Back outside I check the position of sun and determine that I still have around ten minutes left, but I check just to be sure and don’t see Melodiana outside the spice shop. I begin to walk back up the street and find myself outside Anarheim looking in through the door.
“Might as well see if I can sort out something to keep from driving the other girls crazy,” I murmur.
As I step inside the woman from earlier spots me, and I flinch and prepare to flee from the store out of reflex, but she steps over to me and introduces herself politely.
“Welcome to Anarheim. I am Samura. Is there any way I can help you?” she says with a slight bow. As she straightens up I get a good look at her and the first thing I notice is she has sharp features but they suit her very well. Her deep green eyes watch around her closely, and her dress matches them wonderfully.
“I am Lily,” I nod my head to her and the without directly looking at her, “Mmmm… Yes I am looking for something.”
“Ah yes I saw you looking at our collars earlier with another young miss,” She says.
“That’s not-” before I can say anything she turns around and walks into the store, “Not what I am here for.”.
She quickly steps farther into the shop gesturing for me to follow her while continuing; I hesitate slightly before following her, if nothing else I need to fulfill my original goal and correct her. “I personally believe that you are too young to have decided upon a mate yet, but if you feel it is right I won’t stop you,” She says without giving me the chance to interrupt her, and I can feel my face has gone bright red as I notice that we have stopped in front of an even larger display of collars.
I manage to stammer out, “Wa-Wait there has been a bit of a misunderstanding I am not here for a collar, I need a night shirt or two.”
“Oh is that all,” She says with a look of relief on her face. “Well I am glad to see you are not making any rash decisions,” She tells me while leading me even farther into the store and then asks, “Is there any particular style you are looking to buy?”
“Not exactly no,” I tell her.
“Hmm. What type do you normally wear and I probably have something similar to it,” She says, “Or I could make something similar to it as well.”
“I don’t.”
Now it is her turn to go a little red. “Oh my, such a young thing as you doesn’t have a night dress to wear. Well I suppose the best thing for you then is something that is thin and doesn’t weigh much so as to not interfere with your sleeping habits,” She says while stepping over to a section and showing me short dress like clothing that have solid colors on them, I reach out and rub the fabric between my fingers and am surprised to find that they are quite soft and like she said thin.
“If this is what you recommend,” I begin and then hesitate, and she nods to me, “I guess I will take two.”
“Which color suits your taste most?” she asks reaching to the back of the stand after looking me up and down.
I look at all the options feeling even more lost than before. There are only a couple of each color but there are several different patterns as well, “I don’t even know where to begin, there are quite a few here.”
“Indeed the Succubae here and from nearby seem to adore these, and I have consulted with them on the styles. Hmm… well how about these,” she says holding a couple, one a light red borderline pink, and another in black, out to me, “I think they will look quite cute on you.” I nod silently and she heads over to her counter and I look back out front checking for Melodiana again.
When I turn back towards Samura she has already placed the black one in the bag and is refolding folding the red one. “That will be fourteen Siltas. And don’t worry about the fit I have a good eye for sizes, guaranteed or I'll fix it personally,” She says to me, and I hand her the coins from my purse and she smiles and says, “Thank you for your business, please come back anytime you need anything else.”
As I am walking back out of the store I notice that there is a harp sitting in the back corner. Looking at it reminds me and I turn and ask Samura, “Who was singing earlier?”
“Ah that would be my Sumi,” She replies smiling slightly, “You should stop in some other time and meet her, and my kata, the two of you have a lot in common. Unfortunately Sumi is out with my kata on errands right now.”
“I will keep that in mind,” I tell her as I leave.
Outside once again I cross the street as an exhausted looking Melodiana emerges from the store with large bags in either hand and she grumbles to me, “That was horrible, and you owe me three Siltas, and weren’t you going to go shop at stalls?”
I laugh at little. “It wasn’t that bad, and here are your Siltas,” I say as I reach into my purse and place the coins in her pocket, before i take one of the bags, “and I did, and a few other things as well.” I fish out the candies and place them in her open hand and she raises an eyebrow at them.
“What are these for?”
“Consider it my thanks for doing a task I find unpleasant,” I shrug and after a moment she nods and pops them into her mouth.
“Well where are the other things you bought?”
