Aster took them to a shop with a hand painted sign outside showing a button with a needle and thread, no words required.

“This is the best shop for men’s wear.” Aster said. “See, when you’re this good you don’t even have to advertise! It’s all word of mouth. Kind of like me in that way.” She laughed. “When you’re the best they come to you. Here’s where I will avoid making the crude joke that’s on the tip of my tongue, my lovely children.” She waved her hand. “An-ny-way, I made us an appointment.”

The shop had a small entryway but was bigger on the inside then it had looked. Rows of pants, shirts, and jackets on hanging racks, as well as floor to ceiling shelving that spilled over with fabrics and accessories.

There was a small couch in the entryway, where you could see all the way through the center of the building when the curtain that served as a door between it and the main room was open. A bell hung beside the doorway.

Aster left the others beside the couch and went over to the bell, preparing to ring it to bring attention to their presence, when she stopped and looked back over her shoulder at Prin.

“They don’t have dresses here, but if you would rather one of those I know just the place.” She smiled at the prince directly.

“Me?” Prin pointed at himself with the hand that wasn’t being aggressively clung to by Valor.

“Yes?” Aster grinned wider.

“Why do you single me out like that?” Prin laughed.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, it just seemed like you might be interested. And a dress would look so good on you! Maybe someday.” Aster winked.

“Oh no! Not embarrassed, just surprised.” Prin said. “Er, maybe someday, right. It’s not like I wouldn’t be curious . . .”

Elwin tried to picture the prince in a dress, and even though he had seen him in plenty of nightgowns, the image of him in an ornate dress like the one Aster was wearing would not come to mind for the life of him. Not that he didn’t find him plenty pretty.

“Is that actually an option?” Valor wondered. For all his holding on to Prin like an outgrown baby blanket, his voice was as impassive as always, face back to betraying no particular emotion. So, it was hard to tell if he was actually intrigued by it, preparing some sort of snide remark, or just making conversation.

Before Aster even had a chance to ring the bell, a young woman appeared. She could not have been past her mid twenties, but had the bearing of someone wiser and more sophisticated then her years. She was short and curvy, wearing an impeccably tailored brown suit, her dark hair in a knot of braids at the base of her neck. She had a crystal flower broach at her lapel. The most standout feature, though, was a monocle at her eye. All the better to see you with my dear.

She cast a dour look at the lot of them, as though they were not of the caliber she was used to seeing in this shop.

Elwin was certain that they weren’t. But he still resented her eyes, one distorted by the round lens of glass, saying that she wasn’t sure that they could pay for this. And, mightn’t they consider going somewhere cheaper?

Her expression shifted slightly when her gaze slid over to Aster. The hint of amusement, the anticipation of delight, an enigmatic smile.

Ah, Aster would not bring her customers without deep pockets.

“Nannette.” Aster said pleasantly.

“Bonjour.” Nannette said.

“Gesundheit.” Aster said. “I’ve brought my friends. Captain Thompson’s group.”

“Ah hah!” Nannette said. “The unlimited account. My heart is ready.”

Aster laughed. “Yes, that’s the one. Unfortunately, although money isn’t an issue, there is a time crunch.”

“Then let us not delay.” Nannette turned around sharply and clicked the heels of her dapper leather boots on the floor. She went quickly into the other room, clearly expecting the others to follow.

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Aster motioned them forward and the four of them walked into the long room, a wonderland of clothing.

An older lady in a no nonsense forest green dress with pincushions strapped to both wrists came out of the back and Nannette conferred with her briefly before she disappeared again.

“Tell Felix to lock the front door, no more customers today.” she called after her.

“Who is first?” Nannette asked Aster.

Aster pushed Elwin forward. “Go on, be the Guinea Pig.”

Elwin had never been to a place like this before. In TallHillde there was a local tailor, but most people made their own clothes, or bought them off the rack and used belts and buttons to assist the fit.

Nannette nodded at him. “What’s your favorite color?”

Elwin’s mind drew an immediate blank and he felt his face flush with embarrassment. “I-I’m not sure I have one.” He couldn’t believe his own inability to answer this, the most basic of questions.

Luckily, Nannette had not stopped to listen to his answer anyway, having moved on to shuffling through the racks of suits at her disposal.

The woman from before returned, as well as a teenaged boy.

