Sage in the Sea

Nerves

The wedding dress was gorgeous, yet heavy. There were five skirts layered onto of one another, each made of a different fabric, with wool on the bottom and lace on the top. The silk top covered all of the scars on my body. The skirts were still a little long and I stood still as Ellis put pins in them so she could hem it. She was chattering of the other girls dresses, how they were not nearly extravagant as the one I was wearing, yet they were all gorgeous and looked perfect on each of the girls despite them not having picked it out.

Perhaps that was why the queen kept Ellis as her seamstress and dressmaker. She could look at a girl and her body and pick the perfect dress without fail. Of course, the woman had made hundreds of dresses in her life for girls from the Bycgan. It was not even the first time that she had made a dress for a princess. She had made Freya's dress when she had married Austen, despite the wedding being in Agroden. Perhaps it was to keep the peace, and the traditions, between the two families.

I did not know. I only did what I was told, which was to stand still so that I did not get a needle accidentally thrust into my leg.

Freya was still in the sitting room, watching curiously as she and Ellis caught up. Ellis had made most of Freya's dresses when she had been in Etuch. Freya had often played with Ellis' daughter while Ellis created the queen's dresses. I wondered if Ellis' daughter had been subjected to the Bycgan, but I was afraid to ask, mostly because I feared that the answer was worse than the Bycgan.

Miriam entered with a note from Piers for me, explaining that he had taken care of the issue with the servants and with Shamus for me.

I was thankful that Piers seemed to have put the investigation into Shamus' whereabouts on hold for the time being. There were more important matters at hand, in my opinion, than looking for my believed to be, but not actually missing brother.

"Okay, you can step out of the dress, dear, and I shall work on hemming it. We will try it on again and see if it fits before I leave for the day," Ellis said as she untied the back. Freya held out her hand to help me out of the dress and Miriam helped me into my robe.

I tied the sash tightly around me before I sat down on a chair, watching Ellis set to work on hemming the dress. "Have you ever done any work for the king, Ellis?"

She nodded, smiling softly, but not looking up from her work. "Oh, I've done a lot of work for the king, just as I have for your fiancé. He is...He is a tough man to deal with, but I never had any issues with him."

"No?" I asked. She nodded, glancing up at me and then back down at the dress. "So, your daughter was spared from the Bycgan?"

"Yes, it was a conflict of interest since she was so well-known within the royal court," Ellis replied. "She currently works as a mistress for some children of the court judges."

"You don't say," I mused, pursing my lips. Perhaps one of those children was Fergus' son. "Would you happen to know if any of them were adopted?"

Freya glanced at me, arching an eyebrow. I gave her a small shrug, and kept my eyes on Ellis. Ellis stopped, looking up in thought.

"I believe that one of them was adopted when he was born. His parents were unable to care for him for some reason."

"Would you happen to know his name?" I asked. She bent back over the dress.

"I believe that his name was Andres," she said. "My daughter just adores him. I think he is about seven years old. His parents were young when he was born, if I remember correctly."

"Intriguing," I murmured. Freya was watching me more carefully now. "Well, I am glad to hear that he is in a good home."

"Yes, he is in a splendid home indeed," she replied with a smile.