When Dani got back to Mrs. Haversaun’s the shop was already packed with ladies both young and old eager to get their measurements taken and see the young woman that had saved the princes life. Dani had led Wulfram up onto the roof of a nearby building, leaping across the distance onto Mrs. Haversaun’s balcony easily. After making sure Wulfram could make the jump, she headed downstairs, dusting pastie crumbs off her fingers.

The crowd was even worse inside, young ladies chatting between each other as they waited or reviewed drawings of different designs, picking their favorites by writing numbers on cards Mrs. Haversaun had created. It was like a menu of styles and fashion elements. Each style had a different number, and ladies could write in things such as ‘sleeves’, ‘skirt’, ‘neckline’ and so on to customize between different styles.

“I heard the prince himself asked for this ball.” A young lady said to another lady she was sharing a style book with.

Her companion laughed, a high pitched sound that grated on Dani’s nerves immediately. “That explains the short notice. Only a man would think one month is enough time to plan and prepare for a ball!”

“Oh yes, if it had been Queen Mirabel’s idea she would give us at least six months to prepare! That way we could have fabrics imported in. As it is though, we’ll just have to make do. What do you think of these sleeves with that empire waist?”

Dani shook her head slightly and headed through the crowd to Mrs. Haversaun, picking up snippets of similar conversations. The older woman smiled and nodded to a second stool and the young girl sitting on it. “Welcome back Lady Daniella, why don’t you help young Lady Nora with her measurements?”

“Of course Mrs. Haversaun.” Dani picked up a measuring ribbon, offering the young girl a smile. “Please stand on the stool, this won’t take long. After you can look at one of the style books and pick what type of dress you want.”

A few of the women around them had looked up when Mrs. Haversaun said Dani’s full name, their voices dropping into hushed whispers. But still Dani could catch snippets of their conversations.

“Is that her?”

“She saved the prince’s life!”

“Why is she working here then?”

“Is that her?”

“It has to be her!”

“What style dress will she be wearing to the ball?”

“Can she even afford a dress?”

“I heard the Queen sent over fabrics specially for her!”

“Is that why that beautiful blue fabric is already spoken for?”

Dani resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and just focused on taking Lady Nora’s measurements. The attention made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but she did her best to ignore the chatter and smile pleasantly. Even though inside she wanted to punch Wulfram in the gut. What kind of stupid point had he been trying to make when he announced this stupid ball in front of those two ladies?

“Are you really the one that saved Prince Wulfram?” Lady Nora asked quietly, and silence finally fell around them as everyone in the shop strained to hear the answer.

Shit.

Dani looked at the young girl, tempted to lie and get the attention off her for a little bit. But no, that could make Mrs. Haversaun look bad. Besides, there was no point in lying if you knew you couldn’t get away with it. So she sighed, and gave the girl a lopsided smile. “Well, he saved me too you know.”

Lady Nora’s eyes widened to saucers, and she put her hands to her mouth.

The chatter started again, women gathering around eager to ask questions and get a good look at Dani. She supressed a sigh, and stood up slowly. “Excuse me one moment Lady Nora.”

She turned to the onlookers, quieting the flood of questions with as gentle a glare as she could manage. She wanted to scream at them, but surprised herself by keeping her voice calm and firm. “Ladies. I know you’re all curious, but this is a business and we have work to do. So unless you don’t want us to make your gown please sit down and sh- be quiet.”

“But-”

“I said sit down and be quiet! There are a lot of you here and only two of us. The next person who asks me something not related to their own ball gown will be put to work measuring others.”

Mrs. Haversaun nodded slightly, trying her best to suppress a smile. “Just so. We want to make sure all of you ladies are well taken care of. Perhaps if you’re nice Lady Daniella will answer some questions while she measures you or takes your card.”

“Excuse me, I have a question.” A particularly beautiful lady spoke up, drawing all eyes to her. She stood up from her spot on a comfortable lounge chair, a challenge sparking in dark eyes.

Dani turned to her, not quite able to resist rolling her eyes this time. “You know the price, what is it?”

“I merely would like to know if I can help measure.” The lady smiled and lifted her skirts, stepping through the crowd to stand directly in front of Dani. “If you show me how that is.”

A shocked silence filled the shop, and then someone giggled, and the ladys face broke into a grin. Dani couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, guess you can. Lady Nora would you mind letting her try out on you?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Really?” Lady Nora gaped, staring up at the dark haired woman in awe. “You really want to measure me Lady Seela?”

“Of course Lady Nora, I wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t something I wished to do.” Lady Seela smiled at Lady Nora and took one of the measuring ribbons in one perfectly manicured hand. “Where do I start, Lady Daniella?”

The woman had balls, that was for sure. Dani shrugged and held up her own measuring tape. “We go top to bottom, so start with the neck, right around the base. But be sure not to wrap it too tightly, you just want it to lay flat without being stretched or choking her.”

Dani found she was better able to ignore the quiet talk and gazes when she was working and showing Lady Seela how to measure. To her surprise, she was able to keep her patience throughout the whole teaching process even! When she was done they set up a third stool, and Lady Seela started to measure ladies as well. Mrs. Haversaun and Dani checked her measurements every now and then, but Dani didn’t see her making any intentional mistakes. She had half expected that Lady Seela had just wanted a chance to make others look bad, but she was actually doing a really good job. So good that Mrs. Haversaun was able to start walking around and collecting cards.

She spent a few minutes with each lady, going over their selections and discussing fabric and color options. Estimated yardage, trim and notions were carefully recorded, and a price quoted, half up front and half on delivery. The amount for some of the dresses was staggering, but Lady Seela assured her that Mrs. Haversaun had the most reasonable prices around.

