Book 2: The Welcome Bell

Anwen

I rap on Estrella’s door, the hallway behind me humming with activity. All the delegations are here—including Snowcrest—and the servants race around like ants in a colony, completing final preparations before the welcome ball just getting underway downstairs.

She opens the door.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“I am going to take that as a compliment.” She puts out her arm for me to take.

“You should.” I shake my head to clear it. She’s beyond stunning.

Candace told me tonight’s dress was her concession to Bright’s near conniption over the rest of the wedding clothes, but Bright seems to have lost anyway. Another wrapped dress drapes over Estrella. The base fabric is a dove gray that almost perfectly matches her eyes. Over it, though, is a rainbow riot of decoration.

Jingling beads, dancing embroidery, everything I could imagine to liven up the Dun’s Crossing gray I never thought was boring until I met her. Tiny jewels in a thousa