Healer's Touch (Deadly Touch #1) [Complete]

Chapter 15: Again

Llew had to admit it was a beautiful dress. Blue again. Llew had rather liked the pinkish-purple color of one of the others, but Anya and Emylia had both agreed that the cut wasn't right. Whatever that meant. At least it didn't have flowers. Llew had never considered herself a flowers girl.

A mirror on the wardrobe door displayed her in her full glory once Emylia and Anya had helped tie it all together – it had a lot of ties, as well as loops and hooks. Lord Tovias had provided six stunning dresses for the women to choose from, along with a variety of hair clips, ribbons, and shoes. Llew's feet were too big for any of the latter, but her dress hid her riding boots if she stood still. And her hair was too short to take advantage of the clips on offer, but Emylia managed to arrange it in such a way as to give Llew a surprise when she looked in the mirror. She looked... feminine. It was a sight as foreign as it was welcome. She smiled and a pretty girl smiled back.

When the women presented themselves in the restaurant downstairs, the boys had the same awestruck looks on their faces as they had during that brief evening in Osurnu, and Llew had to work to hide her own admiration for them. They all looked handsome. Alvaro had swapped his wide-brimmed hat for a top hat to match his gray suit, gold waistcoat and stunningly white shirt. He was immaculately shaved, making him look younger than his eighteen years, while the suit gave him a maturity beyond that, despite the self-conscious smile he flicked Llew's way when she gazed at him. Cassidy wore a golden suit that set off his blond hair. He too wore a matching top hat and had accessorised with a cane. To complete the look, he put on an aristocratic air which, while Llew knew it was meant to be funny, somehow suited him. Aris wasn't in clothing dissimilar to his usual get up, but everything was perfectly clean and perfectly pressed.

Jonas had opted not to wear a hat. His long hair hung down, one side hooked behind an ear. He wore his own vest, as always fully loaded with knives, but over it he wore a pitch-black short jacket and trousers to match. Over the trousers sat his knife belt with his Syakaran knife even more visible against the crisply clean background. Underneath it all was a tidy white shirt. Llew was almost disappointed by his lack of bravery with colors, but he could still force the wind out of her with but the slightest upturn of his lips.

This time they ate at the hotel's restaurant. The other diners still looked at them, but no longer with the wary, distasteful looks of the previous evening; rather, with the whispered question of just who are these fine people?

Aris hadn't told them that Lord Tovias had also sent a new carriage and horses for them to ride to his estate. These were accompanied by an escort of ceremonially dressed soldiers. They appeared very fancy in their shiny get-up of royal blue jackets and straight black trousers. Many of them had badges on their jackets and Llew wondered what kind of battle action they had seen, or if the decorations were rewards for keeping a tidy uniform.

She expressed her concern at leaving Amico behind, but Aris assured her he would be brought to the estate and well tended by Lord Tovias's grooms. Besides, he reminded her, there was no way Jonas would let them forget his horse.

Being in a dress, Llew was expected to ride in the carriage with Aris and the women while Cassidy, Alvaro and Jonas joined the escort. Surrounded by all the finery, Llew felt as though she were little more than the street urchin she had hoped to leave behind in Cheer. The dress felt like a costume. How could any of it be real?

She watched the city pass by as the group moved through the busy centre of Rakun at a walk. The cobbled town square was a hive of activity. Overall, it was clean, well kept and the people seemed happy. Money exchanged hands in swift business as people moved from one stall to the next, and milling casually among the crowd were beautifully dressed military men. Some sort of city police force, Llew thought. Their uniforms stood out, even amongst the brightly colored expensive clothes of the civilians.