Renna went back to her room wearing just a towel. She needed to dress for dinner. Arion was probably doing the same in his room. The grey dress she had worn last night had disappeared, and she wasn’t feeling that grey any more either. Instead she felt like teasing Arion just a bit more. Time to loot the fancy magic wardrobe again.

The dress she got was red, form fitting, had an open back and long slit on one side. And it screamed for shoes to go with it. Renna wondered if the wardrobe had any. Only way to know was to try. It did. A pair of red low heeled shoes that matched the dress perfectly were in her hands. She had only seen shoes of this kind on ladies during parties where she had worked as a maid.

She had difficulties getting in the dress and was still struggling with it when one of the flame ladies came to check on her. Seeing her predicament she entered and helped her to get it finally on. Her touch was hotter than humans would be but not burning and oh so gentle.

When the dress was on, she led her to the dressing table and brushed out her hair. Then she put her amulet back on and finally extracted a beautiful jeweled hair pin in the shape of a dragon from the drawers of the dressing table to pin back her hair, so it would stay out of the way. Renna observed her from the mirror. There was something familiar about her but she could not place it.

It was time to go.

She got up and gave herself a last look in the dressing table mirror. She found what she saw to be nothing like Renna who had been feeding pigs only a few weeks ago. She would have passed for a posh lady. But the biggest change was inside - she was actually trying to look attractive for a man. She tried to shake her head clear and stepped into her pretty shoes. At the door she paused, took a deep breath and stepped out of her room.

Arion was already seated at the table when she entered, but stood up immediately. He was wearing a white shirt he had not bothered to button up properly and a pair of knee length pants with stockings and shiny leather shoes. He had definitely dressed up. With a hint of tease too, she concluded looking at his exposed chest.

Going carefully in unaccustomed shoes but still trying to swing her hips a bit like she had seen the fancy ladies do she approached the table, stopped next to her chair and waited. Well, he knew what was expected of him… he had done it once before hadn’t he. It took him a moment to realize, but then he scrambled up to pull out her chair for her. He looked amused.

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Renna managed to sit down with a straight face, but could not entirely contain the snort of laughter when settled. It escaped despite her attempt to keep it serious. This fancy lady act was too funny. She avoided looking at Arion. She knew that if she took a look at him, she would lose it and laugh herself silly. It was rather hilarious to reconcile the image of a fancy noble across the table from her with the guy whose pants she had stuffed with mud not too long ago. Her ears picking up suppressed snorts suggested that the situation was much the same on the other side of the table.

They ate, making polite conversation about the weather and the seasons, much like Renna had heard the nobles she had served do. Soon the dinner was over and they were seated by the fire drinking wine and snacking on biscuits. Finally the exhaustion of the day got to Renna. She got up and thanked Arion for the meal, sliding her hand over his arm in passing and noticing with a smile how he tensed up under her touch. Then she headed back to her room, only slightly embarrassed by the swaying way she was trying to walk and not daring to look back over her shoulder whether she had an audience or not.

Back in her room she looked at the magic wardrobe speculatively again. It must have something… fit to sleep in too, if it was that magical. She struggled out of the fancy dress, stuffed it back into the wardrobe and tried fishing for something more suited for bedtime. The wardrobe didn’t disappoint and provided a long sleeved full length warm nightgown. She pulled it on, but before getting to bed, realized she was still thirsty. There was always a bottle of water and some glasses always available on the dining table. A little dash for the drink in a nightgown should not be an issue really.

Renna opened the door a bit and peeked out. Nobody was around. The room looked deserted, only residual light from the glowing embers in the fireplace lit it. Dinner was already cleared away and there was indeed a water bottle on the table. Renna went out, poured herself a glass and brought it back to her room. She was back at her door when she thought she heard something - a quiet moaning sound that seemed to be coming from the room next door. Having four brothers she had shared a small house with for all of her life, she knew what he was doing. And it made her happy in a strangest way. She resolved to not tease him any more. His promise seemed to be solid enough, even when pushed.

Renna slipped in her room, got under the covers and fell asleep fast, but her dreams seemed to be crowded today. He kept appearing in them.