Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
T he journey in the city is short. A luxurious carriage with the Duke of Sigmore's crest takes us to the seamstress's shop. As we step inside the shop, a bell rings, announcing our arrival.
"Lady Sigmore, I was expecting you." A middle-aged woman comes forward to greet us. She has a sweet smile on her face as she regards Wyn with eyes crinkling with warmth. Wyn takes her hands in hers, returning the smile, and a few other women in the back glare at her daring gesture.
"Wyn," Thea whispers, pinching her sister. "People are watching."
Wyn's smile becomes strained as she lets go of the woman's hands.
"This is my sister, Thea, and her friend, Luce," Wyn introduces us in a polite tone.
"Welcome. Please come in. The dress is in the back," she says, motioning us to follow her.
As we head to the back of the shop, I let my gaze roam around. The walls are draped in various colored fabrics, with a few gowns displayed on mannequins on each side of the shop. The materials appear luxurious, the gowns on display absolutely breathtaking. In particular, my eyes stray to a purple one with black flowers embroidered all over the bodice.
The other seamstresses stare at us, their countenances stiff and unfriendly. They barely nod at us as we pass by them, turning to whisper amongst themselves.
"Let's try the dress on, shall we? I've finished adding the details you asked me for last time," the seamstress adds as she ushers Wyn into the changing room.
Thea and I remain behind, wanting to give her and the seamstress enough space to get dressed and adjust the gown.
The seamstress gives us a pleasant smile before she closes the door to the changing room, assuring us Wyn will be back shortly to show us her gown.
"I'm so excited, Luce," Thea murmurs, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. "I can't believe my Wyn is already an adult."
"What happened this morning? If it's okay for you to tell me."
"Wyn's ryoku? I forgot you're not familiar with our ways. It means her body has reached full maturity and her main abilities are manifesting," she explains with a sigh. "She will soon start her qualifying exams and in no time, she will have offers from all eligible bachelors..."
"She doesn't seem very keen on that considering her infatuation with Aethon." I smile, remembering how I was at her age—just as infatuated with Nikki.
Thea's expression falls.
"Please do not mention him again in her presence. I don't want her to entertain the possibility that..." She takes a deep breath. "He is not for her. She will understand that eventually."
I don't reply, though I very much doubt it. I saw the way Wyn's expression changed the moment she mentioned Aethon's name. The girl is in love with him.
The door to the changing room opens and Wyn steps out in a majestic light blue gown. The bodice is the shape of a heart, a corset hugging her torso. Two dark blue straps mold to her shoulders, the sleeves a shimmery but sheer material that falls down her arms, leading to the floor. A pretty dark blue bow is wrapped around her waist, after which the skirt flares in a bell shape. The top layer is made of the same light blue as the bodice, but underneath there are three other layers of tulle, all a darker blue.
The pièce de résistance, however, is the embroidery. There's a dark blue dragon that starts from the base of the skirt, coiling up her body until it reaches her chest, its head resting lovingly on top of her breasts.
"Wyn...you..." Thea's eyes widen as she takes in her sister.
Wyn has a guilty expression on her face as she averts her gaze, looking down at her dress and biting her lip.
"This is absolutely gorgeous," I say, still in awe.
"It is not." Thea grits her teeth. "Do you realize that everyone will know the reference, Wyn?"
"I... I like it," Wyn whispers softly.
"Take it off," Thea suddenly demands. "Take it off and burn it. If anyone sees this... Goodness, Wyn, you will be disgraced before you even make your debut."
Wyn blinks back tears as she glances at her sister, her hands fidgeting uncomfortably in front of her.
"Did my mother approve this?" she asks the seamstress.
"Y-yes," she answers meekly.
"Oh, I don't think so. She didn't see the embroidery, did she?" Thea asks in a cutting voice.
"What's going on?" I whisper.
"Aethon is not just one of the most celebrated generals of Aperion," she starts in a scathing tone. "He is also the only blue dragon in existence. That, right there"—she points to the embroidery—"is the boldest statement I've ever seen. And I won't be the only one to think so. You promised me, Wyn," Thea adds in exasperation. "This will ruin your reputation. Take it off."
