Chaos Trapped

by Eric T Knight

  “The good morning part, or the smashing part?”

  “Smashing.”

  “I said you look smashing today. That means you look pretty.”

  “Why? Is it because I’m wearing shoes?”

  Randel looked down. “Why so you are. I hadn’t noticed.”

  “Then why did you say that?”

  He shrugged. “Because women like when you tell them they look pretty?”

  “I don’t. Can we go now? I have to be at the palace.”

  “Of course. Right away.”

  ╬ ╬ ╬

  Liv was sitting on the front steps of the palace when Aislin and Randel arrived. Liv stood up and gave Randel a big smile.

  “Hi, Randel,” she said.

  Aislin noticed that Liv seemed to be blinking a lot while she was looking at Randel, and the way she said his name sounded funny. She shrugged it off. There were so many things that weren’t making sense these days. “Are you sure you still want to do this?” she asked her friend. On the way up the hill she’d started to have doubts. Maybe it would be better to not go to the party at all. A dress sounded like a lot of trouble.

  “Are you kidding me?” Liv cried. “I couldn’t sleep I’m so excited. This is going to be the best day ever!”

  Aislin sighed and decided to keep her fears to herself for now.

  Right then there was the sound of a wagon approaching up the driveway. Aislin turned to look. It was an open cargo wagon. There was a long table in the back. Sitting in the back steadying it were two burly workmen.

  As the wagon neared the palace, the doors opened suddenly and Bonnie, Liv’s mother, came bustling out. She barely glanced at the girls or Randel as she hurried down the steps. “I thought you were going to be here earlier,” she said to the wagon driver.

  The man took off his hat and ducked his head. “The table is powerfully heavy, my lady. We had trouble getting it into the wagon.”

  “You didn’t scratch it, did you?” Bonnie asked, looking the table over with a critical eye.

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Come on,” Liv said to Aislin in a low voice. “Let’s go.”

  Wondering why her friend was suddenly trying to be so quiet, Aislin followed her as they skirted the wagon. But they didn’t get far before Bonnie’s voice rang out.

  “Where are you two going?”

  Liv turned and gave her mother a sunny smile. “Look, Mother. Aislin and I are best friends again. Isn’t it great?”

  “That’s wonderful,” Bonnie agreed, except from the way she said it, Aislin wasn’t sure if she really thought it was. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

  “We’re going out. Into the city.”

  Bonnie tapped her feet. The workmen stood there frozen, watching. “Still not an answer.”

  “Aislin needs a new dress,” Liv said in a low voice.

  “Does she?”

  “It’s my party. Of course she does. Don’t be difficult. Not now.”

  Bonnie looked at Aislin. “What do you say about it?”

  Aislin shrugged and looked away. Liv’s mother made her kind of nervous.

  “She doesn’t mean it,” Liv protested. “She’s only being shy, and she doesn’t know how much fun it will be.”

  “Fine, Liv. I agree with you. She should have a new dress.” Bonnie turned back to the workmen. “Watch the legs when you unload the table.”

  “Okay, bye!” Liv took Aislin’s hand and began pulling her away. “Let’s go. Hurry.” She said this last softly, clearly not wanting her mother to hear.

  “Hold on right there, young lady,” Bonnie said.

  “What is it now?” Liv groaned.

  “I’m going with you.”

  “Why? We can do this. We have Randel to protect us, don’t we Randel?” Randel shrank back like he didn’t want to be involved in whatever was happening.

  “Yes, you do. How are you at picking out dresses, Randel? Have a lot of experience at it, do you?”

  Randel gave her a sickly smile. “None at all, ma’am. Not a lick.”

  Liv’s face fell. “But you’re so busy here.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “And you’ve been so tired lately.”

  “It’s from raising you, child. You’re more than a handful, you’re both handfuls.”

  “Motherrrr,” Liv complained.

  Bonnie gave her a sharp look. “So it’s ‘Mother’ now, is it? Done with Mommy now?”

  Liv kicked at the ground. “I’m not a little girl anymore.”

