As she explained the garment’s unique details to me, I saw what she was talking about.
“You know, this might actually work,” Mama said brightly. Alys beamed over her shoulder at her and then turned her gleaming eyes on me. I threw my hands up in the air. I knew when I had been defeated.
“Fine. I’ll change into that skirt. Give me five minutes,” I grumbled.
Alys squealed and tossed it to me. I hid my smile behind the skirt’s many layers. I dug through them, trying to find the waistband and how it fastened. It looked as complicated as any corset I’d ever seen.
“Can you help me with it? I’m not entirely sure how to actually get into this,” I admitted.
“I’m right behind you. I knew it was a two person job.”
Of course she had. Together, we bustled into the sitting room and closed the door behind us. We fell into a familiar rhythm. Alys and I had spent a lot of time helping each other in and out of various costumes and outfits when we were younger, but I couldn’t remember the last time we’d asked each other for help.
“All right, let’s get you out of this gown, then. You’ll be fine in your shift with this, if you’re comfortable with that?”
“As long as you don’t have any other surprises in store for me this afternoon, that’s fine. Now help me move this table out of the way.”
Together, we shoved the coffee table out of the way enough for me to stand in the middle of the room.
“Nope, this is it. And I swore I’d only use it if you needed it.”
“Oh, so you had this planned?”
I’d have been upset if I hadn’t suspected it. She laughed and began unlacing the stays at the back of my form-fitting plaid gown.
“Sort of? I’d gotten this for you anyway and it sounded like you could use a rescuer.”
I grimaced. She wasn’t wrong. Mama and I had been on the verge of actually fighting for the first time in years after several hours of struggling.
“Thanks for that. I’m not doing as well at this as I’d like. But, really, is the way you walk that important?” I huffed. Alys laughed lightly at me as she set up the skirt for me to be able to step into. She held the flexible leather inserts apart so I wouldn’t scrape my legs while I covered myself.
“It’s like learning a new style of fighting. You have to get the basics down before you can do anything else. Walking is one of the basics. You’ll get there. It took me weeks to have Mama approve my posture and walking style.”
“Yeah, when you were seven. I’m a grown woman. I should be able to figure this out.”
I knew she was rolling her eyes behind me.
“Yes, well, we all come to these things at different times. You’re learning something new. Quit beating yourself up. And suck in your stomach just a little. This needs to be tight.”
I did as I was told, closing my eyes and holding my breath while she laced the skirt around me. It was comfortable, even with the leather shaping inserts. When Alys told me to let out my breath, I looked down at myself and my next breath was nearly a gasp. The layers of silk and cotton draped beautifully over the inserts and my thighs. It gave me just the hint of the curves that were so prominent on my mother and siblings. It left me feeling breathless in a way that had nothing to do with the stays.
I twirled the skirt, letting it flare out around me and giggling. I caught sight of Alys grinning shyly, twisting her body back and forth as she looked me up and down. Without thinking, I grabbed her up in my arms and squeezed her. She held herself very still for a moment before softening and wrapping her arms around me. Her cheek pressed to mine and I felt her smile.
“Thank you, Alys. This means a lot.”
“I’m glad you like it, Genevieve. Now, let’s get back out there and help you learn how to flirt.”
We released each other and smiled widely. A sense of calm washed over me that had been missing all day. I could do this.
CORMAC
The back room of Poppy’s shop flooded with light when the door creaked open, only to be filled with a dark shadow. We both turned to see Finn lumber into the room we’d been holed up in for what felt like an eternity trying to put the finishing touches onto the gown for Ser Genevieve. Even with help from our apprentices, we’d spent the last two weeks crafting enough chainmail and knitting it into the right shapes to make the dress as protective as it needed to be.
Finn struggled to carry a leather satchel as he walked across the too-bright room, even for the strong apprentice.
“Ser Genevieve’s men delivered her ornamental pauldrons, sir. And lord, they’re heavy!”
I cursed, shoving a pile of finished chainmail pieces to the side of the table so that he could set the satchel down. He lowered it carefully, then rolled his shoulders to relax the muscles.
Resting his hands on the satchel once he had stretched, he looked to me for permission to open it.
At my nod, he lifted the top layer of the dark leather by its fraying seams. I slid the simple wooden box from the interior, emptying the bag. Finn pulled the leather away and placed it on the floor next to the table, leaving me to look over the pauldrons inside it. Poppy slid into the space he’d left behind, inspecting the stitchwork on the limp bag with a hawkish glare.
“She needs a better leatherworker,” they sighed. “This is shoddy work.”
“I’m sure this is just one of their delivery bags, Poppy,” Finn laughed. “Look at how weathered it is. It looks like it’s almost as old as I am.”
“Its stitches should still hold together better than that, no matter the age,” they sniffed, planting their hands on their wide hips. “You ought to know that, boy. What would have happened if any two of these fraying stitches had fallen apart? Those pretty pauldrons would have been on the ground for anyone to grab up.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing this was just the beginning of another one of their bickering matches. They had become more common between all three of us as our nerves got frayed.