Wyn shakes her head.
"It's my ball, Thea," she protests. "I thought at least you would support me."
"Wyn, I would support you in anything but this. Not when it's your reputation at stake."
The bell to the shop rings. Glancing at the door, I note three women coming inside, all dressed in expensive dresses, their features stained by arrogance as they barely spare a glance at the staff.
The middle one, a dark-haired woman around my age, scans the shop until her gaze lands on Thea and Wyn, her dark blue eyes gleaming insidiously.
Her lips twitch as she gives a signal to the other two girls to follow her.
"Mrs. Bali, I specifically requested this time for my appointment," she starts in a haughty tone, her eyes narrowed at the seamstress currently helping Wyn with her dress.
"Your Highness, I am sorry. I already told you I was booked for this hour. Lady Sigmore will not take much longer. Why don't you come back in an hour? I will be able to attend you then."
"No," she replies resolutely. "I want to have my fitting now."
"Your Highness, as you can see, I am busy with a client..."
"Her?" The woman cuts her off as she assesses Wyn's gown, the corners of her mouth curling in disgust. "You might as well cut your appointment short. There's nothing anyone can do that is going to spare her the embarrassment with that gown."
"Elora..." Wyn seethes, her hands balled into fists. "You're going too far."
"Am I?" Elora smirks. "I'm not the one commissioning a gown with a blue dragon for my debut." She laughs. "As if General Aethon would ever look at someone like you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Thea intervenes, taking a step forward.
"Stay out of this, Thea." Wyn shakes her head at Thea. "This is between me and Elora."
"And the entire Aperion that will laugh at you." Elora rolls her eyes.
"You're just jealous my brother happens to be Aethon's best friend, and he's going to come to my ball. I doubt he'll come to yours," Wyn says as she pushes her chin up.
"You—"
"What was it in that letter that you sent him? Dear General Aethon, it would please me immensely to invite you to my debut ball. It is going to be the grandest ball Arche has ever seen... "
Elora's eyes widen. "How did you?—"
"This?" Wyn raises an eyebrow as she opens her palm, materializing a stack of letters. "Sorry to say they got lost in the mail." She smiles.
"Damnation! Wyn's going to be in so much trouble," Thea mutters under her breath.
"I think she rather reminds me of someone I know," I add jokingly.
Elora moves to grab the letters, but Wyn takes a step back, holding her hand higher as the letters turn to dust.
"Oops. I do not think General Aethon is going to be able to come to your ball, Elora. Such a pity. But rest assured, I'll put in a good word for you when he claims the first dance. I'll tell him all about you."
Elora's chest rises and falls in frustration, anger evident in her features.
"Don't tell me they're fighting for a man," I whisper to Thea.
"It would appear so. It seems I have not been watching Wyn as closely as I should have." She grits her teeth, her body tense.
"You are going to regret this, Arwyn. My father will hear of this." Elora points her finger at Wyn, her nostrils flaring.
Wyn rolls her eyes. "Promises, promises. You might outrank me, Elora, but that doesn't mean I don't smell the jealousy off you from a mile away. You knew I was going to have my fitting today, at this hour. So you decided to bring your sour self here to ruin my day. Well, guess what? You've merely given me a boost of confidence because I just remembered that I have no competition for Aethon."
"You fucking bitch!" Elora rages before she throws herself at Wyn, removing a pin from her hair and slashing at her dress. Pieces of tulle fall to the ground, the body of the majestic blue dragon ripped apart.
Wyn's surprised gasp echoes through the shop as she stares at the torn embroidery. Her lips quiver, her lashes misted with tears.
"Let go of me." She pushes at Elora, doing her best to avoid getting nicked by the dagger-like pin.
"Oh, no, no. You're not doing that," Thea curses before she intervenes to pull them apart.
Elora swivels, her eyes connecting with Thea's as she waves her sharp pin around.
