Disclaimer: the dressmaker – Mistress Clara – is mine. And so is the plot but the other characters belong to Tamora Pierce.
A/N: hey everyone…I'm so sorry that its taken me so long to put the next chapter up but like I said I've had Christmas, not to mention new years! (Haha wouldn't you like to know what I got up to! But I guess I can't feel that guilty my cousin was there too!) And I have been busy reading theses fabulous books that I couldn't put down! So its only now that I can fix this chapter up for u all…I was hoping that I'd have more reviews before I put this chapter up but there isn't really much I can do to that, I'll stop blabbing only if you review! PLEASE?
Reviews:
Jossie: hey there! I know it's been awhile since you did read over this for me, but I'd still like to say thanks for the help… talk to you soon? Though we should really discuss chapter 8 & 9…I need help!
Firethread: okay, thanks for your suggestion. I never thought about the fish dying because of mines. It's brilliant. Maybe I'll use that, so thanks again. Keep 'R n R'.
Martini: hey! Thanks for reviewing…I knew I could count on your review to help me write more…I'm sorry its been so long since I last updated but lots of things have happened as stated above, plus more… sorry and I hope you enjoy this next chapter
Chris: thanks for your review and your suggestion for the fish…I've had a while to think about what I want to happen and your idea is a good one… keep reading and reviewing…
CHAPTER: 5 DRESS FITTINGS
Daine woke just before dawn. Opening her eyes, she saw the faint strands of sunlight trying to make its way through the curtains. All of a sudden, the events from the previous day came rushing back to her. The softness of Numair's embraces, the touch of his mouth on hers and the advice she had received from Alanna. She rolled over burying her head under one of her pillows and closed her eyes once again.
When Daine woke the second time her room was filled with sunlight. She knew that putting her head under that pillow was a bad idea as she had fallen back asleep. She pushed the covers away from her and got out of bed. Standing there she stretched her body and walked to where the privy and bathroom was. Daine washed and put on fresh clothing, a light blue shirt and tan coloured breaches. She brushed her hair tying it back out of her face. Collecting her keys, she locked the door and walked to the mess hall feeling slightly hungry.
Breakfast had almost finished when Daine walked in to the hall. She got a tray and continued along until it was filled with a hot bowl of porridge, toast and fresh juice. She turned and sat at one of the tables at the back of the hall. Daine drizzled honey over her porridge as she thought of what she had to do for the day. She remembered two things of importance. One was the ball that night. She still had to have her last dress fitting. The other was the meeting with the King. She had almost forgotten that she was meant to ride out for Dunlath in two days time with Numair. Which meant that she had to prepare for the journey there. She finished her porridge and walked down to the stables to feed and brush her mare.
Cloud voiced her good mornings to Daine and commented on the time of day. Normally Daine was the first to arrive at the stables and it seemed that today she was the last.
Consorting with the stork man again? I would have thought that you would have had better taste in men. Especially with so many more shorter ones available.
Daine looked at the mare and could have sworn that she was laughing at her.
"No, for your information I wasn't with Numair. I slept late. Now stop teasing or I'll singe the ends of your tail."
Cloud snorted and rolled her eyes, stamping her hooves on the ground. She was amused by what Daine had said and allowed her owner to continue grooming and feeding her. Daine told Cloud of her plans for the next couple of days, explaining that there was some kind of problem in Dunlath and that the King said she was needed there to help. She also told her that King Jonathon wouldn't allow her to go alone and had ordered Numair to accompany her to Dunlath. Daine left at the sound of the mid morning bell and went in search of the Queen of whom she was to meet for her dress fitting.
Walking to where the Riders barracks are, she found Thayet inspecting the new recruits over with the commanding officers Buri and Sarge. Daine stood there and waited, as they looked the last of them over. She didn't want to interrupt her Majesty because she knew that it would be a sign of disrespect. She saw Sarge wink at her and smiled knowing that they would be with her in a minute. She looked at the Queen and realised that she was as plainly dressed as she was. White shirt, tan breaches and what looked to be soft brown boots. Queen Thayet's black hair was pinned back away from her face revealing her facial features of strong nose and ivory skin. She was beautiful and didn't need to be all jeweled up like other female nobles. Her only jewellery was the wedding band on her finger and the gold earrings and necklace.
An arm around her shoulders made Daine look up into the eyes of Sarge. She hadn't realised that he had come over while she thought. She smiled warmly and looked at them standing there to see that they were finished.
"Hello Daine. How are you? What are you doing here? I thought Onua gave you the day off?" Sarge asked her.
