Our return trip to Haven was, thankfully, uneventful and I felt a profound sense of accomplishment as our little caravan arrived in the village square. My smile only widened as I spied the dropped jaws and looks of awe on the faces of other players as we returned, not only with our truck but with the delivery truck and semi with a full trailer as well. We stepped out of the vehicles and I actually giggled at the look on Becky Shaw’s face. “Is something the matter Sheriff? Is this a no parking zone or something?” I teased.

“I… uhh… well,” Becky stammered before managing to form a coherent reply. “You were gone for a few days, folks were starting to get worried that you’d get here by respawn. Amoiraishe mentioned she’d sent someone to make sure that you were okay, but I wasn’t expecting you to come back with all of this.”

“The village needs supplies and there was a semi handy, so we decided to get as much as we could. I think we fulfilled most of the scavenging requests too,” I told her, still grinning as I tried to act casual. “The truck and delivery truck are filled with stuff for the Fae Glade and some of the people living there who had scavenging requests, we managed to find quite a bit of cloth and undergarments that Fae won’t have a reaction to, thank goodness. The stuff in the Semi is mostly food and supplies for both Haven and the Glade, so we’ll need to unload it and divvy it up. There are clothes for players here in the village too so now, hopefully, the only players running around in the buff will be those who want to be.”

“So the only nudists I’ll have to worry about are the Fae then,” she teased back. Then her eyes fell deliberately on Daenyss as she added, “Speaking of, who’s your friend?” I had managed to convince the Nymph to cover up while we were in town, but she was shifting uncomfortably in the sleep shirt that I had worn to bed the night before. It was a bit tight in the chest on her and barely covered enough to be considered legal, but hey, at least she was clothed.

“Becky, this is Daenyss, one of the new players and the help that Amoiraishe sent us. Daenyss, this is Sheriff Becky Shaw, she’s the law ‘round these parts,” I said by way of introduction.

“Daenyss huh? I didn’t think the Nymphs were a playable race,” the sheriff said after a moment.

“I guess she’s a special case, my ‘mother’ wanted me to have an Attendant who could accompany me anywhere I guess, and it might be that Moira is testing it to see how well they’ll work as a playable race. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s snuck something new in as a test while being overprotective of me,” I replied, inclining my head toward Lissany.

“That’s true,” Becky agreed with a laugh. “You didn’t run into too much trouble I hope.”

“That depends on what you consider too much,” Nishalle drawled with a wink as she leaned against the truck. “Just the usual I think; undead, a Lindwyrm, and a swarm of Tooth Fairies.”

“Tooth Fairies? Lindwyrm?” The witch with the sheriff’s badge asked in wonder.

Venika shuddered at the mention of the Tooth Fairies. “Yeah, these were not the nice sort of Fairies. Nasty pieces of work and twice the size of any Fairy that I’ve met in the Glade. I almost got flambéed by one and Daenyss barely managed to push Taelya and Rei out of the way. She was very heroic.” The Nymph flushed at the praise and looked down at her feet, still shifting uncomfortably in the clothing.

“Those little terrors were everywhere,” Lissany muttered, “even after Taelya destroyed the intersection with a meteor shower.”

Becky looked lost and was staring at me so I clarified, “I managed to create a few new spells, but that one you never want to do in close quarters and it takes a while for anything visible to happen. As for the Lindwyrm, it’s a colossal flying snake with deadly venom that breathes fire and is damn hard to kill.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I had to get in that thing’s mouth, twice!” Nishalle grumbled. “Though I did get some really deadly poison to coat my weapons with.”

“Yeah, but just think of the size of the pair of boots we could make with that thing’s skin,” Grell said with a massive grin.

“You can have your boots if you want them, buddy, me I’m getting armor,” Pete interjected. “Getting under the scales to remove both scales and skin was a bitch, but I’m hoping that Hadrick or one of the other crafters will be able to make some decent armor or protective clothes from it, those scales were damn near impenetrable.”

Becky was just shaking her head and gave me a lopsided grin as she told me, “You’re going to tell me the whole story during my next magick lesson, Your Highness. Anyway, let’s get these supplies unloaded and properly divided so you can all head back to the Glade for a well-earned rest.” Then she turned toward all the players still staring at our haul and listening in to the conversation with wide eyes and shouted, “C’mon people! Stop standing around gawking and let’s get this rig unloaded!”