"Ladies, please!" the seamstress calls out in distress from behind.
"What are you going to do, Erithea? Everyone knows you're the useless one," Elora spits out.
Thea's features become tense as she morphs her hand into claws, blocking the pin from cutting her face.
With Elora distracted by Thea, Wyn grabs a handful of Elora's hair, her fingers lodging into her scalp.
"Ah!" Elora yelps, her eyes watering. But that only prompts her to become more aggressive, slashing blindly at Thea with one hand while punching Wyn with the other to free herself. Their positions are awkward, and neither can land a good blow on the other.
Seeing that there are two against one in the fight, the other girls accompanying Elora rush forward to help. One of them tries to get Wyn's hand out of Elora's hair while the other attempts to push Thea off.
There's a cacophony of gasps, whines, and moans as they all get tangled within each other. One of the girls gets her hand in Wyn's hair, pulling on it. Wyn winces and she pulls even harder on Elora's hair, her fingers turning white from the deadly grip she has on it.
"Bitch," Wyn yells. "You're going to pay for ruining my dress," she vows, twisting her neck to push the other girl off her. She suddenly releases her grip on Elora's hair, but she doesn't let go. A black smoke erupts from the center of her palm, enveloping Elora's hair and turning it into ash, tip to root. Just like the letters, her hair disintegrates until there's nothing left.
Elora shrieks loudly, the other two girls joining in as they hit right and left, trying to land any blow on Wyn and Thea.
I bite my lip as I debate what I can do, being the only human in here. A glint of metal makes my decision for me as I notice one of the other girls grab a pair of scissors and aim it straight at Wyn's face.
"Watch out," I shout, pushing Wyn out of the way and inserting myself between her and the attacker.
My eyes widen as I watch the descent of her arm in slow motion, the sharp tip of the scissors gleaming menacingly as it nears my face. My breathing intensifies and I flinch back as the girl aims for my cheek.
Yet the blow doesn't come.
I blink repeatedly as I stare at the black drops of blood dripping to the ground. The scissors have perforated a hand, going through one side and coming out through the other. Slowly, I gaze up to see Ze next to us, his arm extended, his hand protecting my face from the attack.
The fight immediately ceases. Silence descends in the shop as they all gawk at him.
Grabbing the pair of scissors from the girl, he wrenches it out of his hand and drops it to the ground. His flesh starts mending, his skin knitting together until there's no blemish left.
"Ze..." I whisper.
His jaw is clenched tightly as he stares down at the three girls.
"Is that..."
"Commander Azerius," Elora whimpers.
"The God Killer," the other girl mutters in a low voice, her face going white.
Elora turns to him, tears falling down her cheeks as she rubs her bald head.
"Good thing you are here, Commander. She... She destroyed my hair. Punish her!" she demands in an authoritative tone as she points at Wyn. "I command you to?—"
Ze grabs two of the girls by their napes and flings them across the room. They hit the wall with a thud, sliding down to the floor, unmoving.
There's only Elora left standing, and she's slowly realizing that Ze is not there to help her.
He raises a brow at her, and without exerting any strength, he reaches with his arm and pokes her forehead, the strength of the blow sending her flying to the back where she joins her friends on the floor.
Ze takes a step forward, clearly not done with them.
"You... You can't do this. You're not allowed to hurt us," Elora whimpers, clutching onto her arm that appears to be dislocated.
The girls huddle together as they cower from Ze. His expression is tight and unyielding, a murderous aura surrounding him. Purple tendrils of energy swirl around him.
"You'll pay for this. My father will have your head," Elora continues, using her good hand to summon a blast that she sends toward Ze. He merely opens his palm, absorbing the brunt of it before the energy dissipates around him.
His nostrils flare dangerously as he takes a step forward.
"That's enough, Ze," I whisper as I grab his sleeve.
He slowly turns his head to look at me, his eyes narrowed.
"I'm fine. We're fine," I say as I point to Thea and Wyn.
Thea snickers as she dusts her clothes, glaring angrily at Elora.
