She walked over to her dress, took it down from the beam, and gave it a shake before putting it on. She pulled her hair out from inside the dress, flipped it out so it fell down her back, and then walked back over to her bed where she sat down and put on the white slipper-like shoes that the tailor had included with the dress.
She stood up and took the cloth belt she was supposed to wear with the dress and wrapped it around her waist before tying it with the knot that Bralla had taught them. She had a small cloth coin purse that she stuffed into the folds of her belt.
Once that was done, she put on the necklace and the guest token she still had to wear and then spun around a few times to see if anything came loose.
“Help?” Elaine asked.
Anna turned to look at her friend. The woman was a mess. Her hair was frizzy, her dress, despite being perfectly tailored to her, somehow looked frumpy. She was holding her belt and looking at Anna with a pleading look on her face. Anna smiled, walked over to her friend, and started to adjust her dress.
She managed to get it looking right and smoothed it out before taking Elaine’s belt and wrapping it around the woman. After tying it into the proper knot, she gave it a light tug to make sure it was secure. Once she was finished with that, she reached up and touched Elaine’s hair.
“Let’s see what we can do about this,” Anna said.
“I don’t know what happened! I washed it last night just like the rest of you did, but it’s like this now!” Elaine replied.
“Did you use the hair soap?” Anna asked.
“There was hair soap?” Elaine asked.
“Yeah, the green bar was hair soap, and the white bar was body soap,” Anna replied.
“Oh, gods! I used the white one all over!” Elaine said.
“Well, that explains it,” Anna replied.
She turned around and looked at the dwarves who were helping each other get dressed.
“Any of you lasses have hair grease?” Anna asked.
“Aye,” Uthra replied.
She tossed Anna a small tin. She caught it and then pulled the lid off. She turned Elaine around, got a fingerful of the grease, and started to work it into Elaine’s hair.
Once she finished, she started to brush Elaine’s hair. She brushed and brushed and brushed and then brushed more before she finally finished, and Elaine was left with shiny perfect looking locks. Anna put the brush down, got her mirror out of her pack, and handed it to Elaine. The necromancer held it up and looked at her reflection for a moment.
“Gods! How did you manage to get my hair to look like this?!” she asked.
“You can thank the dwarves. That grease is great stuff,” Anna replied.
“Do they have anything that can help with her face?” Lyreen asked.
“Shut it, elf!” Elaine replied.
Elaine seemed genuinely upset by the comment and turned to put her things away, ignoring the elf. Lyreen didn’t seem to notice that she’d actually gotten to Elaine and got a satisfied look on her face before she turned to pack her things up for the day.
They left the inn when everyone was dressed and ready, heading out to find breakfast. The streets were filled with dwarven women all decked out in their finest while they chatted, laughed, and drank. The air was filled with an excited buzz as the first day of the great dwarven gem festival started.
They passed an old dwarven woman sitting on a blanket leaning against a wall. She had a crate filled with dark colored bottles and a basket with coins next to her. Anna tossed a few coins in the basket and took one of the bottles from the crate.
“Bess ye, wee one,” the old dwarf said.
“Stone one smile on you, ma’am,” Anna replied.
She pulled the stopper from the bottle and a puff of white mist came out along with a sweet smell. She took a drink, and her mouth was filled with a sweet and spiced liquid that was full of bubbles. It reminded her of the strange wine they served at the ball in Oldforge, the stuff that shot the cork out when it was opened.
“Oh, it’s fizzy brew!” Uthra said in a delighted tone.
She rushed over and bought herself a bottle. She opened it and took a huge swig before looking at the bottle with a grin on her face. The others looked at her and then walked over and bought their own bottle of the sweet stuff. The old woman thanked them all before they left, still searching for a place to eat.
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Lyreen hiccupped, and Anna turned to look at the elf. She was flushed red and grinning in a drunken way. She’d only drank half the bottle.
“Better get something soon, or we’re going to have to carry her,” Anna said.
“Aye,” Bralla replied looking at Lyreen.
“I’m not drunk!” Lyreen said slurring her words.
“Aye,” Gilira replied, patting the clearly drunk elf on the arm.
Anna finished her bottle of fizzy brew and tossed it into a huge basket already partially full of refuse. She’d never seen baskets like this around the city before and assumed they were there because of the gem festival. She sniffed the air, deciding to find the nearest food place so Lyreen could get something in her belly before drinking anymore.
“This way,” she said, motioning for the others to follow.
This time, she found a few women frying eggs, meat, and vegetables on a huge metal plate. The smell was incredible. She heard Rose’s stomach grumble. The woman put her hands on it, covering it in embarrassment. Anna noticed a glint on her left wrist and saw an iron bracelet had slipped out from her sleeve.
What? Why is she wearing that? Did she lose a baby? When did that happen? She hasn’t even been with a man the whole time I’ve known her. Oh no, that means it happened before I knew her! That means, that means, that means…
Rose quickly covered up her bracelet and gave Anna a pleading look as if she was begging her not to say anything. Anna kept staring at Rose until Elaine flicked her on the side of the head.
