Chapter 63:
Beginnings of Change
A heavy hand landed on Silas's shoulder as he was awoken with a start. "Hey, wake up. We're here." Blinking his heavy eyes, Silas looked up to see Meredith, who was already donning his cloak. The man's light blue hair was concealed under the cover of his hood, making him appear concealed and unapproachable, but the smile on his lips was unmistakable.
Standing up with a groggy rub of his eyes, Silas glanced around, "Are we at the border?"
"No, we already got through. We're in Neela." Eva's voice rang out from outside of the carriage. Silas's eyes opened in surprise as he collected his few belongings.
"Slow down, we're not in a hurry." Meredith said with a smile, holding his hands up. As Meredith said this, Eva hoisted herself into the carriage, ducking her head as she lifted herself in. Silas watched Eva enter, still collecting his things, albeit slower, letting his racing heart calm. As Eva glanced between the two of them, she took a seat on a side bench, pushing her short hair out of her face.
"There might be no hurry, but we do need to get you two changed." Eva said, fixing her blouse with a sharp tug.
"Changed?" Silas asked, moving his hand to the tip of his pointed ear.
"Not that," Eva said dismissively, waving a hand in front of her face, which received a sour look from Meredith, "The Khymal Empire is impartial to elves. Though they are not exactly keen on elves living within their kingdom, they do not mistreat them." Eva raised an eyebrow as she looked at Silas, "Though I must say, as a soldier and an elf, I'm surprised you didn't know that."
Silas's face reddened in embarrassment as Meredith continued to glare at Eva, "I think Silas was more concerned about the welfare of his family, Eva, than the on goings of different countries. I'm sure you, out of all of us, could understand that best. What it feels like to put everything on the line for someone you care about, not worrying about the danger or the repercussions." Meredith said coolly. Eva and Meredith locked glares for a moment, and Silas felt himself sinking backwards trying to escape the powerful auras emitting from the two people in front of him.
"Well, since you are such an expert on people's emotions and reasoning, Meredith," Eva said with a smile so sharp, Silas's spine sank back even further in his seat, "You should have no problem with what I'm asking you to do." She then sharply turned to Silas and stated, "Get dressed. I'll meet you outside once you're done." Once she finished speaking, Eva fluidly exited the carriage, her feet making a small thumping sound as her boots hit the dry ground outside. As the carriage returned to a sense of calm and stillness, Silas turned towards Meredith with a slight frown on his face as he asked,
"So, what are we supposed to be changing into?"
Hearing Silas's unfortunate words, Meredith looked away, forcing a weak smile to his lips as he responded, "You'll see. It's in the bag." Meredith weakly gestured towards a small, coarse cloth bag that Eva had dropped near the opening of the carriage on her way out. Curious, Silas glanced at the bag, growing worried by Meredith's reaction, before he leaned over and grabbed the bag, flipping over the untied flap. After a moment of peering inside and moving aside some of the fabric items inside, Silas looked back at Meredith in surprise, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
"Is this what we're supposed to wear?" Silas asked anxiously, looking back down into the bag in distress. His brows were knitted as he stared on, feeling his confidence seeping out of his bones by the minute.
"I think that Eva is trying to punish us in her own weird way." Meredith said with a sour look at the bag, his expression poor as his nephew's.
"But," Silas said with a heavy pause, "We're not actually going to wear these, are we?"
Silas found the lack of fabric startling, but there was not much he or Meredith could have said to Eva to change her mind. It was cruel and unusual punishment, but Silas could not push Eva further, knowing she would only do worse if he tried. He would have to swallow his pride and put on the small, gaudy fabric for just a short piece of time, just as he did while hiding from Captain Laurent at Theresa's.
The garment inside the bag was not in any style familiar to Silas. The item inside was separated into two pieces, a draping short top and a long, flowing skirt. Both items were a peachy color, decorated with layers of tulle and embroidered embellishments. Chains draped around the waist of the garment, hanging down near the top of the waist with a shiny gold glint, with sparkling gems adorning various parts of the fabric. The shoulders of the dress draped down, guaranteeing to expose Silas's shoulders as the fabric of the sleeves would drape down to the tip of his fingers. While the clothing itself was indeed beautiful, Silas did not feel it would look as beautiful on him. Instead he felt odd and embarrassed.
