Ember was 'finally presentable', as her mother so graciously said, and was ready to put on her dress. She had been excited for a while to finally be able to have a peek at it, since her mother always kept it in her sewing room and wouldn't let her see it until the day of. Ember felt like a groom on his wedding day. After choosing a colour swatch and giving a general idea of silhouette to her mother she never heard a word about it, as far as she knows it very well may not even be finished. But who was she kidding, she knows her Mother, and she wouldn't screw anything up when it comes to large events like this. When Lionel finally brought it in, everyone waited for her reaction, unsure of how she would feel.

"Well, what do you think?" The Queen inquired, appearing almost apprehensive, she had designed many gowns for herself, family, and other celebrities, yet when it came to her own daughters opinion on her hard work she always was a little more sensitive.

It was not what Ember had expected in the least, the dress was the exact colour she picked, with flowered accents paying morale to the garden theme Ember and her mother put so much work into, a sweetheart neckline and an a-line skirt, all with a flower covered layer of tulle from the floor-length hem all the way up past the neckline and up into a turtleneck. It was beautiful. Ember truly didn't know what to say, her mother had put everything she loved into one dress, modest but still youthful, subtle yet beautiful detailing, and a long puffy sleeve.

"I-... Wow," was all that Ember could manage as Lionel brought it closer. As she ran her fingers along the flowers all she could think about was how much she wanted to put it on. Her mother looked pleased and Trinity was beyond elated, as she had helped her mom design it to Embers specific taste. As much as this party had been dreaded by Ember for the months preceding it, with all the planning and preparation, she was excited to be able to wear this dress for it. As she slipped into it, she could feel the soft fabric of the bodice and underskirt hugging her, while the tulle flowed flawlessly around her figure.

"I hope you don't mind, the underskirt was going to go all the way to the floor but, I figured it would be better short as we are going to be outside," Mother chimed in as she zipped the back of the dress smoothly, it fit her like a glove. As Ember turned around she couldn't help but look to her mirror, admiring the hard work put into this piece of artistry.

"It's perfect, I absolutely adore it." Ember said quietly, her eyes searching her reflection as she turned back and forth. "Thank you for putting so much thought into this for me."

"Of course, you should honestly thank Trinity, she helped a lot with the design, not so much with the sewing though," Mother was smiling over her shoulder in the reflection, she looked the happiest Ember had seen her in months. "Well, there's no time like the present, the guests will be showing up any minute now and I should be there to greet them, come down when you're ready girls." Ember's mum squeezed her shoulders before turning to the door, her heels clicking as she left them alone.

"Do you really like it?" Trinity questioned, sitting in Embers vanity chair, looking at her with wide, happy eyes. She took after her mother when it came to designing clothes, she enjoyed seeing it come to life just as much as creating it.

"I absolutely love it, thank you for giving Mum some much needed guidance." Ember meant what she said, she loved this dress. She didn't often enjoy the feeling of being squeezed into something but the fabric they had used was soft and stretchy, giving a very comfortable feel to the dress. "We should be going down now, we don't want to postpone this any longer than we need to." To say Ember was nervous was an understatement, this was her first event as a future political leader, she has to make a good first impression. She would just follow in her moms footsteps, project confidence and pretend like everything is alright all of the time. Seems easy enough, right?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

It is not easy enough, she had been greeting people and accepting compliments for just under an hour when dinner was finally being brought out, people being ushered to their seats. Ember was exhausted already, ministers and presidents, emperors, Kings and Queens all the same. She couldn't remember names from people she had met only 2 minutes ago. Not to mention how close they felt the need to get to her, kissing cheeks and grabbing at her waist when talking, she felt claustrophobic. It was weird to have people say that they are glad to finally meet her even though she didn't know they existed in the first place, Ember assumed she would have to get used to this.

"Ember," Mother called, beckoning me over, "I'd like you to meet the town's best mason and carpenter, he's the one who gave you that vanity for your birthday, and fixed the stone in the stairs last year." Once Mum got to me, we weaved back through the crowd to where she was originally standing before she called me. "This is Mr. Aldéric Flambe, and his daughter Analia." Hearing her name, all she could think was 'oh no'. Looking at Lia, Ember hoped her desperate look came across and she wouldn't say anything about the month before, if she even recognized her.

"Very nice to meet you, Ember," Aldéric spoke first, "I surely hope that you enjoy the desk, my daughter has a very similar one and she seems to love it." He flashed me a dashing smile, definitely Lia's dad.

"Yes, I have it in my room right now, the large amount of storage is useful and it's very pretty." He seemed pleased with the answer and continued smiling. They looked very similar, with red, almost strawberry blonde in the light of the gardens, and a pearl white, slightly tilted smile.

"Well we should be getting seated, enjoy your night Aldéric, Lia." Mum stepped in as Ember continued to look at the two, and hadn't realised how awkward she was with people up until this moment, well maybe just these people.

"Goodnight." Ember said finally, beginning to turn away before she was interrupted.

"Happy Birthday," Lia spoke finally, "It was nice meeting you." She had a straight face as she said it, maybe she didn't recognize her after all, Ember thanked her and continued on her way before looking back at her only to receive a wink. So Analia did remember her.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Ember finally took her seat after being told she was sitting with all the young royalty, as her Mother was still Queen she would remain sitting with the other leaders, despite it being Ember's birthday, she could not be more relieved. The snide looks the women gave her and the suggestive ones from the men, Analia's dad was the only one she felt comfortable talking with besides her own father.

As everyone began to find their places, she soon found Analia sitting beside her. Ember hadn't noticed her name there. For a reason unknown to her, she began to sweat in the weirdest of places, why were her hands clammy all of a sudden? They never did that.

"Hey you, how's the birthday bash going?" Analia piped up, "Your face is quite red, had some wine?" The way she was looking at her with a smirk just made her turn ever the more red. Thankfully someone came and pulled out the seat across from Ember, looking for something else to focus on, she turned away from Lia to greet them. Only to be met with a sight that made her face reach a fever pitch.

"Hello there, I'm Cendre." Reaching a hand towards her, he grinned, waiting for her to take it. Ember froze, she never froze meeting anyone tonight yet, why couldn't she move? "Alright, not a hand shaker, understandable. This is a very nice party."

Ember cleared her through, looking down at her lap and breathing before she responded. "Well thank you, sorry, just have shaken a lot of hands today." Cendre looked at her with an expression she couldn't read and Ember took that as a sign that he was insulted, "I didn't mean any offence!" She looked to the side, embarrassed, only to make eye contact with Trinity further down the table.

Finally, dinner came out on porcelain plates. She believed we're a gift from Japan, as their Monarchs could not presently make it to the party. The guests around her from all different countries began to make small talk as the tinkling of cutlery began to fill the silence, music soon joining in a slow classical rhythm. Ember couldn't help but feel out of place, the heirs and heiresses around her had been doing this for years and had much more experience at not causing a national incident than she had; people both older and younger than her.

All Ember could think about is how much she is going to dread the dancing that was bound to start within the hour.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

--
1586 Words (Edited)
--

A/N - Sorry for dragging on about the details of the dress so much, but it was actually inspired by a dress by Teuta Matoshi (one of my favorite designers EVER), and I love it so I felt like I had to do it justice. I'll plug in some photos of the dress and what I imagined the party to look like down below!

Happy Reading!

- Winter 🖤