Magically Bound

Chapter three

Aurora’s POV

“Dear God, why do you look like you haven’t closed an eye all night?” Nora asked with a questioning look on her face.

“Because I didn’t,” I shrugged.

I had yet to tell her about my nightly adventure, not that there was much to tell, but it was still very different than a normal night.

“The blood hunter is coming today, and a dress can only do so much,” she frowned.

I was about to open my mouth to protest when she shook her head and pulled out the dress she had taken with her.

“I chose this because, well, I so rarely get to see you in any vibrant colors, and honestly, green goes so well with your red locks.”

I snorted at her statement. Whenever she had the chance, she put me in something green, claiming every time that I never wore anything like it. My normal dress even had some green in it thanks to her, so I never fully understood why she complained that much.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said sourly. “We can fight about it tomorrow, not that you will win the discussion anyway, but you are welcome to try,” she stated confidently, making a smile creep up on my face.

“Just help me get in the dress, yeah?” I chuckled.

She nodded and started to untangle the lacing of the corset in the back of the dress. It was a pretty dress, fancier than the ones I had previously worn, and if that didn’t tell me how important this blood hunter was to her, then nothing would.

The dress had a sweetheart neckline which would make me show more skin than I was used to. The bust of the dress was nicely lined with a circular pattern that stopped right at the hip where the dress flowed out rather nicely, some of the patterns from the top extending to the sides of the dress. I appreciated that she hadn’t taken the most fluffy and outstanding dress she could find. I could never stand those. I liked simplicity more than the over-the-top dresses that people like Charlotte preferred.

The lace on the back, or the ribbons as I liked to call it, was the same dark green as the rest of the dress to make it stand out from the black modesty panel when laced through the grommets.

All in all, I didn’t look like a complete mess and as much as I hated to admit it, Nora was right about the color. It did make my red locks appear more radiant, not that I would ever admit that to her because I would never live that down.

“Now, would you look at that,” she almost whistled while taking a few steps back to be able to look at me fully. “You look like a completely different woman, yet still very much the same.”

I looked down at myself while I let my fingers run over the ever-so-soft fabric. It reminded me of my mother’s dresses. Always so soft under one’s touch and just as beautiful if not more. Now, my mother was always one to steal people’s glances. She had the same red hair as me, the same blue eyes, and the most wonderful smile. Wherever she went, people followed. She was a kindhearted soul and people knew that. They simply couldn’t help themselves whenever she was around.

She loved to dress up but always told me that one’s appearance wouldn’t make up for an ugly heart. That what was on the inside was what mattered the most and so, when she died… I let my appearance slip away.

“Hey, hey!” Nora cooed in a soft voice as she wiped my stray tear away. “Why are you crying?”

“It’s silly,” I sniffled while trying to brush it off with a laugh, a laugh that I ended up choking on.

“You were thinking about your mother, weren’t you?”

“I was,” I admitted, which was a huge step.

I never admitted that, nor did I ever talk about her. Memories about her were basically banned from the household the day after her funeral; the day my father lost himself to alcohol.

“I’m sure she would enjoy seeing you like this,” she smiled. “I still remember when we were younger, and she got us our very first dress-up dress. That is why I chose this actually,” she said as a matter of fact.

“What do you mean?”

“Haven’t you noticed it? It is the same green color, the same pattern, and just the same amount of floof,” she chuckled. “You never really did like full dresses.”

“I thought you had this in the closet?” I asked with a frown.

“I did,” she assured me. “Kind of.”

“Nora…”

“Okay, my mother found our dresses while cleaning out the attic and I may or may not have taken the dress to Madame Clarise and not so you think I just spend lots of money on you-“ she stopped mid-sentence and pulled out another dress, the one she was going to wear, and flaunted it. “-I had this done for myself at the same time, so it was more a two for one kind of thing,” she said as if that would make me feel any better.

It was an exact replica of the dress she had back then. The same red color, the same golden thread running through the fabric of the bust and all the way down to the skirt, outlining it at the bottom.

“I thought I would save them for a special occasion and what could be more special than this?”

“I don’t know, maybe your upcoming wedding?”

“The thought did occur to me, but then we wouldn’t be able to reminisce the same way seeing as I would be in another dress,” she chuckled. “Now, can we please put the complaining aside and just enjoy this day? I heard the townsmen and women have put together a feast, so the least we can do to be polite is put this aside and focus on that.”

“Fine, fine,” I sighed, putting my hands up in defeat. “Let’s get this over with.”

Walking through the streets on our way to the town square, I noticed everyone was in their finest dress-up. I suddenly felt less stupid, or at least I did for a few minutes until the staring started.

“Don’t mind them,” Nora gushed as she linked her arm with me. “They are just envious of how marvelous you look.”

“I don’t think envious is the word I would use,” I snorted, but felt a little better at her statement.

The town square was packed, to say the least.

Everyone was there ready to see the marvelous and magical man in question.