Somewhere Weaknesses Are Strength

Dress laced, Sebastian tugged the ties on the back of the garment as her nursemaid had done for her so many times in the past, forcing Holly's figure to conform to the shape the dress desired. A strangled noise caught in the young female's throat, her fingers tightening around the post of the bed. Holding in laughter, Sebastian tied the dress quickly, managing to keep the exaggerated hourglass shape created by the corset top of the gown.

Considering this was Sebastian's first time dressing another human in the same corset-bodice gowns she once wore, she thought she was doing a good job. Dressing Holly wasn't too different from dressing her dolls. She was small and reminded Sebastian a good deal of some of the dolls she once owned.

But she made so much noise while the corset was progressively being tightened.

Sebastian felt for her, but the corset bodices were the only ones they had to fit Holly. Her curves hadn't fully developed, therefore making it impossible for Sebastian's sleek dresses to stay on her body. They had been given such late notice regarding King Ferdinand's visit that Hayley couldn't get the seamstresses from town to make a new gown. Their only option was the blue and white gown adorning Holly's body.

"Done," Sebastian said.

Eyes wide, Holly pried her fingers from the bedpost and turned around to face Sebastian. Her chest, seemingly on a platter, heaved in short breathes. Sebastian could make out the pain on the girl's face, the grimace and light tears a familiar sight.

She remembered the first time she wore on of those gowns.

"If only your farm girl could see you now."

"I can't breath."

"But you look good."

The dress did accentuate the curves of the handmaid's body nicely, pushed her chest together to form drastic cleavage. Fully developed or not, she was sexy in the dress. Her farm girl would love the gown, or Sebastian assumed she would.

"How do you do this?" Holly asked.

"Years of practice. You'll get used to that pained feeling in your ribcage soon."

"I'd rather not. Couldn't I just put on a loose fitted dress customary of islanders?"

Not breed into the lifestyle as Sebastian, Holly was uncomfortable. Her feet hurt from the stilettos, her ribcage hurt, her chest hurt, her waist hurt, her back hurt, her head hurt from the amount of time spent on her hair.

This was for Sebastian. She had to remind herself of that throughout the entire process. A short visit with the king and she would be back in her comfortable handmaid garments. She couldn't wait.

Damn it, this was painful.

"Is that what islanders wear?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't know, but it would be better than this. I look more like a princess than an islander."

Sebastian could agree. Aside from the lack of makeup, she could well pass for a princess. Even the tousled curls, that Sebastian spent ages perfecting, could have passed for a princess who simply hadn't put her hair up. But there was a point to the image.

"You're supposed to look like an islander in training to be lady of the house. That is what King Ferdinand is expecting. Stumble a few times in his presence, it'll add to the effect."

"Oh, don't worry. I guarantee I will stumble plenty, possibly break my neck falling down the stairs."

Whose idea was it to give her stilettos?

"I've almost done that," Sebastian mused.

Stiletto heels had been hard to learn to walk in, possibly harder to get used to than the corsets, and she hadn't fully gotten used to the corsets until they changed her body shape. Her hourglass shape was only partially hereditary, developing from wearing corsets throughout a good deal of puberty. There was no choice for her body to turn out any other way. Ample breasts and child bearing hips had been hereditary, sadly wasted on a woman who would never have children.

Around the time the first signs of maturity hit, she started wearing stiletto heels. She had been young, just ready for marriage and childbirth. The heels had been the last thing she wanted to wear, but the unwritten dress code of the ball had insisted she wear them. Against the wishes of her nursemaid, she hadn't practiced in the painful shoes prior to the start, preferring to run around the mansion barefoot with her two living brothers. She didn't put the shoes on until the ball started. On wobbly legs, she walked through the halls on both her brothers' arms to the staircase they were to descend. At the top of the stairs, their names were announced and they descended the steps in unison.

Then her ankle gave way.

She tumbled down the first half of the staircase, landing on the platform where she and her siblings were to meet their father before descending down the second half of the staircase. Her brothers didn't come to her rescue. No, they were hardly that chivalrous when it came to their sister's embarrassing moments. They laughed. Had to stop and sit on the stairs, laughing too hard to move, tears streaking down their faces.

Sebastian threw the stilettos at them.

And her father, poor man, had hid his embarrassment until the end of the festivities. He hadn't punished her, hadn't even made a comment about the situation, but Sebastian could see he had been hurt and she practiced walking in the shoes every chance she got. Anything to keep her father's name in good light. Falling down the stairs had made him out to be weak with his children. She may have goofed off and tarnished her own name with some of the pranks she pulled with her siblings, but she knew she couldn't let her father's name be harmed.

