Emily and the Seamstress

Over the next few days, Emily read Zephyr’s book cover-to-cover multiple times, making her own notes with a quill pen and parchment. Learning to use the quill and inkwell was a challenge, and she ruined several sheets of parchment in the process, but eventually she got the hang of it. How much easier it would have been, she mused, if she had been transported to Thessolan just after coming home from work—she always kept spare ballpoints in her bag. And, of course, she would have been fully dressed.

But Emily’s clothing troubles seemed finally behind her. She may have had to display herself to the entire pirate crew while fighting Richard, but she’d won, and now she was the captain of the Sea Serpent, which had on board as many spare clothes as she could want. They were all men’s clothes, shapeless and ill-fitting, and often quite worn, with holes and patches and missing buttons, but after everything she’d been through they made her feel dignified, human again. Entering the storeroom to pick out a new outfit, she felt like a wealthy heiress with a walk-in closet.

The ship was headed for the port town of Turon. Emily and Aria had sat down with First Mate Gideon and a map to make sure they set course for the port that would bring them closest to Lirethel, though it was an inland city and they would still have a long journey ahead.

Between the availability of extra clothing and Emily’s increased skill with the Stoneshell, she and Aria decided that it would be safe for her to practise with clothes on. But Emily was still careful not to dress in anything with loose ends that might catch a wandering flame. She adopted as her standard training outfit a sleeveless undershirt and a relatively tight-fitting pair of trousers. This did not deter idle crew members from watching every practise session.

After finding Richard’s emergency rock stash, Aria and Emily incorporated the Bronzeband into her training. Emily had found a few books about magical artifacts among Richard’s things, some of which were even referenced by Zephyr’s Stoneshell notes. The Bronzeband appeared a far less storied artifact than the Stoneshell—it was one of a few hundred, made by an unremarkable mage only a few decades ago. Its enchantment was quite simple and when not employed in levitating rock, it lay dormant. There was none of the psychic connection Emily felt with the Stoneshell.

It was also far more difficult to use. Emily gained a new respect for the things Richard had shown her after her first few practise sessions produced little more a couple of spinning stones. “It would be less effort to just pick these stones up with my hands than it is move them with magic,” Emily said, collapsing to the deck and wiping the sweat off her brow after a particularly taxing session.

“Then you see Richard’s advantage,” Aria replied. “For him, that was not an option.”

Emily thought back to sight of hands growing out of Richard’s stumps. She had not told Aria or Talyndra about the events of that night, as she still wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing. Richard was out there somewhere, without his magic perhaps, but strong, able-bodied and crafty. Also naked. But that had never stopped Emily so far, and he seemed far less shy about it. Men just didn’t have the same hangups about their bodies, she supposed.

“I don’t know why you humans love these artifacts so much,” Talyndra chimed in, emerging from below deck. “As soon as someone takes it off you, all your powers are gone.”

She was dressed in brown shorts and a short-sleeve white shirt. Her feet were bare. As human clothing was irritable to her skin, she preferred not to wear too much of it.

“Humans are not intrinsically magical beings,” said Aria. “We require artifacts to use magic at all.”

Talyndra smirked, making green lights dance around her fingers. “I think you lot just don’t try hard enough. Magic’s easy!”

“Says the elf who was captured by human pirates,” Emily returned, a little annoyed by Talyndra’s flippancy after she had spent an hour trying unsuccessfully to reshape a pebble. “And who was rescued by the Stoneshell Bearer.”

“I just… don’t perform so well at sea,” Talyndra said defensively, stumbling as the ship crested a wave. “Get me back to the deep woods and then you’ll see.”

“Well, what is a forest, then, but a really big artifact?” Emily asked. “I don’t think we’re so different after all.”

Talyndra muttered to herself and returned below deck, scratching a spot on her side.

Aria glided across the deck and, with a bit of effort as she was not accustomed to the position, sat down in front of Emily and looked her in the eyes. “What troubles you?”

Emily let out a deep sigh. “It’s… well… everything!”

Aria cocked a stone eyebrow. “Try to be more specific. I am here to listen.”

“Up until now, we’ve been on the move, busy with training, busy fighting all these terrible people who want to take the Stoneshell from me,” Emily began. “And I’ve been naked a lot, which makes it difficult to think of much else, worrying that people will see, and just feeling insecure and vulnerable all the time. And between walking miles every day, training in magic, I haven’t had a lot of time or energy to really process things. Until now. These last few days. Sure, I’ve been busy with the Stoneshell research, and our training, but we haven’t been walking everywhere, and I’ve been properly clothed. So I’ve had time for… contemplation.”

“That sounds like a good thing.”

“It is! I’d much rather be the captain of the pirate ship than a naked girl in the woods. But it’s a lot to process! Everything that’s happened! A month ago, I was just Emily Corlett, junior book-keeper at Greenville Auto, living in a rundown apartment with a flighty roommate. And now I’m Emily Stoneshell Bearer, heir to Evangeline, with this incredible magical power and all that comes with it! I’m trying to outrun people who want to use my power for evil, trying to figure out how I can help you and the other statues turn back into humans, trying to figure out what my purpose in this world is supposed to be!”

