“I’ll be honest with you, even though I’m a little bitter about their lack of faith in my ability to pick things, I have to admit I know nothing about noble fashion.” Casper sighed as he and Nephinae walked along the upper wards of Highspire.

More or less meandering, he was relying almost entirely on Nephinae's ability to suss out the logical locations for him, given the fact that the last time Casper had attempted to find noble clothes in a city, he ended up in all black along a coast line which had functionally cooked him alive. He thought the dress Annabelle had worn was very nice, but something like that would pass for a slave or even just casual noble wear, so he was most certainly at a loss here.

“No worries master, I will ensure you are dressed appropriately.” Nephinae reassures him, continuing to lead Casper along the twisting pathways.

“Another thing I’ll be honest about, I hate being called master… is there any way we can not do that?”

“Not without drawing suspicion on us, besides, it is polite and correct.”

“I… think it is the exact opposite.”

“Then I will cease using it in private company, though I ask you to please bear with it in public, lest we end up under scrutiny.” Nephinae explains gently.

“Fine, fine… I’ll bear with it.” Casper gives in reluctantly, letting out a breath to accompany the rolling of his eyes.

“May I ask you a question, master?”

“Of course, anything, any time.”

“You are so adamantly opposed to slavery, yet you wish to take on more slaves by way of the ownership deeds. Why?”

“Good question, and I swear I explained this already but it might have been in my own head…” Casper starts, turning his attention out towards the part of the city where the river opens to the ocean, where several dozen ships are either docked or anchored nearby.

“If I want to continue with my plans, I need to have alot of resources. I personally hate slavery, and I don’t intend on actually using the slaves, but rather freeing them fully. I'm sure some will leave but others will stick around and feel they owe me a debt. From there I can continue moving pieces of my plan.”

“What is your plan in its totality?”

“No idea.” Casper admits with a shrug, garnering a strange look from Nephinae he wasn’t used to seeing. Some cross between befuddlement and amusement, but it quickly vanished under her usual mask.

“Then why go forward with all of this if you don’t have a concrete plan?”

“Well, for two reasons. As much as I want to be like my father, I am not as…far seeing as he was. He was a master of preparation and execution. I find my own area of expertise to be more improvisational. Besides, every time I’ve tried to plan, it’s gone pretty poorly.”

“I see.”

“I feel like just saying that is somehow more insulting than a reprimand.”

“Is that so?” Nephinae asks casually.

“You know, I thought you were professional all the time, and you are in a way, but you find a way to be pretty sassy don’t you?”

“Is it not to your liking?”

“I don’t think I like or dislike it, it was more just a passing observation.”

“Hmmm.” Nephinae muses something to herself, but doesn’t say anything further.

“Oh come on, spit it out. What were you going to say.” Casper prods.

“I will say it, but you must swear to me it does not reach mistress Alex’s ears.”

“You have my word, I swear it.” Casper responds quickly, curious to hear what Nephinae had to say that required a swear to secrecy.

“Mistress Alex is of a certain disposition and demeanor as I am sure you are well aware of by now. In this demeanor she tends to air on the side of privilege, power and position. It is not often others will tell her the kind of thing she needs to hear. Were I to express any of my opinions outright it would likely lead to punishment, so I had to find a way to rile her up without giving her an excuse to do anything about it.” Nephinae explains.

“I feel like there is a lot to unpack there, but I want to roll it back to the whole, “Alex will punish you part” of your statement. Would she really?” Casper asks, surprised.

“She would, and has in the past. Though she is neither a cruel mistress nor unfair, she is very much still a noble lady. I am very much a slave. During our early years it was important for me to be trained, and it is important that my mistress do the training.”

“That sounds… hmmm.” Casper chews on the words for a moment, thinking about how this new information impacts his opinion of the woman. She seemed to be by most standards kind to her slaves in spite of the world's general opinion. He needed more.

“What kind of punishments are we talking about here?”

“As I said, it was nothing cruel, in fact by nearly every standard she was rather lenient with me. Typically I would be sent off without supper, though occasionally were my offenses of forgetfulness particularly impactful to my mistress's day, I would be struck with a paddle.”

“Yea, definitely not okay with that.” Casper says with a scowl.

“It left no mark upon my body, I assure you. It was not because she wanted to do these things, simply that she must do them.”

“Still…”

“I understand you find these practices strange, as you find many elements of our culture here in the kingdom, though much the same as we respect your life before you came to us, I would please ask you to respect our culture as well.” Nephinae asks with a slightly more firm tone than Casper would have expected.