  Bonnie looked her up and down as if determining the truth of what she was saying. “No. I suppose not.”

  “Do you have to go with us?”

  “Try to contain your excitement.”

  Liv crossed her arms. “Are you going to be grumpy?”

  “That depends. Are you going to be willful?”

  Liv’s nose crunched up. “What’s that?”

  “It’s little girls who don’t mind their mothers.”

  Liv rolled her eyes. Before she could speak again, Bonnie held up one finger and stopped her.

  “I’m going, and that’s final.” She looked at the wagon. “I suppose I can get Opus to supervise this.” She turned to a nearby servant. “Go find Opus.”

  Right then the palace door opened, and Opus emerged as if on cue.

  “How you do that I don’t know,” Bonnie said, “but I’m glad to see you. Can you take over here?”

  Opus bowed. His white gloves were as spotless as ever. His black coat and breeches were neatly pressed, every hair on his head and his mustache waxed into place. “I’d be happy to, my Lady.”

  A few minutes later they were riding down into the city in a carriage. Bonnie looked at Aislin. “Are you excited about the party?”

  Aislin squirmed in her seat. “Uh…I guess.”

  “You look excited.”

  “Will there really be a lot of people there?” Aislin asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Do I really have to dress up nice?”

  Bonnie laughed. Aislin thought she seemed a lot nicer when she laughed. “It’s funny. Rome said the same thing. I’m not looking forward to forcing him into something other than breeches and a tunic.” She leaned forward and patted Aislin on the knee. “You’ll survive it, and so will he. I’ll tell you what I told him this morning when he was complaining about it. Put a smile on your face and grit your teeth. It will be over before you know it. Who knows? You might even enjoy yourself.”

  Aislin frowned and looked out the window. Right then she was really glad she wasn’t a princess. Actually, she couldn’t think of a single time that she’d wanted to be a princess. All she wanted to do was swim in the sea and play with Liv. Why did that have to be so complicated?

  The next couple of bells were kind of a running battle between Liv and Bonnie, while Aislin and Randel watched and tried to stay out of the line of fire. Over and over Liv found a dress she liked, and over and over Bonnie vetoed it. Aislin found herself feeling glad that Bonnie had come along since most of the dresses Liv liked were really bright—bright orange, bright yellow, bright red—and Aislin hated the thought of how much they’d make her stand out. She wanted to be invisible, not have everyone look at her.

  Early in the afternoon they entered a shop that was at the end of a narrow, winding street, a small, quiet, stone building. Liv ran inside first. They found her standing inside the door, an irritated look on her face.

  “Why are we here? There aren’t any dresses in here. Not a single one.”

  “I know that,” Bonnie said calmly.

  “Then how come you brought us here?”

  “We haven’t been having any luck finding the right dress for Aislin. Maybe it’s time we have one made for her instead.”

  Liv’s mouth dropped open. “That’s a fantastic idea.”

  “Would you look at that?” Bonnie said to Aislin. “My daughter and I agree on something. Truly it’s a day for miracles.”

  If
it really was a day of miracles, Aislin thought, then the party would disappear, and she’d never have to go. Randel was outside the shop still, sitting down leaning up against the wall. She should go out and join him. Her shoes were making her feet hurt terribly, and she didn’t think Liv or Bonnie needed her for this. They hadn’t actually asked her opinion on a single dress yet. She wondered if she could talk Randel into sneaking away and heading down to the sea for the rest of the day.

  “Come here, Aislin. I think I found what we’re looking for.”

  Reluctantly, Aislin shuffled over to where Bonnie was standing. She didn’t look up. Whatever it was, she was going to say okay. All she wanted was for this whole ordeal to be over.

  Bonnie held some fabric up to Aislin’s cheek. Liv walked over, and her eyes lit up. “That’s it, Mommy—I mean Mother. You found it.”

  That surprised Aislin. They hadn’t agreed on a single thing the whole day.

  “What do you think, Aislin?” Bonnie asked.

  Another surprise. Bonnie was asking her opinion. Aislin looked at the fabric for the first time and got yet another surprise.