"For once, I'm happy to see you, Ze," she mumbles before she turns her attention to her sister. Wyn is wiping her tears as she glances down at her ruined dress. I doubt there's much that can be done with the amount of damage Elora did to it. The embroidery is mostly destroyed, the layers torn. The bodice is relatively unharmed, but the sleeves have also been slashed.
"It's okay, Wyn. We'll get you another dress," Thea tries to comfort her.
She sniffles as she shakes her head.
"You have no idea how long we've been working on this dress." She swallows, a sob lodged in her throat. "It was supposed to be special. Aethon was supposed to see me in it and..." She squeezes her eyes shut.
"Aethon?" Ze swivels, raising a brow at her. "Why are you bringing up my general?"
"Don't worry about it, Ze. It's nothing."
He doesn't listen to Thea, striding to Wyn and looming over her.
"If she has information about Aethon, I must know it."
"She doesn't. She?—"
"I'm going to be his mate," Wyn declares, bringing the back of her hand to wipe her tears. "Aethon will be mine. Just you wait and see. All of you," she states confidently as she glances at Elora.
"You are going to be Aethon's mate?" He raises a brow at her before he gives a dry laugh. "You are not very bright, are you? Just like your"—his gaze strays to Thea—"sister."
"Ze, please don't." I pull on his sleeve, whispering in a low voice. "You promised you'd be nice."
He pauses for a moment, deep in thought.
"I do not recall such a promise. My vow did not include that." He clicks his tongue, his gaze boring into Wyn.
Elora and her friends take advantage of this moment to slither past us and run out of the shop, but not before promising retribution for her hair—I assume also the humiliation. "My father will hear of this," Elora yells as the bell rings again to announce their departure.
Ze doesn't bat an eye at the threat. In fact, I'm surprised he let them leave so easily.
Maybe there's still hope for him...
"Tell me what you know of Aethon!" he demands sharply. "When did you last see him?"
"I..." Wyn bites her lip, blinking slowly.
"Leave her alone, Ze. She's just infatuated with him. He barely knows she exists," Thea intervenes.
"Is that so... I suppose that makes sense since the Supremes have already found a mate for him. If he is not already dead, that is."
Thea appears to be surprised by his words while Wyn looks stricken.
I retract my words. There is absolutely no hope for him.
"W-what?" Wyn's eyes widen, her lips trembling with fear.
"Don't listen to him." Thea pats her on her shoulder before turning to glare at him. "Stop this, Ze. Aethon can't be dead. He's as strong as you are."
He smirks. "Debatable."
" Ze ," I groan.
He pulls me closer to him, keeping me glued to his side as his arm slides over my shoulders.
"What are you talking about? Why would Aethon be dead?" Wyn asks in a shaky voice. Tears cling to her lashes and she's on the verge of breaking down. If the fight with Elora didn't rattle her as much, this most certainly will.
"Ze, can't you just let this go? For bonus points?" I suggest, hoping he'd take the bait and leave the poor girl alone. Her dress is already destroyed. She doesn't need to find out that her crush is missing in action, or worse, that he already has a mate waiting for him when he gets home.
Ze's lashes flutter and he finally gives me his full attention.
"Extra points? Will you give me extra points again?"
I nod.
He stares at me.
"Good. For ninety-one extra points, I shall stop."
"Ninety-one?" I blink.
"I must recover my losses." He shrugs.
"Fine, you got it. Now let's go," I mutter as I try to steer him out of the shop. "Sorry about this." I give Thea a strained smile. "I'll find my way back to the house with Ze. I think you two need some time alone."
Thea nods, her expression worried.
In a lower voice, I whisper, "I think you should tell her that he's missing. She'll be even more disappointed when he doesn't show up for her ball."
She purses her lips, expelling a deep breath.
"You're right. Thank you, Luce. I'll see you later."
I incline my head and, leaving the two of them behind, I drag Ze with me out of the shop.
God, but the man doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. And ninety-one points? That was stretching it and he knows it, especially with the smug smile he has plastered on his face.