Read Online Fragile Destiny (The Aether Chronicles) by Suzanne Lazear - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Suzanne Lazear
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and dresses in progress and deliver them to their rightful owners, since her mother only made dresses to order. There probably wasn’t money to give back people’s deposits. Some dresses were naught but a basket of fabric and trims.
Noli.
Noli stopped and turned. She was completely alone in the shop. “Who are you? Why are you talking to me?”
You’re so silly. There’s no one here but us, the sprite told her.
It’s not the shinies talking? she replied.
The sprite paused. There are no shinies here.
No, there weren’t. For a moment she buried her face in her hands. Yes, she’d gone around the bend. That was the only explanation. Even the sprite thought so.
You think too much. Let’s go shopping, the sprite suggested.
She pushed the sprite away, along with thoughts of strange voices and madness, and opened the parcels that had never been opened. Still, something wasn’t right.
Also, the feeling that she needed to steal the gem drove her like someone might drive an auto. Jeff was now saying that she couldn’t steal the gem, having made a quick stop earlier at the museum. It only made her more determined to be successful.
With a sigh, she opened another parcel. “Oooh.” Lengths of imported silk brocade slipped through her fingertips. “Who did Mama order this for?”
We should make a dress from that, the sprite told her. We’ll be so pretty.
I can’t sew a dress in two days, especially out of that. But it was lovely. Besides, burgundy isn’t my color.
We look pretty in any color, the sprite retorted. Is silk a plant?
Blinking, she opened another parcel, this filled with gold lace from France. No, silk comes from worms.
Oh. I’m not sure we’re good with animals, but we could be. We could try making a dress with magic. Let’s see what else there is. I have an idea.
Noli thought for a moment. Make a dress with magic?
Please? Can we try? If we fail, we’ll just fix something else. We can use the burgundy brocade and see what other things we can find, perhaps some rosettes … and more lace. Lots of lace. And ruffles. We need a corset to go over the dress …
We can’t wear a corset over our clothes here. Remember what Missy said yesterday? Noli replied.
And that is why we should. We’re going to make her so mad. We’ll be so pretty.
It had been a while since she’d seen the sprite this happy. The idea of making Missy jealous sounded … fun. All right, we’ll try for a little while.
Noli went through all the various materials Mama had in the shop, assembling whatever the sprite wanted into a big pile, which included the brocade and lace.
May I have the body, please? the sprite pleaded. I’ll give it back. I … I don’t know if I can do it with you in the body, I think it would be faster to just do it myself.
Certainly, as long as you give it back. Noli relinquished control of the sprite and watched, so she could figure out what the sprite was doing and replicate it.
The sprite shaped fabric around one of the dress forms, molding it the way a sculptor might work with clay, literally merging the material together.
Is it pretty? The sprite preened at her handiwork.
It is. It wasn’t actually something she’d want to wear, but not because it was ugly. The underskirt was cream silk and trimmed in gold lace, topped with the burgundy brocade, swathes of the gold lace from France, and brocade rosettes. It was … a lot. The giant skirt could easily hide several small children. The dress also had a train. Her eyes focused on the daring décolletage, trimmed in gold lace, which was most definitely … French.
Noli took back the body and examined the dress. There were no seams. Not even something allowing her to put the dress on. However, that was something she could handle. Perhaps she could find a way to get rid of the rosettes without the sprite getting upset.
Should we see if we can find accessories? the sprite suggested.
I have plenty of fascinators and gloves. But we can’t
Noli.
Noli stopped and turned. She was completely alone in the shop. “Who are you? Why are you talking to me?”
You’re so silly. There’s no one here but us, the sprite told her.
It’s not the shinies talking? she replied.
The sprite paused. There are no shinies here.
No, there weren’t. For a moment she buried her face in her hands. Yes, she’d gone around the bend. That was the only explanation. Even the sprite thought so.
You think too much. Let’s go shopping, the sprite suggested.
She pushed the sprite away, along with thoughts of strange voices and madness, and opened the parcels that had never been opened. Still, something wasn’t right.
Also, the feeling that she needed to steal the gem drove her like someone might drive an auto. Jeff was now saying that she couldn’t steal the gem, having made a quick stop earlier at the museum. It only made her more determined to be successful.
With a sigh, she opened another parcel. “Oooh.” Lengths of imported silk brocade slipped through her fingertips. “Who did Mama order this for?”
We should make a dress from that, the sprite told her. We’ll be so pretty.
I can’t sew a dress in two days, especially out of that. But it was lovely. Besides, burgundy isn’t my color.
We look pretty in any color, the sprite retorted. Is silk a plant?
Blinking, she opened another parcel, this filled with gold lace from France. No, silk comes from worms.
Oh. I’m not sure we’re good with animals, but we could be. We could try making a dress with magic. Let’s see what else there is. I have an idea.
Noli thought for a moment. Make a dress with magic?
Please? Can we try? If we fail, we’ll just fix something else. We can use the burgundy brocade and see what other things we can find, perhaps some rosettes … and more lace. Lots of lace. And ruffles. We need a corset to go over the dress …
We can’t wear a corset over our clothes here. Remember what Missy said yesterday? Noli replied.
And that is why we should. We’re going to make her so mad. We’ll be so pretty.
It had been a while since she’d seen the sprite this happy. The idea of making Missy jealous sounded … fun. All right, we’ll try for a little while.
Noli went through all the various materials Mama had in the shop, assembling whatever the sprite wanted into a big pile, which included the brocade and lace.
May I have the body, please? the sprite pleaded. I’ll give it back. I … I don’t know if I can do it with you in the body, I think it would be faster to just do it myself.
Certainly, as long as you give it back. Noli relinquished control of the sprite and watched, so she could figure out what the sprite was doing and replicate it.
The sprite shaped fabric around one of the dress forms, molding it the way a sculptor might work with clay, literally merging the material together.
Is it pretty? The sprite preened at her handiwork.
It is. It wasn’t actually something she’d want to wear, but not because it was ugly. The underskirt was cream silk and trimmed in gold lace, topped with the burgundy brocade, swathes of the gold lace from France, and brocade rosettes. It was … a lot. The giant skirt could easily hide several small children. The dress also had a train. Her eyes focused on the daring décolletage, trimmed in gold lace, which was most definitely … French.
Noli took back the body and examined the dress. There were no seams. Not even something allowing her to put the dress on. However, that was something she could handle. Perhaps she could find a way to get rid of the rosettes without the sprite getting upset.
Should we see if we can find accessories? the sprite suggested.
I have plenty of fascinators and gloves. But we can’t
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