Beyond Her Beauty

CHAPTER 11 (Turned √)

I'm looking myself at the body sized mirror. I turned into a human cat again. My ears vanished. It was replaced by the cat's ear, I also felt the tickling growth of my tail on the top lines of my buttocks. My eyes became emerald green from its normal blue color.

I got two small fangs, but I'm not a vampire or something else.

I barely slept. Between getting it being so late and the excitement over what was coming, it was impossible. I curled closer to Lezen, comforted by her warmth. I’d miss her so much once she left, but at least I had the prospect of her living here with me to look forward to. She's visiting Liezen in the other room last night so she also visited me now.

I wondered who would be leaving today. It didn’t seem polite to ask, so I didn’t; but if pressed, I would guess it was Natalie and Kriesha and my sister Liezel who were popular with the public—more popular than I was—and Selena and Elise had connections. I had Kaden’s heart, and that left Natalie without much to hold on to.

I felt bad because I really didn’t have anything against Natalie. If anything, I wished Selena would go.

I sighed, thinking of everything he’d said last night. I’d never imagined this was possible. How did I, Lily Forrest Swift—a Five, a nobody—fall for Kaden Schreave—a One, the One? How did this happen when I’d spent the last two years bracing myself for life as a Six?

A tiny part of my heart throbbed. How would I explain this to Bridger? How would I tell him that Kaden had chosen me and that I wanted to be with him? Would he hate me? The thought made me want to cry. No matter what, I didn’t want to lose Bridger’s friendship. I couldn’t. I don't wanna loose him either.

My maids didn’t knock when they came in, which was typical only in morning, I surely lock my door whenever the sun's goes down. They always tried to let me rest as long as I could, and after the party, I certainly needed it. But instead of going to prep things, Mary went around to Lezen and gently rubbed her shoulder to wake her.

I rolled over to see Marie and Lucy with a pink garment bag. A new dress?

“Miss Lezen,” Mary whispered, “it’s time to get up.”

Lezen slowly roused. “Can’t I sleep?”

“No,” Mary said sadly. “There’s some important business this morning. You need to go to your parents right away.”

“Important business?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

Mary looked to Marie, and I followed her eyes. Marie shook her head, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Confused but hopeful, I got out of bed, encouraging Lezen to do the same. I gave her a big hug before she went to Mom and Dad’s room.

Once she left, I turned back to my maids. “Can you explain now that she’s gone?” I asked Marie. She shook her head. Frustrated, I huffed. “Would it help if I commanded you to tell?”

She looked at me, a clear solemnity in her eyes. “Our orders come from much higher. You’ll have to wait.”

I stood at the door to my bathroom and watched them move. Lucy’s hands were shaking as she pulled out fistfuls of rose petals for my bath, and Mary’s eyebrows were knit together as she lined up my makeup and the pins for my hair. Lucy sometimes trembled for no reason at all, and Mary tended to do that with her face when she was concentrating. It was Marie’s look that made me scared.

She was always put together, even in the most frightening and taxing of situations, but today she looked as if her body was full of sand, her whole frame low with worry. She kept stopping and rubbing her forehead as if she could smooth away the anxiety in her face.

I looked on as she pulled my dress out of the garment bag. It was understated, simple … and jet-black. I looked at that dress and knew it could only mean one thing. I started crying before I even knew who I was mourning.

“Miss?” Mary came to help me.

“Who died?” I asked. “Who died?”

Marie, steady as ever, pulled me upright and wiped the tears from under my eyes.

“No one has died,” she said. But her voice wasn’t comforting; it was commanding. “Be grateful for that when this is all over. No one died today.”

She gave me no further explanation and sent me straight to my bath. Lucy tried to keep herself under control; but when she finally broke into tears, Marie asked her to go get me something light to eat, and she jumped on the command obediently. She didn’t even curtsy as she left.

Lucy eventually returned with some croissants and apple slices. I wanted to sit and eat slowly, stretching out my time, but one bite was all it took for me to know that food was not my friend today.

Finally Marie placed my name pin on my chest, the silver shining beautifully against the black of my dress. There was nothing left for me to do but face this unimaginable fate.

I opened my door but found myself frozen. Turning back to my maids, I breathed out my fear. “I’m scared.”

Marie put her hands on my shoulders and spoke. “You are a lady now, miss. You must handle this like a lady.”

I gave a small nod as she released me, unclenched my hands from the door, and walked away. I wish I could have said my head was high; but honestly, lady or not, I was terrified.

To my immense surprise, when I reached the foyer, the rest of the girls were waiting, all wearing dresses and expressions similar to my own. A wave of relief hit me. I wasn’t in trouble. If anything, we all were, so at least I wouldn’t be going through whatever this was alone.

“There’s the fifth,” a guard said to his counterpart. “Follow us, ladies.”

Fifth? No, that wasn’t right. It was six. As we walked down the stairs, I quickly scMaried the girls. The guard was right. Only five. Liezel wasn’t here.

My first thought was that Kaden had sent Liezel home, but wouldn’t she have come by my room to say good-bye? I tried to think of a relationship between all this secrecy and Liezel’s absence, and nothing I came up with made sense.

At the bottom of the stairs, an assembly of guards waited, along with our families. Mom, Dad, and Lezen seemed anxious. Everyone did. I looked at them, hoping for some sort of clarity, but Mom shook her head while Dad gave me a shrug. I Married the uniformed men for Bridger. He wasn’t there.