The colors (of the sunset)

Mary wakes up to the sun in her eyes and Pandora bustling around her room laying out the dress she is to wear today until she changes into her outfit for the ball tonight.

Her 18th birthday ball is tonight and she is extremely excited. She may hate a lot of things about royal life, but you will never catch her turning down the opportunity for a party.

For the first time in months she wakes herself up before Pandora comes over to her bed and throws the covers off of her. “Good morning Pandora!” She wipes the sleep out of her eyes and grins over at her.

Pandora stands across the room in shock that she did not have to kick her out of bed for only a second before continuing with what she was doing. “Mary I do believe this is the first time I have not had to throw you out of bed in months. Is everything alright?” She says with slight concern.

“Everything is wonderful Pandora, I have not felt this good in months! Plus it is my birthday today, I am finally eighteen!” She jumps out of bed and jumps into Pandora’s arms. She stumbles back a little in shock at her sudden show of affection.

It's not like she never shows affection towards her, but it is never her jumping onto her. It only takes Pandora a second or two until she melted into her embrace. She is warm and her hold is comforting.

She carefully set her down on the bed after a few seconds because she had started to drop her. Mary continues to smile up at her because really, how could she not when the day she has been waiting for, for her entire life is finally here.

“Mary, why are you so excited about turning eighteen? I mean no disrespect of course, but I mean what is the difference between you being seventeen and being eighteen?” Pandora asks cautiously as she sits down next to her on the bed.

Mary’s smile does not fall as she says “Because of freedom Pandora. Being eighteen means my father legally can no longer force me to stay within the castle walls all day doing lessons, needlepoint, and meeting with suitors. I could leave the kingdom if I wanted, run away and never return, and no one. No one can stop me from doing so!” She finished breathlessly.

Pandora grins at her,”Well Mary if you leave then I am going with you. Where you go I shall follow. No matter where we go, as long as we are together. I may work for the royal family, but her loyalty is to you only.”

“Of course Pandora I could never leave you behind, you are her best friend in the whole world.” Mary takes her hand in hers and gives her a reassuring squeeze. She smiles and squeezes her hand back.

Pandora has been her lady in waiting since Emmeline left and at the beginning she was wary since she had just had her heart broken by the last person she opened up to, but thirteen year old Pandora Rosier quickly made her way into her heart.

Since Mary was an only child who was never allowed to leave the castle, she often found herself wishing on a shooting star that she would be given a little sister, but her wish never came true. That was true until the day the entire noble family of Rosier was killed off by pirates only leaving behind a traumatized thirteen year old Pandora who had been over at her friends house at the time they were murdered and ended up surviving.

The murder of the Rosiers remains a mystery to this day because all of the bodies were found except one. The body of Evan Rosier. Pandora’s twin brother. Was never found, but it was decided that he had died because there was no way a thirteen year old boy with no training experience could take down a pirate crew.

The royal family had worked closely with the Rosiers for generations so they took in young Pandora as her lady in waiting since Emmeline had just left and she needed one.

She had just lost her twin brother and Mary had always wanted a little sister, so she took her under her wing and gave her a shoulder to cry on over the loss of her family and treated her like a little sister, and in turn she treated her like her older sister. Their relationship has always been sibling-like, either arguing over something dumb that neither of them really cared about or gossiping in her room after they listened in on people's conversations all day and getting dirt on government officials for fun.

Mary always knew that if she ever left the kingdom she would take Pandora with her. She could never leave her behind, she is the closest thing to a sister she has and her best friend. If she lost her she would lose a part of her soul.

Pandora stands up and flattens down the creases in her skirt.”Come on Mary don’t they make a special breakfast for you on your birthday? You won’t want to be late.”

Her eyes brighten and she gets off of her bed.”Yes of course, they always make her favorite breakfast on her birthday. Have you laid something out for me to wear?” She has let Pandora choose her outfits ever since she discovered her hidden talent for creating outfit looks that are stunning. She swore you could give her a garbage bag and she could style it into a dress that could be sold for thousands.

Pandora smiles and walks over to where she has laid out a dress,”Yes I picked it as soon as I came in. You will have to change out of this and into your ball gown at four o’clock, ok?” She looks over to check that she heard what she said since Mary has a tendency to zone out quickly.

“Yes, yes change into the ball gown for the ball at four. I remember.” She ran her hands over the dress. It is a simple lace v-neck blue dress with constellations all along the fabric, she paired it with matching blue flats with the moon embroidered on them. It is her favorite dress and Pandora knows this.

She looks over at her and gives her another big hug before taking the dress and going behind the privacy curtain to change.

She steps out a minute or so later and takes a spin in front of her. She laughs from where she is on her bed and Mary reaches out and takes her hands in hers and pulls her off of her bed and starts spinning them in circles around the room laughing their heads off.

