Ariadne has always been a dreamer. Her mother would always say she was away with the faeries.
Until one night, an envelope shrouded with magic lands at her doorstep, inviting her to the dance of the damned in the enchanting land of Altoria.
It's m...
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"You might be able to hide it from him," Kendra turned over Ariadne's hand and looked at the white ink sat against her pale skin.
Kendra could barely make out the crescent moon shape, denoting the bargain Ariadne had struck with a Moon Fae. Until she turned Ariadne's hand towards the light streaming in through the window, and the ink shimmered, making it more visible.
"Thank the God's you've got the palest skin I've ever seen," Kendra joked.
"Yeah, I guess being paper white has its moments," Ariadne covered her wrist with the cuff of her dress.
Kendra had laid out a simple, yet beautiful silver grey gown on her bed for her, and Ariadne had smiled when she saw it. The fabric was soft to her touch and carried an embossed pattern of swirls all over it. The pattern itself was stamped on the fabric, and Ariadne had traced the raised pattern with her fingers. The neckline glanced off the shoulders in a thick collar, while slim fitted sleeves ran the length of her arms, fastened with pearls at the wrists. The skirt flared gently over her hips and hovered over the top of Ariadne's toes.
"What material is this," Ariadne asked running her hands down her gown.
Kendra turned from putting something back in the open armoire, stepping around the giant doors. "It's velvet, Lady Ari.
"It's like nothing we have back in Lys," Ariadne's voice turned brooding.
"What do you mean?"
Ariadne turned and sat on the edge of her bed. The gown pooled around her and covered her feet. She gently lifted the substantial weight of her skirt, and her feet peeked out from underneath, she stared at her feet as she answered.
"Merchants sell their wares back home, there's mills and a few shops where materials are made by masters of the craft, but otherwise, fabrics of this calibre, they don't ever see the light of day."
"That's barbaric!" Kendra gasped.
"Not really, we are limited by trade shipments and trade agreements forged by whatever treaties the kingdom is currently obliged to keep. No fabric like this exists."
"Don't tell me you miss it?" Kendra walked back from the armoire and sat at Ariadne's side.
Ariadne looked down at her hands clasped in her lap.
"I'm sorry, my lady. I didn't mean-" Kendra quickly apologised, bumping shoulders with Ariadne.
"No... It's ok. The truth is I do miss Lys, but with my mother gone, nothing is left for me there."
"That's why finding your father is so important to you?" Kendra asked softly.
Ariadne nodded. Kendra gently took Ariadne's hand in her own and held it for a moment before she let it go.
"You are not alone. My mother abandoned me at birth, I'm told. A child raised by the Fae. The Fae that raised me had just lost a child of her own."
