OLIVIA BURNS

I brushed my hands over the nettle lace of the orange ball down I was wearing and turned this way and that in the full-length mirror as more handmaidens shuffled around me.

“Oh stop that fussing goddammit! I'm not going to implode if you keep from touching me for two minutes!” I snapped angrily, snatching my tiara from Meredith’s loose fingers and placing it calmly on my head.

My breaths still came in short, fast bursts and I felt the walls in my head closing in on themselves as I tried to ignore the bright purple tentacles lifting the bottom of Meredith’s milkmaid gown.

“His Highness awaits M’Lady...are...