“What’s with you?” Elaine asked.
Anna snapped out of it and turned to Elaine.
“Uh, I want another fizzy brew,” she replied.
“Yeah, those were pretty good. Come on, let’s eat, and then we can go find more,” Elaine said.
“Okay,” Anna replied.
She glanced at Rose who smiled weakly at her before they lined up to get some breakfast. The dwarves thanked the cooks after they filled their plates, and they walked to the side to eat, needing to return the plates and forks when they finished.
Anna shoveled the food in her mouth thinking about Rose, and before she knew it, she’d eaten it all. She walked over, placed the plate and fork in a basket, and then joined her friends, staring off into space while she waited for them to finish eating.
What should I do? I mean, should I do anything? She doesn’t want anyone to know, but she still wore the bracelet for some reason. Why would she wear the bracelet if she doesn’t want anyone to know?
“Hey, you still there?” Elaine asked, waving her hand in front of Anna’s face.
Anna blinked and then nodded yes.
“What’s with you today?” Elaine asked.
“Uh, I was just wondering what the inside of the cathedral looks like,” Anna replied.
“Sure you were,” Elaine said with a suspicious look on her face.
After the others finished, they went to find more of the fizzy brew. She did like the drink but was more concerned with what she’d learned than anything else. So much so that she didn’t notice the rest of them stop and kept walking.
“Tell me what’s wrong this instant!” Barika said pulling Anna’s arm.
Anna’s eyes darted around. She didn’t want to tell Rose’s secret, but she didn’t want to lie to Barika.
Rose clapped. Everyone looked at her. She pulled down her left sleeve and pointed at her iron bracelet, then she pointed at her eyes and then at Anna.
“I thought bracelets meant you had a baby,” Lyreen said.
“It does, but an iron one means she lost it,” Anna replied.
“When did that happen?” Lyreen asked.
“Before we knew her,” Anna replied.
“She was still a slave before we knew her. How did she end up… Oh,” Lyreen said.
Rose sighed and shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to keep your secret,” Anna replied.
Rose smiled at her and then held her hand up to her mouth as if she was drinking out of a bottle.
“Aye, we can do that,” Bralla said.
More dwarves were out in the streets now. Some were singing, and a few were dancing. A woman walked out in front of the party and put her hands out, smiling at Bralla as she did. Bralla clasped hands with the woman, and they started to dance.
Other dwarves joined in, and soon, the rest of the group was pulled into a dance right there in the middle of the street. She found herself surrounded by smiling dwarven faces, and her heavy thoughts seem to melt away as she danced with the carefree women.
Anna found herself looking at a familiar face. Lyreen grinned at her, and they clasped hands and started dancing, spinning around through the crowd of dwarves, laughing as they went. They let go of each other after a few moments, and each lost themselves in the dance once more.
She danced with her friends one by one as she found them before Rose took her hand and pulled her in close. She put her cheek against Anna’s, and they started to slowly dance. The dwarves around them moved away to give them room. Dwarves put a great deal of value in family. So much so that their customs had special etiquette if family members were involved.
The gem festival was no different. If two female relatives were to dance, it was slower and more intimate, and Rose had pulled Anna into that dance. They danced cheek to cheek and in step with each other to the rhythm of the dwarven song that the surrounding dwarves were singing to them. They moved slowly inside the circle of smiling singing dwarven women, and after a few moments, they broke away, kissing each other on the cheek before sliding their hands down each other’s arms until their hands met, and they squeezed each other one final time before letting go and turning away, heading back into the crowd of dwarves.
She was pulled back into the dance and spent who knows how long with the dwarves before she heard someone shout her name. She looked around to see Lyreen waving at her and gesturing for her to come to her. Anna left the dance and joined her friends who were leaning against a wall with mugs in their hands.
Elaine handed her a mug, and Anna took a drink. It was sweet ale, and seeing as everyone was all sweaty and red faced from dancing, that was probably for the best. Barika and Rose were off with Bralla and Gilira having a talk. Rose looked upset, but not at the others.
Anna looked at the bracelet again and felt strange. She didn’t like the idea of having her own children, but losing one had clearly upset Rose, and that made her upset.
“Elaine, are we sisters?” Anna asked.
“I’d like to think we are,” Elaine said. Elaine gave her a curious look.
“If people did bad things to you, would you want me to hurt them?” Anna asked.
“No,” Elaine replied
“Oh, okay,” Anna said.
“I’d want you to bring them to me!” Elaine replied.
“What? Why?” Anna asked.
“Do you have any idea how valuable the parts of an enemy are to a necromancer?” Elaine asked.
Anna shook her head no.
“The eyes alone can be used in fifteen spells, and the fresher the better, and it doesn’t get that much fresher than alive. Why, I could spend days extracting everything I could use!” Elaine said.
Elaine started to smile in a wicked way, clearly thinking of all the terrible things she’d do to someone given the chance. Anna pulled the necromancer into a hug and felt Elaine’s arms wrap around her as well.
She’s weird, but she’s still my sister.