It had taken the better part of the afternoon to get everything properly divided between the supplies for the Village and those for the Glade, but it was work that everyone was happy to do. There was an air of excitement, perhaps even optimism, in the air as we closed up the trailer of the semi to deliver the Glade’s share of the haul. It was a beautiful day, we had brought enough supplies to last a while, fulfilled most of the scavenging requests, and players were in regular clothes instead of F.I.T suits. Most of those clothes even fit people somewhat decently, but the most important thing that I saw people wearing were the smiles.

It had been a productive trip, and the results much better than I had hoped. Not only did we fill a lot of the requests and needs, but between the battle with the Tooth Fairies and all of the XP we got from Sheriff Shaw for all of the scavenging requests we had delivered on from the quest board, Daenyss had leveled up, and our other party mates and I were close to leveling again as well. And now I could choose two new skills and perhaps help Daenyss choose one that could help her in combat. I was generally pretty happy with our little foray into the city as I climbed into the pickup truck and placed myself between Rei and Lissany for the trip home and Daenyss climbed into the back seat behind me.

We made our way back to the Glade caravan style; Grell driving the delivery truck at the front, followed by Pete in the Semi, then our pickup, with Nishalle bringing up the rear and watching our backs on her motorcycle. As soon as we were out of the village I could spy Daenyss removing the sleep shirt, she had been wearing it the whole time in the village and it had obviously become terribly uncomfortable for her mentally. She had been looking forward to when she could get it off, though, to her credit, she had never once complained.

I couldn’t really blame her, I knew how much wearing clothes went against her nature, sometimes I had the urge to just shed my own clothes and that heavy uncomfortable armor and walk around unencumbered. That was a bit concerning to me, but it just meant that I was getting used to being Fae. As we drove home though I had more immediate concerns on my mind. I was both looking forward to and uncertain about heading home. On one hand, I couldn’t wait for a nice hot bath and to sleep in a soft bed, but on the other hand, I had things to talk to Amoiraishe about and it was not a conversation that I was looking forward to, fearing the answers that she might give.

By the time that we got to the estate and the Brownies were beginning to help unload the various supplies, I was feeling very antsy about the conversation that I knew had to come and I just wanted it over with. “You look uncomfortable, Mistress,” Daenyss said, expressing the concern that was all over her face. “Perhaps I should run you a nice hot bath so you can relax and ease your discomfort a bit.”

“I would really appreciate that, but maybe a bit later Daenyss. I really need to speak with my mother about a few things right now though. Do you think that you could please take my gear and all of the things we got for me on the trip to my rooms? You know like all the makeup and stuff you got for me, shampoos, clothes, and stuff? Rei and Nishalle know which were gotten for me and they can show you the way to my room if you don’t know where it is.” That bath really was tempting, but I wanted to get the talk with Amoiraishe over and done with, and since Daenyss was one of the subjects that I wished to discuss I didn’t want to risk her overhearing something she shouldn’t or misinterpreting things.

The neo-Nymph beamed at the request, seemingly pleased to be able to do something for me. “Of course Mistress, I would be only too happy to. I already know the way, my mother and Her Majesty showed me where everything was when we arrived in the game.”

“Thank you Daenyss, I appreciate it,” I told her with a genuine smile. I did appreciate it. As tired as I was from the afternoon’s work she was going to save me a lot of effort, running back and forth carrying things. “I’ll meet with you in my rooms once I’m finished with Mother.”

With Daenyss happily set upon the task that I had assigned her I went in search of Amoiraishe. I found the elder Yseil'dhraí in the sitting room, which I had come to think of as the throne room. It was empty of all furniture, save a pair of throne-like velvet chairs sitting side by side and a pair of end tables to either side of them. Amoiraishe sat on one of those chairs as if she had been expecting me. “Mother, we need to talk,” I said in a frosty tone meant to display my displeasure, and earn her undivided attention, as I entered the room. I realized my mistake almost as soon as the word “Mother” had left my mouth instead of “Moira”, and I figured that those damnable dreams were responsible.

She didn’t seem fazed in the least as she smiled at me, in fact, she seemed pleased. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that,” she commented before gently patting the seat beside her and adding, “Please, close the door and come have a seat Taelya. What’s on your mind?”