“I have arranged for it to be taken care of after we go to the butcher,” I tell her as I walk towards the grey brick building down the street.
As I walk through the door the first thing that hits me is the smell of blood, old and new. Behind the counter is a Dwarf that is cutting meat with a cleaver. He looks up as the bell above his door rings, and grunts in recognition, slamming his cleaver into the slab on the counter. “Whatchya need?” he asks while wiping his bloody hand on his apron.
“Well what do you have to offer?” I ask
“Rabbit, deer, chicken, salmon, pike, and pig,” He counts off on his hand, real sociable one we have here.
“Any preserved meats?” I ask looking around the shop and notice that Melodiana is waiting by the door and it looks like she is trying to only breathe through her mouth.
“Smoked fish, and some pig and deer and jerky.”
“I will take five pounds each of the smoked salmon and pike, ten pounds of pork three pounds fresh, two rabbits, a chicken, and twelve pounds of jerky,” I tell him and he goes about behind the counter and begins placing slabs of meat on the top before picking up his cleaver, and cutting the meat into one or two pound slabs.
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After he has cut it he begins to wrap it and place it in a small bag he sat on the clean part of the counter, when it is full he sits it on the floor and places an empty one in its place. I look back towards Melodiana and she has gone rather pale and I sigh at her.
He steps back over in front of me and says, “That’ll be twelve Siltas and twenty five Murin. And make sure to bring the bags next time you stop by,” I count out the coins and place them in the palm of his hand and pick up the heavy bags, careful to make sure my bag with clothes doesn’t get messy, and turn to the door and head out onto the street, he says, “Thank ya for comin,” as we leave.
I pass a bag over to Melodiana as we walk down the street and ask, “Are you all right you look really pale right now.”
She nods her head before asking, “How are you bothered by spices, but not affected by the smell of all that blood?”
“Spices are strong,” I say, and then continue under my breath, “And you get used to the blood.” She apparently doesn’t hear me so I just shake my head, and while I am looking past her I notice one of the stalls is selling eggs so I walk over and buy a dozen for sixty Murins and a bit of haggling and I hand them to Melodiana to carry with the spices.
“So where are we going now?” Melodiana ask after we have walked a block.
“A couple of blocks down the street to Crystal’s,” I tell her and she apparently accepts this as she doesn’t ask any more questions.
When we arrive at Crystal’s, Crystal is talking to a young Elfin woman behind the counter that looks similar to her but with darker hair and eyes and stronger features, and I can only assume it’s her daughter because when Crystal sees us she waves to the young woman and heads in our direction. She says, “Follow me around back the wagon is ready,” as she walks out the door.
“See,” I tell Melodiana, “I have it all under control.”
She replies sounding more and more exhausted, “You say that like I didn’t believe you. By the way what is in the little bag?”
“Oh nothing much, just something I picked up,” I tell her without meeting her gaze. When we round the corner a Young Elfin man with nearly identical hair is tying a shaggy pony to the yoke of the cart that has the things from earlier in it and Crystal is sitting up in the driver seat. As we walk closer the pony begins to stomp at the ground, and tug sideways at its harness, and Crystal steps down and over to it.
“Hmm, what is the matter boy? Crystal asks the pony, placing her hand on its cheek, and she says, “There aren’t any mice around here,” and I sigh, animals always seem to pick me out faster than people. She looks over to her son after the pony calms down. “Since there is another one, you can stay here and help your sister out in the shop,” She tells him and he nods after giving the ropes a final tug to make sure they won’t slip before heading around the opposite corner without saying anything, or even acknowledging Melodiana’s nod to him even though he walked right by her.
“Oh that boy,” Crystal complains shaking her head, “How will he ever find a wife if he is too shy to even talk to a woman that isn’t his mother or sister. Well go ahead and put your things in the wagon and climb on up and we can get underway,” She says looking down to us.
We comply and while we are Melodiana tugs at my sleeve and starts talking, “I think you should ride in the back.”
“And why is that?” I ask.
“Well it’s because you a wearing a shorter skirt and from the front of the wagon anyone on the street will be able to see you,” She says with a look of genuine concern on her face.