She looked at the tall black man and laughed. It had been a while since she had seen Sarge and realised that he looked much older from the first time she met him.
"I'm fine thank you Sarge. I've actually come to see her Majesty. Knowing she hasn't forgotten our dress fittings for today." Daine looked at Thayet and smiled.
"Of course I haven't forgotten, Daine. I was just tying up a few lose ends here before I came to find you. I didn't see you at breakfast so I couldn't tell you that I was going to come here first. Did you think I had?"
Seeing Thayet's eagerness Daine knew that she hadn't forgotten at all and was actually looking forward to the fitting. She smiled and shook her head.
"I did not think you would. It was me who thought that I might forget!"
The four of them laughed at the comment and walked out of the barracks. They continued on their way to the palace where at the entrance they split up. Daine and the Queen walking left towards the direction of the dressmakers while Buri and Sarge went right.
Daine was standing behind the screen in the dressmakers shop. Thayet had told Daine to make sure that the dress fit before the dressmaker, Mistress Clara was allowed to finalise the dress, which meant that she had to try it on. She took off her boots and pulled off her breaches slinging them over the top of the screen. She undid the ties of her shirt and took that off, again slinging it too over the top of the screen. A hand came around the corner of the screen holding her new dress. Daine mumbled her thanks and began to put it on stepping into the skirt and pulling the bodice up towards her breasts. She slipped her arms through the arm holes and pulled the bodice close to her body asking for someone to help her do up the laces at the back. Mistress Clara came into view and helped her with the laces.
"Daine? Are you dressed? Come out here and show me. Please?" Thayet asked.
Stepping out from behind the screen, Daine turned and showed herself for the Queen's approval. She stood up straight and softly pressed out the bodice with her hands smiling at the Queen. Thayet stood there in amazement. Never before had she seen Daine look so beautiful. Her dress was of a beautiful soft pale blue that was a similar shade to her eyes. The bodice was tight fitting and shaped to her body. The skirt was full, long in length, which made it rest gently on the floor, and each time Daine moved the skirts made a soft swishing sound. The bodice stopped just above her breasts leaving the top of her chest bare. The sleeves were off the shoulder styled that showed off her shoulders. The sleeves also fitted to her arms and flared out once it came to her wrists. The trimming of the dress was a darker colour of blue and each focal point of the dress would be embroidered with tiny crystals.
"Well, how do I look?" Daine asked her.
"You look amazing!" King Jonathon replied.
Daine did not notice that he was in the room until he walked over to his wife placing his arm around her waist and voiced his opinion on Daine's appearance at which she blushed. Daine looked around the room and also saw that Alanna's attention had wavered from her own dress fitting. Seeing Daine's eyes on her, Alanna smiled and nodded saying "I agree with Jon. You do look amazing!"
Daine blushed again and their Majesty's came forward towards Daine. Thayet took Daine's hands in hers and kissed her gently on the cheek. She smiled up at the Royals and was about to thank them for their generosity when Jon held up his hand shaking his head at her.
"No Daine. No thanks are needed. What kind of Monarchs would we be if our own ambassadors weren't properly attired? The gift can also be justified, as it is your birthday soon. Think of it as an early birthday gift. It is done and cannot be undone." Jon told her. He smiled and flashed his white teeth at her.
"Then I say thank you."
Daine couldn't control herself any longer and reached out and hugged the Queen. Thayet taken aback quickly recovered and placed her arms around the young woman's waist hugging her in return. She smiled back towards her husband and watched him leave the room. Daine let go and continued to smile as Alanna came over to her with a small pouch in hand.
"George and I were going to give you these on your birthday as well but thought you would need them now. Make good use of them youngling." Alanna said as she handed over the pouch to her friend. Accepting the gift Daine opened the pouch and saw what was inside. She reached in with her fingers and held between her them a pair of earrings that would match perfectly with her new dress. Daine gasped in awe and looked at the knight.
"I can't take these. I'll be sure to lose them or something. They would be much better suited to you, Lioness. Please, take them back, the likes of me shouldn't."
Daine offered them back to Alanna who laughed at her shaking her head.
"No Daine. They are yours. George and I bought them especially for you. Please, take them. Think of how upset George would be if you didn't. And the children, think of them."
