Althea slept in the next morning, enjoying the break from her training. While most of the girls had already begun their prepping for the autumn equinox ball tonight, she did not mind getting a late start if it meant keeping her sanity in check. She honestly didn't know what to expect tonight. The night before, in the dining hall, it had been a bit rowdy. She had never seen it so full and loud with chatter. Nearly every seat had been taken and their groups usual seats had been occupied by faces she'd never seen. She and the Candidus girl had opted to take their dinner to the courtyard where it was much more quiet. There were still people who had managed to flood out into the cool night air with them, but not nearly as many as had been inside. It made her feel cramped, and the air had been humid from so many bodies. She just hoped that the ball tonight wouldn't feel the same, with people practically walking on top of each other.

Althea combed through her long brown curls, running herself a bath filled with some of the more luxurious oils she'd gotten from Florence at the apothecary. The mixture consisted of rose geranium, sweet orange and honeysuckle oils along with some of the last remaining summer peony petals she'd managed to snatch up. The aroma that filled her bathing chamber was intoxicatingly delightful. Althea closed her eyes and breathed in the scent deeply, savouring it.

There was a long eeow from the door separating her bathing room and her bed chamber, followed by a scratching. Shaking her head, Althea cracked the door open, allowing the calico cat with his half black, half white face, to enter the room. Archie sniffed the air, froze for a moment, then let out a sneeze so powerful it sent the poor feline flying backwards into the door.

She couldn't help the giggle that arose from her throat at the creature. He didn't seem too pleased at her reaction though, as he glared up at her with those gleaming multi-coloured eyes.

"Maybe coming in here wasn't the best idea," she mocked, loosening the tie on her robe, to remove it so she could climb into the hot, steaming water.

The funny little cat turned away, not looking at her, as she ridded herself of the fabric and climbed into the tub. The water was hot, but felt amazing on her skin.

"Okay, Archibald you can look away from the wall now," she mused, finding the small cat more interesting with each passing day. She looked up to stare at the exquisite emerald gown, hanging down in front of her. Althea had gotten the dress perfectly sized to her body thanks to Layana. When she had slipped into that soft, whimsical gown she no longer felt like the weak girl who had travelled to London after being cast away by her father. No, when she had stared at her reflection in Layana's mirror upon trying on the dress for the first time, she felt like a woman, and she looked the part too. The fabric had cinched ever so nicely around each of her curves, the heaviness of the crystals only making her feel more powerful.

…

Zella arrived at Althea's bed chamber right at three o'clock just like she said she would. For reasons Althea could not begin to understand, the girl wanted Althea to do her makeup. Despite her numerous attempts at coaxing Zella into getting her makeup done by someone who actually knew what they were doing, the stubborn girl had insisted it be her. Even though she didn't understand, it still made her feel good to be needed. She just hoped she could meet Zellas expectations.

Althea was twisting her damp hair around a thin piece of cloth in the hopes of making some kind of style from it later, when Zella gave a small knock and entered Althea's room carrying a garment bag slung over her shoulder. She had never been in Althea's rooms before, and her reaction made Althea wonder if her room was special compared to others. Zellas eyes widened as she gazed around the large bed chamber with its grey satin canopy bed and the delicate hand carved wooden ceiling and vanity. She had the large hearth at the room's centre burning with warmth, now that the weather outside had begun growing colder.

"My, my, your bedchamber is..." Zella paused, glancing over at Althea with a wide eyed gaze, "well are you royalty here?"

Althea snorted. She was the farthest thing from royalty. She was hardly even of use here at the institution.

"Certainly not," she shook her head, "is your bed chamber not similar to this?"

Zella shook her head, continuing her slow scan of the elegant grey room.

"I’m afraid not, it is dusty and looks as if my granddad slept there before me," her lips perked up into a smile and she laughed looking back towards Althea, "and with how long my family has been here at the London institution he likely did."

Althea chuckled, shaking her head, and patting Archie's head as he laid in the shape of a loaf on the foot of her bed.

"So I'm afraid my cosmetics are somewhat limited, as I don't usually wear a lot, but I have some powder, rouge for the cheeks, charcoal for the eyes and brows and some lip stain." Althea glanced over to the girl, studying Zella's prominent features which were still striking to her despite seeing the girl daily. Her skin was mostly a pale porcelain with some speckles of darker pigment throughout her face and arms. Althea's mind wandered with ideas of which cosmetics would make those slightly upturned eyes pop the most. She wanted to further accentuate those contrasting eyes as best she could. Althea still had yet to see another person with features so stunning.

"I trust your judgement," she crooned, sitting down on Althea's vanity chair, glancing at herself in the mirror.

