Dance of Wolf and Raven: Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3: Tears are free.

The artisan brings another dress into the room, and the blush on her face tells Adelina that it was yet another bust.

Red silk, bejeweled with pearls down the side of the thighs, black lace around the chest area, it was almost exactly what Adelina had asked for.

Sexy, sultry, and seductive.

The three S's.

Adelina sighs with resignation.

She didn't have the hips or chest to pull it off.

'Why wasn't I blessed with mother's figure?' She complains to herself in frustration.

Mother's beauty had become famous throughout the empire after her marriage to the emperor. It didn't help dispel the ugly rumors regarding the emperor's lust being the deciding factor for their marriage… especially so quickly after the death of the previous empress.

Adelina inhales deeply, shaking her head to get back into focus. She promised herself she wouldn't think of mother.

Instead she turns to her brother who remained seated, bored out of his mind.

No matter how many times she asked Daerin for his opinion she knew it wouldn't matter. If she didn't like it or feel confident in whatever she wore, she could never capture the prince's heart.

But it was still fun to ask.

"Daerin, thoughts?" She asks cheerfully.

Her brother lazily raises his head, an eyebrow rising as he inspects the dress.

"Shouldn't it be white?" He looks over the pile beside her, "Why are they all red? You're getting married, not going out for an evening date."

"All the dresses I've shown you have been red, and you're just noticing the color?"

Adelina just groans with annoyance when he doesn't answer. She had to broach the subject with him already. She needed to.

Smiling politely to the clothier, she waves the woman away. "Please leave us for, say, half an hour?"

The princess sees the woman's shoulders relax as she bows respectfully. Quickly, she locks the door behind her gently as she leaves.

Good.

Now how to ask Daerin for help.

All throughout the carriage ride to Zalderick she didn't know how to approach the subject.

She would need his support, and he'd give it, but she didn't know how to ask this without it coming off as… childish.

'Why yes dear brother, I need your help in seducing my husband-to-be so I can protect myself in this Goddess forsaken land of frozen moun-'

"Lina!"

She feels a flick on her forehead, the heat building from where Daerin struck her. How did he get so near her without her noticing?

Now, she couldn't help but feel annoyed again.

"What?!" She almost roars at him.

"What's the matter?" He asks without reaction to her anger. He's at least worried enough that it calms Adelina down, but the warmth from before still stings.

She really couldn't bring herself to say it.

Adelina isn't sure if the sting came from the flick or her embarrassment. It feels as if it had turned into an ugly red bump on her head, the air around it sensitive and practically calling attention to what she could only imagine as a zit.

How could she seduce someone with a zit, much less a prince? Isn't this her brother's fault now?

Wait, no.

Her shoulders tense. As was her habit, she moves her left hand to her forehead after a couple seconds.

Slowly, she massages the sides of her temple with her thumb and ring finger.

"Screw it," she blurts out suddenly, "I'm going to seduce that prince and wrap him around my finger."

Daerin tilts his head in bewilderment, "Wait, wha-"

Adelina snaps her fingers, ecstatic that she finally let it out.

"Help me become sexy!" She glides to her brother, holding his hands as she pleads, "Like, really, really, sexy! I know you've visited the red light district back in Ravenfall, so you must know what a man shou-"

Daerin violently shakes his head in panic, removing himself from Adelina's grip.

"Now wait a damn second! How do you k-" He stops himself as he registers her demand, "Sexy? I don't know how to make my little sister 'sexy'?! What does that even mean?!"

Adelina ignores him as she goes back to the pile of dresses.

"Hm, push up bodice maybe?"

"What-"

"No, what is there to lift in the first place… well, for sure red dye for my lips…"

"-the fuck, are you-"

She turns around.

"Do Argentian men like thick eyelashes?"

"-talking about?"

The two siblings stare at each other, both awaiting a response to their questions.

The princess is the first to speak however, "Gimme the cheque."

She holds an empty palm out.

But Daerin shakes his head once.

"Explain."