Emily clasped the Stoneshell pendant between her fingers. “And I know it’s an important one. But I’m not sure if I’m up to it. I’m a nobody! Before coming here, I struggled to even make rent every month. But I managed, and I was studying. And I had friends, and family, and they must all think something terrible happened to me! I have to get back to them, I have to!”

As if to punctuate this, a column of flame burst from the top of Emily’s head, blending with her chestnut locks.

“It sounds like you’re not really sure about that,” said Aria.

Emily looked down at the deck. “I was a nobody before. Here, I’m somebody. Here, I have a purpose. But back there, I have a loving mom and dad. I have a world I know and understand. My life wasn’t constantly being threatened. And I got to wear clothes a lot more often, I guess. That was good too.”

“Are we not going to Lirethel so as to find you a way back home?” asked Aria. “You will see your family again.”

“We’re going to have to make a few detours first. For your sake, and the other statues. I promised I would help you, and I’m not going anywhere else until that’s done.”

“Detours?”

“It’s all in Zephyr’s book. After Evangeline disappeared—nobody’s sure if she even died—the Stoneshell turned up hundreds of years later as a prize artifact of the Order of Mages. It had the potential to hold far more enchantments that Thurseus Irontail gave it, and so over the years, the mages added their own. The final enchantment Zephyr records, presumably made just before the Stoneshell was placed in the center of the Labyrinthine Pool, was the one that turned you and the others into statues.”

Aria nodded gravely. “I still remember the day it happened. Arctulus, tapping the necklace with his wand, and my whole body stiffening in the same instant.”

“The first part of that enchantment was broken when I put the Stoneshell around my neck,” said Emily. “And that only because I was the Stoneshell Bearer. That was the strongest part, what rendered you almost immobile and closed Castle Elid to the world. But the second part, that turned your skin and hair and garments to stone, that must be broken separately. According to Zephyr’s research, the only way to do it is to travel to a place called Paja Abbey. It’s a monastery to the east of Port Turon, Gideon showed it to me on the map.”

“Paja Abbey… I think that’s where the mage Arctulus studied,” said Aria, a faraway look in her eyes. “It’s a miracle that it still stands, so many years later.”

“There’s a ritual we need to perform there, Zephyr doesn’t know the details, but the monks should be able to help us. The most important thing is that the statues of Castle Elid should all be there.”

“I will send a carrier pigeon with the message as soon as we reach land,” said Aria. “The statues need neither food nor rest, and will be able to march nonstop to this Paja Abbey to meet us. They may even arrive before we do.”

Emily smiled. “Great. For the next few weeks, Paja Abbey is our focus.”

“And then? Once the enchantment is broken?”

“One thing at a time. If I can just focus on saving you, Aria, then I don’t have to think about any other decisions just yet.”

“Perhaps that is wise,” Aria said, but her expression betrayed her doubts. She placed a marble hand on Emily’s upper arm, just above the Bronzeband. “Please know that I will remain by your side and give you the aid I can, whatever decisions you make.”

“Thanks, Aria,” said Emily, pulling up into a hug. Though Aria’s stoney surface was just as cold and hard as ever, Emily found it comforting.

Strong winds over the next few days brought the Sea Serpent and its crew swiftly to Port Turon, and they docked with little trouble. The pirate flag had long been stowed away, so as far as anyone knew, the Sea Serpent was nothing more than a merchant ship.

Heads turned in the lively harbor as Emily disembarked, decked out in full, ill-fitting captain’s garb and accompanied on one side by a scantily clad wood elf and the other by a living statue. First Mate Gideon followed behind them, unnoticed.

It had already been decided that Emily would sell the ship. The crew would receive their pay from the proceeds, and were free to stay on with the new owner or find other work—there were few better places for this in all of Thessolan than Port Turon. Aria led the way in engaging potential buyers, which presented little challenge, as everyone in the area was eager to speak with the trio.

They soon found success with the servant of a wealthy merchant who assured them that his master would pay handsomely for such a fine vessel as the Sea Serpent. “I will fetch my master immediately,” he said. “After he has looked over your fine ship—a mere formality, if all you’ve told me is true—we shall rendezvous at the Mariner’s Respite, a tavern not far from here.”

The servant was a small, obsequious man with a nervous twitch in one eye and a red fez on his head, who had difficulty keeping eye contact with Emily.

“Excellent,” said Gideon. Then, to Emily, “Captain, you must be quite sick of ship’s biscuits and watered-down rum. The Mariner’s Respite serves fine ale and hearty meals—as the name implies, it is a fine place to rest after a long voyage, and certainly a better place to wait than this dock. I would recommend you ladies go on ahead, and I will wait here for this man’s master and show him around the ship. Then we’ll meet you at the tavern.”

Emily’s stomach growled. “Yes, that does sound like a good idea. Thank you, Gideon.”

Gideon bowed.

“Come along then,” Emily said, motioning to Talyndra and Aria. “Where is this tavern you mentioned, Gideon?”

“Ah, the Mariner’s Respite, I know it well,” interjected the servant. “It’s just down the main road, about in the middle. There’s a whole lot of trees around it and a big sign with a mermaid, you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you,” said Emily.

“I’ll catch up with you shortly,” said Aria, as Emily and Talyndra turned to go.