He thought about it for a moment. Of course he was an outsider here, but was it really okay to just accept culture even if that culture was immoral? Then again, he figured morality was widely cultural as well…

Still, it didn’t feel right, and while he conceded to the point that he would not outwardly insult it, he wouldn’t just let it be either.

“We are here.” Nephinae says, interrupting Casper's train of thought.

The two stood outside a three story tall building set into the stone spire at the city's center, alongside several dozen more flanking it to the left and right, as well as set higher above in the upper levels.

The sign out front displayed a rather ridiculous hat, and the articles of clothing visible from the foggy windows made his heart sink.

“You can’t be serious?” he asked, watching as a man exited wearing a large puffy armed green and purple tunic with jewels set into the tall choking collar.

“This is the fashion of the noble houses here, if we wish to blend in, we must wear what they were.”

“Even if what they wear is fucking atrocious?” Casper asks, scowling at the two long dragging coat tails attached to the man's coat, collecting mud and dirt as he walks.

“Yes.”

“Fuck.”

Inside the establishment, the air of insufferably pompous haughtiness was nearly suffocating, both metaphorically and literally, as a finely dressed man behind one of the many counters sprayed a floral substance into the rancid soup of scents that hung around them.

“Perhaps, I will run us out of another city.’ Casper considered out loud as Nephinae lead him through the racks of clothing and mumbling men of money to a section in the back that put them less at risk of asphyxiation.

“Please remain here master, and I will acquire a collection of articles for you to try. What are your measurements?” Nephinae asks, already scanning the stairs to inspect the items on the higher levels.

“No idea.” Casper admits, trying hard to force the taste of perfumes out of his mouth.

“Then allow me to get them for you.” Nephinae offers.

As if conjured from the ether itself, she seems to manifest a rolled measuring tape, and with practiced motions begins the process of gathering the necessary numbers from him.

“How many times would you say you have done this?” Casper asks, watching as she lowers herself to measure the length of his legs.

“Who is to say? Perhaps a hundred or more?” she offers, moving to measure his hips.

“Mostly Alex I take it?”

“Correct, she grew quite a lot. While normally it would be common practice to take measurements once a year, when Alex was 12 we had to begin taking her measurements every six months.” She says, moving to measure his chest.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“How do I compare?” he teases, watching Nephinae's expression slip slightly in a smile.

“You do not.” She uses a hand to cover her smile.

“Really? By how much am I under?” Casper raises an eyebrow.

Nephinae wraps the measuring tape around her own bust, and then extends its size with her fingers by about an inch. Removing the measuring tape she examines the size, and then displays it to Casper.

Taking the measuring tape from her, he wraps it back around his own chest and extends it to the number Nephinae had pointed out.

“By the fates…” Casper whispers.

It wasn’t that Alex’s chest was huge by any means. Both Annabelle and Laihal had her beat by a sizable margin, but they were also proportionally bigger, both in height and weight. Alex’s chest was large for her build, but the more impressive element of it all, was the fact that she had been keeping all that compressed down to look like a man.

“How does it not hurt…” Casper asks.

“It likely does.”

“My heart goes out to her.” Casper closes his eyes and nods solemnly.

Nephinae quickly measures Casper's shoulders and arms, nods to herself, and puts away the measuring tape.

“Please don’t make me look too silly.”

“I will ensure you look appropriate.”

“I don’t like that answer.”

“My apologies.” Nephinae says, offering a low bow before walking off.

“You didn't say you weren't-! Ah, forget it.” Casper sighs. If that was the case then, he would have to do a little of his own shopping as well.

Casper was surprised by how long it took him to navigate the intricate store. He felt he had a grasp of its layout early on, that was until he reached the 2nd and 3rd floor and quickly lost nearly all sense of direction, or purpose.

It had taken him so much time in fact, that by the time he managed to gather one outfit, Nephinae had already begun her return with several for Casper to try on.

Returning to his original position, and greeting the full elf with a smile as she made her way back to him, he tried to deduce what outfits she had got for him to try on.

Nephinae slyly tucked them further into herself, as to not reveal them too early.

“I will escort you to the changing room.” she says casually, turning to wait for Casper to follow her.

She takes him to the west wing, where the racks of clothing give way to private dressing chambers, some of which even possess finely polished mirrors.

“Inside.” She ushers, leading him inside one of the rooms and closing the door behind them.

A little surprised at the full elf joining him, Casper finds himself quickly distracted by his appearance in the mirror.

Did he really look like that? He thought, taking a cautious step forward, as if his reflection could move on its own at any time.

