Chapter 30

The three of them got lunch as usual, though they had a lot more to talk about as they ate quickly. With their plates empty, Lilith and Celeste decided to visit the Bin and Bobbin as they had more business to attend to. Not wanting to go to a dress shop, Wendel decided he would track down sir Tanel and see what he needed help with that day.

After saying their goodbyes, Lilith and Celeste went down the hall to guest room 3 before putting the 27 bras into the large dress box. They then set out, walking down the Duke’s Way to the Marketplace easily finding the Bin and Bobbin dress shop on their left. Once inside, they walked by the dresses only pausing for a minute on there way to the back room where they found Anabel Jacobs working in the cutting room.

“Anabel?” Lilith called out as she waved off the sales clerk.

“Yes? Who’s there?” she asked as a set of shears could be heard cutting fabric. Setting down the shears she walked out to the front counter to greet her guests. “Lilith, Celeste, what brings you here today? Don’t tell me there was a problem with the dress?”

“Well why don’t you take a look and see.” Lilith said as she set the dress box down on the counter where she opened it with a start.

“Oh wow. So many.” Anabel exclaimed as she looked over the contents

“Yes and we made them in three different sizes.” Lilith picked up one of the small and large ones holding them next to each other for Anabel to see.

“And we would like you to buy them. I am quite certain you can sell these for 10 gp each.” Celeste said in a confident voice.

“I see. So, what price are you asking of me?”

Celeste looked at Lilith for the answer. “Only 5 gp each.” Lilith said holding up her hand with all her fingers splayed out.

“That is an easy price to accept. But why be so generous?” Anabel asked as she marveled at the lack of seams on each of the bras.

“Because we are asking for payment up front before the product is sold.” Lilith said flatly.

“Oh I see, but I can’t give you that much gold to take with you in hand it would be unseemly.” The seamstress said as she put down the garments and began to look towards her office.

“Lils we never got your bank account opened.” Celeste chimed in.

“Ok dang! We will have to leave and come right back. I need to open an account.” Lilith admitted in an apologetic tone.

“I understand. Do you intend to leave these here?” Anabel asked as she held one of the bras up and re-folded it before placing it back in the box.

“Sure, just keep a separate ledger to record their sales for us if you would.” Celeste said hopeful that she might even sell one while they were at the bank.

“I will get one started. See you when you get back then.” she said as she continued to fold the second of the garments that had been handed to her before she closed the box.

Lilith and Celeste left the store not saying a word, both of them feeling a bit embarrassed that they hadn’t conducted the afternoon’s business in the right order. Their conversation resumed though as they were halfway to the Sword Coast Traders company. The lunch rush saw the street full of people but luckily the foot traffic was going both ways in equal measure. Oddly enough some of the towns people kept a safe distance from Lilith while others made a point to wave or wish her well.

Approaching the bank the Defender of Daggerford took a moment to regard the building. It was a large stone structure with a large arched entrance. Due to the lack of windows or a skylight the bank had magical crystals that lit up the main room giving it a different feel than any of the other structures in the town, save for the wizards tower. Heck even that imposing structure had windows once you got up to the second level. Taking the steps two at a time Lilith strolled into the white magical glow hidden from the sun, before she turned around waiting for her friend to catch up.

Once they were both inside they began the mundane process of opening an account. It was remarkably easy given that Lilith now had an official title and a seal. Best of all, since she was now a noble, none other than Hamlin Miles came over to complete the process once a banker had shown her to a private room. They used her signet ring’s wax stamp as a form of ID and would accept purchase orders and money transfers bearing its mark. She was given a card with her account information and a ledger that contained money orders for her to use. They gave her the instructions that it was best to only use them for transactions over 50 gp. The two of them made sure to thank Hamlin for his help and were soon on their way.

After leaving the bank Lilith and Celeste decided to save time by jumping through the near ethereal a few times arriving back at the market in a puff of gray mist. The streets had cleared slightly now that the lunch rush was over.