Emily cocked an eyebrow, to which Aria leaned in and whispered to her. “Someone has to make sure Gideon secures us a fair deal on the ship. I know he’s been trustworthy so far, but it never hurts to be careful. Besides, I don’t need food or drink, and I must also send word of our plan to the statues of Castle Elid. Go, I will see you and Talyndra soon.”

Accepting this explanation, Emily bid farewell to Aria and she and Talyndra headed for the tavern, which was a short walk down the town’s main road.

The tavern was a large building, constructed of stone and weathered wood. “Mariner’s Respite” was carved into the sign above the door in large, flowing letters, and adorned on one side by a simple illustration of a mermaid with welcoming smile and long tresses of hair flowing down her torso. Emily blushed in remembrance of the last time she’d entered a tavern, sans pants. Luckily, she was well covered this time with even a sea captain’s hat and coat.

“Are those…? They are!” Talyndra exclaimed, pointing excitedly at one of the trees surrounding the tavern. “Goldapple!”

Emily recognized the green-yellow leaves and dangling golden fruit, but was quite puzzled by Talyndra’s excitement.

“Come on,” shouted Talyndra, pulling at Emily’s sleeve, “let’s pick some!”

“I don’t know if the owners would appreciate that…” Emily said.

Talyndra rolled her eyes. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them. Anyway, we’ll go round the back—it looks like they’ve got a full orchard.”

“Okay, okay, fine!” said Emily, stumbling forward as Talyndra pulled her towards the trees by the sleeve. “But what’s so exciting about goldapples? I’m sure they’ll have better food inside.”

“Who cares about the apples? I’m after the leaves! Then I can finally lose this itchy fabric!” Talyndra scratched furiously at her neck as she said this.

Behind the tavern, there were even more goldapple trees, planted in neat rows. Talyndra made a beeline for the first one, wrapping her arms around it and rubbing her face against its bark. “Oh trees! How I’ve missed you so!”

Emily smirked at this new and very literal definition of the term “tree-hugger” and watched as Talyndra gently shook the trunk, causing a shower of green-yellow leaves to fall about her. Then she released the tree, and green sparks of magic appeared at her fingertips.

The leaves that she’d just shaken free, as well as many other leaves from all over the orchard, flew up into the air, as if blown by the wind. They converged in a single spot in front of Talyndra, spinning together in a green-yellow blur. More and more leaves joined the spiraling column, until it was half the height of Talyndra herself.

Emily watched in awe as the flurry of leaves slowed, resolving into the shape of a small, sleeveless dress. With intricate finger movements, Talyndra shaped the garment, moving between different cuts of both bodice and skirt until she settled on a design she liked. Once she was happy with the dress, she lowered her arms, leaving it suspended in midair.

Talyndra then slashed at the bark of the goldapple tree with the fingers of one hand. Her nails were sharp and cut deep into the bark. With her magic, she drew out a stream of tree sap, which she expertly wove around the floating dress, presumably using it to keep the leaves together. When she was one, she lowered her arms once more.

After a quick check that no one was watching them, Talyndra seized the hem of her top. “Good-bye, itchy human clothes!” she exclaimed, violently pulling the top over her head and flinging it towards Emily. Her shorts quickly followed, both garments smacking Emily directly in the face.

“Hey!” Emily shouted.

“Sorry!” Talyndra replied sheepishly, blushing all over before plucking the dress from the air and pulling it over her head.

Talyndra was radiant in her natural garb. She jumped for joy and spun around, a new spark in her eyes and lightness in her feet. Needless to say, the dress was far better constructed than Emily’s own prior experiment with goldapple leaves. It may be prove very useful to have a companion who could make such fine clothes from nature’s bounty.

The two companions returned to the front of the tavern and entered. The interior was dim, and they quickly found an empty table near the back. Emily sank into the plush, comfortable seating and immediately pulled out Zephyr’s book and the parcel of parchment that was her own notes. Talyndra went to order the pair’s meals. She soon returned bearing two large tankards of frothy ale, one of which she slammed down in front of Emily.

“To adventure!” Talyndra exclaimed, sliding into a seat across from Emily and raising her glass for a toast.

Emily lifted her own glass and clinked it against Talyndra’s, spilling the foam from the tops of both and protecting her precious notes with her other arm.

“Where to next, cap’n?” Talyndra asked, after taking a hearty swig of her ale.

Emily pulled out a map she’d taken from the ship and indicated the road from Port Turon to Paja Abbey.

Talyndra’s eyes lit up and she jabbed a finger at a copse of trees along the path. “That’s wood elf territory, right there. The village of Wourd. Not my home, but I have some cousins who live there. Be good to see them again.”

Emily examined the space around Talyndra’s finger. “Very well then, we will travel together. You may part from us there if you wish.”

Talyndra shrugged. “I must get word of my safety to my family. But I am also curious about your quest, and these statues you’ve mentioned. There’s a part of my that wants to see it through, and to help you however I’m able.”

“That’s very kind,” Emily replied, taking a slow sip of ale. “You’re most welcome to stay, but I don’t know what awaits us at Paja Abbey. Or on the road there, for that matter. A lot of powerful people are after the Stoneshell.”

Talyndra waved a dismissive hand. “An old crone, a fish and a man without hands, you mean. I think we can take them.”

Emily bit her lip. But before she could advise caution, a familiar stone figure appeared at her side. “Aria!”

