THE SECOND AND LAST PRENUPTIAL DAY OF COEXISTENCE WAS A disaster. None of the four girls felt as they'd expected to feel, and the only one who took it serenely was Griselda. The shyest of all, the most insecure, found within herself the necessary patience.
The second they returned to the castle, the next morning, they could assess the changes.
Dora was totally deranged. She'd forced the others, and herself, to swap dresses. And, judging by Blanche's and Violet's faces, it hadn't been an easy accomplishment.
Roxanne and Celeste literally could not believe it. The curse established that, once married, the bond of colour would be broken - but it did not mention anything about an advance still single.
The new atmosphere definitely foreboded an unattractive outcome. Before long, Blanche's future husband decided it was time to go. The girl, dressed in lilac, was scared to death, like petrified, as if, instead of a dress, she were wearing a load of bombs about to explode.
"I'm taking her now. We're just wasting time here. And this girl needs some fresh air or something."
"We're leaving too," said the wife of the man who had been supposed to become Violet's husband - and at this stage it was hard to tell what he would actually become. Her boss?
Violet, now in yellow, looked as uptight as her elder sister.
Inwardly they wavered between following Dora's instructions or their own survival instinct.
The latter was in the kitchen. She was wearing one of Griselda's dresses and was striving to leave everything spotless, while she hummed a made-up tune, in a castle where music never sounded, not even from their throats.
"What's the matter?" Roxanne asked her, at the request of Dora's puzzled fiancé.
"Nothing's the matter! I'm cleaning everything up for when Father arrives!"
"There's no need to. Besides, your husband-to-be is waiting for you. You'll be leaving any minute."
Dora, her back to Roxanne, standing on a chair, turned around. Her face was distorted. Roxanne had never seen her like that before. She offered her hand and helped her step down from the chair and sit. Dora's body obeyed somnambulistic, as if it didn't belong to her anymore.
"Don't you want to go, Dora?" she asked her, sweetly, aware of her serious condition. "You don't have to. You can come with us. We can stay here for a couple of days until you feel better."
Dora stared at her. Her eyes changed. She seemed to be recovering her traditional disdain for Roxanne.
Right then, her handsome fiancé came through the door. He was genuinely worried about her.
"Is she ready for the travel?" he said in a soft tone, by no means domineering.