His facial hair had grown out patchy and uneven, his hair long and frazzled nearly down to his shoulders now. His eyes were so…hollow he thought. They didn’t even look like they belonged to him. It was like they lacked any color at all, and instead were replaced with extra large pupils. His face was bruised and cut from his fight with Annabelle, unable to heal himself properly he had to let them linger, giving him the appearance of some drunkard who just got thrown from a bar brawl.

“Do I… really look like this?” Casper asks, turning his head slightly to investigate his jaw line with a finger.

“You do. Now, lift your arms please.” Nephinae says softly, putting her own hands under his armpits in order to get him to lift his arms.

Still shocked at his appearance more than anything, he lets her remove his tunic, revealing the mess of cuts and bruises and scrapes that still color him purple, healing at a snail's pace.

Did he get bigger? He thought to himself again.

Casper twisted his torso slightly, watching the muscles ripple under his pale skin. It was hard to tell at that point, given his own ability to see the mark on his person, but strangely enough he noticed the mark did not appear visible on his body within the reflection.

Casper found himself moving his hand closer to the mirror, inspecting it closely. They were hard and calloused, so much larger than he remembered them being. How long had it been since he had seen his own hands without the mark covering them in pure black?

“Casper, Master, are you alright?” Nephinae asks, moving up to investigate his reflection alongside him.

“Yea… yea I'm fine, just. I guess I've never seen my reflection like this. Not this clearly at least.” he mutters, his eyes tracing over his own body.

“It can be slightly jarring the first time, especially if it has been a while. You should have heard Mistress Alex’s screams when she saw herself after all that travel.

“Screams?” Casper asks, half laughing. “She didn’t look that bad.” he offers.

“No, she looked rather cute in matters of personal taste, however she did look rather boyish and that caught her by surprise.”

“But the goal was to look boyish, how was it surprising?”

“When you live your entire life adorned in dresses and finery, with long flowing hair done up in intricate braids, I imagine to look in the reflection and see yourself instead as a boy would be shocking for most anyone.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Casper admits, scowling at himself in the reflection. ‘I need a haircut after this.”

“Indeed, though that will come after we decide which of these outfits suits you best.” Nephinae examines Casper.

“Next.” She says, placing her hands inside Casper's waistband and dropping his pants.

Luckily for Casper's sake, or unluckily, he had yet to really decide, that is as far as the full elf went.

Breathing a sigh of relief, and mild disappointment, he watched with growing scrutiny as she plucked a vibrant yellow garment from the pile, and, with the faintest hint of a growing smile…

“Up.” she signaled, gesturing for him to put his arms up.

“I hate this, you know.” Casper mutters as the tunic comes down over his head.

“I am aware, and I am sorry.” Nephinae offers, though she doesn’t stop.

With Nephinae's help, and her help was needed, given the complex amount of straps, belts, tight fitting segments and strange adornments Casper had never seen before all needed to be situated perfectly, Casper had found one outfit he didn’t outright hate the look of. One outfit, out of the seven she had brought for him.

Nearly white pants, though with a hint more of an earth tone almost like clay rested loose around his hips and thighs and tapered down to tight, starchy segments around his ankles. Shin high black leather boots adorned his feet, and much to Casper's surprise they were remarkably comfortable.

A black vest went over his top, tucked into the pants. The vest had a series of gold buttons and other embroidery that was far too floral for his taste but it was objectively the least visually offensive thing in the entire wardrobe and thus it remained. Over the vest he donned what could best be described as a military style coat, with strong squared off shoulders and a high collar that rested against his neck, nearly to his jaw, and came down in wide sleeves to his white gloved hands. The coat extended almost to the end of his boots, which made Casper fear that the coat would billow dramatically, were it not for the heavy material it was made out of.

The coat’s design itself wasn’t bad, in fact it might be something Casper would wear of his own choosing, were it not for the small detail that the entire thing was a deep, royal purple and covered in delicate golden floral stitching around the cuffs, collar, and chest.

“Any more flowers and I’ll be hunted by every bee in the city.”

“Better hunted by bees than by men.”

“I can kill men easier than I can kill bees,” Casper reasoned, pouting.

“Truly?”

“Bee’s are at least cute. I'd feel bad.”

Nephinae shakes her head softly at that. “Well, if you are not entirely dissatisfied we can move on…”

“No no, we aren’t leaving just yet. Now it’s my turn.” Casper says, moving outside the dressing room to where he had stashed the articles he had intended for Nephinae to wear.

Bringing them inside, he set the outfit down and placed his hands on his hips.

“I understand you come from a distant village, though it is typically looked down upon for men to dress as women.” Nephinae explains.