Aria smiled serenely and gestured to two men at her side. One was familiar, the servant with the fez, and the other, presumably, was his master.

The servant piped up in his high, reedy voice, “Captain Emily, may I introduce my master, Baron Kotoon!”

The merchant, Baron Kotoon, was an imposing man with a large belly. He was decked out in fine clothes, all silken whites and royal purples, and his broad grin showed numerous gold-capped teeth. His eyes were small but alert and active, and they sparkled with energy. “A pleasure to do business with you, Captain,” he said, taking Emily’s proferred hand in his own and kissing it lightly. His hand was rough, with large rings on each of his fingers, and his lips large and moist.

He took a seat next to Talyndra, pushing her to the edge of the bench and dominating Emily’s vision. “Your maidservant drives a hard bargain,” he said. “Perhaps her firmness in negotiation is down to her stone exterior. I would love to have such a servant in my own employ. Alas, she did not accept my salary offer.”

Kotoon laughed heartily at this, and Emily exchanged a glance with Aria, who leaned over to whisper in her ear, “I managed to drive up his price with some negotiating tactics I learned from talking to the crew. I rather think I’m getting the hang of this money business.”

The servant reappeared with a tankard of ale for this master and a sheet of parchment and quill, which he placed before Emily.

“I believe you’ll find these terms quite agreeable. It’s more than I would usually pay for such a vessel, but I do consider myself a gentleman. To good business, then!” Kotoon raised his tankard, and Emily and Talyndra clinked their own against it.

The contract’s wording was quite simple: Baron Kotoon agreed to purchase the Sea Serpent and all its contents for the sum of two-hundred and fifty gold coins, paid immediately after all parties had signed.

Emily thought back to her disastrous encounter with the traveling merchant Brevin. He had charged four silver, eight copper for the outfit she’d wanted. The exchange rates, she’d since discovered, were twelve copper to a silver and sixty silver to a gold. The price of the ship, therefore, could fetch hundreds of dresses and cloaks, with enough left over for anything else they might need on their journey. With such riches, Emily would never want for clothing again.

Talyndra and Aria leaned over and read through the contract themselves, and the three made a show of conferring in hushed voices. “It won’t do to seem too eager,” Aria whispered.

After a few minutes of pretend deliberation, Emily took up the quill before her, dipped it in the inkwell and signed the parchment. Baron Kotoon dipped one of his many rings in the ink and stamped his personal seal next to her signature, and then Aria and the servant both signed as witnesses. Emily looked Baron Kotoon in the eyes and firmly shook his hand.

“Excellent,” he said. “Jahar, the payment.”

The servant produced a brown bag from somewhere in his cloak and dumped it on the table, allowing it fall open and coins to spill out from the top. Emily’s eyes widened at the way the coins shone in the dim tavern light, but she did her best to keep her expression neutral, lest Kotoon think her inexperienced with such sums. She took a single coin between her fingers and brought it up to her mouth, biting it in a show of testing whether it was real gold, though she had no idea how to actually do that.

Then there was a loud popping sound, and a captain’s hat appeared on top of Baron Kooton’s bald head. A very familiar captain’s hat…

Emily’s own head was suddenly bare. And, as a nervous glance down soon confirmed, so was the rest of her.

“Eeek!” she screamed, blushing and covering her breasts. “What the hell?”

Baron Kotoon’s grin widened. “A binding contract is a thing of wonder, is it not? I have a mage who enchants them for me. Charges too much, but it’s all worth it to ensure I get my money’s worth. Come along then, Jahar.” With that, the Baron downed the rest of his ale and rose from his seat. His servant stood by, arms laden with the clothes Emily had just been wearing, as well as the ones Talyndra had discarded.

“B-but what am I supposed to wear?” Emily stammered, blushing deeper and sinking behind the table. She hoped no one else in the tavern had noticed her sudden state of undress.

“There’s more than enough money there to buy something,” said Kotoon. “Pirate rags are hardly fit for a lady of your beauty in any case.”

Keeping one arm in front of her breasts, Emily pulled a handful of gold coins out of the purse and offered them to Kotoon. “Please, give my clothes back!”

A look of annoyance briefly clouded the man’s face. “Can’t do, I’m afraid. The exact terms of our deal are magically guaranteed. And while I’d love to draw up another lucrative contract with your ladyship, I’ve other, urgent business to attend to presently. Good day, Miss Emily. And might I say, that’s a beautiful necklace.”

With that, Baron Kotoon and his servant Jahar bowed to the party and left the tavern. Emily sunk deeper into her seat, defeated. How could she end up naked like this, yet again? This world was out to get her.

Talyndra and Aria sat down on each side of her, sympathy etched across their faces. All across the tavern, eyes flitted towards their table and the patrons whispered amongst themselves. A few enterprising young men got up from their tables to spread the word beyond the tavern.

Emily sank even lower, almost falling under the table. On the pirate ship, she’d had enough time to adjust to the normality of wearing clothes all the time, so being naked once more took on a fresh shock. The suddenness and her very public surroundings only compounded it.

“I can make you something to wear with leaves,” said Talyndra, pointing at her own new outfit.

“Or I can take some of this money and go buy you a dress,” said Aria, placing a hand over some of the stray coins on the table. “When I went to send a pigeon message to Castle Elid, I saw a dress shop not too far down the road.”