They fall onto the bed still giggling and lay there for a minute before Pandora makes her sit at her vanity so she can brush out her hair and put it back into a braid that she twists into a bun before tying a ribbon around it. Pandora has had an affinity for tying ribbons in peoples hair for years so Mary is almost always walking around with a ribbon somewhere in her hair, but she has never once complained about it finding it rather endearing.

“All done. Now come on, you don’t want to be late for breakfast.” Pandora sing songs as she glides towards the door. She has always had a sort of gracefulness in the way she walks, almost as if she is floating across the room.

She gets up and walks towards the door preparing for the day ahead. Since it is her birthday and she has to get ready for the ball early, she gets to skip all of her classes. That leaves her with a lot of free time to hang out with Pandora in her room. She is buzzing with excitement as she walks out of her room.

~

“So Mary, I spoke with Rabastan again last night.” her father says looking towards her clearly wanting her attention. She holds back an eye roll at the mention of Rabastan.

“You did? I thought that he would not be in contact anymore after our trip to the village proved we were incompatible.” She had thought Rabastan was going to leave the kingdom after their date, but no it has been just over a week since the date and he is still here, getting on her nerves and still contacting her father even after she made it clear that he shouldn't.

“Yes I did, we spoke more about the possibility of your marriage and how beneficial it would be to our kingdoms.” He says slowly. Mary can’t believe she might actually have to marry him. She was sure she had gotten rid of him, but she guesses he really does want the fame and money from marrying her more than she previously thought.

“Father, don't say what I think you are trying to say.” Mary begged.

“I’m sorry Mary, but there are no more prince’s left in the world. He is the only one willing to marry you. We need this marriage if our kingdom is to survive.” He probably sounds sincere, but she can barely hear him above the roaring in her ears. Marriage to Rabastan? Anyone but him, she despises him the most out of all of them.

“Can’t I marry a princess? You said we are out of prince’s, but maybe there is a princess-” She blurted out before she could stop herself. See the thing is her father does not know that she is a lesbian and he can never know because he is rather homophobic. If he wasn’t then Mary would have never put up with those stupid suitors.

Her father is fuming from across the table as she tries to scramble together a rational thought. “No daughter of mine will marry a princess. I think it would be best if you left now.” He grits out.

She holds herself together as she gets up from the table and walks away. At Least she got to eat a good portion of her breakfast before being banished to her room this time.

This is what happens every time she brings up the idea of her marrying a woman. Her father is extremely homophobic and would sooner have her killed than see her married to a woman.

She has known that she was a lesbian since she was fourteen and saw a girl around her age run past the castle gates. She had fiery red hair that was flowing in the air behind her as she held up the skirt of her dress so she could run. She was with a boy, but Mary can not remember what he looked like.

She believes her exact thoughts were ‘oh she’s pretty.’ in the way you would describe a friend, to ‘Oh she’s Pretty.’ she had been confused at first because girls were not supposed to feel this way about other girls. This is how she was supposed to feel about boys and she tried to make herself like them, but none of them had taken her breath away quite like the girl with the red hair had.

Mary came to terms with the fact that she absolutely does not like boys when Emmeline came along and has not thought twice about having a romantic relationship with one since.

When she and Emmeline got together Mary considered coming out to her father, but then he made a very homophobic comment and she decided she would rather have a roof over her head than being disowned at fifteen years old.

She always thought she could wait out getting married until her father died and she became queen, then she would marry a woman, but it seems her time is up and any chance of freedom will disappear when she says I do.

~

Mary walks back up to her room and lays down on her bed for a few minutes staring at the ceiling until her door creaks open and Pandora walks in.

“Hi.” Mary looks away from her ceiling and over to Pandora. She looks concerned, she always is when her father makes a rude comment towards her.

“Hi, are you ok?” Pandora walks over and lies down next to Mary on the bed and she moves over to make more room for her.

“As ok as you can be when you find out you are going to have an arranged marriage to a man you hate and there is nothing you can do about it.” She sighs and turns so she is facing her. There is concern written all over her face.

“We could run away. Leave and go to another kingdom, never returning. We could do what we want and you could have your freedom.” She sounds slightly desperate, she always sees the good in things which she loves about her, her undying optimism always makes Mary feel safe, but this time there is more on the line than she knows.

“I would if I could, but I am afraid of what would happen if I left. The kingdoms could go to war, Pandora.”

“Who cares if they go to war, it's their problem not ours, you should be allowed to marry whoever you want.” Pandora reaches over and grabs Mary’s hand and smiles at her.

She is the first person Mary came out to when she figured it out years ago, so she has always known why she disliked the dates with the suitors and wanted her to stand up for herself against her father and refuse to go.

“How about this if something truly terrible happens at any point, we run away. Deal?” She wants her freedom more than anything now that it might go away forever.

