Make Your Move Katherine

The engagement

Minutes later, the scared, lost-looking woman, pulled away from the woman, seeing she was being guided into a large room that opened more into an even larger bedroom and then into a huge bathroom. Her eyes opened wide as she took it all in. Pristine white. Everything. And it probably was one-third of her entire apartment back home. She felt the woman’s fingers on her shoulders and yelped. The maid’s eyes widened and she shrunk back, releasing the belt she had loosened from Kat’s waist.

The other girl looked startled as well as she swatted the hand away.

Kat felt that in normal circumstances too, she would have protested if a woman tried to remove her clothing – not that anything seemed normal since Oscar made his unwanted appearance in her life again.

The two women stared and she stared back, aghast. One was speaking but her words weren’t reaching her ears. The younger girl frowned and pressed a cold wet cloth against her forehead and she heard the older woman’s words. It had sunk in. “A ball?” she managed to get out as her eyes took in the lavish surroundings.

“Your Highness- please allow me to remove your clothing,” the elder woman who had introduced herself as Julie sweet-talked but Kat ignored her. She heard murmuring and the younger girl- Oni, left.

Everything about the place, screamed extravagance- beyond any luxury she'd ever seen, from the halls they just vacated to the sitting area they walked past to get here. Chandeliers, mirrors and paintings that looked priceless, hung everywhere. Where exactly is this- ah a castle, Oscar had said- Castle when? More like castle-'where', she snorted with that thought.

“Like an actual ball? A ball-ball? Kat repeated the word to add more meaning to it and the woman eyed her suspiciously.

“Yes, to celebrate your upcoming marriage.”

“My marriage? Oh- stop,” she slapped away the woman’s hand as she pulled the belt around her waist open. So, everyone knew about the contract.

Katherine was wondering when the woman would leave her alone, for she was sweating and covered like Oscar had been, in soot. Like they all had been, she remembered the guards too then. She undid the clip from her hair and went into the shower eyeing the bathtub she would have preferred to be soaking in. Hers was not fancy like this- gold-painted cast iron black and gold gloss looking spheres on the outer design, revealing its entire golden interior…it conveys comfort.

Wide-eyed she looked at the pin in her hand- the plastic had melted out and only the metal remained.

“But isn’t that weird?” she asked the woman who was walking to the cupboard to take another robe out. White.

“How so?” she asked turning around to look at her.

“A ball before a wedding?”

“My dear-” Kat’s body jolted at the sound of Oscars’ voice in the bathroom and closed her eyes. By the end of the day, she was bound to have a heart attack she was certain. Julie bent her head immediately.

“-you are to change now and meet me in the chapel. Go along with Julie’s guidance for our engagement is in two hours. The ball happens after for I will not have any spare moments after marriage. Julie, you can wait outside.”

The head maid, Julie, returned ten minutes later, with another woman she introduced as, “This is Ms. Sheila, your beautician.” Then she placed a plastic-coated white dress on the bed, along with a box. The engagement dress, Kat assumed and shoes.

“I don’t need a make-up artiste,” Kat dismissed the young lady but remembering Oscar's words she froze. She smiled at the woman who seemed to be around her own age, elegantly dressed with a tight smile on her face.

“You do Ms. Katherine- Your Highness. His Majesty explained the state of your injury so we must cover any pained color that might be etched on your face,” the older woman explained. “The nurse will be in shortly.”

“Thank you,” Kat murmured for it was all she could do then and looked at the beautician in the mirror.

Kat admired the woman, for she was young. For her to be in a King’s castle, she had to be driven and talented. Back home it was not easy to get into the white house. The girl did not smile back at Kat warmly. She kept the cold spread of her lips wide enough to be creepy, for it did not fade. She was not chatty and Kat pitied her.

What kind of a boss was the King to – King…

Wait. Kat’s mind whirled…The King’s Royal Guards were protecting her on his orders and they called Oscar Majesty…Oscar was a prince? The prince had contracted a marriage to her? Is that why she was being called ‘your highness’?

Kat fanned her face with her hands startling the Oni, who grabbed a handheld one and fanned her with it. The cold fish was still wearing the creepy smile, brushing her hair.

“Oh- it’s okay. I hear all marriages- most anyway can be like this. Jitters are fine,” the beautiful teenage-looking Oni said sorrily as if that was supposed to help her.

Makeup and hair done; Kat was helped into the light longed sleeved dress, just as another woman came in. How many people did Julie think she needed, exactly?

“This is Marie, she made the dress for you. Some light adjustments- hold on,” Julie introduced a woman with a warm smile and a measuring tape around her neck, a pin cushion on her wrist and a tiny straw basket in the same hand.

She was dressed in regular clothing unlike the other three. Oni and Julie wore calf-length, brown comfortable looking dresses, with a wide white apron while Ms. Sheila wore a checkered green pants suit with her white apron. All women wore low-heeled black shoes on their feet.

Marie smiled brightly at her and Kat took the dress with her to the other room to wear. She walked back out and Marie did some tucking that did not need to be done and chuckled, “I can’t believe how perfect it is. You look, divine dear.”

Kat smiled and held her chest releasing a breath for her stomach was still in knots about Oscar being a prince. “Thank you. You sew it as if you knew me.”

“Well Oscar did bring me one of yours, so I used that as measurement.”

He what? Kat hadn’t noticed one of her dresses were missing.

