The Pieces Adorned

Inquire

"Miss Aurora, have you finished that gown for me?" The red-haired girl looked up from her sewing when she heard the voice.

"Hello, Lady Anders. Yes, I have it finished up." Aurora smiled and quickly went over to the large wardrobe and pulled out the emerald dress out and handed over to Lady Anders.

"Well, it seems you have outdone yourself once again. Here's your payment. I'll be returning next month for a new dress. I'll send the details in a few days," the woman said before handing it off to her handmaid.

"I'll be ready. Have a wonderful party, Lady Anders." Aurora saw the noblewoman out and went back to work on the dress shirt she was making for Lord Byron.

You see, Aurora is the village seamstress and she had made a name for herself over the years since she first began. She took up the seamstress job after her mother's hands wouldn't allow her to anymore. Aurora now mainly does jobs for the nobility. She makes more money so that she can take care of her mother who over the last few years has grown more and more ill.

"Who was that Sunshine?" Aurora's mother slowly inched her way into the front room where they ran the business.

"It was just Lady Anders. Mama, you really shouldn't be moving around too much. You had that really nasty fall last week." Aurora stood up and helped her mother into the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"I can't stand being in that room alone. I like seeing the people and seeing you," her mother said before pulling out her little leather-bound journal that she kept by her chair.

"I know Mama." Aurora shook her head at her stubborn mother and turned back to the dress shirt.

~~~

Hours passed, as Aurora and her mother stayed in the front room enjoying each others' company as they worked on their respective projects. Some of the village people have wondered in every now and then to talk with them just like any other normal day. Aurora enjoys when people come in and chat with them. She and her mother rarely get out. Aurora only goes out when they need food and supplies.

The mail carrier came by and Aurora's mother was going through it. Most of it was either thank you letters for their pieces or business inquiries.

"Oh look. It's a thank you letter from Princess Rhew. She says she's really grateful for the dress you made her. Apparently the dress made her entire eighteenth birthday ball the absolute best as she puts it."

"We'll send her a letter back. It honestly was probably my favorite dress to make in a long time." She said back as she finished up the last seam of the shirt for Lord Byron.

"Sunshine, my medicines are getting low. Will you go by Clarence's and pick up some more?" Her mother asked and Aurora nodded as she grabbed her leather coin pouch, a basket, and then her cloak that is decorated in silver moons and stars.

"I'll also pick up some items for dinner tonight. I'll go down to the north end of the village and get some of the good meat and bread. We got paid today and Lord Byron is coming by tomorrow for his shirt." Aurora smiled and gently kissed her mother on the head.

"Oh, that would be wonderful. I'll get the fire started for a good hearty stew." Her mother stiffly stood up before slowly making her way back into the main house.

"I'll be quick. Be careful while I'm out Mama." Aurora called out before exiting the front door.

The walk to the north end of town was a good twenty or thirty minus on foot. It was late in the afternoon, Aurora head to hurry if she wanted to make it to the market and back home before it got too dark. As much as she loved the village, she knew the kinds of people who lurked in the darkened alleyways of the town after dark.