Walking into the dress shop again they could already see a set of bras on display in the front window. Anabel was quick to greet them this time. “Oh, you’re back already.”

They then drew up a bill of sale for the 27 bras, and Anabel wrote out a money order in the name of her business for 135 gp. With the business concluded the three of them talked about buying more fabric in the future and Anabel assured them that she had plenty in stock. They then began to say their goodbyes when Anabel said. “Please pardon me for saying so but you may want to have your armor altered to something more fitting of a lady of your class. The way it stands now….” she motioned at the chest plate with one hand “Its a bit gauche”

“I don’t know whose taste this armor was made for ma’am but I assure you it was not made for either yours or mine.” Lilith said with a melancholy tone.

“Well where was it made if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Probably somewhere in the first 100 layers of the Abyss.” Celeste answered quite assuredly.

Anabel recoiled a bit, not wanting her hand so close to something so infernal. Lilith closed her eyes and gave her a big smile to try and reassure her. She showed Anabel how well the armor fit her tail and said the protection it provided more than made up for its lack of decorum.

With check and receipt in hand the two ladies wished Anabel well and went back out into the market square, turned right and began heading for the bank again.

When they arrived back at the bank the earlier bustle had died down. After waiting for only 1 other person Lilith walked up to the open teller and made a split deposit putting 105 gp in her own account and 30 gp in Celeste's.

“What? I wasn’t expecting that.” Celeste said with a big smile

“Oh consider it payment for your ah.. modeling skills.” Lilith began saying before she was hit by a hug from Celeste mid sentence.

“ha ha ha. Well if you should need my services again feel free to ask.” she said pushing away from Lilith and standing as tall as she could in her best modeling pose.

“Sure. Sure. I will let you know the next time I need a mountain side blown to rubble. Or a town guard disarmed.” Lilith said with a smirk.

Celeste laughed along thinking back to her antics that morning and then looked back at Lilith who she noticed had a serious look on her face like she was deep in thought for some reason. Her laughter now stopping she cocked her head looking up at her friend wondering why the sudden change in mood.

Lilith started moving her lips a few times but no sound came out but on the third try she finally said.

“I am heading to go see Sharl now for my first sword fighting lesson. I was just wasn’t sure whether you wanted to come or not. It might seem silly to say this but, physical training involves a lot of physical contact.” Lilith finished the words seeming to have taken a lot of effort.

“Oh? And you are worried of making me jealous? Heh! Well, don’t worry. I may be only 19 but I am not some little school girl any more.” Celeste said realizing only too late that she had set Lilith up for an easy retort.

“I know we already talked about this but I really want to support the both of you.” Lilith said being a bit more serious than Celeste expected.

“Yes and I want you to see that I am not the jealous type and that I trust you. Both of you. So I will be there to cheer you on.” she said with a smile.

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“Oh… Ok. You aren’t going to cheer for Sharl?” Lilith asked her mood seeming to improve.

“Against you, he won’t need my help.” Celeste said with absolute confidence.

Now leaving the quiet confines of the bank. The two friends walked together talking about Sharl’s tournament wins and how unlikely some of them were. It seemed that no matter the odds or how skilled his opponent was he always had some extra pool of talent or luck to draw from.

Arriving at the Barracks the two ladies began to inquire about Sharl and were soon directed to another building. They found him there, near the Wall Tower in his office. They were granted access as a few of the men seemed to recognize Lilith from the previous days training drill.

Entering the office Lilith was sad to see what had become of their deer champion. “Oh dear they are trying to kill you with paper cuts now.” Lilith said motioning at the sizable pile of documents on Sharl’s desk.

“I don’t think I am in any real danger but you ladies are welcome to help if you want to save this poor soldier from his duties.” There was a bit of desperation in his voice that prompted Celeste to give him a sympathetic look.

“I was actually thinking of starting the sword training we discussed.” Lilith said as she tapped the sword on her right shoulder

“You want to start now. In the heat of the day?” Sharl asked with a bit of surprise.

