Its been two weeks since my sixteenth birthday. I have gotten used to controlling the female sym, and have almost completely stopped the social taboos that, as a guy, I didn't have to worry about. Tia on the other hand, has been keeping my form as a super-formal butler. he barely even talks, where she has practically beat me into talking constantly through Ria, which is what we decided to call my Sym. Her butler, she just calls him Grey.
There were a few things that took some getting used to; first, since Tia is my wife now, she insisted that she help me bathe, as well as teach me how to take care of Ria's body. So instead of a private bath; we bathe together, and even though we are married, and have bathed together, seen every part of each other, we still haven't done any 'adult' things. its difficult to get in the mood when I have to deal with Tia, Ria, and Grey all in the bathroom at the same time.
I had no idea how much crap women had to go through. first it was making sure that everything was clean, then, how to take care when going number two, so that the other part didn't get infected; then the undergarments. my god, the undergarments.
Bras, panties, corsettes, teddies, slips, shapewear, sleepwear, casual wear, skirts, dresses, formal gowns, those were just to start. Forcing me to learn dancing, for both me and Ria, just so I wouldn't embarass the family, she got mad a few times, and I'd have to say that I deserved it every time.
The first one, I definately deserved. Ria sat down at a table, while wearing a knee length skirt, like an athlete wearing shorts. Tia had chosen white panties for Ria just in case this happened, I got beat for a solid three minutes in the hospital cafeteria for that. Definately deserved. It was much easier to sit with the knees together with Ria, that it was with myself, the muscles didn't hurt as much, and it wasn't the most comfortable position, but I can't call it uncomfortable either, so I was taught to place my feet to one side or the other of the chair when I sat with Ria. I haven't made that mistake again.
The exagerated mannerisms that come naturally to females is still a work in progress, and even Tia said that it will take a while. Their way of speech, their sing-song nature, it will take a lot longer.
Today, though, is a unique day: its release day. Because its release day, that means the four of us will be leaving, through the front doors.
The reporters, having already been told about our marrage, have been non-stop reporting on my past, and my lineage back six generations, for the past week and a half, it took four days for the information to leak, but once it did, the Empress was asked pointedly about it at a live press conference, since she wasn't about to lie about it, its gotten quite embarassing. Of course, the fact of the sym-switch was also revealed, but that wasn't released until yesterday.
The family is basically playing it as though Tia and I were secretly dating for the past year, even fabricating photographs of us at places near my house. Whenever the question pops up about how we supposedly met, Mother, she insists I call her that, tells the reporters, that she didn't think it appropriate to ask her daughter, nor would she ask. In other words, she gave us a week to come up with a story on our own.
Basically, we decided on a story where she ditched her bodyguards, and got lost walking around the maze-like residential streets in my neighborhood, where I found her; led her to a street she recognized, where we exchanged numbers, and seperated. And, of course, when we told Mother about the story, she helped us polish up some details, such as me not realizing who Tia was until we got told about the sym-switch, which strangely is the only truthful part of the whole thing.
"Noel." I hear Grey call. "You need to apply makeup to Ria before we leave."
"Can't Tia do it?" I say trying to get out of it.
"Absolutely not!" she yells from the bathroom. "Because of my duties, I will not be able to be there and help you with every single thing about girls that you want to ignore. you have to learn how to do it on your own." I can tell she is concentrating putting her own makeup on, and isn't done. "and, if you say that she can go without makeup, I will, honestly, yell at you about it again."
yeah, that was the second time she got mad. I didn't get hit by her, she had grey do it, but apparently going to the canteen wearing only pajamas, and the evening's mud-mask was a bad idea. I know I deserved that one, because I only realized when Ria got back why all the guys were staring, those PJs were rather sheer, and honestly, her body is definately a good shape, at least to me.
I look at myself in a mirror through Ria's eyes, and start braiding my Walnut colored hair into a spiral, so that the waist length hair is currled into a flat bun, the brass hair comb that was sitting on Tia's dresser made a nice addition, and held the end in place nicely.
with the hair out of the way, I checked the undergarments in the top drawer for the right size, apparently, Ria's size was slightly smaller than Tia's so I had to find a Bra that had 34B instead of 34C on the tag. damn, why does a guy need to know this kind of crap. at least the other garments were the same, so I grabbed a violet sundress, and threw it on just as Tia came out of the bathroom.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Hair, approved, wear flats with that dress, and find a full slip to go under it." she corrected, then continued to get ready. "your sense is getting better, those first few days were horrible."
I had just finished tying Grey's bow-tie, and walked over to grab the slip for Ria when Tia came into my view, she had walked by Ria so fast that I hadn't seen her. I stopped moving.
"What?" she looked at me befuddled. "What's wrong? do I have something on my face?" she quickly glanced in the mirror that Ria had used for her hair.
