29 Chapter 29: The Dress

The mansion where Dunyazad was living with her cousins was far away from the palace, so they decided that when they arrived at the palace, Dunyazad would stay for a few days in order to relax after the long and fruitless journey.

After the first night at the palace, Dunyazad came to Shirazad worried,

"Oh, sister. I dreamed of you. You were dressed up, with exquisite make-up and so beautiful you could kill with one look. But it was a bad dream. You were mad at me and did not want to speak with me. I love you very much, sister! Please don't be mad at me!"

"I love you, too," Shirazad replied.

***

Later the same day, they were unloading boxes from the carriage and Shirazad accidentally peeked at some dresses she and her sister were supposed to wear at the party the evening after the wedding (the bride usually changed her garments as her bridal gown was too heavy and she couldn't dance in it). However, Shirazad remembered they'd liked and chosen these dresses together; they had wondered about the color but finally both had decided on turquoise blue. These dresses were in dark orange.

Dunyazad's maid, Myrel, was nearby as well as King Shahryar.

"Myrel," Shirazad said, "didn't we order those dresses in turquoise blue. Why are they in dark orange?"

Myrel had also been there at the shop where they bought the clothes. She bowed,

she was thoughtful for a moment, pretending to be absent-minded, and then she said,

"After you left, Dunyazad returned to the shop and bought more clothes... She wanted to do good to the merchant. But then... I don't know why your dresses are in dark orange."

Shahryar frowned. What was there to know? Obviously, Dunyazad had returned to the shop behind Shirazad's back and changed the color of the clothes.

When they were alone, Shahryar told Shirazad,

"So, you are the V.I.P. servant of your sister, eh? Don't tell me you don't know what she did. She obviously went to change the color behind your back."

Shirazad could not deny that as it was obvious, though up to the last moment she did not know about it.

"...But we agreed together on the color. If she did not like turquoise blue, why didn't she just say so?... Maybe she didn't want to offend me."

~Moreover, these new dresses are the same design but they have an added layer of tulle so they look bigger.~ Shirazad thought but did not tell him as she didn't want to add fuel to the fire and make the conflict between the king and her sister even more apparent. But she couldn't help but notice it, as she liked the smaller-looking dresses better because they were more elegant.

"Or maybe she just changed her mind and therefore went there and did not feel the need to tell you about it. Because she just always does whatever she decides and other people should accommodate to her," he said. "I know you were probably taught to take good care of your younger sister and your feelings toward her are almost motherly. But..." Shahryar sighed. "...Also, there is no rule that the bride and her sister must wear the same color of clothing. If she wanted another color, she could just change her own dress, but she made a decision instead of you, changed your gown too, and did not tell you anything about it up to the last moment. This is very, very offensive. You're a queen now. You cannot let people so easily take advantage of you."

Well, Shirazad also did not like Dunyazad's actions. Really, if Dunyazad wanted to have another color, she could just change her own dress. Moreover, if she had told Shirazad in advance, Shirazad would have agreed to dark orange too. After all, it was for Dunyazad's big day! And Shirazad was not so capricious. Shirazad had asked her in advance about the colors, and both of them had chosen turquoise blue together. And Dunyazad herself had been the one who had suggested this design for the dresses -- why would she add another layer of tulle? And even after she had decided on all of these changes on her own... she could at least have informed Shirazad! But the fact that Dunyazad just changed the color like that and never informed her looked like she did not care about her opinion at all.

"I don't know. She did not behave like this before," Shirazad said.

Shahryar laughed.

She did not tell him about Dunyazad's dream, because he would just answer -- after Dunyazad had done all of this behind her sister's back, of course she would have such a "dream"!

"Today it's just a dress. Tomorrow it will be something bigger, but she will disregard you in the same way," Shahryar said.

About Dunyazad's behavior, Shirazad did not want to think right now But there was something else she noticed... the king talking about how her sister disregarded her... when had he the time to notice such things, and to point them out...

A few days later, Dunyazad was sent back to her cousins' mansion until future notice.

***