Goddess of Magic: A Snow White retelling (Kingdom of Fairytales Snow White Book 4)

a good fit," Josephine said. "But there are a few places I can see where it needs alterations. Please hold still."
"Got it," Rhi responded.
"Are you excited about the festival?" Josephine asked.
"Yes. It's my first one."
A smile spread over my face at Rhi's answer. I was excited for her. There really wasn't anything like the Fright Festival. There was always so much color and life about it. And laughter. Though, I wasn't sure how I felt about that this year.
"Oh, you'll have a wonderful time, dear," Josephine gushed. "I always thought it was one of the most romantic events of the year. I met my husband there about ten years ago. We never miss one. It's a chance to celebrate finding each other there."
"What are you going as this year?" I asked. It was nice to think about something that didn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things.
"We're going as a prince and princess," she announced cheerfully.
Not a surprising choice. Royalty was always popular when it came to costumes. So were birds and other animals. For something called Fright Festival, it wasn't an event built on fear. I wasn't sure how it started, but now, it was a joyous celebration, almost like a carnival with music, dancing, food, and drink. The main aim seemed to be that everyone had fun. In a way, it made sense. People needed a way to blow off steam, and this was the one that had become Enchantia's tradition.
"Do either of you have dates to the festival?" Josephine asked.
Rhi and I exchanged knowing glances.
"No," I answered for both of us. It was better that I didn't show up to a Fright Festival with a date until there was something serious in the cards, anyway. The people would take it far too seriously if I did.
"Surely two beautiful girls like you have the boys lining up to ask you to go."
I rolled my eyes, but I doubted the seamstress noticed. No one called me beautiful, and I was fine with that. My parents had taught me to be. Just because my beauty was on the inside, it didn't make me worth anything less than someone like Lyss, whom everyone would find to be perfect, at least, on the outside.
"I think we'll have plenty of fun, just the two of us," Rhi answered. "Besides, someone might ask us to dance while we're there."
"Oh, that's true. Then you can have a beautiful story to tell your children." Josephine pinned a few things on Rhi's dress as she spoke.
Neither of us offered any comment on the clothes themselves, probably because we didn't know enough about them other than that they looked pretty.
"That should do it for you, Lady Rhi. If you'll excuse me a moment, I just need to go check your accessories before you take it all off."
"Not a problem," Rhi replied.
Josephine bustled out of the room, humming as she went.
Rhi swished her dress back and forth, the strips of fabric floating from her skirt swaying while she did. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"It really is," I agreed. "You'll catch people's eyes."
"Do you think..." she trailed off before completing the question, but I knew what she was going to say. She wanted to know if I thought Adam would notice her.
"He'd be crazy not to," I assured her. "And if he doesn't, then he's really not worth your time, and you can do better."
She giggled. "He's your cousin."
"So? He can be my cousin and not good for you. It doesn't matter that he's family." It was as simple as that for me. If Adam wasn't interested in Rhi, then she should move on and find someone who was worthy of her. It wouldn't make me love him less as my cousin, but I didn't want my friend to settle for him if he wasn't going to treat her right. I wasn't deluded.
"Thanks, Kelis. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that."
"It is." Romance certainly wasn't as straightforward as I'd believed when I was younger.
"Are you hoping a certain someone will notice you during the festival?" She raised an eyebrow.
Topher's face sprang unbidden to my mind, but I knew that wasn't who she meant. We hadn't talked about our feelings since she'd told me that Jake wasn't a good guy and I shouldn't go after him. Even then, I’d known she was right. But now, I was even more certain of it. Jake made me feel uncomfortable about myself, even if I had no idea why. And I couldn't put up with that for my entire life. I could barely put up with it for an hour. What I had said to Rhi was true. It didn't matter what someone was like. If he was no good for me, then I shouldn't end up with him.
I closed my eyes and thought about Mother, hoping it would lead to some kind of vision about when she'd wake up from the curse. Nothing was coming, no matter how much I tried. The future magic didn't even show me the people with the golden eyes. Perhaps, I'd broken it somehow.
More likely, there was nothing I was supposed to see yet. I didn't have any clue how it worked. I hadn't seen Topher yet today, so I had no idea if he'd managed to find anything out yet either. He most likely hadn't, anyway. It would take time to put out feelers and see what people came up with. Which was frustrating when I wasn't sure we even had any of that left. Ideally, it would be best if Mother was back on her feet before the end of the year. With only two months left, I suspected Father could keep things under wraps until then.
I sighed and gave up on trying to see anything. It wasn't going to happen, and it was better if I saved my energy for the rest of the day. Dinner was coming up, and there'd be a lot of people there.
Someone knocked on my door, startling me. Had