“What? No! No this isn’t for me, it's for you. I got you a new outfit.” he chuckles.

“...”

“Why the silent treatment? If you don't like the look of it I can bring it back and pick something else out, or you can pick one out yourself.” Casper frowns slightly. “I promise this isn’t anything sinister…”

“...”

“Alright, I get it, here I’ll grab you a new-”

“No.”

Casper stopped himself mid turn, as he was set to leave the changing room.

“No?”

“No, this is fine.” Nephinae says softly.

“Hey, no I want to make sure I'm being very clear here, I don’t want to make you wear something you are uncomfortable with, this is not me trying to get you into or out of something, I was just trying to make sure you got something comfortable and nice as well.”

“...”

“Maybe I said that wrong?” Casper scratches his head. “How do I explain this…”

“I understand.” Nephinae quickly bats away at a stray tear that managed to escape her eyes and fall to her cheek. “I’m sorry, Master. I didn’t know how to react is all. You must understand this is highly irregular.” she explains. Quickly regaining her composure.

“It… is…?” Casper asks.

Nephinae nods slightly, and takes in a deep breath. “Slaves, like myself, namely handmaids in my instance, are duty bound to wear our uniform of station. It is a symbol of who we are. To offer me clothing that is not a uniform, is an incredibly high honor, and one not given so flagrantly. I would ask you to consider this gesture carefully, before you continue with it.” she says softly.

“Well, Nephinae, as far as I am concerned you aren’t a slave. You are only pretending to be one.”

“But I am a slave.”

“No, you are not. There are no slaves in my company. I realize I might not always be the best at expressing or remembering to express the thoughts in my head, so, if it helps you, let me be very clear right now.”

Casper squares his shoulders, and looks Nephinae in the eyes.

“As part of the punishment imparted upon Alex, I required you to become mine. I, now, release you of any formal bondage or servitude. You, Nephinae, are a free elf.” Casper commands with all the authority he can muster.

Nephinae smiles at that, but shakes her head. “It was a very nice sentiment, and I am grateful that you would be willing to do such a thing for someone like me. However it is not that simple. My deed of ownership lies with Alex’s family. So long as that document exists I am, and will continue to be, a slave, even if you do not treat me as one.”

Casper finds his confidence slipping then, and he brings a hand up to scratch at his head uncomfortably.

He really thought that would work, he didn’t know why he thought that would work, but he still tried.

“Fine… if that’s the case then, I will do what I can. Nephinae, I want to get you something.” he gestures to the outfit he had picked out for her. “You have done so much for everyone. Cooking, cleaning, dressing our wounds, repairing our clothes and gear, being there for Annabelle, for Alex, for Elisayra… you have been a cornerstone in the functioning of this camp and you have done it all without so much as asking for recognition. Nephinae you do everything for us, and let me be the first to admit my shortcoming in not showing you that gratitude sooner. So, with that being said. Let me show you gratitude now, and let me buy this for you. Alright?”

Nephinae bats away another tear before it leaves her lids, and nods. “Thank you, Casper… you truly cannot know how much those words mean to me.” She says, her voice slipping slightly.

“You’re right. I can’t, but let me try and start. I’ll leave you to change. If you don’t like it, tell me, and I will get something new.” Casper smiles, and leaves the elf to change.

After a time, Nephinae emerged from the changing room in the outfit Casper had picked for her.

She wore a white blouse top with large flowing sleeves, covered by a sky blue bodice. Her skirt was lighter earth tone than Casper's pants, flowing down to her ankles with an apron covering the front. Delicate silver ear caps covered her pointed elven ears, with small chains dangling from them to go along with the silver necklace that rested just below her collar bone. She wore delicate white gloves on both hands, with stitched elven calligraphy along the wrist of each, though Casper couldn’t figure out what they actually said.

“Well? How is it? I know it’s nothing fancy but I didn’t think you'd want anything too gaudy…”

Nephinae spins slightly, allowing the skirt to flare up to reveal just a hint of the sky blue socks she wore underneath.

“It is wonderful.” she says, not bothering her, hiding the smile that graced her lips.

“I'm really glad.” Casper returned the smile, and gathered their old clothes from the changing room.

“Ah! No no, please allow me.” Nephinae quickly took the clothes from Casper's arms, and instead dropped them into a large handbag she had added to their collection of desired purchases.

“Alright, if that’s all of it then?” Casper asked.

“Yes… that is all.” Nephinae’s hands curled around the apron of the dress, her cheeks turning the faintest hue of red, before quickly donning the mask she so professionally wore. “Now let’s get you a haircut…”