  She liked it. It was a light blue-green, the colors seeming to shift slightly as Bonnie moved the fabric. The color made her think of the sea. For the first time she thought maybe this wasn’t going to be so terrible.

  “Well?” Bonnie asked.

  “It’s pretty,” Aislin admitted.

  “It brings out your eyes,” Bonnie said.

  Aislin didn’t know what that meant. Liv was bouncing up and down and grinning.

  “It’s incredible, Aislin! It’s the perfect color for you. I still like the orange one I found, but this one is good too. Everyone there is going to be so jealous of you.”

  Aislin wasn’t sure why anyone would be jealous of someone else’s clothes, but she kept that to herself. Earlier she’d asked why it was so important to find the right dress, and she’d gotten a lecture from both Liv and her mother about it. She didn’t feel like repeating that. “Does this mean we’re done?” she asked hopefully.

  “You still need shoes,” Liv said, causing Aislin’s hope to wither.

  “It doesn’t have to be today,” Bonnie said right away. “I’ve had about enough shopping. How about you, Aislin? Are you ready to be finished?” She had a little smile on her face as she said it, like she already knew how Aislin felt about more shopping.

  She carried the fabric up to the counter, and while she haggled with the shop keeper Liv turned to Aislin. “It’s early. I bet if we hurry we still have time to go see old Anelda.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “She’s the best seamstress in the palace. She’s going to make your dress.”

  “Why do I have to go see her? Can’t you give her the cloth for me? I think I need to go back to the sea.”

  Liv laughed merrily. “I never know when you’re joking, Aislin. You say the funniest things sometimes.”

  Aislin frowned. “Why is that funny?”

  “She can’t make you a dress without measuring you.”

  “I have to be measured? Can’t you just tell her how tall I am?”

  Liv shook her head. “There’s so much more to it than that. You’ll see. And we still need to decide the cut of the dress and…” She rambled on about things like necklines and hems that Aislin had never heard of or dreamed existed. It all sounded terribly dull and frankly a little alarming. She had a sinking feeling it might take longer than the shopping had. Then Liv said something about pins and how hard it was to stand still for that long, and how one time Anelda accidentally poked her with one of the pins, and finally Aislin had had enough.

  “I changed my mind. I will sit under the table.”

  Liv broke off her chatter and looked at her curiously. “Are you joking? You’re joking, aren’t you?”

  “No.”

  “But then no one will see your beautiful new dress.”

  “Then I won’t need a new dress. It won’t matter what I’m wearing.”

  “You’re silly. Look, Mother bought the cloth.” She dragged Aislin over to her mother. “Can we go see Anelda now? Can we?”

  Bonnie took one look at Aislin and shook her head. “Honey, I think that Aislin has had enough for one day, don’t you?”

  “I’m sure she’s fine. If we hurry—”

  “Liv.” There was a warning in that one word.

  “Okaaaay.”

  They went back to the castle then. Aislin held the fabric while they rode in the carriage. She had to admit that it was pretty. She touched it tentatively and discovered that it was quite soft as well. Maybe having a new dress made wasn’t such a bad idea, although she still didn’t like the thought of being poked with needles.

  Brecken was sitting on the front steps of the palace when they got there, sharpening his knife. He looked up when they walked up.

  “Where have you been?” he asked them. He looked at Aislin, at the fabric she was clutching to her chest. She suddenly felt very self-conscious. “What’s that?”

  “It’s cloth for the new dress Aislin is wearing to my party,” Liv said proudly. “It’s going to be gorgeous.”

  What Brecken did next completely surprised Aislin. Instead of scoffing or making some dumb joke, he stood up, looked at the fabric, looked at Aislin, and said, “It brings out your eyes.” Then he sheathed his knife and walked away.

  Aislin stared after him, wondering why her heart was pounding. She was still staring when Liv pulled on her arm. “Hey, aren’t you listening to me?” she asked.

  Aislin blinked and looked at her. “What?”

  “I said do you want to go to the stables and see the new foal?”