At least last time I had to do this the clothing was covering. Silas thought with a sour expression.
While Silas held up the garments hopelessly, Meredith had already removed his from the coarse bag and held them in his arms. The fabric of his clothes was a soft purple color, like the purple of a blooming orchid. Instead of two pieces, however, Meredith's only consisted of a long, intricate performance dress, styled similarly to Silas's. The length, however, was longer, accommodating his tall stature.
"There isn't much time, Silas. Let's hurry and change before Eva walks inside." Meredith said as he placed the dress down to the side of the carriage, lifting his cloak off of his shoulders with fast movements.
Sighing, Silas nodded his head, resigned to his poor fate as he began to change, staring at the intricate outfits with a frown.
…
"There, let's just adjust this a little here-"
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, did that poke your scalp? Let me fix that."
After a short amount of time passed, Meredith was standing with his long, light blue hair braided into a single, styled braid on his left shoulder as he stood with his arms crossed. The halter top of the dress was embellished with gold chains, flashing under the light of the afternoon sun. The makeup adorning his face made Meredith appear much like a beautiful young woman, particularly similar to the performers dancing along the roadside in the Yursear Kingdom.
Inside the cart was Silas, sitting patiently as Neema and Saoirse adjusted the styled wig on Silas's head. The blonde hair matched Silas's natural hair perfectly to a degree that Silas could only convince himself that Eva had prepared their costumes ahead of time.
"All done!" Neema said with an excited clap of her hands, as the two sisters stepped back to marvel at their handiwork. Neema let out a gleeful gasp as Saoirse's face immediately reddened. Noticing their reaction, Meredith raised an eyebrow and joined them at their side, shaking his head grimly as he stared at the nervous Silas.
"What?" Silas asked with a slight tremor in his voice, his hands reflexively moving up to his new hair, "Does it look bad?"
Meredith ran a hand down his face with a grumble as Neema's expression soured and Saoirse frantically shook her head.
"It looks nice." Saoirse said softly with a smile.
"Do you think we would do all that work just to let you look bad?" Neema replied haughtily, her high-pitched voice rising with her annoyance, "But don't just believe us, look in a mirror." Neema continued, grabbing a small hand mirror from the back of her belt. She held it out to Silas, who took it with some trepidation. As everyone watched, he slowly held it up to his face.
"Oh." Silas said, looking at the mirror in wonder, "I can't believe it."
"Well, you should." Neema said with a proud smile and a nod, "We worked our magic for sure!"
Silas's green eyes were bright and accentuated with the colorful warm tones of the eye shadow over his eyes, and the black eye liner delicately lined the elven features of his eyes. The flush of his cheeks was brightened by the rouge Neema and Saoirse prepared. The peach of the outfit accentuated the light cool tones in his skin and made him appear warmer, and the off the shoulder sleeves helped to lighten the width of Silas's shoulders. With the wig styled and placed, he appeared soft and feminine, appearing much like a seasoned street performer would.
Touching his fingers to his painted lips, Silas looked at himself in the mirror in a state of shock, feeling all the more distant from his original self. It was not until Meredith grabbed the mirror from Silas's weak grasp did he finally return out of his thoughts, looking as if he were waking up from a strange dream.
"Alright, let's go, Silas." Meredith said with a sigh, holding out his other hand to help Silas up as he placed the hand mirror back in Saoirse's hands. Silas gratefully took it, and with a strong pull and some slight tripping, Silas was on his feet in the tall, platform sandals. As difficult as they appeared to walk in, they were not particularly uncomfortable. The gold chains and other decorations, however, chimed and clinked as they walked, producing a clear, crisp sound that soon began to wear on Silas's fraying nerves.
"How do women get anything done in these outfits?" Silas asked as he lifted the long skirt of his outfit up with an annoyed huff, pulling up the middle of the skirt with an uncouth yank that made him appear like a young country girl wading through a river. Meredith shook his head with a frown, about to chastise his young nephew, but Saoirse was faster and quickly shot out to him.
"Don't do that!" Saoirse gasped, grabbing Silas's hands with her own and moving his hands away from his lifted skirt, which dropped the tulle skirt back to the ground with a heavy thump. Silas was surprised by Saoirse's reaction, but Neema shook her head and sighed heavily with a tired expression,
"Silas, you're supposed to be an elegant performer. You can't be hoisting your skirt up like it's a sack of potatoes, and you certainly can't be showing off your hairy man legs in that outfit." While Saoirse bit back her smile and laugh, which received a short glare from the serious Neema.
