by Eric Vall
Soon, all five us stood outside of the dress shop that Carmedy had mentioned earlier in the morning, and I took in the expertly made dresses in the window. They were pretty and the details handsewn, but the ones displayed didn’t suit any of my minions except for Carmedy of course. Each dress in the shop was a different shade of pink or purple and exploding with frills and lace. Rana’s lip curled as she moved her blue eyes over each one then looked at me in confusion. I shrugged to her, and the fox laughed as she took my arm in her own.
“Come on!” the black-haired cat called back as she raced towards the door. “Time’s a-wastin'!”
In a flash, Carmedy had gone inside the shop and left us to trail after her in a line. The shop was filled with beautiful dresses and thankfully, all of them weren’t like the ones in the window. I could never imagine Morrigan or Rana wearing those shades or even the frills. The alchemist quickly went to work as she ripped through each of the hangers with feverish intensity. The fabrics were a blur as she picked out specific ones for each woman. Annalise came to stand next to me since she wouldn’t be wearing a dress and would instead be serving at the ball. Though the High Queen couldn’t join in on the fun, she still looked excited for her sisters as Carmedy grabbed each of them and hauled them into a dressing room of their own.
I felt excitement of my own as I waited outside of the curtains and listened to the moans and wails as Carmedy strapped each of the women into their own dresses.
My women were already beautiful enough on their own, but with the added beauty of a tailor made dress, they’d be absolutely breathtaking. I reached out and gripped Annalise’s hand in my own. The swordswoman stepped close to me, and I glanced down at her smooth, freckled face. She was just as excited as I was to see my newly transformed minions.
Chapter Twenty
“I don’t like this, not one bit!” Rana’s annoyed voice called out from behind the curtain then her voice rose into a loud cry as Carmedy tightened the dress.
“Oh hush, you look stunning! And this color with your hair! Ah, magnificent!” The black-haired feline sighed loudly, and I listened to the heavy clunk of her boots as she turned towards Morrigan. “Oh my gosh, Morrigan, you look so pretty! This color is perfect with your skin tone!”
I chuckled to myself as the elven woman’s voice rose up behind the fabric in an unsure tone. “It doesn’t suit me, maybe if it were black…”
“No black!” Carmedy cried out, and I raised my eyebrows as Annalise standing beside me burst out laughing.
The petite alchemist could be quite bossy when it came to fashion and shopping, and it was only then that she showed an entirely different side of herself. In normal life, Carmedy was excitable and demure while still being happy-go-lucky, but once we stepped into a dress shop, a different person took over her body as she picked out clothes for each person.
The shopkeeper and her apprentice appeared from one of the back rooms, and their attention immediately swiveled to us. The shopkeeper smiled at us, and I took in her appearance as she stepped forward. The woman was tall and willowy, her body shape vaguely reminded me of Morrigan, but this woman was taller and thinner than the elven woman. Her hair was honey blonde and her eyes a bright mint green as her lips pulled into a wide smile. She stepped closer to us as her much shorter apprentice scurried up behind her.
“Good morning, I’m sorry we didn’t hear you come in,” the shopkeeper greeted apologetically. “We were putting the finishing touches on a dress in the back and didn’t hear the bell ring. I’m Jolie, the owner, and this is my assistant, Camille. Is there anything we can help you with today?”
Jolie’s thin knuckled hands flitted up and tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear as she came near. Camille wasn’t as pretty. In fact, she was quite dull. She stood two heads shorter than Jolie, and her mousey brown hair was shaggy and cut short to her shoulders. Her eyes intrigued me though. They were gray, but there was a subtle depth in them as I spied hints of violet and amethyst. My eyes flicked back and forth to the young woman’s heart-shaped face then to her eyes and her bushy eyebrows knit in confusion. I quickly moved my eyes away from her and back to Jolie.
“We’re here for some dresses for the Lord’s ball, but one of my women already picked out a few they wanted to try on.” I smiled to Jolie, and the shopkeeper bowed her head to me while Camille’s strange eyes narrowed on my face suspiciously.
