Kingdom of Fire and Fate

Chapter 9 - Dragonsbane

A soft bell rang as they walked into the little boutique, dresses, petticoats, and accessories lined the walls. The shopkeeper barely gave them a glance before going back to reading her newspaper, smoking a cigar as she leaned against the counter. A smaller girl, no older than fifteen ran up to them, a big smile on her pale face. Her brown hair was tied up and back, but a few strands fell into her face that she didn't care to push away. She was holding an arm full of sewing supplies in her arms, looking them up and down, "' Ello, Misses. Is there something I can help you all with? Buying, alterations, any requests for dresses to be made?"

Catherine smiled softly and nudged Elizabeth forward who had a blush on her face, "She needs to get a new wardrobe, anything would be good. But she needs all types of outfits for any occasion." The girl seemed to look nervous, glancing at the shopkeeper to see if she could go ahead with helping them. With such a large order, that meant lots of money that the girls didn't look like they had. But when Clara set down a large stack of cash on the counter, the shopkeeper gave the small girl a nod.

The girl smiled and whisked Elizabeth away to the back of the shop, showing her all types of dresses and petticoats and chemises and all sorts of other accessories and outfits that were lining the walls, seeing which colors and styles suited her best. A shining gold dress caught her eyes, her fingers running over the silky material, "This dress... is it for sale?" She felt a strong pull towards it, it was absolutely beautiful.

The girl happily nodded, "Yes, it is something I have been working on. No one ordered or requested it, it just has a few more small alterations before it is complete. Would you like to try it on?" The girl rushed over to the mannequin that the dress resided on, quickly pulling it off.

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, walking towards the small fitting room with the girl. She slowly pulled off her dress, letting the fabric pool down at her feet before she stepped out of it. The girl smiled when she came in, helping her get the dress on. It fit her like a glove, showing off her curves in a way that was societally acceptable but still would draw the gaze of the men in the room. It was a bit long and a bit bunchy on the arms, but those were only small alterations.

The girl smiled up at Elizabeth, her blue eyes shining, "It looks perfect on you, miss. I can make the alterations now if you would like. Five minutes at most, I promise!" She ran off to get her sewing supplies before Elizabeth could respond.

When the girl came back, Elizabeth smiled, "Take your time, I promise." She watched as the girl went around, sewing the hem of the dress to make it fit her height before she moved to the arms, making altercations to make the sleeves fit perfectly. Elizabeth smiled and looked at herself in the mirror, a smile spreading across her face. She didn't even recognize herself, she looked beautiful. The gold brought out the green in her eyes, it didn't wash out her skin and her brown curls spilling down her shoulders looked beautiful against the gold fabric.

The girl smiled. "You look like a goddess, miss. Let me get this off of you and pack it up for you, and all of the other gowns and accessories that you have picked out." As quickly as the dress was on her, the girl had it off of her and ran out of the room with it. Elizabeth smiled and slipped her original dress back on, walking out to Catherine and Clara who were browsing, a few dresses in their arms.

Catherine grinned up at Elizabeth, a few black curls falling in front of her face. The pale blue of the dress she was currently wearing made her freckles stand out on her face, "Did you find everything okay? Me and Clara are ready to check out if you are, I probably got more than I should have. But I got a dark green dress, it's Liam's favorite color so I wanted his eyes instantly drawn to me."

Clara laughed, "I did the same for Daniel, I can tell you that it works well."

Catherine grinned, "I thought you were keeping your relations with Mr. Blackwell a secret." She fake swooned.