Meredith shook his head without another word, hiding his own untraceable smile, and carefully stepped out of the carriage with his unnaturally high sandals, signalling Silas to follow with a wave of his hand. Silas nodded at the skilled sisters before he ungraciously scurried out of the carriage, before Neema could continue to chastise his poor posture.
"Chastise him later, Neema." Saoirse said with a gentle smile, her eyes glistening as she watched the two dressed men stumble down the short path towards Eva, who was waiting with some trepidation.
"He's lucky Lady Eva is waiting for him." Neema said with a huff, looking disappointed she could not correct Silas more.
"Of course, of course." Saoirse responded, nodding her head and patting Neema's back reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'm sure there will be more to chastise soon."
Some time had passed as Eva instructed Silas and Meredith how to dance and move through the crowds graciously, at least enough to pass as young, learning dancers. In her high heels, walking across the stony dirt, Eva appeared like a flittering butterfly, dancing to and from with unhidden skill and femininity Silas could only hope to replicate. Eva lifted her arms, her fingers dressed with the long gloves as she trailed her open palm through the air as she finally stopped, her eyes solidifying as she turned back to Meredith and Silas and said in a cool tone, "While I don't expect you two to be anywhere near the level demonstrated, I have some hope you can at least carry yourselves like young ladies."
As tempted as Silas was to ask, "Then why don't you ask Neema and Saoirse then?" he held his tongue and nodded his head as Meredith trailed to his side and began to instruct him.
"The best way to walk is with your hips, not your shoulders. Keep your back tall and straight, but soften your movements. Remember, you're not a soldier, but a dancer. Keep that thought in your head." He pointed to his head as he used his other hand to adjust Silas's current standing posture. Tapping his shoulders with his cold finger, Meredith used his own experience working with Eva to help Silas, and Silas quickly followed until he gained the short-lived praise of Eva.
"Place your chest forward and your hands out front, as if you're holding something. You'll be carrying around pamphlets for our performance tonight, so try to imagine you're holding them now. Make eye contact as you pass people, and make sure to smile and greet them. If anyone speaks to you, respond back and hand out a flyer." Eva began, maneuvering Silas with ease as she stared over her shoulder at Meredith, who stood back with a smile, "You too, Meredith. We can't afford to make any mistakes."
Receiving the harsh criticism from Eva, Meredith began to join Silas as well, posing and dancing until Eva was satisfied with their performances. Being in the secluded area rented near the stage in the capital of Neela, they were able to practice in privacy until the time of the event came fast approaching.
Holland was quick to return from scouting out the area near the stage, and when he saw Silas and Meredith in their performance dresses, he laughed aloud, not bothering to hide his boisterous laughter. He laughed until his eyes watered, and Neema passed him a handkerchief while trying to restrain her own laughter. Eva's expression was stony, but nothing was said other than Holland mentioning how well Silas and Meredith's makeup looked.
After the short exchange, the group finished their preparations and waited for the performance to begin.
The sky was high in the air, and beads of sweat began to drip down the sides of Silas's face. Worried about his makeup running, he dabbed the side of his face with the handkerchief as Saoirse had shown him, careful not to disrupt the makeup. Meredith, using the mana in his body to keep his body temperature low, patted Silas's back, sending a strand of cool mana into his body.
"Thank you, Meredith." Silas smiled at his uncle, appreciating his kindness. While the two were busy trying to cool themselves off after a hard few hours of practice, they had failed to notice Eva, who had slipped out of the area. Instead, she was standing near the side of the stage for their later performance, currently blocked off to dissuade pesky eyes, speaking to Holland in low tones. However, they were soon interrupted by an unfamiliar voice and the figure of a young Khymalian man, holding a small piece of parchment in his left hand. Upon seeing Eva, he carefully walked over and bowed, lowering his knee to the ground as he nodded his head, giving the piece of parchment to Eva without a moment's wait. "This is the latest news, Lady Ivana."