The apprentice’s eyes moved from me to Annalise and studied the disguised High Queen for a few passing moments. I listened intently to the smaller woman’s thoughts but couldn’t pick anything out beside the soft whispering in the confines of her mind. It was strange, and I glared down at Camille in confusion. Her thoughts were guarded and locked away from me, and I probed harder to reach inside of her brain. Camille’s eyes twitched as I did so, but I kept my expression blank as I moved my eyes to the still smiling shopkeeper.
“Oh wonderful, the whole town is abuzz with excitement for the wedding and ball. Camille and I simply can’t wait to see all our wonderful dresses and suits worn by the many guests.” Jolie clapped excitedly, but Camille remained stoic by her side. “Would you like some masks to go along with the dresses?”
“Masks?” Annalise asked, and Jolie nodded vehemently as she brought our attention to a hanging rack full of hand-painted masks, each of them unique and beautiful as she reached out and plucked one from the shelf.
“Yes, Lord Baudouin specifically wanted the ball to be a masquerade!” Jolie grinned as she offered me a mask and I took it into my hands. “We have an excellent selection! We sell out nearly every single day, don’t we, Cammie?”
Camille didn’t even blink at the nickname but only solemnly nodded in agreement with her boss. When she opened her mouth, her voice wasn’t what I expected.
“Yes, we wake up early every morning to create more so that we have a large selection to choose from.” Camille’s voice was light and girly for the short, unattractive woman. “Miss Jolie is quite the artist when it comes to painting and creating things for the shop.”
Jolie rocked with lilting laughter as one of her delicate hands snaked out and patted Camille on the head. Camille blushed deeply under her boss’s affectionate touch and quickly hid her face from us.
“Don’t let her praise fool you,” Jolie stated earnestly as she gazed down at her small assistant. “I may be the one who adds all the details and doodads, but Camille is the one who makes the masks by hand. Feel them, they are real ceramic and so light they could almost weigh nothing!”
The mask in my hand was indeed light and shaped into the smooth face of a bull, the horns sculped and etched to look like real bone. Camille had real talent, and it was plain to see in her work. I ran my fingers over the glossy surface and the intricately painted details over the surface. The bull mask was beautiful, but I knew none of my minions would want to wear it, it didn’t suit any of them or me. I placed the mask back on its rack, and the ceramic clinked against it softly as it slid back into place amongst the other masks. Jolie bowed her head to me then turned at the sound of Carmedy’s voice as it rose from behind the curtain.
“Drum roll, please!” the feline called, and Jolie jumped with a grin and scurried to the front desk and began to pound on the wood. “I present to you, Lady of the Evergreens, Queen of the Forest and all the…uh…leaves! Rana Elouise Martin!”
Jolie’s hands beat faster, and her smile was just as delighted and excited as Annalise’s and my own, but Camille only stared at the red curtain as we waited.
“Stop pushing!” the redhead cried as the curtain rippled angrily. “I’m going. I’m going!”
I caught my breath as Rana stepped out into the middle of the shop, and we all stared at her in wonder. Her cheeks flushed as she avoided my gaze, but I couldn’t help but look, my fox woman looked absolutely ravishing. Carmedy had picked out a deep forest green gown that complimented the fiery red of the fox’s hair as she said earlier. The ballgown’s bodice was the same color lace as the rest of
the dress and came down low in a swooping neckline. The sleeveless cuffs came off and over her shoulder to rest on her upper arm. The bodice cinched tightly around her upper waist then bloomed out into a voluminous skirt detailed with more lace and embroidery. Her red tail was hidden underneath the skirt, and Jolie’s eyes widened then crinkled as she smiled to herself when the fabric shifted from Rana’s happily wagging tail.
“D-do you like it?” the redhead asked as she tugged on a loose curl.
Annalise’s mouth, which had dropped open in awe snapped shut, and the swordswoman nodded fervently.
“The dress may be beautiful,” I started as I ran my eyes over her and the fox blushed under my eyes. “But you are the one that truly makes it shine, my love.”