Althea laid out all of her cosmetics on her vanity, getting to work on her face. She used her lightest powder, fluffing it into her skin, careful not to cover the darker spots on her face, as she found they only added to her natural beauty. Then she took the charcoal pencil and began filling in her brows in the areas where dark hair grew, allowing the splashes of white throughout to be even more prominent. And for that same reason she had not opted to cover the girls naturally long lashes with the dampened charcoal. Instead, she drew a line across the top of the eye line, dragging it out and up slightly, mimicking the way her eyes were naturally shaped.

She then used her index finger to lightly smudge the bold line, adding a bit of softness to her eyes. Then Althea did the same to the outer corner of the under eye. She finished the look with a warm pink rouge that she swiped upwards, nicely accentuating the girl's elegant high cheeks, along with some deep red lip stain.

When she pulled away, Zella smiled, her dark red lips quirking up, followed by her eyes. She looked stunning, she already had, but the makeup did suit her very well.

"Are we done?" Zella asked. Althea had her facing towards the light of the window, so she hadn't been able to see her reflection in the vanity mirror. After nearly a half hour of work, Althea wiped her charcoal smudged hands on her trousers and nodded.

"Yes," she answered. But before she let the girl get up, she untied Zella's hair, letting it flow down in its noir and blanc cascade, with the obsidian black on her left and the icy white on her right. Her wavy hair fell just to the centre of her chest.

The girl stood excitedly, and despite her only being fifteen, she was already a bit taller than Althea who stood smaller than most of the women at the institution.

Zella reached the mirror, gazing at herself with a blank expression. Althea's face heated and her heart beat faster as her worry got the better of her. She had thought the girls' makeup looked lovely, but what if it was too different from that of the traditional modern makeup that many women outside of the institution wore? She swallowed nervously as Zella turned to look at her.

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"I told you I wasn't well versed in cosmetics!" Althea said, covering her face in her hands.

"Why, you jest too much, you could be a cosmetic artist if you really wanted to! I've never felt so... beautiful before," she lightly touched her fingers to her cheek as she turned her head to look at every detail of her face. "And you didn't cover my pigment spots either! Every mistress I've had do my makeup has covered them to make me look normal but you, you enhanced them, and made them look even more vibrant! Thank you Althea!"

She turned and hugged Althea tightly, careful not to rub any of the cosmetics off. Althea smiled and her heart felt full with delight. She was so happy Zella liked her work. Perhaps if all else failed she could be a cosmetic artist like Zella had said.

…

Althea applied the finishing touches to her own look which consisted of a darker face powder, due to all the sun her training had exposed her to, and the same rouge that Zella had worn. However, rather than a smudged black wing across her eyes, Althea opted for something a bit lighter. She used the same brown ink she'd used on her brows to create a light shading in the crease of her eyelid, blending it upwards slightly, towards her temple. It was a simple notion, but it added a nice dimension to Althea's eyes. As she finished with a neutral coloured lip stain, the door to her bathing chamber creaked open. When Althea turned, all the air inside of her body left her.

Standing in front of her was no longer the young girl she had spent all of her recent days with, but a Candidus queen. Zella looked breathtaking in her gown, so much so, that Althea gawked at her.

The girl let out a giddy laugh and did a twirl, holding the back of the dress where it still needed to be laced up. Layana really outdid herself. The dress was absolutely perfect for her. It flawlessly emphasised the black and white contrast of her flowing hair, brows and lashes with a white fabric meshed with black embroidered lace. The neckline was straight, and a bit high, which was perfect for a young girl of her age, and added so much elegance to her already queenly figure. The dress cinched in at the waist before plunging out into a train made from black feathers. Zella had paired the flowing dress with delicate black lace gloves.

"Zella," Althea blew out, dropping the lip stain she'd been holding back down onto the vanity.

"Isn't it magical?" Zella beamed, staring down in awe at herself.

"Yes!" Althea said honestly, her eyebrows raised in the middle as she witnessed a young girl becoming a woman right before her very own eyes, "it is absolutely dream-like, as are you! Why, you look like a queen Zella!"

A blush spread over the girl's face as she gave Althea a cheeky smile. "Can you lace me up?" she asked, turning her back to Althea.

Smiling, Althea took the soft satin laces in her fingers and pulled them taut, securing the gown around the girl's lean figure.

"There you go!" Althea said, pulling away once the tie was secure.

Zella turned back to Althea and grinned, "okay! Your turn now! Go put yours on! And take that odd contraption off of your head!" she laughed. Althea had nearly forgotten about the cloth she'd wrapped her hair in to allow it to dry in larger curls, she just hoped it would work the way she'd imagined. If not she could always give in and put it into an updo, though she much preferred her hair down, after being forced to keep it pulled back for so many formal events.