She hadn't fallen down stairs since.

"I can't imagine you as a princess," Holly said, "Your dresses are far more exotic than the ones our princesses wear, and they've got you beat on the bitchiness scale."

Holly wasn't very fond of the princesses of their country. They were absolutely insufferable, much like many of the women Hayley brought home before Sebastian. On the few occasions Holly had been around the princesses, she wished death upon herself. They were miserable company.

"Hayley bought me these dresses. I would have never been allowed to wear them at home," Sebastian said, "You can continue imagining me as an island girl if you please. I don't mind."

"No, I can't do that either. You're not what I imagine an island girl is like."

She wasn't tan, had no calluses on her hands from labor, took to her role as lady of the house with no complaint, didn't have the air of a free spirited island girl around her. She was nothing like an island girl. The title didn't fit. Had Holly paid attention more, she would have made the deduction sooner. Though she had noticed some things were a little off earlier, Hayley had made sufficient explanations for all of the quirks that put her apart from island girls, and Holly fully believe her. After all, Sebastian did have quirks that set her apart from normal princesses.

The princess was a mess of contradictions that somehow fit together.

"Well, what would you like to think of me as?"

"Mistress Williams' lover and lady of the house."

What other role could she have fit?

"I say that's suitable."

Happy, seeming without as much pain, Holly nodded. Sebastian smiled at the girl's resolution. Hayley's lover. She was more than content with fitting into that role. That was a role she would continually yearn to fill.

From down stairs, the vague sounds of a door opening and shutting could be heard, drawing the attention of both Sebastian and Holly. Mumbles pushed around the cracks of the door but were not identifiable.

"Do you think this will work?" Holly asked.

"I certainly hope so."

Holly returned her gaze to the princess. "I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave." Sebastian shook her head. "I can't bear to leave at the hands of King Ferdinand."

"He knows you?"

Hayley had mentioned something about King Ferdinand being able to recognize Sebastian.

"Quite well. His family has gone to every ball my father has thrown." She scoffed. "My father even considered him a friend."

Holly's jaw slacked. "He was your father's friend and he had your country destroyed? That's terrible."

The whole situation was pretty hard to believe, Sebastian was sure. But that was the life of royalty. Things like this had happened in the past and would continue to happen in the future. She understood that through her studies.

It still hurt to see her home destroyed.

"It is."

The bed chamber door swung open, noiseless but managing to distract the conversation and capture the attention of the two females. Body tense, Hayley walked through the opening. She glanced over Holly, appraising the believability of her appearance.

Nodding her approval, she said, "He's here."

Holly's face paled considerably and Sebastian could feel her own mouth go dry. It was time for their plan to go into action.

"I'm going to vomit," Holly mumbled.

"You'll be fine," Hayley said, "You won't be there long, only enough to satisfy his expectations."

"Yes, Mistress Williams."

"Call me Hayley while we're in his presence."

Holly nodded. Sighing, Hayley took the princess into her arms, hugging her body close. Sebastian rested her head in the crook of Hayley's neck. Perfume of some kind wafted around her, a scent she didn't remember on the pirate, something she likely put on for the meeting today.

"Everything will be okay," Hayley said, running a hand over Sebastian's hair.

"I trust you."

Hayley kissed Sebastian's forehead. "We need to get down there. I'll see you in a bit, sweetheart."

"I'll be waiting."

They kissed. Short, a peck, but filled with the passion they shared. Hayley let her arms slide from the princess' body.

"Let's go," she said to Holly.

"Yes, Mistress Williams."

With a small smile, Hayley left the room with Holly in tow. Sebastian stared at the closed door, wringing her hands. She paced briefly, then sat on the edge of the bed. A booming laugh, King Ferdinand's laugh, could be heard, followed by harsh voices. Sebastian tried to decipher words but couldn't, the voices not loud enough. The voices stopped abruptly. Sebastian's heart hammered in her chest, her stomach flipped. Brisk footsteps could be heard in the hall, and the door opened again. Face blanched, Hayley walked through the door. Holly looked equally distraught as she stumbled through, legs weak from more than just the stilettos. Sebastian stood, glancing between the two, hoping for an answer to their appearances and knowing she wouldn't like what they would tell her.

"He wants to see you," Hayley said.