“An excellent choice!” Jolie cried as she clapped her hands together and if possible, Rana’s cheeks reddened even more than before. “That color suits you perfectly, Miss Rana.”
Camille inclined her head, tilted it as she took in my fox’s appearance, then nodded once in agreement. “Yes, the color and shape compliment your body type, and the color does wonders with your skin tone and hair color.”
“That’s what I said!” Carmedy called out from behind the curtain happily. “All right, here comes the second one! Queen of fire and ice, Lady of the Pretty Frowny Face, Morrigan!”
“I resent that poor choice of words, Carmedy,” Morrigan muttered in her usual cold voice then it lifted into a soft giggle, “but you are not wrong.”
The elven woman stepped out, and my eyes widened as Jolie gasped softly from the counter. Morrigan’s dress was a velvety wine color, and the fabric was entirely made from lace. The neckline brushed against her prominent collar bones in full waves. The burgundy sleeves came all the way down to her wrists and wrapped around her whole body tightly like a glove. The skirt widened out below the knee and fanned out to brush the ground as she walked.
Morrigan looked as if she was floating across the room, and I took in the perfect hourglass shape of her body that was usually hidden by the loose robes she wore over her tight bodysuit. The elven woman moved elegantly like a dancer, and when she turned, we took in the plunging back of the dress. The back came down into a deep v shape and exposed much of her flawless alabaster flesh. Morrigan turned and looked at me over her shoulder. Her dark eyes cut into me, and I smiled wolfishly to her as her pale cheeks dusted a soft pink.
I took all of her in and breathed in deeply to keep my heart from pounding out of my avatar’s chest. She was naturally beautiful as her long white hair shifted off her shoulders. All of us were silent as we watched her seem to float around the room, and when she caught our eyes, she stopped and looked shyly down at her feet.
“When I made that dress, I didn’t think someone as lovely as you would wear it,” Jolie breathed softly as she pressed her hands to her chest. Camille said nothing but moved her eyes from the top of Morrigan’s head down to her feet as she admired my minion’s beauty.
Annalise and Rana rushed forward and grabbed onto the elf’s hands as they took in the rest of her dress. Their soft words made my white-haired love blush even more, but Carmedy cleared her throat once more as she drew our attention back to the curtain.
“Ahem!” the feline cried out as she shuffled behind the curtain. “And finally, me. Uh, I didn’t come up with any titles for myself so, here I come!”
I didn’t expect the type of dress Carmedy flounced out in, but she giggled to herself as she covered her mouth with one paw at my reaction. I’d expected her to pick out one of the dresses covered in bows and frills as we’d seen in the shop's window, but what she wore was something entirely else.
The dress was sleek and tight against the cat like a second skin. I could see each curve of her tiny body as she moved. Surprisingly, the dress was pitch black but as she turned, the color shimmered and changed in the light like pooled oil as purples, blues and greens glittered under the dark color. I raised my eyebrows as she turned and the backline plunged down her back much farther than Morrigan’s and her sleek black tail moved in the air elegantly. The neckline swooped down into a deep v and showed the curvature of her breasts. Thin straps came up and around her shoulders in a halter, and her emerald eyes met mine lustfully as she pranced around the shop.
Jolie and surprisingly even Camille clapped as the petite feline took a bow to each of us then grabbed the fabric of her skirt in her paws and swept into two curtsies.
My minions rushed to her as they admired the dress and how it conformed to the alchemist’s figure perfectly. Carmedy laughed loudly as she slipped her hands into the folds of the dress and held them out excitedly.
“It has pockets! Look!” the black-haired cat called, and I laughed along with my minions as Carmedy showed each of them the pockets.
I strode to them and took in all of their glory in the beautiful dresses. The cat’s sparkling emerald eyes met mine, and she gestured to her body for me too to take in the dress.
“You look stunning. All of you.” I smiled to them as I reached out and stroked each of their faces in time.
I lifted my eyes, and over Morrigan’s shoulders, Camille’s gaze met mine for a moment. Her strange eyes narrowed on me, and time seemed to slow as I attempted once more to probe into her mind, but I received what I had earlier, nothing but whispers and mutters so low that I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I had no reason to be suspicious of the apprentice, she hadn’t said anything to tip me off, but there was a strange aura hanging over her shoulders as she kept her eyes hard on me.
