Second-Hand Dresses

Chapter 8: Waiting

Fear that man who stands in shadows but never steps out into the light.

—Xartis Povaldin

After a night of disturbing dreams, Lily woke up with a gasp of relief. She reached out for the familiar end table she grew up with as a teenager but her questing fingers brushed against a wooden surface a few inches too high. Still dazed from waking up, she felt a pang of fear realizing she wasn't in her home.

She sat up with a frown and stared at the unfamiliar yellow and cream walls.

The nightmares were fading quickly. Images flashed across her mind of the various scenes that had haunted her: Nirih's dress falling apart during the show, Kendrick and Hasan dueling naked in front of all of High Society, and her being endlessly kicked out of her mother's house.

It took her a moment to remember that she had moved. Even after a week, the frustration and sorrow threatened to rise up in the back of her throat. Night by night, day by day, the room grew more familiar. She lifted her hand slightly and ran along the carved wooden surface of the end table and picked up her schedule book.

It was Nondei, the sixth and last day of the week. No business was open which means she could spend the entire day to work on Nirih's dress without interruption.

Lily frowned at herself. The entire week had been wasted with her inability to design a proper outfit. She had broken down on Cibdei to work on some of the other dresses but the approaching deadlines for the critical dress loomed over her thoughts.

Smiling grimly, she pushed herself out of bed and started to get dress. Twenty minutes later, she was humming a few bars of a popular melody as she sat at one of the dining room chairs and pulled on her low-cut boots.

Like all women of Society, she wore a dress whenever she considered going outside. It wouldn't be seemly to be outfitted like a child or a man. Since the store would be closed for the day, she decided to wear a comfortable outfit of flowing material that draped from her shoulders and hips instead of the more formal outfits that required a bustle or a hoop. The material of her sun dress fluttered with her every movement, the intricate pattern of flowers and vines dancing along her pale skin.

Lily loved the outfit, it reminded her of the breezy materials she wore as a little girl, long before she became a debutante.

She finished lacing up her boots and looked them over. The black leather didn't match the yellow floral pattern of her skirt. With a shrug, she reached down and stroked her palm against the warm material. Instantly, the black melted away into a lemon wash that brought out the delicate embroidery of her skirt. Her smile grew as the magic seeped through the stitched eye-holes and up along the laces, coloring it to the exact shade of the flowers in her dress.

Lily reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, changing the strands to an array of different blondes with hints of lemon to match her outfit. It had been years since she had a natural color, but unlike Djulian's bland, magical coloring, she used a variety of different shades to give the impression of natural tones.

Satisfied, she stood up and grabbed a heavy bag and swept it over her shoulder. It had leftovers from the previous night, nestled inside a frozen canvas pouch. It would weigh her down for the trip to the store but she wouldn't have to leave the store for lunch.

Her stomach rumbled to remind her that she had skimped on breakfast, but she decided to pick up a few treats on the way to her store; the jems in her bag clinked together as she pictured the honey cream pastries she discovered a few days ago.

On the table next to her, she had a dark blue hat with two plumes of feathers and a few coils of silk along the brim. She hoisted her bag on her shoulder and picked up the hat, coloring it to match her dress as she set it on her head.