1 Soul Bound
1.2 Taking Control
1.2.3 An Enchanting Original
1.2.3.11 Nail your colours
Tomsk: “Columbina is very protective of your reputation. I think she feels that she owes you a lot.”
Signora: “Sponsorship is like investment; the earlier you do it, the cheaper it is. I first met Columbina when her partnership with Harlequin dissolved, after Pantalone offered him a position running a jewellery business. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and she couldn’t deny him a shot at it, but it left her alone and without resources. Just her fame, her personality and her body. So I used her.”
Bungo: “You did?”
Signora: “Yes, to get one over on Pantalone. My outfits were selling well, I had money to invest, so I branched out. I’d acquired a controlling interest in a prime location on the Plaza of the Public, and I needed a known name, someone to front it, someone who could make it a place that was talked about. And Columbina had the personality for it. I take great pleasure in the fact that it earns better profits than the jewellery store my husband bought. She’s slowly buying out my share, which has left me able to make further investments elsewhere. I might one day be able to start my own House.”
Wellington nodded approvingly. “That sounds a good ambition. But how exactly does a noble house get founded?”
Bartola: “Houses split into branches, or merge via heirs marrying, quite frequently. Technically anyone with recognised social status can declare themselves to be a House, with its own House colours and symbol. But if your House is to be more than a joke, something others want to ally their Houses to, you need a proper seat of residence, resources, power in at least one social set and protection from one of the six great houses or their vassals.”
Signora: “It is good to think ahead. Imagine getting stuck with puce and murrey as your house colours! So what are your thoughts? If you were choosing colours for House Sincero, would you pick something to flatter your own skin tones, something to show which deity you favour, something symbolic to indicate your personal philosophy and set alignment, or something that works for all your party?”
Kafana: “Guys, what do you think?”
Tomsk: “I’m not the design expert Alderney is, but it would be nice if we could pick something that matched the battle banner I’ve got.” He produced it, and unrolled it to reveal the golden dragon on red.
Alderney: “I like it. Kafana’s got a deep autumn complexion. Red and gold both look good on her, in the right shades, especially with that hair. Heck, she can carry off black, blue and purple too. I’m envious. As a cool winter I’m stuck with leaf green, ice blue and other colours they never name dragons after.”
Bartola: “Red-and-gold isn’t too bad as far as the message it sends about intended allegiance towards a particular great House. The deep-blue-and-silver of Count Trinci are allied with the brown-and-gold of Count Mercato and both are friends with the red-and-silver of Count Alto. But gold also appears in the green-and-gold of Count Libri, who is neutral to all. It shares no links with the light-blue-and-sable of Count Arsenal, nor his ally Count Basso whose colours are green on sable, but I don’t get the impression you’d want to become a vassal to either of those.”
Tomsk: “Alderney, you said you can both manage green and blue. Can we find a colour that works for everybody?”
Alderney: “Not a chance. Wellington is a clear winter and you’re a warm spring. You can both manage green and brown, but they’re different shades of green. And Bungo as a light summer is different again. Trust me. Nothing looks good on all of us.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Bulgaria put his head in his hands, as though suffering tragic loss: “And of course I’m left out entirely. No matter, I’m man enough. I can carry off anything!” He flashed them a confident grin.
Bungo: {They’re lucky XperiSense didn’t make this binary solar system more complex. Imagine if the apparent colour of your coat of arms changed with which combination of coloured stars was above the horizon at that moment.}
Alderney: {Oh gods, no. Don’t ever suggest that to them, Bungo.}
Bulgaria: “The banner gets my vote. If nothing else, our using a dragon on it is bound to offend House Drago.”
Signora: “I think I have your measure now. All except you.” she turned to Wellington “You like to blend in rather than stand out, don’t you?”
Wellington didn’t move a muscle. He merely replied, in a neutral voice. “Unlike some, I don’t feel a need to blab. My needs are comparatively simple. I wish to be accepted by the traders and merchants of this city as someone reliable. Someone they can do business with.”
Signora: “Blab? I never blurt out secrets unintentionally. Far better to plan it for when you can observe their humiliated reactions. Offended people get angry, which burns them more than you and makes them easier to predict."
Wellington gave her a small nod.
Signora: “So then, I will go through samples with you each in turn and send you off to get measured. Then I will do my best to ruin Fra Nerone’s day by crafting you a public image that brings out the worth of the originality inside you, so all can see he is inferior to you. Ladies first. The rest of you are welcome to browse my library or make use of the salle.”
----------------------------------------
Kafana learned quite a bit, leafing through the swatches, feeling their texture and holding them against her skin or hair, while Signora spoke of the gossip in the city. It was comforting that Signora thought their winning acceptance into the nobility was a realistic goal, and Kafana noted her advice: “You can occasionally be seen in rags, but you must never be seen doubting your status; accept no slights as justified.”
But she didn’t feel a strong connection with her. Though Signora was charming, the outside was too glib and the inside too bitter. Signora wouldn’t say what she really wanted, only hinting at things, and Kafana didn’t trust her; she found it wearying. So she was glad when she could head off with Bartola to be measured, having settled upon criteria for two outfits: one evening gown for formal events, and one for wearing about town during the day.
Kafana: {Alderney, ready to flip out for a bit, now we’ve done our duty? Wellington, could you page us when we need to return?}
Alderney: {More than ready. Besides, I probably wasn’t going to broadcast you being measured in your underwear.}
Rather than use the verbal interface, she decided to have a go using a direct command she’d previously defined carefully, the way Wellington had shown her yesterday.
Kafana: /flip_to burrow_viewing_room/
*flip*
She appeared in the viewing room faster than Alderney, who must have relied upon staring at the portal, and caught her with a lobbed cushion. Alderney yelped.
Kafana: “ ‘Probably’ ?”
Alderney: “Ok, ok. Certainly. Well, unless ratings get really low…”
Kafana raised another cushion threateningly, and Alderney giggled.
Alderney: “Save that for arlife, where we can have a proper pillow fight. I want to catch a bit of the event.”
Alderney brought up a pair of virtual monitors; one showing the live streams of people scattered through Mezelay, and one with a scrollable timeline showing highlights and summaries. Her hands flew over the controls with a practised ease, far faster than she could give verbal commands, and she picked a stream for them to watch.