Daine lowered her head and withdrew her hand from the Lioness. She looked at what was held in her hand and began to smile. Horse Lords! She thought to herself. Gifts from the King and Queen, and from the King's Champion and her husband, the Baron of Pirate's Swoop. What would come next? Bringing herself back to the present-day, Daine gently placed the earrings back inside the pouch and put them aside where Mistress Clara puller her onto the small box in the center of the room. She then asked her Majesty to go behind the screen and try on her own dress. Daine stood on the box and was whirled around on it as Clara made her final adjustments to the hem, sleeves and ties on the back of the bodice. Mistress Clara also placed pins in the spots where she thought the crystals should be sewn on but waited for Thayet's approval. Thayet stepped out from behind the screen in her own dress and walked over to assist Clara with the positioning of the crystals on Daine's dress.
At the sound of the noon bell, Daine and Thayet left Mistress Clara's shop walking towards the mess hall for lunch. Clara had told Daine that she would send someone to her rooms with her dress when she had finished with it and that she would personally bring the Queen's to her herself. The excitement of it all had just calmed down inside of Daine as she entered the hall following Thayet. They got their food as the kitchen servers bobbed in respect for the monarch and seated themselves down at the table at the head of the hall. Buri, Sarge, Onua and Numair joined them. The Queen gave the lunchtime prayer and the signal to commence eating. With the clatter of cutlery and the sound of voices in the mess hall Daine started to daydream. She heard someone say her name and turned her head towards the voice. It was Numair's.
"Daine?" the voice came again.
She shook her head of her fogginess and looked at him.
"Yes?" she said.
"I said, are you going to eat or just sit there?"
"What? Oh. Yes. Thank you Numair." She smiled at him and picking up her bread broke it in half. "How were your morning classes?"
"I didn't have any. I spent all morning showing the foreign mages around the university and answering their questions about it and Tortall." He said.
"Oh, really? You would have thought that they had seen a university already? Have they one in their own country?" Daine asked him.
"No, not one as advanced as ours here in Corus. Did you know that they have heard of you? They asked me many questions about you. Some I had to respectfully decline to answer, as I didn't know how much of your personal life you wanted revealed."
At the mention of her personal life, Daine's thoughts wavered as she thought of her feelings for the man she was speaking to. How much had he told these foreigners about her? Numair knew enough about her 'personal life' to give such an opinion about it. Though she didn't want to think about what would happen if he did give such information out. Daine dismissed the thoughts from her mind quickly coming to the conclusion that Numair would never tell anything like that to complete strangers.
"How much did you tell them?" she inquired.
"Not much, just a few little things. Like where you are from, how old you are, how long you have been trained in your magic. You know, those sorts of things. Nothing too personal." He smiled reassuringly at Daine and continued the conversation. "But what they did ask, was if they could met you after they had finished lunch with Jon. They would really appreciate it if you could spend some time with you. I'm sure it would please them."
"But what would I say to them? What could I answer that you haven't already?" She asked him.
"Daine, no one knows what goes on when you call to the people or when you change your human form for animal form. Maybe you could share your knowledge of that or something. There are things, much to Numair's displeasure, that he doesn't know of. Just because he wears the highest-ranking robe doesn't mean that he hasn't learnt all there is to know. No disrespect Numair, but it is true that you don't know all things."
"None taken your Majesty."
Thayet's words took Daine by surprise but nonetheless she understood what she was trying to say. Some people didn't know all that there is to know. All knowledge can't be obtained from learning it. Some of it must be acquired from experience. All of this, she was just beginning to understand herself. Daine nodded her understanding of what was going on and continued eating, oblivious to the fact that Numair was watching her closely. Lunch was nearly over and she was about to leave when Numair grabbed her arm and asked her again.
"So does this mean that you'll spend some time with the foreign delegates?" He looked at her and his eyes sparkled down at her making her decision for her. "Please Daine, I would really appreciate it as well." Only she noticed the pleading tone in his voice.
"OK, but I can only spare an hour. I still need to get ready for the ball tonight, as do you and I need to start packing for our journey to Dunlath or had you forgotten?"
"No, of course I haven't forgotten. As a matter of fact I have started packing myself. The only reason why I didn't finish was because the delegation interrupted me. So is that a 'yes'?"
"Yes. But only for an hour or so."
Daine's decision was rewarded by the huge grin on Numair's face and by the gentle but firm squeeze that her hand received. Her heart continued to melt as he let her hand go and walked to where he could hand his tray to the wash up servers. She did the same, following him and walking out the door still in her dreamy state.
A/N: thanks for reading. I would appreciate it if you reviewed…I love getting reviews! They help me become more encouraged to write more therefore I can upload more! I hope that makes sense…my brain is a little frazzled because of the heat…its too hot to use my brain properly! LOL 'R n R'