“What are the chances of the right two stitches coming apart right when it needed to be in use?”
“With shoddy stitchwork like this? Significantly higher than you would expect. Are you gonna keep telling me how stitches work, youngling? I will win every time.”
I turned to them just in time to see Poppy raise their thick eyebrows combatively and to hear Finn laugh in response.
“You're right, of course. You would know better.”
“Yeah, Poppy keeps us all in stitches,” I joined in with a wink. “Now come here, boy. I want to show you these pieces of art.”
Finn’s eyes lit up when he saw the pauldrons I had laid out on the table. Poppy was no more than two steps behind him, and they let out a low whistle.
The largest base of each pauldron was perfectly polished steel, with a chevron of carved brass overlay. The oak leaves that were central to the Teagan crest were carved lovingly into the brass. I turned them so that Finn could see the interior leather that would press against Ser Genevieve’s shoulder, running a finger along the nearly nonexistent seam.
“It’s beautiful,” he sighed.
“That, my boy, is what skill looks like. Even I can’t work this finely, and I’ve been at this a long, long time.”
“And, they’ll be the perfect addition to this gown!”
Poppy clapped their hands and looked over to the mannequin they’d been using to put the dress together piece by piece. They motioned to me to bring them over. Cradling one pauldron in my large, callused hands, I walked carefully across the room to the mannequin that held the mostly completed gown. Poppy fluttered around me, guiding my hands so I could place the pauldrons on its metal shoulders properly.
Finn gasped at the effect that the addition made and I could see why. Even without the second one attached, it pulled the entire gown together. This went from being a chainmail and silk gown to a gown fit for a lady knight, from the bronze chainmail links in the bodice that matched the oak leaf pattern on the pauldron to the bright steel t
hat was hidden in the deep blue skirt.
I was blown away by the way the dress looked. I could only imagine what it would look like on Ser Genevieve’s sturdy frame. I had never given much thought to how women looked in ball gowns, but I knew it would be stunning. I almost couldn’t believe I’d had a hand in creating it.
“Well, let’s get back to work! We’ve got a gown to finish!” Poppy declared, breaking the hush that had fallen over the room.
Finn and I grinned and went back to work. It was time to gather all of the chainmail pieces and do a final quality check before they were attached to the gown.
AVERY
The entire family was gathered around the private dining table in the royal quarters.
I sliced into my meat, minding my own business and hoping that I wouldn’t be drawn into the debate of how to solve the trade problems we were having with Fraisia. My niblings, Julian and Cecilia, sat on either side of me doing the same. It was bad enough that we all had to deal with these discussions during the day, but it didn’t have to be our dinner conversation as well. My opinion was not one that my brother and father agreed with.
A chill ran up my spine as I felt someone’s eyes on me. Looking around the table, I caught my cousin Cedric’s eagle eyes focused on me.
“I hear you’ve been having some trouble with wolves out in Wolvington. Seems appropriate for the name.”
I snorted. He was right, even if he did look and sound like a villain from a novel, waving his fork around like an extension of his body.
“I’ve asked my soldiers to shoot any wolves they see on sight, since they really shouldn’t be seeing them. Hopefully that will help fix the problems we’ve been having.”
“Any idea why they’ve been attacking? It’s been a relatively mild winter and your forests are flush with game and goats. I can’t imagine they’re hungry.”
“Honestly, I have no idea, but it’s driving my seneschal mad. Were lucky they haven’t gone into any of the villages, honestly.”
“Do you need help dealing with them? I’d be happy to send a few knights your way.”
Shrugging, I put another bite of food into my mouth, using the time that I was chewing to corral my thoughts.
“I think that my soldiers can handle it for now. We’ve only had a few attacks and they haven’t been particularly severe. But I’ll keep that in mind if we find ourselves overwhelmed.”
“You do that. There’s no sense in letting your people get injured when I have a gaggle of bored knights bouncing around balls and things. Speaking of, I hear you have a date planned.”
At that, everyone at the table’s eyes fixed on me. Suppressing a groan, I had to nod. This was happening, whether I liked it or not.
“With one of your knights, actually. I don’t know how it’s going to go yet, so don’t get your hopes up.” That was directed at the entire table, and seemed to be a cue for my mother to open her mouth. As usual, she took over the conversation, gesturing with a delicate hand.
“Tell me, how well do you know this Ser Genevieve of Teagan? She has a good reputation around town.”
I wanted a hole to open up precisely underneath my feet and somehow suck me into it without harming anyone else. Was it realistic? No. But if it would get me out of this discussion, it might be worth whatever havoc it would wreak on life at the palace. I didn’t even care where I’d wind up, really. Anywhere would be better than here right at this moment.
* * *
CORMAC
I had a problem. I had run out of things that I could work on away from the forge. Everything else required high heat, or too many tools to make it feasible to bring with me to Poppy’s workshop. But the gown Poppy was working on was now too bulky and unfinished to be dragging back and forth down the avenue between our shops. I had to find a reason for Poppy and I to keep spending time together. I had been racking my brain for ways to do that all evening but everything I came up with just sounded contrived and ridiculous.