“Yep.”

“That would get me out of the office for a bit at least. Well I see you brought your armor and you can leave that sword here in my office. I will get you a blunted one.” Sharl said as he stood and grabbed his helmet off the wall.

“Oh I don’t want to cut you in half just yet Sharl, I still need many more lessons from you.” Lilith said with a smirk.

“Well Celeste, are you here to cheer me on again?” Sharl asked with a slight smile.

“Nope, I am cheering for Lilith today.” she said pointing a thumb at her friend to her left.

“Good, the first lessons are always the hardest. So lets get started.”

Sharl led Lilith a little ways into the Drill Field While Celeste stood in the shadow of the Wall Tower and watched.

First he taught Lilith how to hold the sword for various purposes. Guard, Attack, Parry. He then focused on her body position to allow for better attack and movement. He had to get a bit hands on for this but Lilith knew what she was getting into before hand. Lastly he showed her arm and sword movements designed to deflect blows. Sharl had to hold and position her arms at each step but Lilith didn’t blush or pull back from his hands. Celeste remarked ‘it was like watching two soldiers train.’ as they seemed to be making good progress.

After about 20 minutes of instruction it was time for a mock bout where Lilith was to focus on movement and defense only. As Sharl advanced on her, Lilith disappeared into a puff of mist and landed 20 feet behind Sharl facing away from him. As she turned around Sharl was quick to reprimand her. “Now cut that crap out! You will never learn this the right way if you rely on magic. So lets get the basics down and work our way up from there. Yes?”

Lilith nodded and the attack began again. This time Sharl began with a thrust to the head followed by a slice at the arm and spun to a full body blow. Lilith parried the first two but was not ready for the spin. It caught her in the side and staggered her for a bit. But she didn’t show any outward signs of pain. Not stopping the attack Sharl again thrust at the head then sliced at the arms this time Lilith only parried them the minimal amount needed and kept her sword centered and ready to guard. The third attack was another slice at the arms and she parried it easily.

“Very good you are picking this up fast. Now, are you ready for full body attacks?” Sharl asked with both hands on his blade.

“What do you mean?” she asked tilting her head slightly.

“It means I might kick you or punch you in the face. So keep that visor down.”

“Ok lets do it.” Lilith said as she dropped her visor. It covered the upper half of her face but left her mouth completely uncovered.

Once again Sharl pressed the attack, this time leading with a slice to the arm followed by a pommel strike to the head. He waited to see what Lilith would do only to see her eyes glow more brightly from behind the visor as her tail lash back and forth. He then started again with a big swing to the side and followed his momentum forward with a kick to the gut. This staggered Lilith a bit more than the head strike so he pressed the attack, getting a clean blow on her opposite side with his blade.

Sharl followed this lesson up with ways to counter the attacks he just showed her. By leaning into the blow as it happens and by deflecting any attack to the head well clear, so that the pommel is not in range for a follow up strike.

They sparred for a third time and this time Lilith leaned into the knee attack and used her own pommel against Sharls chest to push him backwards. This surprised Sharl a bit and he took a minute to get his composure together. He made another spinning attack but this time brought his sword low to place between Lilith’s legs and use the length of it to lever her off her feet. Instead Lilith spun taking the sword out of Sharl’s hands with the immense strength her lower body afforded her. Celeste clapped as it was a move she hadn’t seen before perhaps because no human was strong enough to do it without tripping.

As the two of them stood out in the sun Lilith was pretending to try and catch her breath so as not to embarrass Sharl who was trying to suck down as much air as possible at this point.

They were now out in the sand away from the tower and Sharl saw his opportunity to talk to Lilith in relative privacy.

“Hey Lils I tried to ask you last night but things got busy. I wanted to ask if the rumors were true. Is Celeste the daughter of a noble in Waterdeep?”

“What? Is that what the problem was? Is that why you wouldn’t look her in the eyes last night?” Lilith asked with a heated expression, her eyes glowing brighter.