Her brother said it with a tone he didn't possess before, an authority he gained while in the lands of the far north.

Adelina retracts the palm slowly, her mind racing to find a way to satisfy her brother's worries.

"…how else can I guarantee my safety if I don't make him love me? I need perfumes, oils, lip dyes, Lymarkian kohl, an-"

Daerin groans in annoyance, "You're so smart I keep forgetting you've no experience with men…" He rubs all over his face as he continues speaking, "Wanting to sleep with someone doesn't necessarily mean you want to love them, you idiot…"

He doesn't hear a reply, so he opens the palm across his face and peeks with a single eye.

What he sees threatens to make him laugh.

Adelina stares at her older brother with disgust, shock, and perhaps disappointment.

Finally, he can't help himself as he slowly chuckles before it crescendos into a full blown laugh.

"Men are-! Why would you do something so intimate, so…" she looks around the room in search of words, "…so…" her voice barely registers to a whisper, "…so sacred, if you didn't love them?"

She knew her mother and father had grown distant and even hateful towards one another over the years, but they must have loved each other at one point.

Adelina's gaze turns downcast, the air around her grows cold.

She must have been a product of love, right?

Daerin claps his hands together loudly, grabbing his sister's attention to who he then points excitedly, "That! That is what will have him wrapped around your little conniving finger!"

Adelina raises an eyebrow at 'conniving', but says nothing as she waits for him to continue.

"You think that scents, dresses, and lip dye will help you, but you're going about this the wrong way." Daerin walks closer to his little sister, walking until he puts a hand on her left shoulder. "Lina, from the reports Gareth gave me, Prince Uriel had been betrothed to the princess of Lymark since childhood."

Adelina stares at her brother without saying a word. Not hearing a reply, Daerin continues.

"It wasn't a distant arranged marriage either. They grew up together, knew each other for years, and reports say they got along well." Daerin puts the other hand on her right shoulder, and gently squeezes, "And he betrayed her kingdom, broke off their engagement, and joined sides with the invaders. That's us."

Daerin stares directly into Adelina's eyes, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She slowly nods her head. Daerin smiles in response.

"There's nothing that costs less than shedding a single tear," he chuckles, "use that shit to trap that fucker and make him close the cage himself."

"Eh?"

"You heard me, men love that shit!"

The two stare at each other for several seconds, now smiling at each other. But suddenly…

Adelina kicks her brother on the shin, eliciting a sharp yelp of pain.

"Gah!" Daerin hops on one foot away from her as he rubs the kicked shin, "What's that for?!"

She simply points an accusatory finger at him, "Why didn't you share this in the first place?! Didn't you think-" She waves her arms wildly, "-that it'd be important to know! Hand those reports over!"

But just as suddenly as the two began shouting each other, they laugh.

This felt normal, as if they were back in the Imperial Palace.

It felt like home.

All that was missing was Gareth, and Adelina could feel his absence sharply. Wanting to not dwell on that, she asks Daerin, "So what do you suggest I wear?"

Daerin replies without hesitation, "Black. Ravenea colors. You're the daughter of the emperor, an Imperial Princess. Fuck white," he scoffs angrily, though Adelina doesn't know why for, "With black you can show off your lineage and play with the prince some more."

"Play?" Adelina asks, "How would wearing black…?"

Her brother points to his temple with the index finger, "Present yourself as a victim of father's schemes." The finger on his temple goes to his chin, scratching his beard now, "That this marriage was against your will, so you're in mourning for your freedom."

The smirk on his face grows wider, "So basically, just say the truth!"

Adelina smiles, letting a small chuckle through. She could see the scene in her head, the pouting face she'd give, how she would act… should she make herself cry, blush her cheeks? Oh, she can hardly wait to see the prince's look of pity as he tries cheering her up.

But her brother continues yapping as she formulates the perfect plan.

Daerin continues, "I think looking vulnerable will work far more than being…" He turns to the dresses in the room, with a look similar to what one would give a three legged dog. "…sexy ever could."