With a sigh I did as I was asked, closing the door and then taking my place beside her on the second chair. I had to admit that it was comfortable as I eased my aching body into it. “There are a lot of things on my mind, but I think that you know what the main one is,” I told her in an accusatory tone.

“Daenyss,” she said with a resigned sigh. When I nodded in the affirmative she merely shrugged. “I knew that you were too clever and tenacious to let this slip by you. They are two of the qualities that I find most endearing about you, and two of the qualities that make you a fine leader. You may as well ask your questions and get it all out of your system.”

“Who is Daenyss in the real world? Was Dennis Razor before? If so, why would you put someone that I couldn’t dare trust in such a position? Particularly one that requires such intimacy at times. You know damn well what he had planned!” I snapped.

“Does it really matter who she was before? Whoever that person was, they are gone now and won’t be coming back. Tell me honestly, what do you see when you look at Daenyss, what do your senses tell you?” the Fae queen countered.

I sighed, but I reluctantly gave my impressions of the Nymph. “She’s innocent, almost childlike at times. She’s eager to explore the world around her and discover herself, but at the same time, she’s determined to make sure that the person she becomes is a good one. She’s trying to pay for crimes that she doesn’t even remember committing. She swore the Viyr Jhaith, gave up her freedom for me, why did you make her do that? Hasn’t she suffered enough, losing everything she was?”

Amoiraishe put an arm around me. “I will admit that Dennis was one of those who attacked you and your friends and planned to do far worse, but that person, everything that he was, is gone now. I did not make Dennis do anything though. I told him who he was and what he had done and that he had an opportunity to choose the type of person that he wanted to be from now on. Dennis chose all of this, of his own free will.”

Probably because of the look of disbelief plastered all over my face, she continued to explain. “I gave Dennis the choice to go back to his old life or to join the game again and fill the last spot in a role that I was already considering someone else for. I told him what that would entail and that only made him more determined, he welcomed the chance to help those that he had wronged. He wanted to be better than he was. He was eager to make up for his past mistakes, for his actions against you and everyone else in the game. When we re-entered the game and finished getting her set up Daenyss didn’t want to risk harming you again, even unintentionally, and asked how that could be prevented. So, I told her about all of the various oaths that the Fae use, I ensured that she knew all of her options, warned her about what each entailed, and she chose the Viyr Jhaith, she even chose its wording. She wants redemption, and to start a new life for herself, and I could neither refuse her that nor prevent her from doing it on her own terms. Not with what I owe her.”

“What you owe her? Is his some kind of revenge thing? Because she wronged the people you care about? It’s appropriate that you chose a Fae avatar in this game because you hold a grudge just like them,” I told her with a frown. I was having a hard time not feeling sorry for Daenyss by this point.

“More appropriate than you know,” the Fae queen muttered as she shook her head. “I admit, when we pulled Dennis out of the tube, I wanted him and all of his friends to suffer, I still do. But I would have never have done something like this to him, I’m not a monster and I would hope that you would know me better than that by now. What happened to him was an accident, but unintentional or not, I… my company is responsible for Dennis’s current state. We took everything from him; memories, identity, sense of self. He is a new person now, created by my actions, and I have a duty to help and nurture him as he builds his new life. Had he chosen to return to his old life I would have done my best to see that he got the medical attention and assistance that he needed for that, but he chose this.”

I felt a bit guilty for doubting her. “Sorry Mother, I…” I began to say before stopping to silently curse that slip of the tongue again. “You say it was unintentional, and I believe you, but could you tell me what happened?”

“I was angry,” she began after taking a moment to hug me, showing that she took no offense. “I wanted them out of the building as fast as possible and then I planned to have my lawyers hound them and give them a good taste of fear for what might happen to them. They were guilty of breach of contract, and the game’s ToS agreement. Fearing for their fates would have been a just punishment. Dennis was the first and we worked too quickly pulling him from the F.I.T and then trying to extract all of his game granted skills at once. There was too much information to extract at once, spread out all over the hippocampus and it caused an error in the system and it extracted everything, all of his memories, everything that made him Dennis. It’s not so much extraction as deletion since that information is never stored anywhere, so there is no chance of restoring what he lost.”

“I see… Daneyss said you were furious when she saw you.”

“I was,” she admitted, “and the more certain it became to me that Dennis wasn’t lying, I became less furious at her and more furious for her. This is an application of the technology that I never considered and never want to see happen again. I was furious at the techs who had gone too fast, but more so at myself. Dennis just sat there crying, with no idea what he had done and it would make no sense to punish him, he was no longer that person and had already suffered far worse than I had intended.”

