^^; Hey there, all you happy readers. Pheep here. This is chapter 1 of my first ever Tortall fanfic, in fact, my first Tamora Pierce fanfic, so bare with me, okay?...Good. @@ Enjoy.

Daybreak

Chapter 1 -- Formal Wear

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Lady Yukimi of Queenscove paced across the wooden floors of Lalasa's shop. Every few moments she turned her head and glanced at one of the dressing room stalls, her anxiousness showing clearly on her tan Yamani face. The palace bells rang in her ears as they chimed four 'o clock in the afternoon, and she sighed in annoyance before turning once again to glare at the stall door "KEL! Get out here, we're going to be late!" She called, her tone impatient. A very unladylike snarl emerged from the stall in reply, and Yukimi frowned deeply, before sighing once again. SHE had been able to pick out her outfit in less than 20 minutes. She stood wearing it now, a lovely dark crimson gown with golden trim and sash, large outlines of roses sewn into the skirt in gold thread. The slim design of the gown looked good on her, fitting the rich curves of her hips like a glove; 'Neal will love it' Yuki thought to herself, and giggled, the thought of her husband making her slightly giddy.

Anyway. The fact remains that Yuki had been able to pick out a dress and put it on, in precisely 17 minutes. Kel, unfortunately, was a different story. 'And to think when we came here it was just barely 2 'o clock...' Yuki thought, and slumped into a nearby chair. The last time she had seen the young lady knight was when she had marched grimly into the dressing room, a heap of various gowns in her arms and a chilling scowl set into her face. That had been over an hour ago. Yuki closed her eyes, and started to wonder if she should just leave for the wedding by herself and let Kel miss it. "Perhaps Lord Raoul would believe me if I were to tell him that she had taken ill and died in bed..." Yuki muttered bitterly, getting to her feet. Enough of this. She strode briskly over to the stall that Kel occupied, rapping on the door several times. "KEL?"

"What!?" An annoyed female voice called in response, its volume muffled by the door between it and Yuki's ears.

"You've been in there forever. Pick a gown and come out of there NOW, before I have to break the door down."

Silence. Kel was obviously considering it; it was rare for Yuki to be so visibly angry, since her Yamani upbringing had been so strict about showing one's emotions. Seeing, or, in this case, hearing her act in such a way, was a very, very bad sign. Soon a loud sigh was heard from within the stall. "Alright. Give me just five more minutes."

"Fine, but that's it." Yuki warned, and returned to her pacing. A short while later, a nearby door creaked open, and Yuki's head snapped in its direction. She stepped back and stood in front of the half-open door, waiting.

Keladry of Mindelan stepped quietly out of her stall, and turned to face her friend, looking down in embarrassment. She wore a vibrant green gown, the color of emeralds. The front of the gown began a couple of inches past Kel's neck, revealing just the right amount of her chest. Large opals were sown around the waistline, and they gleamed a soft milky gold, the light catching flecks of other colors as well. Smaller opals, barely larger than an average pebble, were lined around the hem of the gown, and ascending from about 5 of them (spaced evenly around the skirt) were trails of silvery-white pearls, their sizes growing smaller and smaller as they went farther up the skirt, until some were no larger than a rhinestone. Jade-colored lace wrapped loosely around the edges of Kel's shoulders for straps, and just below the opals at the waistline hung a sash of the same color and material. As for jewelry, there was nothing, save a modest-looking opal pendant, which hung on a gold chain. Kel turned slowly in a circle to show the whole gown, and Yuki gasped when she saw the elegant dip at the back of the gown, which reached almost halfway down Kel's back.

Yuki stood, dark eyes wide, looking completely baffled. This was not the frill-phobic knight from an hour ago. This was a -lady-; and how such a bizarre transformation had taken place was simply beyond the Yamani.

Well, maybe that wasn't completely true. Kel finished her circle, and looked up at her friend, her cheeks scarlet. "I know it looks awful on me, but..." Her eyes shifted about. She was obviously very uncomfortable at the idea of being seen this way in public. It would have actually been rather funny to Yuki to see her usually courageous friend act like this, but at the time she was too busy trying to snap out of her shock.

It took a few seconds for Yuki to register what Kel had said. She blinked, and shook her head vigorously "No, Kel, no!! It -- it looks fantastic." She said, sounding almost as surprised as Kel looked upon hearing this.

"You really think so?" Kel asked, looking at her Yamani friend sternly. "REALLY think so?" She didn't want any false compliments; that would just make it even more horrible when she came to Raoul's wedding looking so silly. 'And in front of all those people...' Kel thought, her anxiety building.

"YES. Kel -- it -- YES. You HAVE to buy it." Yuki said, throwing her arms out -- the comical-looking gesture strongly reminded Kel of Neal in that moment, and she smiled inwardly; Yuki was starting to pick up some of her husband's habits.

Her thoughts returned to the issue at hand, and she closed her eyes for a second, appearing to be deep in consideration, but what she was really doing was picturing her lake; the calm, peaceful lake with a surface like glass. She knew she was going to buy the gown. She also knew that if she didn't calm down soon, she would drive herself completely insane. Finally, when she felt her nerves were settled enough, she opened her eyes and nodded. "Alright. But you had better not be lying about how it looks on me..." She muttered darkly, though it wasn't as dark a tone as was intended.

Yuki grinned, and Kel hoped that it was sincerity she was seeing in her friend's eyes. "Well, let's go tell Lalasa," Yuki said, pulling Kel along by one hand. "By the way, if that purse the king gave you for beating Blayce isn't gone once you've finished paying, could you lend me a few coins? I'm a little short on change."

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Author's Note: So did you like it? I hope you liked it. Please review if you did. This IS my first Tortall fic, so I'm kind of nervous...You know, reviewing would really help my self-confidence, here, or at least tell me what I need to change...@_@ If it's that bad. I know it's short, but that's because it's the first chapter, I guess ^^; If Kel seemed out of character to you, it's because...Well, she's being forced to wear a gown, here XD I think that's good enough. Also, I'm sorry if I described the gown too much...^^; I just really wanted you guys to be able to visualize it, ya know? And at least it was only one paragraph. Heh.

P.S.: R E V I E W .

~Pheep