Fit for a Queen

Without taking her eyes off of the view all around her, Katherine placed her phone down on a dresser that was in the closet so that she could get her hands on the clothes.

She walked over to the section that had formal dresses, and she flipped through them until she found a floor length, silk gown that was the color of pink rose petals. The dress had a V-neck line, straps, and off shoulder material that would drape around her arms. It had a slit that came up to the right knee, where the dress ruffled and would flow down her leg like a graceful waterfall.

Katherine immediately knew that that was the dress that would help Titanus fall in love with her as they watched her pretend to love Charles. She picked it off of its hanger and dropped her towel so that she could put it on.

Once she was dressed, she walked over to the floor length mirror to see if the dress would make the cut for the night. Katherine admired her reflection and how the dress tapered in at her waist but slightly flared out over her legs.

For the first time in a long time, Katherine felt beautiful.

She made her way over to the shoes and found a pair of nude, strappy heels that would compliment the dress. After she secured them to her feet, she left the closet and went to sit at the vanity in the room so that she could put on a bit of makeup.

Katherine hated doing her own makeup, but without her usual glam team with her to prep her for this particular event, she had to figure it out by herself. She decided to go with a light, natural look to compliment the dress, and stuck to a light blush, shimmery eye shadow, mascara, and a soft pink lip gloss.

She added a detangling spray to her curls, and fluffed them so that they would dry more loose and less wild than usual.

Not knowing what else she could possibly do to herself, she stood up and walked back over to the mirror to take in the final look. Katherine immediately noticed that she looked nothing like herself.

The bags that were usually under her eyes seemed to be countered by the mascara that made her look more bright-eyed. Her curls cascaded down her back and perfectly framed her face. The dress hugged her in all the right places, and made her look like a pageant model.

Her typical hard exterior was nowhere to be seen, and she looked approachable, innocent, and kind. "Perfect," she said out loud to herself.

This was a look that would make Marcus swallow his words, and Katherine could not wait to gloat. She was not as difficult and ignorant as he made her out to be.

Now that Katherine was fully dressed, all she had left to do for the day was wait on news about her mom. Knowing she would not be able to sit still until she had word, she opened up her bedroom door and looked over at Max who was standing as straight as a board.

She had never seen a guard take his job so seriously.

"Hey, Max?" she said as she peeked her head out the door.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" he asked, clearly confused by why the Queen was suddenly dressed up.

"Can you take me to the Prince's room? I'll go crazy with worry and fear if I sit in here by myself until we hear anything."

"Of course. Follow me," Max said as he started to walk down the hallway.

Katherine was glad that he did not ask any questions about her state of dress or why she wanted to go to Charles's room. She was sure that he probably had a few guesses, but he made no attempt to find the reason behind her sudden change in appearance.

Max led her around the corner and up a set of stairs that led to the north wing. Charles was right, his room was quite a distance from hers. The royal rooms appeared to be in the back of the castle, far away from any of the commotion that would happen downstairs where guests stayed and meetings took place.

Katherine was used to walking around in heels, but her feet were beginning to hurt on the long walk. Perks of having a brand new pair of leather shoes. She still could not believe that Charles had provided her with an entire wardrobe for when she was in Eos. It seemed like it was far too much for someone who was only staying a few days.

That thought was interrupted when Katherine suddenly realized that she had forgotten something back in her room. She came to a halt and told Max, "I forgot my phone in my room. I'm waiting for a call, so we have to go back and get it."

Max, who had stopped walking to listen, answered, "It's not a problem, Your Majesty, we are almost to the Prince's room, so I will take you there and then go get your phone so that you don't have to make the walk again."

"Thank you, Max," she said as they continued to walk through the castle.

As they walked down the many halls, Katherine took in the beauty of the Eos castle. Nearly all of the outer walls were made of large windows, so light filled the space and gave the castle an airy and warm feeling. It felt more like a home than her stuffy castle back in Helios that was designed more like a dark and gloomy fortress.

"Here we are," Max said as they reached a door at the end of one of the hallways. Max instantly stood with his back against the wall next to the door, and went into guard mode.

Katherine paused for a moment before she brought her hand up to knock on Charles's bedroom door. The second the door opened and Max saw Charles on the other side, he took off back down the hallway, presumably to go get Katherine her phone now that Max knew she would be safe with the Prince.

"It's on the dresser in the closet!" she called out after Max so that he could easily locate her phone. He gave her a thumbs up as he continued on walking.

Katherine watched Max go for a second before she turned to face Charles, who was looking at her with wide eyes and a slack jaw.