I can’t even laugh at her for it, so I say, “It will be fine and I will show you how.” She looks at me and I climb up onto the bench and sit next to Crystal and bring my knees together, and then I wrap my tails around either side of my hips and lay them across my lap so the tips extend forward and block most of my legs. Apparently satisfied that I am covered up, Melodiana climbs up into onto the bench and sits next to me.
Crystal give the reigns a slight snap and the pony begins to pull us back towards the housing district, and she starts to hum a light tune. When we arrive back at our house we unload our supplies, and see Crystal off, who tells us to stop by anytime for tea, then we put everything into the pantry, and Larder.
I place the left over money into an empty jar from the pantry, and Melodiana says that she is going outside to train and the sisters are nowhere to be found, so I grab a book and sprawl out on my bed to read until dinner.
I sit my bag on the white counter-top, and go about getting things together. I set the plug and then push some energy into the sigils on the pipes to pump water from the aqueduct as well as to heat it, and while I wait for the tub to fill I turn around and take a look around the room.
The ceiling is about eight or nine feet high, and past the privacy screen next to the entry way there is a counter along both walls; one is creamy white and the other a dark black. The screen itself is decorated with a lake scene with tall reeds in front of the water. Past this the floor, matching the black counter top, steps down to a tub partially set in the ground, which is probably big enough to sit three normal sized people in it, and matches the creamy color of the counter and is deep enough that I can sit with water up to my shoulders.
I drop my clothes into a pile near one of the pillars that are spaced every five to six feet apart around the room, and I turn back to the bath and cut off my link to the sigil on the pipe, and I lower myself down into the warm water, which comes up to just below my breast, with a sigh, and I can’t help but to remember the hot springs back home.
While shaking the thought from my mind I search the bottom of the tub with my hand to find the sigil and link to it to keep the water warm, “It is amazing the applications that humans have found for sigil use and at such a low cost as well.”
I wash my hair and tails with my usual shampoo that smells slightly like apples. As I wash the rest of myself my fingers catch the scars along my back and down my hip and I sigh at the bitterness that rises in my throat. After I finish washing the soap from my body I lean back and slide into the water slightly deeper and just enjoy the warmth around me.
After a few moments of bliss I decide I need to get out and dry, so I stand and pull at the plug with my toes and then I step out and grab my towel off of the waist high stand near the tub and I try to dry myself before the chill sets in. As per the usual, I am not fast enough and by the time I am finished I have goose bumps all over my body and I am shaking slightly, so I head over and reach around the screen and grab my bag and step over to the mirror.
I sit the bag on the floor before I then reapply my makeup to cover up the light brown birthmarks on my cheeks. When I am satisfied that my markings are covered but the makeup is thin enough to look fine I stoop down to pull a gown from it and when I open it I notice something is different.
The black gown is nothing like the red one that it was supposed to have been identical to, and I sigh “Samura must have switched them while I was looking elsewhere.” I pull it out and unfold it to get a good look at it, and it is thin... to the point of being see through... with a matching set of panties...
Curiosity forces my hand, and I put the top on and look in the mirror and I am greeted by the sight of an extremely red faced reflection, “Good test of my makeup being thin enough I suppose... Gods damn-it girl pull yourself together, this much isn't anything to get embarrassed over... is it?”
The gown, though I wonder if I can still call it that, is supported by two thin straps across my shoulders. In the middle right on top of my cleavage a white ribbon tied in a beautiful little bow sits and directly below this the fabric splits allowing much of the bottoms of my breasts to be seen. I twist and look in the mirror while pulling my hair to the side and it also splits in the middle of my back to flow nicely around my tails. while still hiding the rest of my back. "Why is the back harder to see through than the front?" I complain as i turn back around.
The fabric has a floral pattern on it and right where it passes over my breasts a dark rose barely hides the pink flesh beneath on either side, and then it begins to taper back so by the time the fabric reaches my waist it leaves my abdomen entirely exposed… “I-it's so wonderfully soft though.”
I feel my face further flush as when I move it feels as if I am being gently caressed. Feeling more and more embarrassed by the second I take it off and fold it back up and pull the plain red gown out and slip it over my head, before putting the black gown down in the bag and closing it back up. I sigh and stretch and take one last look in the mirror, and I see my face is still slightly pink.
I shake my head as I look away and gather up my dirty clothes and the bag and I head back to my bed and crawl under the covers to sleep, but I still feel the loss of how soft the other fabric was.