Spooks and Shadows

9) First Meeting

         

    

Port Duvant was the name of the capital of Halloween Kingdom, apparently. The kingdom was very vast, containing numerous cities, towns, and villages. Port Duvant itself was large enough, it would take a day of travel to even leave the borders of the capital. This was where the royal family and the Nobles lived. I spent the morning reading bits and pieces of information the House of Justice held then finally slept when exhaustion took over.

Pelly and Abentha flanked me on either side as we ambled past the crowd of shoppers in Batcave Market. Despite its name, it was not a bat cave. It was a thriving market filled with numerous stores selling who-knows-what. It wasn't very far from Corpse Palace and it was teeming with Malums. Leafless trees and exotic flowers dotted the paths and I took care to avoid the ones that moved. There were normal stores selling books, leathers, and wares but did not have normal storeowners. I was past the initial fright, thankfully. Now I gazed at the creatures with indifference and even managed to smile at a storeowner who gave me a toothy grin—fangs and all.

As soon as night came and the servants roused me, Miss Feckelton made a fuss and immediately ordered me bathed and dressed to meet with the Arachnid for the dress for tomorrow's event and so here we were, making our way towards the "kingdom's finest tailor", as she put it.

Pelly guided me past a bakery with abnormal cakes displayed on cases, a large store with a menagerie of weird creatures I have never seen before despite frequenting Animal Planet, and a grocer selling dragon and snake eggs just beside the—to my surprise—fruits like plums, mangoes and raspberries. I did not dream of seeing those here. I made a mental note to buy some after this. A few blocks over, there were stores selling potions, perfumes, and strange concoctions that made my stomach roil. One store owned by a vampire sold an assortment of bloodtea flavors.

Finally, we stopped in front of a storefront that said COBWEB DRESSES AND MILLINERY- THE FINEST IN ALL OF HALLOWEEN. The store was very small, to my surprise. If this was their version of Louis Vuitton, I expected it to be at least six meters wide. Instead, it was cramped between a bakery and a bookstore. Other than the sign hanging, there was no telltale indication this was a dress shop. I had my doubts until Pelly pushed the door open and the chime tinkled, signaling our arrival.

The array of dresses on either side of the room, facing each other, was very exquisite. It contained all colors you could imagine, made with excellent materials and woven with undeniable skill. In the middle of the room was a very long table cluttered with tape measure, sewing machine, pins and scissors and unfinished hats and I realized all of these beautiful creations were handmade. Magda would have cried at the sight of them.

I touched the dress to my right, worn by a mannequin, and I let the feel of the fabric touch my skin. It was very soft and delicate.

Behind me, Abentha sighed dreamily.

"This is very beautiful," I remarked.

"Of course, my lady. No fabric could possibly rival a spider's thread."

I turned to her, astonished. "They're made of spider's thread?"

"Well, yes. The Arachnid makes her own fabric. That's what makes it so extraordinary and unfortunately very expensive."

As if on cue, a large, hairy leg just appeared from the corner followed by more legs until a spider five feet tall stood in the middle of the room, its numerous eyes focused entirely at me. Now I realized with a dread that 'the Arachnid' wasn't some fancy title. The kingdom's finest tailor was literally an arachnid—a spider to be specific.