"Thank you, Usamah." Eva lifted the parchment out of his hand and read the contents as the messenger, Usamah, bowed his head once more and stood, hurrying away before anyone could make out his features. Though Holland was unconcerned by Eva's many unknown agents, the shifting expressions on Eva's face brought him to immediate concern. Eva's frozen expression hardened momentarily as she finished reading the note. She passed the paper to Holland and said with a perfunctory tone, "Burn this, Holland."
"Of course." Without question, Holland retrieved a match from his waistband and burned the paper in his hand. The paper was thick, but it was no match for the burning flame. It burned quickly, eating away at the words written on the paper until there was nothing left. Only black ashes fell from the palm of Holland's hand as he stared at Eva, looking for an explanation.
"Now is not the time to discuss that matter. Instead, we're having a change of plans." Eva stated, her eyes narrowed with unreadable waves. She only waved her hand towards the small group. "Holland, take Saoirse and start surveying the area for Duke Godfreed and his men. Neema, you're with me. Valia and Delilah," Eva called out, turning towards the two disguised men, "You will pass out your flyers while we prepare for the performance."
As much as Silas hated being called Valia, he gathered up his skirt and began to walk with Meredith, who had already prepared their flyers. They quickly made their way past the quarantined stage area and around the numerous city guards patrolling Lady Ivana's caravan to the large crowd in the middle of the open city square.
People were bustling to and fro, many Khymalian natives and other visitors drifting through to see the performance by the famous Lady Ivana. With Silas and Meredith at the front, they decided to split apart and walk through the crowds separately, smiling and passing out flyers as if it were natural for them. As uncomfortable and cumbersome the costume was on Silas, he did indeed feel a little pretty in it, and the smile on his face was somewhat genuine, knowing his family was only a mission away.
After speaking to some of the patrons, Silas saw Meredith moving towards the streets, where the crowds were less dense. With that thought, Silas began to move towards the back area of the stage, closer to the closed pathway to the Yursinean-Khymalian Border. Some foreign nobles were resting in the nearby inns, and Silas was able to hear small snippets of information from their scattered conversations and gossip. One conversation between two vacationing Yursinean noblemen caught Silas's attention, and he stood nearby to eavesdrop as he continued to pass out flyers.
"I heard the esteemed Duke Godfreed is coming here for the festival. I wonder if he will stay long enough to watch Lady Ivana's performance?"
"Without a doubt. The duke has always paid special attention to the commoners. Maybe he's hoping to curry favor with Lady Ivana to gain favor with her fans?"
"Or he can appreciate a beautiful woman when he sees one." The other noble said with a laugh, "He's probably using his position as nephew to the Yursinean king to woo her."
"He can try, but many have tried before him, and she is an unmoving stone."
"Stone? Hah! More like a mischievous nymph. It's a pity such a beauty is so uninterested in anything other than her performances."
Silas felt he had heard enough of their crude discussion, and, with a click of his tongue, he turned on his heels and continued down the busy street. Unfortunately for him, the street became even busier as the news of the famous Lady Ivana's arrival had quickly spread. As Silas attempted to push his way through the excited crowd, softly pushing people to slide past them, he felt himself getting lost in the sea of people. Between the wig blocking his peripheral vision, and his skirt being an endless source of frustration, Silas lost the advancement he had made down the road.
No. Silas thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut, I can't mess this up. I won't. These people will just have to move.
Feeling a surge of strength run through his limbs as he became increasingly frustrated, Silas used his shoulders to barrel through the large crowd, until he was spit out by the massive, human wave in a quiet alley. In front of him, in the dingy, forgotten alley, a black cat sat on a covered water barrel, licking its paw, then running it over his face. It was the only company he had in the quiet, eerie alley. With an annoyed sigh, Silas turned around to leave the alley when he felt his nose bump into the middle of someone's chest. Silas could only apologize, speaking in a soft voice as he stepped back, looking at the figure who had bumped into him.
The man was tall, much taller than Silas's five foot seven frame (175 centimeters tall). His mid-length black hair was styled in a small braid to the side, and his gold eyes were piercing, startling Silas as he looked up towards the figure, still holding the pamphlets in his hands. The man's suit was well-made, displaying the man was at least a noble of high standing..