Obeying tonight's queen's demands, Althea went into the washroom, slipping out of her charcoal smudged trousers and tunic. She shimmied into the undergarment Layana had provided with her gown. Which consisted of the tiniest scrap of a fabric that matched Althea's skin, so that it may not alter the image of the dress on her body in any way, and nothing to cover Althea's bust which was an entirely new concept to her when she had arrived at the institution two months ago, but now had become normal to her. She couldn't say it bothered her though, not being so constricted with all of those layers and layers of petticoats, shifts and corsets. She couldn't imagine training with Arsalan in layers of skirts and boning. She almost laughed aloud at the thought and the mental image that swept into her mind.

Althea let the smooth mesh fabric slide over her body. She had undone the twelve buttons at the base of the back of the gown, allowing her curves to slide in smoothly. She was able to fasten a few of them back herself but knew that the remaining buttons would require some help from Zella. The dress stayed up enough, however, that she was able to tie the long flowing sleeves around her tanned arms. When Althea stared at her reflection in the standing mirror across from her bathing tub, she nearly shed a tear at the stunning beauty of the dress. Even in the dim candlelight of the bathing chamber the emerald stones glimmered and twinkled. However, she let out a small giggle when her eyes scanned their way up to her head. Zella had been correct in her wording moments earlier, it did look a bit foolish.

Althea took the white cloth in her fingers, untying it and slowly unwinding her now dry, brown hair from the fabric. It looked a bit harsh at first, but after a few finger strokes through, her silky curtain of brown locks unfurled down to her waist in bodacious, luscious curls. They weren't the normal spiral swirls that fell down her torso, but instead an elegant, voluminous set of bouncing waves. They looked beautiful. She took the emerald and twig headpiece from its place within the box Layana had put it in, and placed it atop her head, securing it there with clips. She took in her reflection, raising her chest as she did so. It was so bizarre to her how a garment could make her feel so... different. She felt like she could conquer the world in this gown. No, she felt like she could reach new worlds in a gown like this. Raising her chin, Althea took in every sharp angle of her face, lowering her gaze down to her prevalent collar bones. Suddenly she could see what it was that had attracted Jasper to her. It wasn't that she found herself unattractive, she supposed, but now, looking at herself it was as if she were a new twinkling star in the obsidian night skies far above.

Giving herself one last glance over, she made her way back into her bed chamber.

Zella was sitting on Althea's bed, staring down at something in her lap, when she looked up her face was not beaming with delight as it had been moments ago, but instead she greeted Althea with a watery gaze, something like betrayal written across her smoky features.

Althea furrowed her eyebrows and glanced back down to the object Zella had been staring at. It was a book. Althea's eyes flashed wide with terror. She couldn't see from here which book it was, but judging by the look across Zella’s face, she supposed it had likely been about something the girl did not yet know.

"When were you going to tell me?" Zella asked, blinking away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

Althea shook her head, honestly unsure what the girl was talking about. What had she read? Was it in relation to the cadre? The flame? Her ability? She had such a wide variety of books she'd smuggled from the hidden library that she couldn't even make a guess as to what the book had inscribed.

"Tell you what?" Althea choked out, her voice cracking slightly despite her efforts.

"Of the mound of books beneath your bed entailing matters of the cadre and the flame? I've only heard of the flame spoken about in passing by my parents... why, Althea, do you have this mountain of books in your room?" Zellas tone was no longer light and happy. No, it was harsh and stern. Althea knew she couldn't lie to her. But telling her the truth... what would happen if she told the other members of the cadre... or the board for that matter. She swallowed down her fear and found the courage to speak.

"It's..." she paused momentarily, gathering her tangled web of thoughts. "I found a hidden library," she blurted, "it was concealed behind an old bookshelf in the main library... Zella I didn't mean to come into contact with this information, but I did, and these books, they give way to so much information… Information that this cadre has fought to keep hidden, and I just wanted to know why. I just wanted answers about this place, my ability, but every time I tried to ask I was met with dismissal. And ugh, I was just tired of it!" The words tumbled from her lips in an unorganised mess. Zella just stared at her, an unreadable expression amongst her features.

"We have a ball to attend, and I will not let you ruin this night for me, but we will be talking about this tomorrow, understood?" In that one statement Zella sounded more intimidating and vastly older than Althea.

She nodded, like a child being scolded by their mother, "yes."

"Then come, let's enjoy ourselves tonight, and tomorrow I will be here to speak about these... books." She eyed Althea warily, starting to turn away, but before she could, Zellas head snapped back to look at her, "oh and Althea, you can trust I will not speak of any of this to anyone."

That was all the confirmation Althea needed to be put at ease as they exited her bed chamber and made their way down to the ballroom.