Dress
By Mirror and Image
D'Eon was sitting, staring at himself in the mirror, while Robin brushed out his long straight hair. The Empress Elizaveta was holding a masquerade ball, where men dressed as women and women dressed as men. Robin, as a page under Queen Marie, had often helped the ladies in court or their ladies-in-waiting get dressed for formal occasions. The boy himself was also in a dress, his hair pinned up so he could get a wig on later. They had initially tried a wig for D'Eon, but the knight's own long hair proved too difficult to pin properly, thus Robin brushing it out.
"I never would have thought," D'Eon murmured quietly.
"What is it, Sir D'Eon?"
The knight lifted an arm, studying the rich blue fabric of the dress and it's white frills. "I never would have thought that my sister's dress would actually help me like this."
Robin blinked, pausing in his brushing in mid-stroke. "But then, why did you bring this dress?"
"Her Majesty said that I might find it useful to connect with my sister. She was able to talk to Lia once, when I wore this dress." D'Eon ran a hand over the soft fabric. "I thought that during our travels I was supposed to wear this from time to time to get a better understanding of what my sister wanted."
Robin shrugged, returning to brushing out the knight's hair. "Well, I've never seen you with that dress before. I guess you haven't had much time for that, huh?"
"No. We've been traveling non-stop since we left France, and with poets chasing us, there hasn't been time or opportunity." D'Eon looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Besides, to do that would be a bit more... private."
The young page nodded. It would be rather hard to explain to his comrades that he needed to put on a dress to better communicate with his sister. Granted, the fact that his sister readily possessed him was already a great deal to swallow, but D'Eon wasn't entirely sure that mentioning dressing as a woman would go too far.
Robin finished brushing D'Eon's hair and brought over the headband to pin. "Headband" was the wrong word for it, but it wasn't like the knight knew the proper names for such accessories. Robin, being a page, would probably know, but D'Eon himself wasn't inclined to ask.
"You know, I've only seen this dress once before," Robin commented.
"Oh?"
"Yes, Mademoiselle Lia once wore it to court."
"That was how you knew my sister, correct?"
Robin nodded, taking out another brush. D'Eon stood as Robin stroked the fabric, removing wrinkles patiently.
"She was, by far, a sight to see. You never saw her in court, did you, Sir D'Eon?"
The knight shook his head, holding out an arm for the page. "No. When she was presented to the court, I was away for my schooling. When I as presented to the court, she was away on a mission. Of course, I didn't care for court and instead pursued my duties as a knight."
D'Eon held out his other arm. After a moment, he asked, "What was she like?"
"Hm?"
"What was my sister like in court?"
Robin looked up and gave a gentle smile. "She was, by far, one of the finest ladies, the finest people, in court." The page went over to a table and sipped from a glass of water. "Whenever she entered a room, all heads would turn. Yes, she had a lot of beauty and grace that would make people stand up and take notice, but there was more to her than that." Robin offered D'Eon some water, but the knight passed. Robin straightened out his own dress a little before returning to brushing out D'Eon's.
"Mademoiselle Lia spoke intelligently, kindly, passionately. Women would go to her to try and talk gossip, but it never failed that men would come to speak to her about the affairs of France and her opinions on if we should go to war, or start relations with a new colony. Her answers were always logical and insightful. For the women, whenever they came to her with gossip, she would speak with compassion on both sides and wise advise on what either party should do."
D'Eon looked at his reflection, and he could have sworn that Lia was smiling back at him. "My sister truly was one of a kind."
Robin nodded. "Before we do your face, we should probably make sure we can walk in women's shoes."
"Or fight," D'Eon replied. "While I doubt any poets would try and storm a masquerade held by Empress Elizaveta, we don't know if we'll be ambushed."
"Good idea."
Robin sat as D'Eon knelt before him, lacing up the heeled shoes. The knight raised an eyebrow. "These heels aren't much higher than the shoes you normally wear." Robin smiled somewhat guiltily. "I ordered them for that purpose. That's why I'm in this pink thing. I would have preferred a different color, but when I saw those shoes, I figured my feet would be better off with this."
D'Eon gave a halfhearted glare before trading places for Robin to lace up his boots.
"Alright, Sir D'Eon. See how that works."
D'Eon stood, walking around the small room. The heels were narrow and it took him a moment to find his balance as he walked. Thankfully, the hemline was above his ankle, assuring him that he wouldn't trip over all the petticoats. A few more circuits around the room and D'Eon was moderately comfortable with walking in the boots. On a whim, he slid into a fencing stance. The hemline was still high enough that he wouldn't trip, but just to be sure, he did a few simple foot exercises. It would be murder on his ankles, but he could fight like this.
"Not bad," he said, straightening. "I don't know if I could keep going for long in these heels, but it should do until we can get back to Master and Durand, if the need arises."
"That's good." Robin, while D'Eon was working on his footwork, had pulled out rouge and lip paint. "You know, Sir D'Eon, you're lucky. You won't need much paint to look like Mademoiselle Lia. Your resemblance is already striking."
D'Eon inwardly grimaced. He had dressed as his sister when Queen Marie had asked because Queen Marie asked. He had been awkward and uncertain, but when he had awoken to see Lia's handwriting on the mirror, "Je suis avec toi," all thoughts of discomfort had disappeared. "I am with you," she had written. Those four words had provided immense comfort, but also confusion on what had been happening to him. Now, wearing her dress in order sneak into the Russian court to speak directly with Empress Elizaveta, he was once more feeling uncomfortable. It was the only way, and if that's what it took, D'Eon didn't mind dressing as a woman, but that didn't stop the surreal feeling of it all. It would merely... take some getting used to. Hopefully he wouldn't have to do it again.
Robin applied a pale pink lip paint and only the lightest touches of rouge before turning to do himself.
"Are you alright with this, Robin?" D'Eon asked. "This isn't exactly what we were expecting when we arrived here in Russia."
The young attendant continued to put on his make up. "I can hardly say I look forward to ever doing this again. But if it gets the job done, I'll happily put this memory as far back in my head as possible once it's all over."
To that, D'Eon could sympathize.
Robin finally turned. "Do you mind helping me pin my wig?"
The knight merely stared. "Robin, don't you think you put on a little too much face paint?"
The page smiled awkwardly. "I did that on purpose. When I was hunting for this dress, I heard a lot of people talking about Empress Elizaveta's masquerades. Apparently the men usually over do the face paint somewhat on purpose. I'll blend in with them. You, however, are supposed to look like Mademoiselle Lia, so I adjusted accordingly."
D'Eon merely sighed. Standing he reached for the wig that Robin would wear and handed it to the young page to place. Together, they pinned it in place, letting Robin's natural bangs fall forward.
"I'm surprised you found a wig that matched your hair color."
"It was an interesting hunt, especially on such short notice," Robin agreed. "But there was no way we could style my hair. It's too short."
"That," D'Eon said lightly, "is too your benefit."
Robin chuckled, then looked out the window. "It's hard to tell with the sun up here, but I think it's time to go." Standing, Robin looked himself over in the mirror before nodding to himself. D'Eon looked at himself in the mirror as well. No, he hadn't meant for this dress to be used for his investigations, or his job as a member of Le Secret du Roi. He had meant for this dress to help him understand his sister's tortured soul. It may not be what he intended, but maybe his sister Lia could smile down on him and find even a small measure of peace with his attempts, no matter how awkward, to uncover her killer.
"Let's go."
Fin
Author's Note: We love Robin. We're trying to think of a good story for him. D'Eon just keeps injecting himself. But then, we love D'Eon as well. Hell, the whole cast is just awesome.