Isla-Dove Kepperton would do just about anything to escape the life of slavery that she lives - except possibly kill a unicorn. There is only one left, and with its death would come a curse.
She isn't so sure a happily ever after is worth rendering...
Marina bought a fish soup for Isla-Dove and still showed up that same night with a basket of meat and bread.
Isla-Dove heard the pebbles hitting the window and scrambled off of her bed to open it before Miss Capen heard and woke up. Marina stood below on the ground, smiling and holding up a basket. "The food!"
The sun had already set, so Isla-Dove wouldn't remember the taste of the food, but at least she'd feel the difference in her body when she woke up. As Marina tossed the end of the rope upward, Isla-Dove reached out and grabbed it. She began pulling it through the window. Marina let got once the basket was suspended in the air.
Isla-Dove's mouth was watering before the basket even got to the windowsill. She closed her eyes as she took in the smell.
"Enjoy!" Marina called in a whisper.
"Thank you, you're the best!" she whispered back. She really was.
Once Marina disappeared into the night, Isla-Dove gently closed the window and sat on the ground by the rickety bed with the basket on her lap. She had a dimly lit lamp on the crooked bedside table and used its light to navigate the food. She pulled out a chunk of ham. As it touched her tastebuds, she leaned back against the bed, her body relaxing. It was honey roasted ham, a meat that Marina was an expert at cooking.
As she ate the food, she realized there was a canister of water at the bottom of the basket too. A smile spread across her face. She owed Marina so much.
The food and water energized Isla-Dove enough to where she felt motivated to slip down the stairs and assess the fabrics available to remake the queen's gown. She grabbed her lamp and inhaled deeply, tentatively lowering her foot onto the first step. It creaked softly. She winced. Miss Capen slept in a room adjacent to the craft area. If she heard any noise, Isla-Dove would have no time to hurry back upstairs before she opened the bedroom door.
She carefully made her way down the rest of the steps, taking extra time so that she didn't accidentally slip and fall. Once she made it to the bottom, she used her lamp to illuminate the lines of fabric neatly stacked across several shelves before realizing that she needed the sketchbook first to be certain of the exact fabrics and seaming patterns for the gown.
She retrieved the sketchbook from its normal location propped against Miss Capen's prized trophy. She won it as a teenager, being the fastest seamstress to sew a gown that year. Isla-Dove flipped through the pages, squinting as she reached the gown design for the queen. She held the book close to her lamp, studying the sketch and reading Miss Capen's scrawled notes.
She looked over all of the fabrics, trying to find the right ones. Only after three searches did she realize that Miss Capen no longer had the fabrics for the gown.
Isla-Dove quickly sat down on the workbench before she passed out, a lump of worry in her throat. She had to go purchase the fabrics, which also meant that she had to take the sketchbook with her to make sure she purchased the correct ones. She looked at Miss Capen's bedroom door. Hopefully the seamstress would be working elsewhere the following day.
🗡🦄🗡
Isla-Dove awoke slowly, vision blurry as she sat up in bed. It took her a moment to register that a basket was on the ground, along with a note. She recognized her own handwriting. She picked it up, waiting for her head to clear from its fatigue, before she read it.
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