At The Palace
1, 5, 3, block, parrying, thrust. An opening, an overcorrection, a mistake, and then the kill. The harmless foil lands on the Prince's shoulder, indicating he would be dead if this were a real fight. The Captain tapped the Prince's shoulder with the foil and chuckled. "Wake up, Your Royal Highness. You're in a daze." Apologizing, the two continue their conversation as they leave the practice room together. "You've been off since the hunt." There is no judgment or accusation in the Captain's voice, only a statement of the truth.
The Prince openly admits that he can't stop of thinking of the girl from the forest and his friend reminds him that there are many girls in the kingdom. "But her spirit, her goodness." The Captain smiles at his friend before thinking of her friend for at least the hundredth time since he saw her. "I don't suppose you know who her friend was, do you?" Chuckling the Prince shook head no before he answered.
"I don't know. I don't know anything about either of them; though her friend threatened me with a knife." The Captain laughed at that as the Prince rubbed his neck while he remembered. They continued their conversation but the majority of the Captain's mind was on the beautiful dark haired woman with the sharp wit and furious blush. He wondered to himself if she would attend the ball.
At Ella's Household
There was only a week left until the ball and the doorbell rang insistently. Ella answered the door and smiled at the boy who was at the door. He was delivering the dresses but he seemed a little sad when he saw it was Ella who answered the door. She was thanking him and taking the dresses from his hands when his face lit up with joy and Ella felt the door open farther. "Here Ella, let me take those. I have to look over them anyway." Alice's voice was all business but softened when she addressed the young man who was looking at her like the sun revolved around her and her alone.
"Thank you Liam. These were delivered in perfect condition, as per usual. Very good job, I'll be sure to tell your mother when I see her next." Liam nodded in thanks and leaned forward in anticipation as Alice moved closer to him. She pressed a bronze coin into his hand as she kissed his cheek softly, extremely close to the boy's lips. He blushed bright red from his neck all the way to the tips of his ears and ran off quickly. Ella looked at her friend in shock and Alice simply shrugged as she adjusted her grip on the boxes of dresses.
"He thinks he's been in love with me for the past year. I give him a coin to buy sweets and a kiss on the cheek and our deliveries always come on time and without anything missing or broken. I know he'll find another girl to woo soon but in the meantime, why not give him something to tell his friends about?" Ella laughed heartily while shaking her head before walking up the staircase to fetch the girls. Alice shouted to have them meet her in the sewing room before she disappeared into said room and began setting things up.
Lady Tremaine and her daughters did no sewing of their own and so Alice was given free reign of the room. There were a few dresses hanging in different spots that were being worked on. One of the Lady's skirts had torn from the rest of the dress when she tripped going up the stairs, Drisella had caught one of her dresses on a loose nail and it had torn, and Anastasia had asked for a longer hem on one of her dresses. All were in various stages of work but most would take no longer than two days to finish.
Alice had just finished arranging her chalk, pins, needles, and threads when the three ladies floated into the room and closed the door behind them. Without really looking at them, Alice gestured to the couch at the side of the room while examining Anastasia's dress in the box. "Lady Tremaine, Drisella, please sit. Anastasia come over here and undress, you're up first." Anastasia protested loudly, saying she wasn't going to undress in broad daylight. Sighing in frustration, Alice grabbed the girl by her arm and dragged her to the small stool while unbuttoning the stubborn child's dress. While larger than her sister Drisella, Anastasia was still no match for Alice's defined strength. Looking to her mother as if she expected her to protest, she saw the woman examining the dress that still had the torn skirt.
Without another word, Anastasia slipped her dress off and stood on the stool in front of her. She was wearing her undergarments and a thin slip but nothing else and she shivered slightly at the feeling. Alice asked her to put her arms in the air and bend her knees slightly as she slipped the dress cage over the girl's head. Tying it in the back, Alice clucked her tongue at Anastasia's shoes. "Are these what you're going to wear to the ball?" Lady Tremaine turned around when her daughter confirmed and noticed that the shoes wouldn't match the dress.