“She must of course make a profit, and if she sells her work too cheaply people will believe that the craftsmanship is poor. She attracts the lower ladies and richer merchant wives because her prices are just right for that market. But her workmanship has never been found to be faulty.” Lady Seela said as she pinned a measuring tape to its proper card at the end of the day.

“Which one are you then?” Dani asked. “A lower lady or a rich merchants wife?”

“Neither.” Lady Seela laughed. “You might consider me one of the high nobles. My family has been nobility since the birth of our kingdom, and ocean trade has made us quite wealthy.”

“Then why the hell are you here? You must have your own private dressmaker or something.” Dani paused to look at Seela with a touch of suspicion. If she wasn’t here to get a dress, then she must be here for something else. And that meant she was probably snooping around.

“My family does, yes. But I wanted to have my dress made by the same person making Lady Daniella’s dress. It gave me a good excuse to come meet you, and have some fun. This really was delightful, might I come help out again tomorrow?” Lady Seela smiled, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

Dani looked to Mrs. Haversaun, raising an eyebrow. “What do you think Mrs. Haversaun? It’s your shop.”

“I don’t see a problem with it, we’ll certainly be needing help with all these orders. Can you sew, Lady Seela?” Mrs. Haversaun barely looked up from the fabric she was marking, chalk in one hand and a measuring ribbon in the other.

“I can, as well as embroider. I can bring in a sampler of my work tomorrow if you’d like.”

“Then I’ll leave it up to Dani, what do you think?” Mrs. Haversaun did look up then, mischief in her own eyes. It was like they were plotting something between the pair of them! Dani had to wonder if they had talked before she had come back from lunch and set this whole thing up.

No, she was just being paranoid. Why would they go through the trouble? What would Mrs. Haversaun have to gain from it? Hell, what did Lady Seela have to gain from it? Other than perhaps some juicy gossip.

“Dani? What a cute nickname!” Seela clasped her hands together with a bright smile.

“Don’t start. It’s not cute it’s just a name. I prefer it over Daniella anyways. People used to use Daniella whenever I got in trouble.” Dani rolled her eyes, and hung up the last card and measuring tape. “Fine, bring in your sampler tomorrow. But I ain’t calling you Lady Seela all day, it’ll just be Seela.”

She had hoped that dropping the formality would be enough to turn Lady Seela off from her apparent mission, but she was wrong. The woman laughed and nodded. “Of course, the honorifics do get tiring, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah. Yeah they sure do.” Well shit, that hadn’t worked at all. Maybe her work would be shit tomorrow and Mrs. Haversaun would send her away though.

“Wonderful! Now I really must be going or my family will fret. I’ll see you both tomorrow, bright and early.” Seela headed to the door, looking as if she had just won first place in something.

“Gods I hope I don’t regret this more than I already do.” Dani rubbed her eyes, slumping against the counter as the door closed behind Seela. The day had been far too long and tiring, and all she really wanted was a drink.

“Oh I don’t think you will dear, Seela is a nice enough young lady. How was your lunch break with the prince? I meant to ask earlier but there were far too many ears about.”

“It was... eventful.” Dani wrinkled her nose, feeling a tingle on her lips as if the kiss were still fresh. “I’d rather not talk about it if it’s all the same to you. I’m probably already going to get it from Reshi when I go home tonight.”

“Reshi does like to roar, doesn’t he?” Mrs. Haversaun laughed and stood up from her work. She stepped behind the counter, pulling out a simple wooden box. “Pay him no mind dear, he’s always been like that. But perhaps this will cheer you up a bit, it’s that gift I mentioned earlier today.”

“The gift?” Dani turned around to look at the box, curiousity piqued. “I had forgotten myself actually. But you don’t have to give me a gift, hell I don’t even know how much I owe you for the clothes you’ve been giving me.”

“You don’t owe me anything for those dear, you’re bringing in enough business to more than pay for them. Now, accept a gift with grace. If it makes you feel better consider it a gift from me and Najia.” Mrs. Haversaun slid the box closer, her smile turning a little sad. “Maybe Reshi can carve the box into something prettier for you, but for right now, just open it.”

Dani blushed and stared down at the box for a moment. A gift from Mrs. Haversaun and Najia? She couldn’t damn well refuse that, sneaky old woman. So she opened the box, pausing when light caught on silver and seashells.

It was a chatelaine, and one she recognized. Tears filled her eyes, blurring the familiar metal clip she had last seen hanging from Najia’s belt, the silver worked into the shape of a sleeping dragon, tiny shell fragments making up its scales. More than one had gone missing over the years, and the gemstone that had been in its eye had been pried out one year to get medicine for Najia. She had never parted with a piece of her chatelaine willingly, but the silver and gemstone had helped carry the family through hard times time and again. A new needle case had replaced one that had been sold, and a simple leather thimble occupied the thimble case which had once held a silver one. But for all it’s replaced parts it was still the one Najia had worn every day for most of her life.

“I- shouldn’t this go to Therija?” Dani choked out. “Or Azra?”

Mrs. Haversaun took one of Dani’s hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Therija is a baker, and Azra holds no interest in sewing. Najia would have wanted you to have this my dear. She loved you like her own daughters. She would be proud to see you carrying on her legacy.”

A sob tore its way out of Dani, and her hand shook as she ran it over the precious item. She found she couldn’t speak, the tears spilling over to land on the thin green velvet the chatalaine rested on.

“Oh Dani...” Mrs. Haversaun was around the counter and holding her in a hug in an instant. “Go ahead and cry dear, it’s alright. You’re alright.”

Dani wasn’t sure if she’d ever be alright. She desperately wanted that drink right now, but instead she hid her face against Mrs. Haversaun’s shoulder as if she were a little girl again, and just cried.