“What would you say if I asked you out to dinner?” I blurted unthinkingly. It took a Herculean effort to keep me from clapping my hands over my mouth as they stared at me.
Instead, I cleared my throat and then continued. “A romantic dinner. Just us two.”
I just looked at them, waiting for them to respond. They sunk into the chair that they had been working from before replying.
“I think that that would be… kind of nice? Can we be lovers and friends? I don’t want anything that happens in the bedroom, or not, to affect this.”
They waved a hand between the two of us, and I caught it, rubbing a calloused thumb gently over the tips of their work worn fingers.
“I’m not looking for anything more than you’re willing to offer. If you’re not ready for a more romantic relationship, or decide that you don’t want a romantic relationship, I will not be hurt or upset. I just want you to know that.”
The smile spread across the rest of their golden brown face, and they stood to walk back over to where I sat.
I smiled, noticing that we were almost the same height - when I was sitting down. I wasn't used to being face-to-face with Poppy, instead of looking down at the top of their head all the time. Their brown eyes glittered with an emotion I could not quite identify.
“Do you think that is what you want?” I asked, as gently as I could. “Want to give romance a try with me in addition to our friendship?”
They stood there, looking at me for what felt like hours but was certainly only a few of my racing heartbeats. They bit their lips and leaned forward, resting their hands on the arms of my chair.
“Why don’t you lean forward and kiss me and find out?”
Instead, I stood quickly, sweeping them up in my arms so we were the same height. Their legs dangled around my knees, and they giggled.
“Cormac! That was unexpected!”
I looked at them seriously. Their giggles subsided and they bit their lightly painted lip as they looked at my mouth, then back up at my eyes.
“May I kiss you, Poppy?”
“You may.”
And so I did.
5
AVERY
I stood half-dressed before the looking glass in my bedroom. My crisp teal shirt was half buttoned over the whalebone undershirt that helped to shape my upper body. One of the servants have helped me get into it earlier in the morning, and I had tucked the tails into my unbuckled dark trousers. Something about my appearance was off today but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it and it was frustrating.
One of the problems with changing my body’s appearance little by little was that my physicians and I had to go incredibly slowly with each spell, making changes over years. Making changes too quickly only led to migraines and spells going awry in ways that were time consuming and painful to fix. But something was off in one of the spells and I wasn’t sure what it was. A wrinkle that felt as deep as a canyon spread across my forehead as I mentally cataloged each of the different spells wrapped around my body, from the one that slowly widened my jawbone to be more striking to the major internal spell that adjusted my hormones. As far as I could tell, everything was in working order. I loved the way each of them glittered in their own way. It was beautiful.
The clock in the nearby tower tolled two hours past noon and I cursed. I was going to be more than fashionably late if I didn’t leave immediately. I was going to have to deal with whatever was bothering me throughout the meal. Buttoning the teal shirt, I added a silver necklace that trailed down my chest. It brightened my brown skin and made me feel a little bit better about this lunch. I buckled my trousers and slid my stockinged feet into the black shoes that closed with a delicate silver clasp that matched the necklace.
Once I was fully put together, I took one last look in the mirror. Maybe whatever was bothering me was just something with the lighting in the room Bayard had assigned me.
It could have also had something to do with the butterflies I had in my stomach. I was always anxious about new peopl
e, and most of what I knew about Genevieve was from our few short meetings and the stories I’d heard over the years as Alys’s mentor. I couldn’t help but wonder how the real woman would stack up to the one that my student had told me about.
Would I actually feel a spark? Did it matter if I did? Arranged marriages like the one our families had discussed at the ball two weeks prior didn’t require it, but they did require respect for one another. But I wanted more than that. I wanted a partner who would be my equal and who I could genuinely enjoy relaxing around. Maybe a spark was too much to ask for, but I wanted it anyway. And now it was time to go see if it was possible.
I grabbed a cloak to ward off the chill of the spring air and swept out of the room.
GENEVIEVE
Avery was late and I was fairly certain I was going to lose my mind. What if he wasn’t coming? I couldn’t stop my knee from bouncing till it almost hit the table. Alys pressed her palm to my knee and I could feel the heat of it through my mulberry silk gown. Unable to bounce with her hands there, I traced my fingers over the wood grain of the table in an attempt to use my nervous energy.
“It’s going to be fine, Gen,” Alys snapped. “Quit bouncing like a rabbit.”
She had set us up for a late lunch at a restaurant that we had both come to think of as a favorite in the last few years. While the Royal Academy where Alys had trained until recently was not in Caerleon proper, it was close enough that she had spent nearly every break and weekend in the city flirting with anyone she found interesting.
I may have been the one wearing armor on a regular basis, but Alys had always been braver when it came to social events and strangers - something I’d always envied her for. I wished that I wasn’t so anxious, but Avery was nearly half an hour late. I couldn’t stand for people to be late for exactly this reason, even if he was royalty.
Right when I opened my mouth to say so, I caught a flash of teal out of the corner of my eye. Alys’s fingers dug into my leg, and I knew that he was here.
A Knight to Remember Page 5