“Whatever we do, it has to be quick!” Emily said through gritted teeth, pushing herself further down into her seat and hugging her body tighter with her arms. “People have already noticed, and soon they’ll be coming over here to have a closer look!”

Twin death glares from Talyndra and Aria diverted the first few comers, but the tavern seemed to be getting busier and rowdier by the minute.

Emily looked at Aria, then at Talyndra. She didn’t want either of them to leave her now, but one would have to go if she was to have any hope of having something to wear. It would probably be quickest for Talyndra to go outside and make her a leaf dress, but that would still take time. In the meanwhile, an elderly woman was getting dangerously close to the trio’s table.

Emily averted her eyes from the woman’s gaze, bracing herself for a scolding about her immodesty. But instead of this, the woman produced a large, multicolored blanket and handed it to Emily, a kind and sympathetic look on her face. Emily took the blanket gratefully and wrapped it around herself.

“Sorry to intrude,” said the woman, a slight creature who wore her silver hair in a in loose bun. Her face was dominated by an enormous pair of circular eyeglasses and her stature greatly diminished by a severe hunchback. “I overheard your conversation, and, well, I could see you were in need of something to wear. I am a seamstress, the proprietress of a dress shop nearby. Perhaps you could accompany me to my shop and find something to your liking? I’ll include this blanket with any purchase.”

Emily nodded, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. The woman had clearly also taken notice of the bag of gold coins on the table and was angling to get her own share of them. But then, Emily had been intending to spend her first money on clothes anyway. It had just become much more urgent now.

The seamstress introduced herself as Maribel. Talyndra gathered the stray coins into the bag and went off to settle the tab. She returned shortly with a mischevious grin, saying, “You should have seen the look on the bartender’s face. Don’t think they see many gold coins here.”

“A reason to be vigilant,” Aria said, drawing to Emily’s side as the latter carefully rose to her feet, clasping the blanket tightly in her hands.

Emily was reassured by the weight of the Stoneshell against her chest and the cold, new feeling of the Bronzeband around her upper arm—the merchant’s spell had allowed her to keep that, as well as the parchment she’d used for her notes. Perhaps she should have written things on her clothes as well. She stuffed the notes into Zephyr’s book and gave it to Aria to hold. Apart from the other indignities, nudity meant never having anywhere to put things.

They followed Maribel out of the tavern, avoiding the looks of longing and disappointment on the countenances of many of the patrons. Emily blushed at a couple of wolf-whistles, increasing her pace.

Outside the tavern, several people stopped to look at the strange group as they made their way down the road to Maribel’s dress shop. They seemed to be, in equal parts, marveling at sight of a living statue and a wood elf in her natural garb, and trying to figure out whether Emily had anything else on underneath her blanket. The cobblestones were hot against her bare feet.

Maribel ushered the trio into her small, sunlit shop. A bell chimed above the door as Maribel opened it. The shop’s walls were lined with bolts of cloth in numerous colors, and a subtle scent of lavender suffused the air. Assorted mannequins displayed everything from drab cloaks and tunics to elaborate and colorful dresses.

“Let’s get started then,” Maribel said, once the door closed behind the group. Her eyes sparkled and she rubbed her hands together with excitement.

The sight of so many different outfits in one place, and the knowledge that she likely had enough money to buy any of them was intoxicating to Emily. Under normal circumstances, she loved a good clothes shopping outing just as much as any woman. After spending the last few weeks alternately naked and poorly dressed, she felt like a wanderer in the desert who had just discovered an oasis. Her whole body decompressed, releasing stress from muscles she hadn’t realized were tight, and she smiled dreamily at the beautiful array of fabrics before her.

After a short period of deliberation, Emily decided that she would start with a dress. A colorful dress consisting of purple, brown and blue fabric near the back of the shop caught her eye. “I’d like to try that one, please,” she asked Maribel, sticking an arm of her blanket to point to it.

Maribel’s eyes traced Emily’s pointing arm and settled on the dress. She regarded it briefly, and then looked back at Emily’s blanket-clad form. “An excellent choice. Fairies!”

Maribel clapped her hands twice in quick succession, and the air was alive with whooshing and buzzing. Emily watched in a amazement as the dress was lifted from its rack by a pair of tiny gossamer wings and began to float towards her. “Oh wow!” she exclaimed.

Then she felt a tug on her blanket. “Whoa!” Emily cried, as the blanket was whipped away from her frame, leaving her standing naked in the middle of the dress shop. But before she had time to say anything else, a mass of fabric descended over her face. “Mmph mph!”

There was a flurry of buzzing and fluttering as the dress descended, finally pulling free of her face. Emily felt and saw only the rapidly flapping wings of impossibly tiny fairies as they moved around her, tugging different parts of the dress into place and lifting her hair out of the back. Though the whole process was quite efficient, Emily quickly decided she would have preferred putting the dress on herself in the privacy of a dressing room.

In seconds flat, Emily was dressed, and Maribel ushered her in front of a full-length mirror. “What do you think?”

Emily looked herself up and down and bit her lip. “It’s… lovely. But there, uh, seems to be a piece missing.”

