Please review! Be on the look out for grammatical errors but please enjoy the story. I tried to upload on Christmas Eve yet there was an error and then I just loafed about during the break. I have gone further on in the story in this posting. I hope you enjoy.

The back room of the shop was filled with different fabrics overflowing the couches, chairs and racks and measuring charts pasted to the walls along with fashion plates from twenty years ago.

Madame DeLouisrelle was a stately matron with a heavy full bosom and a very tall physique. She dwarfed lady Azalea who was 5 feet 9 inches. Madame Delouisrelle was like a giant but she had a pleasant husky voice and a strong and gentle grip as she laid a heavy hand on Giselle's shoulder to guide her to the piles of colored fabrics.

"What are My Lady's wishes for the new protogee?"

'Something to set her apart but not too dramatic to earn her ill favor."

"Choose some fabrics and some laces and ribbons. Lady Azalea and I will return after we have decided on the style of dress that will suit you Child."

Giselle Looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Thank you" she said.

"I am not finished" said Madame. "I want you to walk about. "

"Walk?" Asked Giselle.

'Yes go on walk normally." Giselle walked about the room. Sidestepping fallen cascades of silk and satin and maneuvering about the chairs and half cut out patterns she was painfully aware she was almost dancing.

"Yes" she heard Madame say. "She does have the gait of a dancer. Too bad no one dances here. She would charm everyone with that body of hers."

'Thank you Giselle" said Lady Azalea abruptly.

So Giselle went back to the fabrics and chose some nice satin ribbons and a deep green velvet and a black silk. She chose a beautiful cobalt blue satin and a thick black satin ribbon for it. She also chose a bright red silk and a beautifully patterned gold and plum brocade.

As she held the cloth to her body and imagined it fashioned into a full skirted dancing gown Madame DeLouisrelle 's assistants descended upon her. They were done with Alicia and Olivia who were waiting and having a cup of tea in an adjacent parlor. As they stood her on a wide box in the middle of the room they stripped her of her clothes.

Laughing at her for wearing a corset one of the assistants a pretty coffee colored one queried.

"Why do you wear a corset?"

'Doesn't your lover find it hard to undo?" added another

Giselle looked down and blushed. "I do not have a lover."

"Well when you do have one it will be easier for him if you don't have a corset. "

"Besides only older women wear corsets. They don't sing as much either.' chattered another assistant.

"Corsets only constrict the breathing" said Azalea adding her two coins.

The assistants chattered around her about how small her waist was without a corset " only 22 inches." Said the auburn tressed assistant.

"Don't you eat?" quipped one of the others.

"To eat is to keep one self from the world of the gods. I find it not necessary to eat, for it keeps me from attaining the majesty of the fire birds and the Lovely Goddess's favor.' Giselle replied.

They all gasped and stared at the young girl who was illustrating the worldliness with her hands. She smiled sadly. "The Old ways took root when I was young. I was a priestess once."

The assistants smiled and laughed. "And why are you not a priestess anymore?" questioned the red haired woman.

"I did something completely foolish and fell in love with a man who betrayed me.' said Giselle half truthfully. Indeed she had done just that but had not stopped being a priestess for that reason

"Oh Dear" sighed the assistants. "So you fell in love..."

And he did not come for me." finished Giselle.

"Indeed now with that declaration I can see why she only sings dirges." said Mme/ Delouisrelle to lady Azalea.

Azalea smiled and said "Her life from before is tragic. She came here to restart her life... And so she shall... with her presentation to Court."

'When is that?"

"As soon as she learns the right song. But later today she will come with us to learn her way about the Palace." said Azalea raising her voice so that Giselle could here it. Giselle nodded in response.

Later after the pleasant ordeal of dress shopping and after they all lunched at an outdoor cafe they went to the palace. There Alicia and Olivia went to gossip and chat with their friends. Lady Azalea took Giselle's arm and guided her along the corridors.

Leaving her in an empty, dark study, promising her she would not be disturbed; Lady Azalea went to find the Queen. "I need some advice about you and she is the best woman for it." said Azalea as her bright blue skirts swished in her wake,

The room had no windows and so she had nothing to do. Who knows how long Azalea would chat with the Queen? Sighing Giselle sat in an overstuffed green velvet chair. It was situated in front of an empty fireplace and across from the large richly gleaming carved wooden door.

A desk and some chairs scattered about the room with large tomes of leather bound books gave the room a dreary air. A portrait over the fireplace was large and in an odd style she noticed. The style was not the same as the paintings from Azalea's chateau so it must be newer but not quite. It had to be twenty years old now.

This portrait was of a proud man dressed in blue uniform. It was the uniform of the famed Dragon Slayers, knights and warriors who were the best of the best on this continent. The blue cloth was embroidered with a rearing dragon on the left breast and had a row of buttons down the right side. The pants had a gold stripe down it and the arms had a gold drizzle of cord. She supposed he was a captain with the size of his epaulets. The man rested his right hand on the hilt of his sword and in his left it draped across a purple colored book on a desk. Musical instruments like a trumpet and a violin punctured the background which was the very same study she was in.

The man had serious blue eyes that had a hint of laughter in them. His nose was strong and straight. His lips were full and soft but had a grim set to them as though he had seen many things. She judged him to be about 20 or 22. Thick locks of mahogany colored hair was combed back into a short tail. His coloring was dark like someone who was in the sun a lot and his left hand bore a strong scar across it.

Standing up and going to the portrait to read the plaque at the bottom she heard someone enter the room. "You!" barked a commanding voice. She looked up startled. Standing behind the desk was a tall thin man with dark black hair. He was dressed in an official uniform.

'My lord" she said curtsying. "My lady told me to wait here for her."

'Yes Lady Azalea. " Said the man. "You are her protegee. Come the King and the Court are waiting for you."

"But my Lord I was told in a few weeks I would be presented."

"Well right Now the Court is waiting for you to sing. They do not want anyone else and you can just wing it. Besides if we do not go now then someone will get whipped."

He grasped Giselle's wrist tightly and tugged her towards the desk.

"What are you doing my lord!" she cried fear lacing her voice as pain lanced through her wrist.

"Do not be scared. It won't hurt" he said grimly pushing her behind the desk.

"What! What my lord Marek are you doing with my protogee?" Azalea walked into the room.

"My Lady. " said Giselle stunned and feeling nauseaous. She hated being in situations like these... "I..."she started trying to explain.

Read and review!