  No, Aislin did not want to do that. What she really wanted to do was…what? She wasn’t really sure. She felt terribly confused and angry for some reason.

  “I think I need to go back to the sea,” she said.

  “Why don’t you let me take that?” Bonnie said and plucked the fabric from Aislin’s arms. “I’ll make sure Anelda gets it, and you can come up tomorrow for a measurement.”

  Aislin walked with Randel back to the estate. He talked the whole way, but she heard almost none of it. In her mind she kept replaying the scene with Brecken, the casual way he said what he did. Why did he do that? Why did she care about it so much? And why did she feel so strange all of a sudden? What did it all mean?

  Chapter Twenty

  “We’re going to see Anelda and get her to start on your dress,” Liv said as soon as she saw Aislin the next morning. She was holding the fabric they’d bought yesterday, and she grabbed Aislin’s hand and began tugging at her to follow.

  Aislin tried to free herself. “I was thinking about that. I’m not sure I want—”

  “Oh, pish. We already decided this,” Liv said. “Why are we still talking about it?”

  Aislin gave up resisting and let herself be led upstairs, around a corner and down a hallway she’d never been in before. At the end of the hallway was a door. Liv turned the knob and dragged Aislin inside.

  The room they entered was large and dimly lit, and it took a moment for Aislin to realize what was in there. When she did, she came to a halt and stared. The room was filled with people, dozens of them. But why were they standing so still? Why weren’t they talking?

  Then she realized they weren’t people at all. They only looked like people. They were made of wood, nothing more than torsos and heads mounted on metal stands. It was the clothes that fooled her, as they were dressed in all manner of dresses, skirts, blouses. A fair number of them had wigs, and many sported hats with lacy veils, bright feathers, and so on.

  “It’s a little creepy the first time, isn’t it?” Liv said. Her voice was quieter than usual, as if the room had a subduing effect on her as well.

  “What are they?” Aislin asked.

  “They’re dummies.”

  “Why are they here?”

  “A place to put dresses? I don’t know.”

  Liv started to make
her way through them, but Aislin stayed where she was. She didn’t want to do this anyway, and this only made her want to do it even less. Why didn’t this woman keep her dresses in a trunk like everyone else? What was really going on here?

  Liv came back and grabbed her hand again. “Come on. Hurry up.”

  Aislin let herself be pulled across the room, careful not to touch any of the dummies as she went. It bothered her that they had no eyes, no faces. She wished there was more light in the room.

  On the far side of the room was a small doorway with a curtain hanging across it. Liv pushed the curtain aside, and they went through. This room was brightly lit by sunlight pouring in through the large window. There were tables and shelves covered with swaths of fabric of every color imaginable. There were scissors of various sizes, jars filled with pins and needles, and several more dummies wearing dresses in different stages of completion. The floor was covered with scraps of cloth.

  Standing by one of the tables, peering at a bolt of cloth, was an elderly woman. She was bent with age. Her hair was pure white and long enough to reach her waist. She turned at their entrance and looked them up and down.

  “What?” Her lips were pursed. She clearly was not happy to see them.

  For the first time, Aislin saw her friend at a loss for words. “Umm, we have…I mean—”

  “Out with it, child. I’ve got three dresses to finish in time for the royal brat’s birthday party. I don’t have time to stand here all day while you two stare at me like moon calves.”

  “Hey,” Liv said, some of her natural confidence returning. “Don’t call me a brat.”

  Anelda shuffled closer and eyed Liv up and down. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

  Liv straightened up as tall as she could. “It is me, and I don’t like being called a brat. I’m the princess.”

  “Humpf. When you get to my age, all children are brats. Princesses are no exception.”

  Liv put her hands on her hips, a gesture made harder since she was still holding the fabric. “You shouldn’t talk to me that way,” she said sternly.

  “This is my shop.” Anelda gestured at the room around them. “I’ve been here for sixty years. I’ll talk however I please, and if you don’t like it you may find your own way out and get someone else to make your dress. That is why you’re here, isn’t it? To have me make you a dress? Or is this strictly a social call?”