“Oh she noticed? You see, I am just a commoner and It occurred to me that I might be causing her a whole lot of trouble down the line. I don’t want to create some kind of rift in her family its just not my style.” Sharl said with a bit more doubt in his voice than Lilith was used to hearing.

“Well if you must know she is the daughter of a businessman. She is part of the upper class but they don’t hold any titles.” Lilith said in a hushed tone with a bit of agitation.

“Good, then it won’t be a problem.” Sharl said with a bit of optimism.

“It was never a problem anyways you dolt! It was you hesitating that hurt her not your lack of a title.”

“Oh, I need to apologize to her then. Uhhhh how do you think I should do it?”

“Why don’t you challenge her to a dual.” Lilith said with a sly grin.

“What?” Sharl blurted out loud enough for even Celeste to hear.

“Don’t worry she loves this kind of stuff just as much as I do.” Lilith tried to assure him.

“Well if you say so. You are her friend after all.”

Lilith gave him a nod and Sharl went back to a box that was resting up against the Wall Tower and switched his blunted greatsword for a wooden longsword. Celeste began walking towards Lilith as she motioned for her friend to come over.

Once he saw his short and beautiful love interest out in the Drill Field, Sharl began walking back at a quick speed kicking up some sand behind him. “Celeste I can’t let you on to that battlefield with those orcs until you show me that you can handle yourself in combat. So be on your guard and don’t hold back.” He said as he flipped down his visor with a clunk.

Lilith teleported away, leaving Celeste all alone in the Drill Field with a seemingly angry Sharl coming toward her at a near jog. She nodded her head and brought out her spell focus in her right hand. It seemed to have been stored in the sleeve of her robes. Sharl pressed forward taking two quick swings at her arms to knock her focus away. The blows were deflected by her mage armor giving Celeste the time to activate an arcane shield which she wielded with her left hand blocking each of Sharl’s blows and kicks as they came. With her spell focus she cast fire bolt and waited for Sharl to stand flush with her. As soon as she could clearly see the thickest part of his chest plate she released the spell striking him dead center. Because of their height difference the bolt had gone upwards and it lifted Sharl off his feet casing him to land 3’ further back spralled out, his back and head hitting the sand with a thud. Celeste quickly stepped forward lifting her robe with her left hand while producing a green flamed blade with her spell focus and pointing it at Sharl not letting him up from his current rather relaxed position.

Sharl flipped up his visor revealing a big toothy grin. “That's not bad short stuff!”

With that the flaming blade disappeared into green smoke and Celeste leaned down to offer Sharl a hand up. Lilith couldn’t be sure that Celeste was having much of an affect on that front but soon they were both standing close together Celeste looking at him with a proud look on her face and Sharl looking right back at her with not a single doubt in his mind. Lilith thought that was a much better expression for the big lug. Self doubt wasn’t made for his strong jaw and handsome nose.

‘Wait what was that feeling. Did I just feel some kind of attraction towards a man?’ Lilith wondered, looking down at her hand held against the bare portion of her chest. Shaking off the feeling Lilith’s attention turned back to her friends who were now standing rather close together.

With a huge smile Celeste realized what he had called her, ‘Short stuff’, and she realized in that moment how stupid she had been for wanting to rid herself of part of her identity. Seeing his gaze still locked on hers she dared to be bold, grabbed him by the collar pulling him down to her level and kissed him fully.

For his part Sharl let himself be pulled down and embraced her with one arm while secretly giving Lilith a thumbs up from the hand still by his side after he regained his senses.

Lilith gave them a moment as she sorted out her own feelings. She wasn’t jelous of them but definitely felt a yearning for her own type of love. She wanted to be held like that too but quickly dispelled those thoughts before clearing her throat. “Well that is one way to end a dual. I am glad both parties are so amiable.” Lilith came very close to saying amorous but decided better of it. Instead she gave the two of them a shit eating grin ear to ear.

