Seeing him for the first time

Dark, it was so dark, but the one thing on Muriel's mind was ...

What to wear? What to wear?!

Muriel knew that Prince Vidar was nervous about his appearance, but she thought she was feeling the same, even though he had his fill of her image for a long time now.

A formal gown with a wide skirt might be inappropriate. What if he wanted to do something that involved undressing? A more narrow skirt with a bum roll underneath would be better. She picked out a fawn colored skirt with a thick panel of ruffles bordering the hem. Then she put on a bodice in the pinkest variety of salmon. A matching overskirt was attached to it. She pinned a kerchief on the low neckline. A dark blue ribbon had been sewed on its edges. She hoped the color stood out against the rest of her outfit.

She washed her face and applied only a light amount of makeup, only enough to hide a few small flaws and make her cheeks a little pinker. Rouged lips might be too much, and possibly inconvenient. Her hair was already in a charming bun at her nape with some braids framing the hairline, but maybe an accessory would make it better? She looked in her jewelry case and found a small aigrette of faceted glass stones. A very small tuft of white feathers was attached to it. She would have normally worn such a thing at a fancy dinner or a ball, but she decided to pin it into one of her braids anyway.

With a light brown cloak on her shoulders, Muriel sighed at her reflection in a mirror and hoped she was lovely.

Then she grinned at herself. Her eyes were shimmering.

Someone knocked on the door. Doctor Bergson's voice went through the wood. "Miss Devin? Are you ready?"

"Yes, Doctor!" Muriel went to open the door and leave the room. Then she followed the doctor to Prince Vidar's quarters.

Right to the Empty Room.

They stopped at the door.

"I'm going to leave you here," the doctor said calmly. "I'm not going to wait outside. I'm going to walk away."

"Thank you, Sir." She curtsied to him even though she didn't have to.

With an almost wooden nod, Doctor Bergson said, "Please remember that the creature in that room has the mind of a man, and the heart too."

Muriel watched him walk away. The lit torches on the walls gave him an almost eerie figure. Then she took a refreshing breath and tapped her fist on the door.

"Your Highness? Prince Vidar? It's me. It's Muriel. May I come in?"

She heard his voice. It felt like a ship rocking in a wild ocean. "Yes? Please enter!"

Muriel opened the door.

The first things she thought were, "Will the colors of my outfit be too diluted in the night? Did I choose poorly?" Then she looked at the small fire glowing in the fireplace and thought, "Honestly, this should have been done in the morning."

Muriel's low slippers lightly patted the floor as she stepped inside. She turned around, closed the door, and slid the lock over it.

She turned back around.

Night. It hid almost everything. There were only two sources of light. The fireplace.

And.

In a corner, a far off corner.

A small oil lamp with a glass cover. It was on a little table. Beside the table, there was a thick stool and a tall figure sitting on it. Most of the characteristics were hidden, and not just by the lack of decent light. There was a black cloak wrapped around the body ... it was a fairly wide body. In fact ... the feet that peeked out from under the cloak looked unusually long and wide. They were in the kind of leather shoes Muriel had seen in centuries old art, simple and tied on the feet with strings. If the feet truly were so big, then the shoes made sense. He couldn't exactly get a cobbler to him, and those leather shoes were so simple and easy to make.

The head ...?

Muriel's brow furrowed and her foot stomped on the floor. If she had anything harmless but substantial in her hand, she would have thrown it at the man. She was very, very angry.

His head was under a mask of cloth. The ends of the cloth were hidden under the cloak. So, Muriel couldn't exactly say where his chin was.

How dare he?! HOW DARE HE?!

He promised! He promised he'd show himself to her! And here he was, still hiding?!