"Quite the oppisite." I said honestly. the brown, and orange eye shadow she had chosen to wear made her emerald green eyes stand out all the more, her fair skin in contrast to the thick walnut hair she wore in a loose bun, it was like I was seeing Aphroditie herself, decend. "Natillia, you are beautiful." I said plainly.
"Thats the first time you have called me by my name." she said, I felt Grey hit me on the back side of my head. "thats for lying to me." she said, but I knew she was kidding. After all, it wasn't as hard as grey hit me for the Pajamas in the canteen incedent, yeah, that was bad. Ria should have worn a robe.
I quickly helped Ria finish the leaving prep, and watched as Tia's staff of maids decended upon the room, and cleared out all the personal effects for the four of us. I had to stop one as she almost ran off with my shoes as I was about to put them on. I did have to ask one to bring a pair of flats for Ria, because they had all disappeared.
my parrents came in, as the last maid left, and dad handed me his cuff-links, the ones he wore every year at the family gathering.
"Noel, these are yours now." he started. "my dad gave them to me after I married Christina," he shook mom's shoulder. "now, that you are married, they are yours. and in our family, they mark you as the head of your house. so although, you married into the the matriachy, you are still the head of house."
"Thanks Dad." I gave him a hug, and kissed mom on the cheek. Mom then approached Tia.
"Natillia," mom held out a small wooden box that I recognized. it was mom's bracelet that I had only ever seen her wear twice. at my older sister's wedding, and at her funeral. "This may not be up to the standards you are used to. but it is a family tradition for the Lavender women to wear this for formal occasions." mom opened the case, and the purple stones that were the same color as our namesake glistened in the artifical light. A small pendant hung off of the chain, I had never gotten a close look at it, but I was told that it was something that only the women of the family needed to worry about.
"Mom," she said refering to my mom, "has this always been in your family?" her eyes never left the bracelet.
mom lifted the wooden insert that held the bracelet, and set it on the end-table, then took out a piece of paper, showing it to Tia. "This page gets each new name written on it. each name represents the generation that recieves it, there are 43 names on it. yours included."
"Dear god." she said, tearing up. I quickly used Ria to grab a hankerchief, and dab her eyes so she didn't ruin her makup, to which Tia giggled. "Do you have any idea what this is?" she said with a smile on her face.
"its a family heirloom, one that has been passed to every Lavender male's first wife."
"its a relic, mom. there is no gift that could possibly be better to give. especially to a member of the royal family. with this, even if Noel brought nothing else to the marraige, this is a dowlry that I could never, even with a hundred years of double taxes, be able to repay."
Tia took a small stone, that looked like polished quartz, and touched the pendant with it, and a small hologram formed inside the cyrstal.
"This, is an invaluable relic of the kingdoms that existed before the empire. at the very least, your family is a descendant of a noble house of one of those kingdoms, and this is your proof of heritiage." Tia said to her. "once the geneology is confirmed with our records... " she seemed to think better of what she was about to say, then gave mom a hug, and kissed dad on the cheek. "no matter what else happens, I will let you know the results of the search." she commited as she put the bracelet on herself, Ria helped me with my cuff links, as I had seen mom help dad with them so often, I couldn't figure out how to put them in myself.
"Are we all ready?" Mother barges in, and in mock disappointment, continues, "and I was hoping to catch a partially indecent scene." to which she promptly grins.
"Mom, if you are expecting grand-children already, you are in for more disappointment." Tia says through her embarassment, while holding the bracelet at eye level to get a closer look at the pendant.
"Natillia Lavender," Mother starts, "Please tell me that bracelet isn't what I think it is."
"Its the proof of lineage for the Lavender family." she says.
"I'll never be able to prepare a comparable dowlry to that." Empress Matilda said with a pale face.
"its worn by the first wife of the eldest male, and has been for at least 42 generations, Natillia, being 43rd." Dad says to her. "if its a question of dowlry, we still haven't decided what would be suitable either. the bracelet became hers as soon as they married."
"your name may be Lavender, but I recognize that bracelet. there was only one ever mentioned in the archives of the kingdoms. you are a noble house, hidden for all these generations. you are the lost house, the House of Glass."
Tia stopped moving and looked at me as though seeing me for the first time. "The House of Glass, you mean the house that created... "
"Enough!" Mother shouted at Tia. "you wearing that, means you are now a member. For the first time since the founding of the empire, the House of Glass has been found, I will have a terrible headache for the next month dealing with the reporters. For now, lets set that asside, we have to deal with the reporters for another reason, and a joyous one. So lets go conduct the Lavender's public debut."
As she said that, she turned to leave, a mannerism that Tia uses as well, to say that she will not accept an argument. Grey and Ria lead ahead of myself and Tia, with my parrents trailing behind. several questions seem to be on their faces, but even they aren't willing to question the Empress at the moment.