The dress had sleeves of purple, tipped with blue and skirt with tan, blue and brown sections, reaching down to floor length. The brown bodice was tight against Emily’s midsection. It all appeared expertly tailored and felt wonderful against her skin. But just above the bodice, Emily’s rosy-nippled breasts were on full display, the Stoneshell hanging just above them.

“I think it goes quite well with your necklace,” said Maribel, as if this was a perfectly normal dress.

Emily cast questioning glances at Aria and Talyndra. Was it the fashion in some parts of Thessolan for ladies to go around in dresses that exposed their breasts? She certainly hadn’t seen anyone else doing it so far.

“I think Emily would prefer something with a higher cut,” Aria said diplomatically.

“Yes!” Emily confirmed. “This is lovely, but I think it’s, uh, the wrong size for me.”

“Oh no, it fits you perfectly,” Maribel said. “This style is all the rage in the wealthy neighborhoods of Lirethel, you know.”

Aria and Talyndra looked skeptical.

“There are some things I won’t do for fashion,” Emily replied, looking down at her bare breasts.

Maribel nodded and clapped her hands, and the fairies took to the air once more. “Lift your arms, dear,” Maribel said, as wings descended onto the shoulders of Emily’s dress.

“Wait, don’t you have a changing room?” Emily asked, already feeling the fabric tug upwards.

“Afraid not, rent is dear in such a highly visible location as this.”

“I—wha—really?” Emily’s protestations were cut short as a group of fairies seized her cuffs and, with surprising strength, pulled her arms up by them. Then, all at once, the dress was sliding back up her head.

Emily shivered at the sight of herself in the mirror, already missing the sensation of fabric against her skin, incomplete as it had been. The large windows behind her, at the front of the shop, made her incredibly nervous.

But it wasn’t long before the fairies had another outfit hanging above her head, ready to fit. Emily lifted her arms obediently and allowed them to slide it down her body.

The new dress was far more satisfactory, with an expanse of soft pink fabric that encased her bosoms and ruffled, multicolored sleeves. Below this, the fabric tapered off to a thin strip that went down the middle of Emily’s stomach, covering her belly button while leaving her sides exposed. Such a cutaway design would have been at home on a modern runway, she mused, but felt at odds with what was, essentially, a medieval dress shop.

Still, this was an improvement on the last design, and Emily said as much. Maribel smiled with satisfaction and thanked her, and Emily turned to her companions for their appraisal.

Aria and Talyndra shared blank expressions, and there was a hint of blush on Talyndra’s cheeks. “Look behind you,” Aria said.

Emily glanced over her shoulder at the mirror and gasped. She had felt and seen that the dress was backless, but only now realized the full extent of that feature. For the gap in the dress’s fabric extended from just below her shoulder blades to beneath the swell of her bottom.

Emily’s jaw dropped and both sets of cheeks went red. She scrambled to cover her butt with her hands.

“Not a fan of backless?” asked Maribel, her words betraying no emotion. “Odd, clients who don’t go for the other dress usually prefer this one.”

Emily shook her head vigorously and the fairies began to flap once more. She was starting to wonder just what the hell kind of dress shop this was, anyway?

The next outfit fixed both faults of the previous ones. Its chest piece came all the way up to Emily’s neck, concealing the Stoneshell from view, and it came with a long blue and purple cape that almost trailed on the floor and hid her from behind.

However, the fabric of the top stopped entirely below the chest, leaving Emily’s stomach and legs entirely bare. “Are you sure this is the whole thing?” Emily asked, staring in disbelief at her reflection.

“Of course,” said Maribel. “Don’t you think it highlights your legs? Not many dresses do, you know.”

The definition of dress, Emily thought, was being stretched to breaking point by this bizarre garment. She frowned and pulled the cape around herself. “I’d like something that… covers a little more skin.”

“Fairies!” Maribel shouted, clapping her hands again.

Emily shut her eyes and surrendered to the undressing and redressing process. Surely Maribel had to have a normal dress somewhere in this shop of hers. Perhaps she was just a little eccentric, like many fashion designers back in Emily’s own world. If Emily humored her with these strange, incomplete outfits, maybe they’d get to something normal afterwards.

When she opened her eyes, Emily saw that her request for something with more coverage had been granted. She was wearing a long, flowing dress of red and green that covered her from shoulder to toe. But only on the right side of her body—her left was entirely bare, with only a red string that went around the cinch of her waist to hold the dress in place.

Emily sighed. “This would be perfect if the left was the same as the right,” she said flatly.

“That’s certainly not what the desinger intended,” Maribel said. “Asymmetry is all the rage lately, you know. But I suppose it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ll find you something different.” She clapped her hands again.

The next outfit was a full-length skirt hung loose around Emily’s hips. Again, Emily asked if part of the outfit was missing and Maribel looked confused. “This one’s the same on both sides, like you asked.”

Aria, who had been watching the proceedings with increased distress, intervened at this point. “My dear lady,” she said to Maribel, “I’m afraid that these outfits are wholly impractical for the long journey we have ahead of us. Let us leave off dresses for now and look at some traveling clothes for Emily.”

Maribel’s eyes lit up. “Ah! I have just the thing.” Once more, she clapped for the fairies. “Practical attire for the traveling adventurer!”

