Hair Sisters

Via Pinterest

I have a board on Pinterest called "Would Make Good Cover Art" and in it I pen anything and everything that I think would make an interesting book cover. A lot of them are flowers, but many of them have some interesting story potential. Like this picture.

I have decided to write some of the stories behind the pictures, starting with this one.

(Note, not all stories will necessarily involve a character the I already had created, but this picture just begged Meg and Robin. Even though the second girl's hair is a bit too light for Robin's hair. BTW, Meg has a German accent.)

Hair Sisters

"Meg, do you have any brothers and sisters?"

Meg hesitated, unsure whether or not to answer. Her stepmother had drilled into her all of the proper protocol for a princess' lady maid ... but somehow Meg had gotten the impression that Princesses were high and mighty and wanted nothing of you other than their rooms, clothing, and hair tidy. Princess Robin of Locksley was not what she had come prepared for.

"Well? Do you?" Princess Robin repeated her question. "Or are you an only child?"

Meg decided that it would be better to answer. "Ja, I have zwei younger sisters." Or she did ... She winced inwardly as she thought of Penny.

"No brothers?"

"None, Prinzessen."

"Good. Brothers are a nuisance. I wish I had a sister. Then I wouldn't have this gift mix-up nonsense. Who would have noticed if we were both girls?"

Meg took advantage of a particularly nasty knot in Robin's hair to delay her answer.

"Ouch!" Robin before Meg could make that answer. "Do all of you maids enjoy pulling my hair? It hurts, you know!"

"Wie bitte? Prinzessen," Meg said quickly. "I'm brushing your hair as gently as I can. It's just so ... thick."

Robin scowled at her in the mirror. "I wish mother would let me cut it. Gets in the way when I'm sword fighting."

"But it is very beautiful. It would be a shame to cut it."

"So what are your little sisters like?" Robin asked, going back to the original subject. "Do you every disguise yourselves as each other and confuse everyone. Since you're all girls ... well, do you?"

"Nein," answered Meg. "We couldn't even if we tried, since none of use looks a thing like another. Penny has," or had, "red hair and green eyes. She's the tallest of us and usually gets her way. Ella looks like our mother, blonde hair, blue eyes, very small."

"And you have black hair and I have brown hair. We cover all the hair colors then." Robin nodded in satisfaction. "But if you're all sisters ... how come you all look different?"

"Well, we all take after someone else. Ella looks like our Mutter, Penny looks like a Tante ... and I look like our Vater."

"Oh. I wish I had a sister."

Despite her intentions to remain a calm and dignified servant, Meg let a sigh escape her. The sigh did not escape Robin's notice. Her eyebrows pulled down in a concerned expression. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's ... it's nothing."

"No it's not. People think I don't notice when they're upset, but I do, and you are. What's wrong?"

Meg sighed, there was nothing for it. "Penny went with our father on his last voyage. We haven't heard from them in over a year ... and they've never been gone that long ..."

"Oh ..." Robin was silent for a long moment. "I'd hate it if I lost Robert."

"She was just a little younger than you, Prinzessen," Meg continued, despite herself. "Next month would be her birthday."

Robin didn't say anything. Meg, feeling awkward for daring to compare the princess to a common merchant's daughter, fell silent as well.

"I don't know if it would make you feel any better or not ... but I could be your little sister, couldn't I?" Robin asked, suddenly.

Meg blinked, taken aback. "But ... you're a princess ... it isn't my place ..."

"Oh poppycock," said Robin. "I don't care about that sort of thing, so why should you?"

"Then ... then I would be honored."

"Goody. I've always wanted a big sister." She frowned at the mirror. "But we need some way to make it official. Let's see ... oh! I read in a book about a group of people who have a custom where if two men are really good friends, they can cut themselves and become Blood Brothers."

Meg paused mid-brushstroke. "I really don't think that is a good idea, Prinzessen ..."

"Of course not. Blood Brothers are for boys. We're girls ... we can be ... oh! I know! We can be Hair Sisters!"

"Hair ... Sisters?"

"Oh, yes! Instead of cutting ourselves, we simply braid our hair together, and we'll be sisters!"

"Braid ...."

"Oh, come on. You have to braid my hair for the night anyways. Why not just braid yours at the same time?"

Meg had to admit that Robin's logic did make sense ... so instead of launching directly into braiding Robin's hair as soon as the brushing was done, she ran the brush through her own hair instead. Since she kept closer tabs on it during the day, and wasn't quite so tangle-prone, it didn't take very long.

"Now braid it together." Robin instructed. 

Meg sat down on the bench next to her so that their head touched and their hair flowed together. Grabbing a fistful of hair, she started weaving. A soft smile played on her lips as she let her fingers dance. This was her favorite part of her job. Though Robin failed to appreciate it, she truly did have wonderful hair.

At last every bit of their hair was combined in a single braid. 

"I like it!" Robin said, nodding at the mirror approvingly, moving Meg's head with hers. "Now, we have to stay like this all night, or it won't be official." A moment later, she added, "Oh, and Meg ... somehow, someday, I'm going to help you find Penny."

"But ..."

"I'm a Princess. It has to come in handy for some things. Now, let's go to bed. I'm exhausted. I don't like dance lessons."

Via Pinterest

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