"There you are, you tricky little monster!" The nobleman said, leaning over to look past an alert Silas. Silas turned his head slightly to see who the nobleman was speaking to, while Silas also kept an eye on the nobleman. The only thing that the nobleman could have been referring to in the empty alley was the black cat, who continued to clean himself with his paw, ignoring his new company, "I do apologize for the trouble, young miss. My cat had run off, and I was looking for him. But it seems you found him first." As the young nobleman sighed and shook his head, he shrugged his broad shoulders slightly, "I thought I had lost my little friend for sure, but it seems you found him."
After one last look at the cat, making sure no one else was in the alley, Silas turned back to the young nobleman with a shy smile, something Eva had said many men find disarming. It seemed to Silas it had worked, because it brought out a pleasantly surprised smile from the nobleman's lips, "My word, it seems there are women even more beautiful than the otherworldly Lady Ivana." The man's youthful features were attractive, and his straight smile crinkled his eyes, making him appear softer than before. His nose was tall and his lips were thin, handsome even. The mellow lowness of his voice was soothing, and his accent was light, but Silas found something about the young man oddly familiar.
Hearing the noble man's words, Silas felt the man was a serial flatterer and he smiled quietly, holding out a flyer in his hand, "For you, kind sir." While Silas did smile, the man looked at his stiff expression and laughed aloud at the performer.
"Was my flirting too much?" He received the flyer with two hands and stared at it before he looked back up towards Silas. "My apologies. I am a great fan of Lady Ivana's and-." The golden eyes trailed over Silas's figure with a smooth gaze, "-I am looking forward to seeing the performance of her dancers. I heard she had hired new dancers, and I just had to see them for myself."
Thinking solely of the mission at hand, Silas swallowed his pride and giggled, pressing his stack of flyers against his bedazzled top, the gems clicking together as they were pressed against the paper. While leaning his chest forward and saying in a flowery tone, Silas smiled, "You won't be disappointed, sir." Silas's long lashes swept down as he smiled, his eyes bending like crescents as he laughed melodiously, trying to reenact the way he had seen Eva do it so many times before.
After the short exchange and a promise to meet again, Silas bowed his head and stepped out of the alley, leaving behind the strange noble, as he maneuvered back into the crowd. The noble, however, stood in place in the dark, seemingly empty alley, his knights standing only some distance away in plain clothes. Their expressions were grim, making them appear as if they had smelled something rotten, but the noble paid no mind to their poor expressions.
Still, the only guard who had entered the alley as soon as Silas had left looked at the cat with a raised eyebrow, "I wasn't aware you had a cat, sir." The black cat watched the men closely, its green eyes flicking between the small group of men as the black fur on its back raised, its mouth opening as it hissed. Taking one step back, then another, the cat jumped off the water barrel and ran further into the dark alley.
The guards watched the cat in mild annoyance, as the young nobleman laughed harshly, turning towards the guard, "Heavens, no. What made you think that?"Adjusting the front of the patterned navy suit, the man turned to the side and said, smiling as he had before, "We mustn't keep Lady Ivana waiting. Shall we?" The guards did not respond, but instead stepped backwards, making room for the nobleman to exit the dingy alley.
Lifting his foot, the well-dressed man stepped off, his ink black hair shining as he enjoyed the sunlight of the busy street, making his way towards the bustling performance stage.
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Ah, this was a big boy ;; 9 pages! Just a quick note, Duke Godfreed is Malcolm, as his full name is Duke Malcolm Godfreed in case anyone has forgotten :D
Can you believe we've reached our first anniversary of posting already? One year, 500 pages. If you had told me this last year, I would have probably laughed or cried to be honest. I've always struggled to maintain my writing, but doing it weekly like this has made me face my fears and write something worthy of posting.
With that in mind, I would like to switch our posting schedule to Saturdays, as I am now working during the week, and posting at work (using mobile hotspot) is not fun, so it would work best for Hunny and I at this point! Though, do not despair! I am preparing a short extra to help transition! If I am done by Saturday, I will post it this Saturday, and then all post beyond that will be Saturday.
We have received a lot of kind and serious feedback, and generous praise. It's flattering, all ♥ I'm a masochist for praise (try asking a pedagogy professor how to improve your language skills, they'll rip you a new one ;; ), so I appreciate all of it greatly! Maybe we'll achieve our dreams of making a TV show or getting published? Either way, just being here and sharing it makes me happy enough.
Thank you all for reading! I will work hard with Hunny to finish that extra short piece. Much love ♥♥