Skye took Maevis. Lidia had told her daughter that she would come and escort her to the ceremony. It had made Skye ecstatic that her mother was finally reaching out to her.. But a dark part of her also resented her mother for waiting until her wedding day to do it. Her heart ached slightly at the thought as they reached her bedroom door.

Skye shook the darkness from her thoughts. She’d decided to focus on the now, not dwell on the past. She’d always wanted her mother in her life, and this was her chance to have that. As she walked into her room, Peggy stopped just outside her door.

With a flustered look Peggy said; “Bloody hell! I forgot to grab the matchin’ shoes and hose from the closet! Be right back!”

Peggy turned straight back around and took off; still holding the dress. Skye giggled at Peggy’s antics as she shut her door, then sat on her bed. She set the blanket with Maevis in it down next to her, and told her to come out.

As soon as Maevis began to flutter out of the blanket, a brown cloth sack came down around her. Skye jumped to her feet and whipped around to see who was behind her. She gasped in fear as Jacob Fowler smacked the sacked Maevis off of her headboard, knocking the old fairy unconscious. Skye’s heart hammered in her chest as she looked at the evil smirk on his face.

Jacob was huffing from his efforts as he looked at Skye and said: “One treasure down, one to go...”