Page 104 of Tiger's Quest
I reached out to touch the dress. “It’s lovely! The embroidery is so fine that the flowers look real.”
She giggled. “They are real.”
“They can’t be! How did you sew them in?”
“We didn’t sew them. We grew them in. We asked them to be a part of this dress, and they agreed.”
Anthracia asked, “Do you not like it?”
“No. I love it! I would be very happy to wear it.”
They all smiled and hummed contentedly as they worked on me. When they were finished, they brought out a silvered mirror set in an oval frame carved with looping flowers.
“What do you think, Kelsey? Is your appearance satisfactory?”
I stared at the person in the mirror. “Is that me?”
They erupted in tinkling giggles. “Yes, of course, it’s you.”
I stood transfixed. The barefoot woman staring back at me had large brown doe’s eyes and soft creamy white skin that glowed with good health. Sparkling green eye shadow enhanced my eyes, and my lashes were long and dark. My lips shone with apple red gloss, and my cheeks were a becoming pink. The green gossamer dress was in the Grecian style, which made me look curvier than I was. It was draped over my shoulders, wrapped around my waist, and fell to the ground in long folds. My hair hung loose and wavy down my back, ending just above my waist. I hadn’t realized that my hair had grown so long. It was adorned with flowers and butterfly wings.
The wings moved slightly.Were there fairies holding my hair in wavy twists?
“Oh! The fairies don’t need to stay in my hair. I’m sure there are other things they would rather do.”
Phiale shook her head. “Nonsense. They are honored to hold the tresses of one as fair as you. They say your hair is beautiful and soft, and it’s like resting in a cloud. They are happiest when they serve. Please let them stay.”
I smiled. “Alright, but just through the dinner.”
The three Silvanae women fussed and primped over me for several more minutes and then declared me presentable. We started back to the village. Just before we reached the banquet area, Deiopea handed me a fragrant bunch of flowers to carry.
“Uh . . . I’m not getting married or anything like that, right?”
“Married? Why no.”
Phiale said, “Do you want to get married?”
I waved my hand. “Oh no, I just asked because of the beautiful dress and the bouquet of flowers.”
“Those are the marriage customs of your land?”
“Yes.”
Deiopea tittered, “Well, if you did want to marry, your man does look very handsome.”
The three ladies fell into giggles again and pointed to the banquet table where Kishan sat, obviously frustrated. They bounced to the table before disappearing into the silver-haired group. I had to admit, Deiopea was right. Kishan did look very handsome. They’d dressed him in white pants and a blue gossamer shirt made of the same material as mine. He had bathed too. I laughed out loud as he looked uneasily around at the Silvanae, obviously feeling out of place.
He must have heard me because he looked up and scanned the crowd. His eyes lit on me and flew past, still searching. Kishan didn’t recognize me! I laughed again. This time, his eyes darted back to me and stayed. Slowly rising, he made his way to me. He looked me up and down with a big grin on his face and let out a whoop of laughter.
Annoyed, I asked, “What are you laughing at?”
He took both of my hands in his and looked in my eyes. “Nothing at all, Kelsey. You are the most enchanting creature I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Oh. Thank you. But why did you laugh?”
“Ilaughedbecause I’m the lucky one who gets to see you like this, to be with you in this paradise whileRenhad to be chased by monkeys and fight needle trees. Obviously, I got the better quest.”
“Undeniably you did, at least, so far. But, I forbid you to tease him about this.”