The long skirt was swiftly replaced by an ensemble with hardy boots and gloves, as well as a long, warm scarf. “Good, strong boots made of dragon leather,” Maribel said. “And finest sheep’s wool to keep you warm on the road.”

The “outfit” did not include anything else. Emily frowned at her reflection. From the right angle, the scarf might briefly cover a nipple and most of her crotch. Standing perfectly still right now, the other end covered her buttcrack.

“Don’t you have any normal clothes?!” screamed Talyndra, who had been rolling her eyes and scowling at the back of the dress shop for some time. “I’m no expert in human garb, but surely no one wears things like this!”

Maribel staggered back, placing an offended hand to her chest. “Well I never! To be insulted in my own shop by a green woman dressed like a compost heap!”

“What did you call me?” Talyndra asked, the menace in her tone barely concealed. Aria had to place a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her from lunging at the frail old dress shop owner.

“The scarf is very nice, Maribel,” said Emily, desperate to defuse the situation. “And I love the boots, and the gloves too. But surely this outfit comes with some trousers? A tunic? A cloak? And surely some of your dresses cover everything from the neck to the feet? I’d like to try those on, please.”

Talyndra rattled the bag of gold coins. “We’re not paying a single bronze until all Emily’s bits are covered. Properly covered. If you can’t get that right, we’ll take our business elsewhere.” She made a show of walking towards the door, and Aria followed.

Emily took a tentative step forward, but quickly remembered what she wasn’t wearing. The blanket she’d entered the shop with was nowhere to be seen. Realizing this, she exchanged pleading glances with Talyndra and Aria. The last thing they needed was to be thrown out of this woman’s shop, without even an inadequate outfit like the ones she’d been trying on.

“Will you now?” asked Maribel. “I don’t think Miss Emily’s in much of a state to take her business anywhere. Not that that’s stopped her before.” Saying these words, Maribel’s voice had lost the warm, sing-song quality of the kindly old woman and taken on a severe tone, hard enough to cut glass.

The old lady drew herself up to full height, and locks of pitch black spilled out from under her silvery wig.

“Elara!” Aria gasped.

The woman who was not Maribel pushed her glasses down her nose to reveal a pair of golden eyes, flashing menacingly. “I’m hurt that you didn’t recognize your old friend sooner, Aria,” she said.

With a loud whoosh, Emily summoned twin fireballs into her palms, instantly destroying her gloves.

“You haven’t changed at all, young Emily,” Elara said disdainfully. “Still destroying your clothes so that you can shamelessly flaunt that nubile body of yours. Enjoying every bit of the attention, of course. When I heard the murmurs about a naked woman in the tavern, I just knew it had to be you.”

“What?” Emily asked incredulously. “I was naked in the tavern for all of fifteen minutes before you appeared!”

“Port Turon is also quite far from House Isolde,” Aria added.

“Don’t think I haven’t been tracking you since you spurned my hospitality,” Elara replied. “The Stoneshell gives off a powerful magical signal, easy enough to find if you know what to look for. The difficult was in narrowing it down. I knew you were on this coast, but if not for Emily’s compulsive exhibitionism I wouldn’t have been able to find your exact location.”

Emily blushed and stammered, unsure if she was more angry than embarrassed or embarrassed than angry.

“I’m very proud of this little dress shop ploy,” Elara continued. “There really is a Maribel, you know, and this really is her dress shop. It was terribly kind of her to lend the place to me, was it not? Though I don’t know that she’ll approve of the alterations my fairies made to some of her stock.”

“I knew those weren’t real outfits!” cried Talyndra.

“The fairy thing did seem a little odd,” added Aria.

“Forgive me for having a little fun playing dress-up,” said Elara. “For such a shameless little strumpet, you do squirm and blush an awful lot, Emily. All side-effects of your arousal, I’m sure.”

Emily’s eyes widened as she realized the significance of wearing clothes given to her by Lady Elara, and she yanked the scarf from her neck and threw it violently to the floor.

Elara sneered. “Is even that too much modesty for you? Or are you worried that I’ve enchanted these outfits? Worry not, for even a witch of my skill would not have had time to enchant a shopful of clothing.”

Emily blushed and squirmed in her boots, briefly contemplating putting the scarf back on. But her hands were once again full of fire, and she dared not let her guard down in front of Elara. “What do you want?” she growled.

“You know very well what I want. The Stoneshell. Give it to me, and I will leave you and your friends alone. I’ll even let you leave with one of these dresses—one that my fairies haven’t altered. Maybe without such a dangerous magical artifact around your neck you’ll be able to avoid burning it.”

Emily launched a fireball at Elara’s head.

The shop immediately exploded into motion. A deafening buzz permeated the air and all around the women were gossamer wings, flapping furiously. Emily could feel her hair whip around her as if blown by gale-force winds as the fairies converged into a shimmering wall between her fireball and Elara’s expressionless face.

The air was filled with high-pitched screams as the gossamer wall took the full impact of the fireball. A smell like burning rubber permeated the room and Emily felt as though she would be sick.

“Murderer!” Talyndra screamed, her green face turning red.

Emily’s blood ran cold for a moment, before she realized that Talyndra’s considerable anger was directed at Elara.

“You forced them to do that! A binding enchantment! I can smell it!”