Pandora thinks for a moment before saying,”Deal.” and putting out her hand for her to shake. Mary laughs and aggressively shakes her hand.

“Now that we are done talking about the sad stuff you have to hear what the east corridor maids were saying when I was walking up the stairs this morning.” Pandora starts to tell her about how some noble cheated on his wife with his best friend and now they are going through a messy divorce. She listens, trying to push all of her other thoughts out of her head and focus on her.

That is how they end up spending our morning until it is time for her to get ready for the ball.

~

Mary took a twirl in her dress. It is even more beautiful than she thought it would be. The light pink dress flows to the ground and the fabric twirls in the air. A light pink lace wraps around the bodice and it is the most gorgeous dress she has ever worn.

She heard Pandora laugh and realized that she has been spinning for so long she is dizzy.

She collapses onto the bed with an umph, only getting a second of rest before being dragged off to her vanity by Pandora so she can do her hair and makeup.

Mary has always loved having her makeup done, especially when Pandora is the one doing it since her makeup looks are always so different. Pandora starts her makeup by spending ten minutes doing her eye makeup alone before doing the rest of her face in the amount of time it took her to do her eyes. She then starts her hair by spending about twenty minutes brushing out her hair and getting the curls perfect to put in the ponytail.

“Hold still for just a moment.” Pandora says as she puts the pink ribbon she got during her date with Rabastan tied in her hair. “Perfect.” Pandora backs away to admire it from afar. It is very simple, but very elegant looking and Mary loves it.

“I love it, Pandora.” Mary smiles at Pandora and she smiles back.

“I have to go and change for the ball herself, but I shall be back in around thirty-five minutes.” Pandora says as she puts back all of the makeup and hair products.

“Ok, you know where I will be.” she nods at her and walks out of the room.

~

“Mary, you remember the steps to the dances, correct?” Pandora is standing next to her as they wait for her que to make her grand entrance down the staircase and onto the dance floor where she will immediately be forced to dance with Rabastan. In the past she has forgotten the steps to the dances since they are all extremely complicated and leave her stumbling over her own feet, but this time she has practiced for weeks on end and is sure she will get the steps right.

“I remember all of the steps, Pandora.” She glances over at her, still in awe of her outfit. She is wearing a bright blue dress that looks like a butterfly. The skirt is designed to look like a butterfly’s wings and it is gorgeous on her. She has also put her hair into a braid that she has put fake butterflies in. She has always liked to be extra, but being a lady in waiting makes it very difficult to express yourself when you have to wear a uniform all day everyday.

“Lords and Ladies, may I present the guest of honor for tonight's ball, Princess Mary Louise Macdonald.” The announcer calls from the staircase. She took one last glance at Pandora before making her way to the stairs.

Everyone looks up at her as she gracefully walks down the stairs with a smile on her face. No matter how bad her day has been she will not let it ruin the birthday ball she has been looking forward to her entire life. At the bottom of the stairs Rabastan is waiting for her with that fake smile of his on his face.

“You look stunning tonight princess.” Rabastan takes her hand and kisses it and I have to hold back a look of disgust. She lets him take her hand and brings her to the dance floor figuring it is best to just be done with it as soon as she can.

The music starts to play and he leads her across the floor. He is a good dancer, but very rigid and tense as he dances. She almost fumbled her steps a few times, but ended up saving herself from falling.

The song ends quickly and Mary walks over to her throne where she is greeted by nobles from all over the world. She talks with them, interested in everything they tell her about.

Mary spends most of her time on the dance floor. Partially because she loves dancing, and partially because she is trying to avoid Rabastan and her father. Mary wishes she could dance with a girl, but since her father will not leave the ball for a half an hour so she must make due with the men until then.

A little while later, just as Mary guessed would happen, her father said his goodbyes and left the ball. Mary immediately scoped out the girls at the ball, trying to see if one of them caught her eye. She almost gives up until a flash of fiery red hair swishes into her line of vision.

The girl is in an emerald green ball gown that compliments her hair wonderfully. Mary's breath hitches at the sight of her, and she decides that she simply must dance with the girl before the night ends.

Mary starts to make her way to the girl, but the girl has already been taken to dance with someone else. Mary walks over and asks another girl with honey blonde hair to dance with her until the girl with the red hair is available.

Mary and the girl dance around the room swaying to the music. Mary tries to pay attention to the girl she is dancing with whose name she still has not gotten, but she always ends up staring at the girl with the red hair across the room.

When the dance ends Mary realizes the time and that this is the last dance of the night and her last chance to dance with the girl. She quickly makes her way over before someone else can take the girl to dance.

“Hello madame, I was wondering if I could have this dance?” Mary asks as she holds out her hand to the girl. The girl looks surprised that the princess has chosen to dance with her for the last dance of the night.

“It would be my pleasure, your majesty.” The girl curtseys and takes Mary’s hand and lets Mary lead her to a spot on the dance floor.