Both of them turned to give Lilith the stink eye at the same time, but she just laughed in response clapping her hands to show her amusement. Soon the three of them were talking about what spells were used and what counters an attacker could make. The sad news for Sharl was that without any magic of his own the only strategy he could use was speed and power to overwhelm a caster before they could get off an offensive spell. In this world, ranged spells at close range had little chance of missing, similar to a handgun fired at 10’ but aimed with the mind rather than the hands.

Sharl finally gave Lilith a few more pointers and promised to go over sword attacks in their next lesson. He also made sure to invite Celeste but couldn’t promise to dual her again as he tried in vain to wipe the scorch mark off of his armor.

Lilith used Fabricate to remove the scorch mark restoring the steel to a uniform finish using the sand as an abrasive. Sharl excused himself as he had more duties to attend to before Lilith retrieved her sword from the tower. The two girls now walked across the Drill Field both a bit weary and tired from the days efforts and excitement.

“So what do you want to do next, its only 3 O’clock.” Celeste asked.

“I think I felt something tear during practice, so we had better go over to see Anabel again.” she said as they tried to walk quickly in the soft sand.

“Oh something tore in your bra?”

“No I think it was lower.” Lilith tried to look down at a specific part of her body but all she could see were her own boobs from this position.

“In your armor?” Celeste asked seeming a bit confused.

“Do you think Anabel could help with that?” Lilith gave Celeste a questioning look.

“Then what?”

“We will have to see.” Lilith said picking up the pace once they got off the soft sand.

Soon they were once again entering the Bin and Bobbin for the third time that day, Lilith began to looking around for something specific while Celeste followed close by, looking at the dresses as she had an extra 30gp in her bank account and someone to dress up for.

Anabel soon came out and had some news for her two business partners.

“It seems those bras are quite the attraction. I have sold two already.”

“That's great! How many of the custom ones have you sold so far?”

“Just one to a noble woman but it is going to have the finest decorations you can imagine. She is coming in for her fitting tomorrow.”

“Do you think it would be alright If I bought some of your fabrics and used your fitting room again. I would like to make something for myself it is kind of an emergency.”

“Sure right this way.” the seamstress said as she directed her guests to the fitting room in the back.

As the three ladies walked into the mirrored room Anabel drew the curtain closed and began to look at Lilith curiously.

Lilith without a hint of embarrassment, took off her armor and set it aside with only a word. Anabel remarked at how convenient magical clothing must be. But she then saw the ruined tatters of Lilith's underwear drawing in a breath through her teeth.

“Ya, I heard them rip during the training.” Lilith lamented looking down at her torn underwear underneath her arming jacket. She then turned toward Anabel to ask “Do you think you could get some of that same fabric we used before, the stretchy kind? I should probably make at least three of these.”

Anabel nodded and soon returned with the requested cloth. Lilith then set about again making a rather unique set of underwear. Never in her life did she think she would be using magic to make panties yet some how it was the issue of most concern at that moment, drawing all of her attention.

As she watched Lilith complete the first pair Anabel suggested using a darker color like red or black. Celeste interjected though saying “I don’t think Lilith has to worry about those sorts of things.” This comment went over Lilith’s head as she was just happy that her tops and bottoms were of matching colors.

Using Fabricate around her own body Lilith had created one set of underwear that fit her and her tail with a proper lined opening rather than just a cut made with a pair of scissors. She then copied it twice over while the spell was still active. Letting out a sigh of relief, Lilith put her armor back on and said “That's 100 times better.”

“Yes I can’t imagine.” Anabel said as she got Lilith a small paper bag to carry her extra garments home.

After paying for the fabric and thanking her again Lilith and Celeste left the store and bid their business partner farewell.

The two girls walked back to the Castle but decided to part ways until dinner was served. Lilith was quite hungry and was looking forward to it. But first she needed to talk to Sir Tanel about their war plans and increasing the ways Lilith could be of service to the town. Celeste on the other hand wanted to rest and freshen up in the women’s bath, the hot sun and the impromptu duel having taken their toll.