“What about the other members of H3lls-Pwn?” I inquired.

“We were more careful with them, removing one skill at a time and downloading to back-ups to be safe. When we were finished I told them what they would be facing because of what they had done in-game and what happened to Dennis. What do you think they did then Taelya?” she asked.

I considered what I knew of the members of H3lls-Pwn, how they had acted in the game. “They probably failed to see what they did wrong, swore at you, and threatened you over what happened to Dennis.”

“Close,” she told me with a sigh. “There was a denial of any wrong-doing and swearing, but knowing that Dennis couldn’t remember enough to defend himself they turned on him. They blamed everything on him, said that it was his idea and that he had pressured them into going along with it. No matter who planned it, they were all willing participants. They knew it was wrong and they did it anyway and then instead of helping a friend in need they continued that pattern of behavior.”

Now I was furious. “Those assholes! He was one of them!”

Amoiraishe nodded sadly. “I had hoped that they might try to help their comrade. It turns out that they only really knew one another online. Dennis was an orphan, he had no family and he suffered from social anxiety, much like you, so he didn’t have any real friends either. I discovered that during his background check, it’s one of the reasons I was willing to give him a chance in the game in the first place. He has no memory and nothing to go back to so it wasn’t really that hard a choice for him once I laid everything out on the table. I had someone else in mind for your Attendant, but Daenyss needs this and she is determined to serve you faithfully, the oath she took proves that.”

“I have no doubts about her loyalty or her determination to serve me, she’s proven them, but why do I even need a new Attendant? I was doing just fine with Naerysse and I’d be better with none at all,” I argued.

My mother groaned, looking a little exasperated with me. “You’re a princess, representing the Autumn Court, Taelya, you need to present the proper image and your Attendant will help you with that. You should have one with you at all times, but you also spend a lot of time outside the Fae Glade and Naerysse isn’t comfortable with that. So it was far easier to find you someone who is, and allow Naerysse to return to her role as my Attendant. She was only filling in temporarily because I was expecting to have you be a prince, not a princess, and had a manservant chosen for you instead. Given the circumstances, I thought that a female would be more appropriate.”

“Okay, I guess I can see that,” I grumbled before asking, “What about when Daenyss returns to the real world though. You’re pushing a female identity on her when she has no real identity of her own. What if Dennis has trouble adjusting to life in a male body afterward? Could the loss of her memories cause any physical issues? What other issues could she face?”

“I didn’t push this on her, she chose it, and it’s the best help we can give her at the moment,” she reminded me. “I have an expert on the human brain looking over Dennis’s scans and monitoring brain activity and general health while Daenyss’s mind remains active in the game. There are no physical issues thus far and her language skills seem unaffected, so I have been assured that this is really no worse than a severe case of retrograde amnesia. She won't be able to retrieve the memories she's lost, but she can make new ones. What we need to do is to help her learn things that she will need when she returns to the real world. A lot of that can and has been done through skill downloads, but if she has questions we should answer them. As for when she returns to the real world, her mind will adjust, just as it is now to her life in the game, just as yours is.”

“Umm… speaking of that,” I began a bit uncertainly, “I had some dreams last night. I was growing up… as Taelya.”

“That is to be expected. It means that your mind is adjusting to your new in-game identity which in turn will ease any dysphoria. The memories attached to the skill downloads are meant to give you a sense of self, related to your new body, so female characters are given memories of learning things from a female point of view, males from a male point of view, and from the point of view of their race as well. It’s just general memories and your mind fills in the blanks of faces, names, and other details based on people and things that you are familiar with, put in the correct context to make sense of the memories,” she explained.

“Yeah, Nishalle mentioned that you told her something similar,” I replied, still a bit concerned as I added, “but for the life of me I can’t remember ever knowing any red-headed guys named Seamus, and I haven’t seen any in the game either.”

I could have been imagining it, but for a brief instant, I thought that I saw her eyes narrow in fury. She took a deep breath and pondered it for a moment before offering, “Maybe it’s something with one of the Yseil'dhraí female-specific skill memory files. I’ll have someone look into it, it could just be one of the programmers up to a little mischief and leaving a little Easter egg. You, of all people, should understand that, with your background in programming.”