“Oh, how smart of him,” she laughed nervously, turning to look at her reflection in the large floor mirror. Kat was mesmerized by the make-up. It was perfectly done in light shades. Her hair was clipped half up but in such a way that she could not see the clip. It was in a twisted semi-bun that hung along with the bottom half of her hair in light waves.

Now while Kat knew she looked good in everything- she was still blown away by her reflection. Sheila was good at her job.

“Yes, he said your arm was injured and you needed a dress with sleeves, you see dear, it had been sleeveless before” the seamstress went on to say and Kat’s eyes widened for it implied that Oscar had the dress made or altered when she was injured…a few days ago.

“Yes. The shoes too. I will return it to you,” Marie gushed as she patted Kat’s back looking into the mirror as well. “ We had to get a flat instead of the heels we had.”

Her shoes- now that she did notice but she figured she had left it at work.

“Ah yes, thank you. It was my favorite,” she smiled widely at the woman and thanked Sheila too who still had the cold look.

“The nurse is here,” Oni called out.

One hour later

“We have gathered here today, to witness the formal engagement of this couple who chose to spend their lives with each other in sharing their announcement to the Kingdom.” Kat swallowed as the tall, elder-gold robe-wearing man, on the side of them spoke into the mic, from behind a tall wooden pulpit as Oscar looked into her eyes smiling.

'Chose? Hah- interesting choice of words.'

Smartly dressed once again in a white tux with black lapels with a red cape-looking robe over his shoulders. His. His long brown hair was falling over his forehead almost boyishly, exposing his buzzed short, undercut style. The refined style suited him. She noticed he had shaven too. Kat looked at the crowded room and saw women holding handkerchiefs to their faces and dotting their eyes. Oscar had introduced some of them to her.

None were introduced as his siblings or parents.

What sort of ceremony was this? None of his family or hers? She wanted her parents at her wedding. Her friends and her colleagues. She knew nobody here, and of course, nobody she knew either. She wanted Dom here- her friends but she knew nobody here, and of course, nobody she knew either. This is so wrong.

‘And Simon was supposed to be my groom too.’

“Breathe Kat breathe. Your father will be debt-free. Breathe one-two-three-four, breathe,” Kat coached herself, under her breath. She could see her fictional version of Simon staring at her sadly.

“-open heart, ready to begin the journey of pledging your love, devotion, honesty, trust, and partnership to each other?” she heard the priest’s voice.

“Yes,” she heard Oscar’s gruff voice and followed his lead when he squeezed her waist with the hand the crowd thought were lovingly holding her close.

“Hold hands for the bond to take effect,” the man said and she felt Oscar grasping her hands loosely rubbing his thumbs along the back of them as if to reassure her. The man waked up to them and took up their clasped left hand and threw water over it into a wooden bowl as the crowded room sighed.

What was his need for her anyway? It’s not like she was like him with any sort of power- she leaned forward and asked him “Do you have any special superpower besides flying people through thin air?”

He furrowed his forehead and smiled, “No. Did the nurse visit you? You seem to be in pain.”

“Pretend concern? Yes if by visit you mean if she shot me up-“

“That is to take away your pain Katherine.”

“I don’t believe you-“

“The pain part or the super power part?”

“Both,” she hissed and flared her nostrils.

“Well, I already told you I am a vampire and well the rest is up to you.”

“Would you stop with the jokes.” Kat blew out a breath and went on whispering, “Do we have to get married then?”

“No.”

Kat pulled her neck back and whispered, “Well why-“

“Am I forcing you? Think of your father before you answer that.”

Kat swallowed and decided to keep mum. "Good- the shaman is coming- try to not look like I'm killing you?" Oscar harshly whispered.

The priest then walked around them and Kat saw he had made a circle of blue-looking salt crystals around them in a small circle.

“The small circle is symbolic to the people around you. It shows that your allowance for others to come in between you is nil,” the man explained to her and she nodded looking down and mentally measured almost a foot space between them.

That seemed like plenty of room.

She heard a clink and saw the man holding a smaller wooden bowl than before in his hand, moving around his wrist and chanting with his eyes closed, back behind the pulpit. She saw him throwing things into the bowl that sizzled and released colorful smoke. She felt Oscar squeeze her hands that were still in his grasp and she returned her gaze to him. He had that same smile on his face that was now reminding her of the beautician.

From her peripheral view, she saw the priest throw the contents in the small bowl into the larger bowl. She tried to look at him but Oscar squeezed her hand tightly this time and her eyes widened. Something was not right.

“Conduct yourself. We have a roomful of people looking at you. Do not stare at the shamanic rituals being performed.”

The priest-er shaman, stopped his chanting and stepped to them handing a ring to Oscar from the bowl who raised her trembling hand up and pushed the ring on as the priest chanted, on.

“Heart to heart, soul to soul-“ he handed the other ring to Kat and tilted his head to the side indicating for her to put it on, Oscar.

“You have pledged yourself as so foretold-” she swallowed and Oscar held her hand with the ring and pushed her hand forward toward his finger.

“Do not embarrass me here, “he muttered dropping his hand and she pushed the ring onto his slender finger.

“For whom He joins, let no-one asunder, or feel the wrath of His phoenix power.”

AN

Rhymes are such a task…

Heart to heart

Soul to soul

You have pledged yourself as so foretold

For whom He joins, let no one asunder

Or feel the wrath of his Phoenix power.