The feeling in the Great Hall was foreign and uncomfortably hot. Layla stood with other castoff Gems, not breathtaking enough to catch someone's eye. Well, that was not true. Layla had been chosen by someone as an afterthought, just in case his other bride did not survive the night. Which was highly likely considering the Drakken's huge size and foul smell.

But it seemed some form of higher power had a sense of humor because as he was bedding his bride the fat brute seemed to have suffered some kind of heartattack. He had been found dead atop an equally dead bride, the Gem having suffocated under his weight.
Now Layla had been placed back in the group of last pickings, waiting for another to chose her. 

She was not breathtakingly gorgeous. She knew this. Layla had the kind of beauty that was softer, quieter. It didn't announce itself but had to be veiwed to be appreciated, much like a sunset that got more beautiful the longer you beheld it.
It used to bother her, not being beautiful like other Gems. At times it still did. But being ignored often had its advantages.

If her stepsister had been taken she would be either dead or sobbing in a corner somewhere. Layla had been substituted for her stepsister at the last minute. The guards hadn't cared. She was a Gem and she was of age.
Her lip still hurt. Backtalking Drakken guards did not end well for her. The smack he had given her had caused her lip to split but at least he hadn't gone any further. 

The other Gems around her had been cast aside by their respective 'husbands' for being unsatisfactory. It made her blood boil. They were being treated like toys, thrown away once they were broken. The only difference between her and the others was that Layla had not been bedded yet.