“Yeah, it could be something like that,” I agreed, wondering if the programmer responsible was going to catch hell. While Moira always tried to tell me the truth, or at least the truth as she saw it, It seemed sometimes like Moira was hiding something, or things, of great importance, but I couldn’t figure out what it was, or even what questions to ask about it other than, “What are you hiding?” For some reason though, I didn’t want to ask that burning question, maybe I was afraid of what the answer might be. So instead, I settled for, “How did things go outside the game, besides the whole Dennis disaster?”

“Well, I managed to convince the heads of our New York, Tokyo, and London offices to transfer their stock shares to me. It will be enough to give me a controlling interest in the company and block any sales, but I’m still worried about the wrong people trying to get their hands on this technology before we’re ready, so I’m planning on moving the F.I.Ts, servers, and everything associated to more secure and less known locations after the tournament. Oh, by the way, I must introduce you to our other new players over dinner,” she informed me with a smile. “It will be served in just over an hour and a half so you should go prepare.”

The small army of Brownies and my friends had managed to put away a good portion of the supplies during my talk with Amoiraishe so my help wasn’t really needed. When I tried I was properly shooed off to my rooms by my personal Brownie maid Kalia, with the admonishment, “Such work is not for a princess of the Autumn Court. You have your duties and we have ours, please, go prepare for dinner.”

So, I contritely headed up to my rooms where Daenyss was waiting for me. Apparently, she and Kalia had already put away my new clothes, undergarments, and everything else. They had put Rei’s things away too and disposed of the clothes that had been causing the allergic reaction as well. “Mistress, I have a hot bubble bath prepared for you. Why don’t you go take a relaxing soak and I’ll be in to help you clean up and get ready for dinner once I have given your soiled clothes to Kalia for washing.”

A hot bath did sound good, so telling myself that it wasn’t like I had much choice anyway, I did as the Nymph asked and went to the bathroom to undress and climb into the bathtub that was filled with floral-scented water topped with a thick layer of bubbles. I sighed in satisfaction as I settled in and the cramps from my period seemed to ease. It felt nice on my sore muscles too.

Daenyss popped in for a moment to collect my clothes to take to Kalia but wasn’t gone for long before coming back in and carefully releasing my hair from its normal style. I had a few tangles from keeping the braids all in for days at a time without having any time to brush it out and re-braid it, but the Nymph gently worked them out before washing my hair with the floral-scented shampoo and conditioner.

I was a bit nervous at first being alone with her, but that quickly evaporated. She was a sweet and innocent young woman now and it showed in the care she took to be gentle and her happy chattering about how exciting our trip had been and asking what I thought that she should take as her new skill. It wasn’t just that she wanted her skills to please me, but that she had so little real-world experience that she didn’t really know what a lot of the skills were, let alone what would be useful. Amoiraishe had been right, she needed help.

So as she bathed and generally pampered me I tried to explain what skills I thought would be useful for her and what they meant or involved. We ended up deciding on a skill that she already had a general idea of, basic firearms. It would allow her to keep herself, and me, safe and then I could put a couple of the Glocks and one of the AK-47s that we had gotten from H3lls-Pwn in her chest along with some extra clips for her use.

Once I was all clean and smelling of flowers, my new Attendant helped me to dry off and then left me to put on one of my new red silk bra and panty sets and change my tampon. She had even left my silk dressing robe and the boxes of panty liners, tampons, and my bottle of Midol where I could easily find them. I thought that she was trying to maintain a careful balance of attending my needs with not getting too handsy and giving me privacy when I needed it, which I found myself really appreciating.

She did have to get a little handsy when I joined her in the living area portion of my rooms, to rub lotion into my skin, but she was trying to avoid any place too intimate and just anoint the areas that would be on display until I was more comfortable with her. When that was done she immediately sat me down at the vanity, used her heat spell to dry my long copper tresses, and then began to carefully and lovingly brush it until it was silky soft and shining. I wasn’t complaining because it was actually pretty relaxing having my hair brushed like that. Then she helped me to get into the outfit that she had chosen for dinner. It was a dress, of course, the red and gold silk dress in a Chinese style that Nishalle and the other girls had insisted on me having along with the pair of red Fae-styled sandals that I had worn during the Wild Hunt.

