Page 156 of Anathema
Groaning, she rolled her eyes and turned toward me. “What is the most exciting thing you’ve done in your life?”
“Crossing over. Coming here.”
“You need to enjoy life.” She lifted a long, golden dress from the rack and held it up to me. “This is stunning.”
“Not gold.”
“Red? Green? Yellow? Blue?”
“Your brother has been exceptionally accommodating, and I just feel like I should–”
“Stop. He kept you in a dungeon.”
“Probably the most luxurious dungeon I’ve ever seen,” I countered.
“Regardless. You owe him nothing. Eidolon belongs to me, as well.”
“Women can own property here? Without being married?”
“Yes. Of course.” She looked repulsed, as if the question was the most ridiculous inquiry she’d ever heard. “A number of castles are owned by women. Obscenely wealthy women. In fact, you’re wearing the face of one right now. So, embody her, or someone is going to get suspicious.” She jerked her head toward the woman at the front of the shop, who stood bent over a counter, writing with a quill.
It still seemed reckless to me, but clearly Rykaia had no intentions of letting me walk out of here without a dress. Besides that, a ceremony would mean leaving Eidolon. Leaving Eidolon might present an opportunity. For escape? It seemed irresponsible at that point, but on the other hand, I refused to give up on my sister.
“Black,” I said.
“What?”
“I’ll wear black.” I sifted through the dresses and yanked one out. A beautiful, black rose jacquard gown with long, draping sleeves.
“And I’ll wear red,” she said, holding up another gown.
From the dress racks, Rykaia scampered toward the jewelry set out in glass cases, and asked the attendant there to retrieve a beautiful moon and star necklace that rested across the chest like a sky full of constellations.
I scanned over the options, and my gaze fell on a long, black chain with a scorpion. “I’d like that one,” I said, and the woman lifted it from the case and handed it to me. The attached tag read three hundred keltzig. Leaning into Rykaia, I whispered, “How do we pay?”
“Like nobility,” she said, leading me toward the woman at the front of the shop. “I’d like both dresses added to my tab.”
Eyes wide, the woman looked up and scrambled to grab the dresses from our hands. “Oh, my, yes, Lady Gwyeth.” She turned to me and gave a small nod. “My apologies, Lady Festwyn, I didn’t see that you had an appointment with us until this evening.”
“I needed these in a hurry. The Becoming, you know.” I gave a nervous chuckle.
“Oh, of course. We’ve been quite busy.” She stuffed both dresses into long bags and handed them to us, then placed the jewelry in boxes. “Do you need a fitting for the dress?”
“Uh, no,” Rykaia answered for me. “We have a personal seamstress.”
“Very good.”
Something moved in my periphery, and I glanced down to see that the ends of my hair had begun to turn black.
I twisted toward Rykaia and lowered my voice, “We need to hurry.”
Rykaia cleared her throat. “If you could bag those quickly, I would appreciate it, dear.”
“Of course, of course. Shall I schedule your next appointment while you’re here?”
“No, thank you.”
“Very well, then.” She handed off another small satchel with the jewelry, and both of us hustled toward the exit. On the way out, we passed a woman who looked frighteningly similar to the face Rykaia wore.