What did they mean? I knew who I was, didn't I? I was Rosalia Mallory, a girl left on the doorstep of our town's foster agency to find a new home. From there I went through three homes before at the age of 16 instead of having to live in the group h...
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Four Months Later
Rosalia's POV:
"STOP IT!" Eris screams in frustration and I sigh, giving her an apologetic look in the mirror. With bobby pins sticking out of her mouth and unruly red hair upswept she looks more like a fashion model than I ever could, a thought that still stings. "Stop you dolphin" She mumbles angrily, her words somewhat muffled around the pins.
"Dolphin?" I giggle, not getting her at all for that moment. Behind both of us, I can see my two best friends Chalice and Mara giggling silently. Well, Chalice is. Mara attempts it but she can't seem to keep the occasional snort/giggle from escaping which only serves to make her laugh harder. "Is that meant to be an insult?" I try again, not missing how Mara doubles over with laughter at my question. Eris looks mildly flustered for a few seconds before she removes her hands from where, for the best part of half an hour, she'd been styling my thick and unruly hair into something resembling sophisticated for the Crowning Ceremony.
The day I officially become Hunter's Queen.
Nerves play around inside my stomach like kittens with a ball of yarn and I feel like I might be sick. Taking a shaky breath I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up to see Eris's expression over my shoulder. "It'll be ok Roe, you'll see," Her easy adoption of Hunter's nickname for me makes it easier but I can't completely quieten the raging ball of nerves inside me. "It'll all be fine, remember this is just a formality for what's already happened." Her words manage to instil a semblance of calm inside me and I nod once, though the movement looks too jerky in the mirror and I hear Eris sigh, the other two have disappeared. Probably to retrieve the mystery dress I'm supposed to be wearing. "Just remember that this is what you said feels right. Is that still the case?"
"Yeah," I pick around the edge of a hangnail with my teeth for a second before it heals itself and I'm left absently playing with the silk kimono I'm wearing in a deep, silky shade of midnight black. "I just can't get it out of my head what Ebony said, you know about no one accepting me." The fear and nervousness increase tenfold when I actually vocalise the words but Eris just shoots me a sympathetic smile and rubs my back comfortingly. "Does it get easier knowing what you have to do?" I ask, knowing she understands that I'm asking her about her duty as Coven Leader for both our Ebony Hex Coven - which she leads - and the slowly re-growing Phoenix Coven which we lead jointly. She sighs.
"Yea and nay," She whispers, a small giggle escaping my lips at her language. She smiles warmly at me, "I can tell you one way to make it easier." I sit up straighter, needing to hear this. "You just have to believe. Believe in yourself, in Hunter and in the amazing Bonds the two of you share and I promise it will get easier."
"Ok," Is all I have time to say before the other two come in, trailing the dress behind them and I let myself get lost in the preparation in the hope that by the time they present me with the crown I'll feel more sure.