The music begins and the pair dance across the room. The girl is a natural dancer and leads Mary well. Since Mary is closer to her now she can get a better look at the girl. She has freckles across her nose, and she has the most striking emerald green eyes that are the same shade as her dress. Mary already knows she must meet this girl again.

The dance ends and the two girls split apart. The girl curtseys “Thank you, your majesty for allowing me the pleasure of dancing with you.” The girl starts to turn away and Mary panics, realizing she has not gotten the girl's name.

Mary grabs the girl by her wrist to keep her from leaving just yet “Wait, can you tell me your name?” Mary begs her.

The girl looks at where Mary is holding her wrist and then looks into Mary’s eyes, and suddenly Mary feels as though they are the only people in the room. She can’t hear anything around her and can only see her.

“My name is Lily.” Mary lets go of her wrist and watches her walk away and out of the ballroom.

Mary finds her way over to Pandora who is waiting for her at the exit of the ball. Mary tells Pandora all about Lily and who she is simply the most gorgeous woman she has ever seen before in her life.

Mary is unaware, but Rabastan is right around the corner hearing everything she says and that he saw how Mary looked at Lily as she danced with her. He turns and heads to the King.

~

“Oh Pandora she was wonderful really. Did I mention her eyes, oh and did I mention her freckles, I wanted to trace them into constellations! And her name, Lily, is simply the most beautiful name in the world, which makes sense since it belongs to the most beautiful girl in the world!” Mary starts again, she has been telling Pandora all about Lily since they got back to her room. Pandora has indulged her so far, but Mary is now repeating everything she has already said.

“You did mention her eyes, her freckles, and her name, oh and don’t forget her fiery red hair that reminds you of a warm fire in the middle of winter.” Pandora flops onto her bed and starts giggling “If I didn’t know better, Mary I would think you are halfway in love with her already, and you have spoken to her how many times?”

“Only twice, but they were the two best conversations of my life. Her voice is gorgeous like a honey and a summer's day all rolled into one in her voice. And you may as well be correct Pandora because I think I will simply fall to the ground and die the next time I see her. Killed by her beauty and loveliness.” Mary flops down onto her bed next to Pandora and starts laughing with her. They lay there laughing for a few minutes before easily falling into sleep.

~

Mary wakes up when Pandora pushes herself off of Mary since she had fallen asleep with her head in Mary’s lap. Mary considers staying in bed but realizes she will get in trouble if she sleeps in.

Pandora dresses Mary in a light pink dress with gold floral lace stitched into the bodice of the dress. Pandora then sits Mary down and combs through her hair, and puts it back with a light pink ribbon. Mary normally thinks about her schedule that day during this long process, but this morning her thoughts are taken up by green eyes and fiery red hair.

Pandora and Mary talk as they walk down to breakfast together. They always have to be quieter when they are in the halls, since they don’t want their gossiping to be overheard.

Mary had not been informed that they would be eating breakfast with anyone else besides her family plus Pandora like normal. But, when Mary walked into the dining room there sat Rabastan eating scrambled eggs and sausage, dressed in the colors of our kingdom, with a smirk on his face that made Mary’s blood boil.

“Oh good morning Rabastan. I had no idea you would be eating with us this morning.” Mary said with a forced small smile, as she sat down in her chair at the table.

“Well I wasn’t going to originally, until I saw you and that girl dancing together at the ball last night after the King left, and I went right to him as soon as the ball ended since it seemed like something important for him to know. After speaking with the King he thought it would be best if I stayed the night so we could discuss it over breakfast today.” Rabastan is most likely saying this with a smirk that says I got you, but Mary couldn’t hear anything other than the ringing in her ears.

‘Her father knows about her dancing with Lily. Her father probably thinks she is a lesbian, her homophobic father thinks she is a lesbian. She waited to dance with a girl until after he left with the purpose of making sure he didn’t find out. But he did. He did find out and she was surely going to be kicked out of the castle now.’ Mary’s thoughts run wild as she holds back the panic attack she is sure is about to have.

“Mary in light of this, development, me and Rabastan have come up with a plan” The King said with disgust on his face as he looked at his daughter, but he wasn’t looking at her like a father would look at his daughter, no, he was looking at her like she was the most vile, disgusting creature to have ever walked the face of the planet.

Mary swallowed back the bile rising in her throat, and glanced at Pandora to see her staring at what was happening with fear in her eyes. Mary tries but most likely fails to give her a reassuring smile, before returning her gaze to her father.

“Mary you are to be wed to Rabastan tonight at the three saints chapel, and you are never to see that girl or any other girl again.” The King spoke out like a decree to the people of the land.

Mary’s jaw fell slack and she heard a gasp come from the corner Pandora is standing in. Mary’s spoke before she could think about what she was saying, and who she was saying it to “WHAT THE FUCK!”