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Hadya beamed at her as she set the tray down, and Zelda looked over the s in a corain dish with spices and raisins, along with baked cheese and bread It was, she’d been told, supposed to represent the various virtues she hoped to lad that she would have a few hours of preparation to go through before she had to put her dress on

“How is Zayed?” Zelda asked before she began eating, sipping the strong coffee and taking se breakfast—she usually preferred a bowl of cereal or h with the cere to the whole process

“He is awake, and is having his breakfast,” Hadya told her “He will be spendingready, too”

Zelda s a quick breath before she started on the cheese and bread; there was enough on her tray to coh all this for your wedding, Hadya?”

The older wohed “Not as s Ss like this” She shrugged “You areSheikh Zayed—it is important that all the customs are obeyed”

Zelda nodded

“I get that,” she said, pausing for a uess it wouldn’t seerown up with it”

Then again, she thought, if she co, she was sure that she would find just as ht that she was still years away fro to worry about such details, and she quickly ree She and Zayed would part ways almost as quickly as they married once the deal he wanted to o to their “honey, and then she would return hoiven her

Zelda had finished her breakfast by the time the stylists arrived, and Hadya left them to their work Zelda wondered just how intensive the preparations for the husband-to-be were as the stylist and her assistants scrubbed her froh her hair and rinsing her again and again, ater infused with different kinds of flowers

It was nice being pampered, and Zelda reminded herself that there oet the kind of treat the bride-to-be She gave in to the treat thes were utterly hairless, her eyebrows perfectly groomed, every inch of her body soft and supple Her hair felt like silk when it dried, and Zelda started to feel more excited than nervous for the first time since her alarm had ripped her out of her uneasy sleep

Once Zelda was thoroughly clean and softened, the stylist and assistants got to work on decorating her Her fingernails and toenails had to be painted, her hair had to be done in the style she’d finally picked out, her makeup carefully applied, and jewelry—so ner even arrived with the dress The sun was high in the sky by the time the stylist had completed her work, and the ceremony was only about an hour away Zelda could hear theon to prepare the garden, and she wondered if Zayed felt as nervous as she did

There was some rule, an old tradition about how the bride was not allowed to see herself until the preparations were coan dressing Zelda in the own they’d rushed to complete, Zelda had no idea how she looked The hairstyle she’d chosen pulled at her te the back of her neck at the saht around her waist, but it was less uncoht it would be

Tahirah stood back to admire her as her assistant put the last few stitches in place, and Zelda h the e what the verdict would be “Even if you were hter I couldn’t have done better by you,” Tahirah said, s

“Can I see now?” Zelda gestured to the full-length mirror which had been covered with a cloth as soon as the team had arrived

Tahirah nodded and whipped the fabric away

Zelda knew that the woman in the reflection was her, but she stared in shock nonetheless, stricken by how utterly different she looked, and yet how she still looked like herself She turned her head froht of herself, still not quite able to credit the transformation that had taken place in a few short hours She was soinal-looking at the same time, her face hidden but hinted at, her eyes sharper and softer all at once The jewelry glittered and glea about the woht just survive the ceree

“The guests are starting to arrive,” Hadya said from the doorway