I didn’t want to brush it off, there was something bizarre about the shopkeeper’s assistant, and I didn’t trust her for a moment. Jolie was different, and whatever Camille was involved in, the seamstress wasn’t involved. I parted from my minions as I gestured for them to go and pick out a mask for themselves. I came up to the counter as Jolie stepped behind it with a beaming smile.
“How much do I owe you?” I inquired as I reached into my void pocket for some coins. Jolie smiled gently as she kept her eyes on my women.
“Each dress is about one hundred silver each but since you’re buying such a large quantity and four masks, let’s say two-hundred-and-fifty silvers, and we’re even,” Jolie stated calmly, and I raised my eyes to her.
Rana had taught me how to barter correctly, but she also taught me how to appraise items when we went to trade, and I knew from looking over the dresses, they were worth far more than two hundred and fifty silver. The difference between the worth of gold coin and silver was staggering. Most gold coins were worth ten silvers easily, and I would easily pay her asking cost in gold coins for such beautiful hand-crafted dresses and not feel cheated in the least. The shopkeeper was humble even though she put so much work into her dresses and even the masks.
I pressed my tongue into the corner of my mouth as I dug through the void pocket for what I deemed was a more fitting amount and slid a bag filled with four hundred golden coins over to Jolie. The seamstress’s eyes widened in shock as she glanced in the bag, then they widened more as she locked eyes with me, but I said nothing as I gestured for her to take them. For a moment, I thought I saw tears bloom in the corners of her eyes, but she quickly hid her face from me as she bowed respectfully low to me and tied the coin purse to her belt.
“You are too kind, sir,” Jolie whispered to me as she kept her eyes low.
“Not kind, I simply know how to appreciate fine things when I see them,” I told her plainly. “These dresses, and the happiness they’ve given my women are worth far more than mere silver. Please give yourself more credit.” I glanced down at her willowy fingers and saw the red blisters and cuts on each digit from her painstakingly hard work. “You have a talent, and though some may not like to believe it, that talent should be recognized by the price and quality of your items. Do not sell yourself short.”
“I don’t know what to say, sir,” Jolie murmured as she kept her head low. After a moment, she raised her pretty face to mine and gave me a gentle,
smaller smile as she waved her hand towards a far rack of men’s clothing. “Please, pick out whatever you like free of charge as a symbol of my gratitude.”
“I tell you to raise the prices of your well-made products, and you offer me free clothing.” I chuckled, but Jolie wasn’t offended by my words. I shook my head as I placed a hand on my holy armor. “No, thank you. I believe my armor is enough to get into the ball, but I will take one of your masks if you allow me.”
“Take whatever you like.” Jolie grinned as she intertwined her hands behind her back and bowed once more to me.
I bowed back then headed over to the rack of masks my minions crowded around. Each of my women besides Annalise held a mask in their hands, but when I came near, they hid them from me with sly smiles on their faces. I looked to them with raised eyebrows, but they shied away from me with a giggle.
“What are you up to?” I chuckled softly as I reached out for Rana, but she scurried away with her hands held behind her back.
“We just want our masks to be surprises for you,” Carmedy admitted shyly as she moved the mask around her hands behind her back.
“All right, if that’s how you want it,” I said as I shooed them away with my hands. “Then leave me while I pick out my own.”
Each woman gave me a look of shock then giggled as they scurried away to change back into their regular clothes. I stepped around the rack as I took in each of the masks. All of them were beautiful, and I sifted through them carefully as I chose the perfect one to match my armor. I stepped back with a frown as I cupped my chin. None of them suited me or would go well with my armor. All of them were delicate and painted with flowers or had flowy feathers attached to the top. I sighed loudly, and suddenly, the feeling of eyes watching me prickled the back of my neck.
Camille came up beside me and stood silently as she took in all of the masks. Her face was smooth and without emotion as she turned and took in my armor, then looked back towards the masks.