“This is Lottie and Felix.” Aster said. She sat down on a stool, out of the way of Nannette’s furious activity.

Felix turned bright red, rather a feat based on his complexion, and his eyes refused to look in Aster’s direction. Anywhere else, and everywhere else.

Lottie pulled out a long measuring tape and began to take Elwin’s measurements, pushing his arms and legs out as needed.

When Felix had recovered a bit, his eyes settled on Valor, who was, of course, a curious sight.

Felix was not a bad looking boy, with smooth, dark skin and hair nearly the same color, and grey eyes.

If it could be imagined that his interest in Valor was anything other than morbid curiosity, Elwin would have half a mind to encourage it. As they seemed to be about the same age.

Aster seemed to have something similar in mind when she called Felix over to her, terrifying the boy unintentionally.

“Maybe you could take Valor’s measurements?” Aster said to him softly, but loud enough for Elwin to overhear. “But, with sweet consideration, please. He’s blind and a bit skittish.”

Felix nodded in mute, anxious agreement. He probably would have agreed to anything Aster said at that moment.

“I am not skittish.” Valor said.

“Do it anyway.” Nannette said. “Since we are in a hurry. And do it correctly.”

“Y-yes.” Felix said. He approached Valor like a newly drafted soldier approaching the front lines, who is actually a pacifist. He held his measuring tape out in front of him like it might possibly, maybe be a snake.

The prince pried Valor’s hand out of his own and stepped to the side to give the nervous aspiring tailor room to work.

Valor flexed his hand with a curious expression, as though he had just come to the realization that he was holding on to Prin so hard, and didn’t know what to make of it. “I’m sorry.” He said.

Prin’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s fine, it’s nothing.” But he was flexing his own hand, trying to regain some lost feeling.

“I’m going to measure you now.” Felix said. He looked like such an earnest boy, with his striped shirt rolled up above his elbows and a pencil behind one ear. Come to think of it, Elwin would hesitate to wish a friendship with Valor on him. He didn’t seem to deserve it.

Valor stood still and allowed it, not saying a thing until the other boy was crouched before him measuring his legs. Valor put his hand on the top of the boy’s head. “I should get to touch you back for every time you touch me.”

“Why? Do you want a job here?” Nannette said dryly. She came over to them, perhaps fearing that her assistant was about to be in peril.

Valor tilted his head to the side. “It’s one of the few senses I have left to enjoy.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” Felix held perfectly still.

Valor removed his hand, making a face that said he did not find this answer satisfying. “I was only kidding.”

“Be good, Val.” Prin said. By this point it was his turn to be measured by Lottie. He was only half paying attention to the other people in the room, in the midst of some kind of sensory overload regarding the rows and rows of beautiful clothing.

Elwin smiled. His little magpie, always drawn to what was shiny and beautiful. And of course, it was easy to forget just about every experience was brand spanking new to him.

“You should not be wearing such dark clothing.” Nannette said bluntly to Valor. “It washes you out completely. Perhaps a nice grey or even lavender.”

“It’s for the sake of practicality.” Valor said. “Otherwise I really couldn’t care less.”

“A big party is a good excuse to be impractical.” Aster suggested. “Insanely impractical! Let’s make these boys the belles of the ball.”

Nannette smiled. “I don’t know if they would like quite that much attention.”

“It won’t hurt them.” Aster said.

“You don’t dress like a flower if you don’t want to draw bees.” Lottie said.

“What if honey is exactly what you’re in the mood for?” Aster wondered.

“I could go for some honey. Honey toast.” The prince said, hanging onto only the barest fringe of the conversation as he fondled a silk shirt embroidered with purple, pink, and blue flowers.

“You get fingerprints on it, you buy it.” Nannette warned. “Oh yeaaah, unlimited account. Touch away. I’ll put it on your uncle’s tab.”

“He’s not my un-“ Before Prin could say he was no relation to Captain Thompson, a loud buzzing sound could be heard. “Wait, where is that coming from?”

Felix was holding a lavender jacket with a shine to the fabric, and as he carried it toward Valor the buzzing grew louder.

“Is your jacket making noise?” Nannette pointed at him, and just as she did, a swarm of bright yellow and black bees exited the pockets and headed towards the unluckiest boy in the world.