With me properly attired Daenyss brushed my hair one more time, to ensure that there had been no tangling while getting me dressed, and then began pulling it up, securing it with the gold ring, and then carefully braiding and arranging it into its usual style. As she worked I asked if she had met any of the other players yet, either in the game or in the real world, but sadly she hadn’t so she couldn’t tell me anything about them.

Daenyss then proceeded to add some light makeup to my face, “To enhance your natural beauty Mistress. You don’t need much, but it will make you more striking and we want you to make a lasting first impression. Trust me, this will do it. They are never going to forget meeting you.” She said the last with an encouraging smile.

Rei had returned from helping put the supplies away during the hair brushing and had been encouraged by Daenyss to go take a quick hot bath of her own. Since I was ready with twenty minutes to spare Daenyss went to go offer Rei her assistance as well. My fiancée was still in a sort of gender-neutral mood it seemed as she was looking fairly androgynous as she and my Attendant emerged from the bathroom. Her form was definitely female at the moment, but she had a flat chest, short hair, and a very modest figure.

Once the Kitsune’s now short hair had been dried and brushed, Daenyss went into our room to find her something appropriate to wear. As soon as the Nymph was off on her search Rei kissed me tenderly on the lips, careful not to mess up my makeup. “You’re looking beautiful, so what’s the occasion? Daenyss didn’t mention it while she was helping me get clean. Speaking of Daenyss, are you… y’know, okay?”

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “Daenyss is a sweet and caring girl, the more time I spend with her the harder it is to not see that. And I think she’s trying to go easy on me and let me get used to her a bit before she goes full-on personal with me like Naerysse was. As for the occasion, we’re supposed to be meeting the other new players at dinner. You’re looking pretty incredible yourself by the way.”

Rei’s cheeks flushed a bright crimson. “I’m not, I’m in one of those moods where I don’t really want to be gendered and it shows, I saw the mirror. It’s sweet that Daenyss is thinking of your feelings like that though.”

“Being androgynous doesn’t mean you can’t look amazing, but then you always look amazing to me,” I told her as I kissed her lightly. “Yeah it is sweet of her, it seems like she’s been trying to consider my needs ever since we met, even if it makes her uncomfortable.”

“Like informing you of the option to order her to call you by your name? Nishalle told me about that, and we’re both proud of you. I think it was kind of you to not do that, I know how you hate the titles, but you were thinking of her needs instead of yours. I think that you two are a lot alike that way.” We both turned as Daenyss entered the room again carrying a pair of simple black slacks, a dark green silk chemise, panties, and black leather boots that had been among the new clothes Rei had gotten on our trip. I silently approved of her choices.

“Your clothes Miss Rei,” the Nymph offered. “I attempted to make my selections based on your current looks. I assume that you want a gender-neutral look and will not require makeup?”

Rei seemed pleased too as she grinned at Daenyss and quickly put on the clothes in question. “Thanks, Daenyss, and no makeup. Thank you for your help.”

Daenyss gave us both a genuine-looking smile. “It’s my pleasure to serve Mistress’s needs, and yours as well should you need it, Miss Rei. You should both head down to dinner now though or you will be late.”

Rei, who looked very nice in her outfit reached out to hug Daenyss and I quickly followed suit as my fiancée asked, “Are you not coming Daenyss?”

“No, Miss Rei, my mother has invited me to have dinner with her tonight and she wants to introduce me to some of the other Nymphs,” she explained before quickly adding, “but I will come right to you should you call my name Mistress.”

“I’ll call you if I really need you, but I would like for you to have some time for yourself too when you need it. So, go on and enjoy yourself Daenyss, we’ll see you later.” With that Daenyss gave a quick curtsey and was on her way, leaving me and Rei to head downstairs for dinner.

I was a bit nervous as we walked down the hall and descended the stairs, I was never very good at meeting new people and I wasn’t sure why Mother wanted me to make a big first impression, other than the whole projecting the aura of a proper Autumn Court Princess thing. “Stop fidgeting and primping, it’s just dinner guests and you look fine,” Rei chastised me as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Wait, I was primping?” I asked stopping to stare at her.

“A little,” she admitted with a shrug. “I do it when I’m nervous and girly too, a lot of girls do, but it’ll be fine. Just remember those mental exercises of yours if you start to get nervous and you’ll do fine.” My only response to that was to take a deep breath and focus my mind and then, once I was calmer, I took her hand again and strode toward the dining room trying to project an aura of confidence.