"We will be able to find her proper shoes by the end of tomorrow, Madam." Alice soothed the older woman then slipped Anastasia's dress over her head and began pulling at the ties. The servant girl growls deep in her throat as she pulls the laces as far as they will do. "It's too large. Definitely too long as well, she'll be tripping over it all night. That's certainly no way to catch a Prince's attention, is it Anastasia?" The girl shook her head quickly; watching with fascination as Alice made marks on the sides of the dress with chalk then used multiple pins to get the right length.
Drisella was next; her dress fit perfectly but was a bit too short. Alice bit her lip in worry until she flipped the hem over and saw a length and a half of extra cloth sewn under each layer. Lady Tremaine looked at the messy stitches with disgust as Alice showed her the extra cloth. "Thankfully, this idiot seamstress remembered to leave extra cloth in case the dress was too short. This is typically done when they don't know what shoes will be worn, or if they're incompetent." Lady Tremaine nodded and stepped away as her daughter got out of the new dress. It was her turn next and she dreaded what hers might look like.
Lady Tremaine's dress, as is fitting of a woman her age, didn't require a cage but a simple corset was needed. She tried it on and to her surprise; it fit perfectly and was the perfect length. Alice however, wasn't as happy with the result and eyed the dress skeptically. "You don't like it, I can tell. So I shall ask you, what does it need to make it perfect?" Smiling, the woman snapped her fingers and turned to face the large chest of drawers behind her. She opened multiple drawers, pulling out different items until she was satisfied.
Turning back around with her arms full, Alice placed the items on the table by the stool. Handing Lady Tremaine a pair of dark yellow silk gloves, Alice asked that she put them on. She then walked behind the Lady and there was a sudden tugging sensation followed by a loud rip. Anastasia gasped loudly but was quickly hushed by Drisella. Lady Tremaine watched as Alice moved the back of the dress around, pushing pins in gently and adding a piece of thin wire until the back came higher behind her right shoulder. This added a sophisticated look to the dress but Alice wasn't done yet.
Returning to the table, she grabbed a deep yellow bolt of cloth that was the same color as the gloves. Cutting two pieces off, Alice marked them slowly then marked the dress one side of the dress. "Anastasia will you come here?" The girl obeyed quickly and sank to her knees beside Alice who handed her a small box of pins. "I've numbered and marked each corresponding spot. Line each number on the dress to the number on the cloth then pin them. Be careful how you pin them though, you don't want to stick your mother okay?" Nodding and getting a look of intense concentration on her face that nobody had seen before, Anastasia began pinning the cloth to the dress.
Alice came around to the other side of the dress and quickly pinned the cloth the same way she had marked the other. Lady Tremaine watched her eldest daughter slowly put the pins in the dress the way she had seen Alice do. Anastasia looked content and the pinch between her eyebrows had disappeared for a moment. A pin suddenly poked her leg but she could hardly feel the pain, she was so happy. When they were finished, Alice pulled another bolt of cloth from under the yellow. It was a shade darker than the original green of her dress but it wouldn't be noticeable. "Alright, now pin this green on top of the yellow you just finished."
Together they quickly finished pinning the new layers and Lady Tremaine had to admit that the additions had made the dress much better. Stepping carefully out of the dress, she allowed Alice to help button up her other dress. Slowly she asked how much more the seamstress would charge to make the changes. Alice snorted and shook her head.
"I'll fix these myself, for no charge. Trust me Madam; your daughters will look beautiful for the ball. Now I'll hitch up the carriage and the three of you can go to town to find Anastasia new shoes." Anastasia and her mother left but Drisella hung back for a moment. "Could you show me how to do that pinning thing as well?" Alice nodded slowly before looking over at Drisella's dress that still needed fixing. "If you'd like, I can show you how to mend your own dress." The girl nodded in excitement before running off after her mother and sister.