“But of course, Leafy. They are my fairies, to do with as I please. I would encourage you to prevent your friend from killing any more of them.”

Emily was staring at her empty palms, the fairies screams still echoing in her mind. “K-killing…”

In a few bold strides, Elara closed the distance between herself and Emily. She laid a cold hand on Emily’s bare shoulder. “Did you think this was some kind of game? Flinging balls of fire at people who were mean to you, just to get them to stop? Did you not realize the incredible destructive power of the cursed artifact around your neck?”

With her free hand, Elara took the Stoneshell pendant between her thumb and forefinger, lifting it and rubbing it gently.

Emily sniffed loudly, wiping tears with the back of her hand. She could feel an increased tightness against her left upper arm, where she wore the Bronzeband.

“I can free you from this responsibility,” said Elara, caressing Emily’s shoulder gently, her fingers lightly brushing against the Bronzeband. “Free you from this curse. All you have to do is let it happen.”

“Don’t listen to her!” shouted Aria.

“Of course Aria would want you to keep wearing this thing—she never lets you wear much of anything else, does she? Hush, listen, child.” Elara stared into Emily’s eyes, holding fierce eye contact. “Do you not think it possible that our Lady Aria did something to deserve her current predicament? It is not just anyone who becomes cursed to live forever as a statue, you know. Did you ever consider that she was using you? What kind of person meets a poor, naked girl far from home and immediately asks her to embark on a dangerous quest? Ah!”

Elara released the Stoneshell pendant, as it had suddenly become too hot for her to touch. Emily smirked, her tears subsiding. “I’m not going to take this from the woman who tried to enslave me.” The Bronzeband had begun to shift, slowly spinning around her upper arm. She could also feel the Stoneshell vibrating against her clavicle.

Elara frowned. “I was hoping we could put that behind us. But if not, well…”

In the next moment, several things happened at once. Elara made a grab for the Stoneshell pendant. Aria dove towards Elara to stop her. Emily expelled a fiery breath she’d been holding in. The fairies soared into action all around them, their collective buzzing combining into a deafening roar.

And then floor of the shop collapsed.

As the floor gave way beneath her, a scream escaped Emily’s lips. The world turned upside down, and her stomach lurched painfully. Darkness swallowed her whole, punctuated only by the brief, terrifying glimpses of the crumbling shop interior. Rolls of fabric unfurled like ghostly specters, mannequins plunged beside her, their limbs flailing in silent agony as they disappeared into the abyss.

The others screamed as well, and Emily cried out for Aria and Talyndra as she continued to fall. Her hair whipped around her face, and the cold air whooshing past her bare skin chilled her to the bone.

Fear gripped Emily in a cold iron vice. Every second seemed to stretch into eternity as she fell. Every fiber of her being longed to grab something, to cling on, to save herself, but she was surrounded only be empty space. All was dark and the air was growing warmer. The smell of earth and musty dirt filled Emily’s nostrils.

As she continued to fall, Emily felt the Bronzeband spinning faster around her upper arm. At the same time, her descent slowed, almost imperceptibly at first. Stone hands seemed to reach out from the emptiness all around, their touch surprisingly gentle against her skin. It was a bizarre sensation—soft as silk yet unyielding—slowing her fall until she was drifting downwards like a leaf on the breeze.

The Bronzeband was protecting her.

Emily’s descent continued to slow, gradually, until she found herself not falling, but sitting on a mound of smooth stone, her feet dangling at its sides. Her descent had slowed so gradually that she hadn’t even noticed the transition from air to ground until the stone mound started making her butt feel cold.

Emily lit a fire in one hand and saw that she was in a large cavern. A blue scarf lay sprawled beneath her. Emily dismounted the mound and picked up the scarf. With a bit of creative knot work, she fashioned it into a highly immodest outfit, covering just the essentials. It wasn’t much, but it was more clothing than she’d had the last time she’d found herself alone in a dark cavern. At least this one was above water.

The cavern stretched out before her like a gaping maw, its walls slick with moisture that reflected the faint light from Emily’s fire, casting eerie, dancing shadows. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like ancient chandeliers, dripping slowly onto the uneven stone floor below. The air was thick with the scent of earth and stone, a mineral tang that filled her nostrils and reminded her of rain-soaked soil.

There was no sign of Aria, Talyndra, or even Elara. She called out the names of the first two, but there were no replies beyond the echoing of her own voice against the cavern walls.

Emily held the fire in her right hand up to the Bronzeband. It had stopped rotating now, but a new carving had appeared in its center, dominating the geometric mountain shapes below it. It was a seashell.

On an unspoken, intuitive level, it was clear to Emily that the Stoneshell, her magical protector, had now formed a bond with the Bronzeband, and both had worked to protect her from Elara. Why they had done so by plunging her into this deep cavern and separating her from her friends was a question she did not have an answer for.

Emily longed for a word of reassurance from Aria, or a rowdy cheer from Talyndra. They had fallen too. But without the Stoneshell or Bronzeband to protect them, would they be okay? A horrifying vision of shattered marble appeared in Emily’s mind’s eye and she shook her head vigorously to dispel it.

The others were fine. She had to believe that. And she had to find them.

Up ahead, the cavern narrowed into a tunnel the size of a hallway. Emily adjusted her scarf and walked towards it, guided by the flame in her hand.