If she was going to continue training with Sky Dragon she was going to have to do something about her wardrobe. She'd thought of ideas threw dinner, drawing inspiration from dress styles she had seen in the ports of other countries she had visited with her father. And although the townspeople might find the change indecent she thought that any kind of dress would be less shocking to them than pants. She was surprised there hadn't been much fuss over it the night before but then again, they had other things to worry about then.
She rifled through her closet and took a dark blue dress out and ripped off the sleeves and long flowing skirts. She made loose pants out of the skirts. Then she stitched on two elbow-length flowing sleeves made from the matching shall of transparent dark blue. Her fingers picked up a rhythm and she began to relax.
As much as she had hated needlepoint and sowing when she wanted to get outside and do stuff as a child, she had to admit it had a way of numbing a troubled mind. The moon was still up and all the lights in town were out when she finished but she still wasn't ready to close her eyes and face the dark.
Next, she cut out ribbons of pink, purple and light blue and fastened them to a bright orange ribbon that she tied around the pale-yellow sash she made into a wide waistband. When she was done, she had a knee-length skirt of ribbons in all the colors of a sunrise or sunset.
To match the ribbons in her skirt she hung long flowing ribbons from bracelets and she cut a long yellow ribbon for her hair. Finally done when the moon set she tried it on and was satisfied that it fit comfortably enough and was easy to move in.
She took it off and got ready for bed tying a gag in her mouth in preparation for the screaming she knew would come. Exhaustion took over and pulled her under.
She awoke to the early morning sun with the help of her nightmares and started her day with some quiet exercises to lift the fog from her tired mind and give her energy. Then she struggled through the first page of her new book, she gave up after re-reading the same sentence five times without the slightest idea of what she'd just read. Frustrated she got dressed and headed down to breakfast in her new costume.
Her mother was shocked and taken aback. "What on earth are you wearing?"
"The new dance costume I made last night." She said with a shrug.
"I had no idea you could sew well enough for something like that. Where did you get the material? Oh my and you can see your legs, that's hardly appropriate for a lady. you're not going in public like that are you?"
"I need to be able to move more than my other dresses aloud, I kept tripping over them, I could just wear regular pants instead if you prefer." She said rather than answering either of her mother's questions.
"Heavens no, I hate when you wear pants and dress like a sailor. But what do you think the young men will think when they see you in that? It's ridiculous and the colors don't match, and it's… well it's too provocative, it will only attract the wrong kind of men, not the marrying sort."
"Mom, I'm not trying to be provocative, I'm not looking to find a marrying man or any for that matter. If the wrong kind bothers me I'll just knee them where it hurts."
Her mother gasped and Nieka took that as her cue to leave before she had anything more to say. She didn't want to get involved in a marriage-related discussion with her mother right now there were much more important things to worry about.
It wasn't like she wasn't attracted to men; it was just that she had no desire to be tied down by one. She wasn't even an old maid yet like her sister, Nieka was only 17 her sister was 19 and though Cinna had many suitors over the years she had always turned them down; not because she didn't like them but because they all had plans for her, or wanted to protect her too much.
Cinna was named for a songbird and rightfully so. She was beautiful and graceful, with the loveliest voice and she loved to sing. She charmed everyone who met her. Men loved and adored her, but they all wanted to cage her somehow, and she loved her freedom. If she had wings she'd fly the world.
It was usually Cinna that would dream up somewhere to go or something she wanted to see, and Nieka was the one clever and daring enough to make it happen. Cinna could never love anyone who would take that away but she always remained a hopeful romantic. Nieka shuttered at the thought of her trapped underground somewhere all chained up in the worst cage imaginable. She prayed to the open sky that her sister would soon be able to see its vast openness again.
The day's practice went much better, Sky Dragon was better able to see where she was making mistakes and help her fix them and she wasn't tripping all over the place. And although a few people pointed and snickered at her outfit, some actually stopped to watch. By the end of the week, people would watch and drop coins or even join in by playing the flute or banjo, they thought they were helping but it was bloody distracting. Sky Dragon reminded her there would be lots of distractions in battle and she would have to learn to deal with it. So, grudgingly she did so.
Kids would try and mimic her, and people would clap and cheer when she did flips over imaginary obstacles. The kids especially kept her on her toes having to remain aware of her surroundings to avoid accidentally hurting them as they got underfoot. The movements may be practiced to exact precision, but she had to be adaptable above all else.
Her mother had heard about her success and even stopped by a few times to watch herself. Shockingly her mother was not only impressed but now approved of it all.
She didn't always have people watching though normally it was just around lunch. This was good because it gave her all morning to go over new moves with Sky Dragon. Then in the afternoons, Sky Dragon would quiz her, making her string the new moves together in different combinations and mixing in new things with stuff she already knew. It was in these quiet times that she learned the most. But practicing form in increasing speed as she did when she was "dancing" for a crowd was great mussel memory work.
She ate and practiced, slept and read, pretended to be fine around old friends while plaining her escape, day after day, as time slipped away agonizingly slow. Sleep never got easier but she started taking two or three naps throughout the day or she would have crashed.
The sleep and hearty meals her mother fed her helped fill out the sunken skin around her bones and bring back her strength. Her reading all though interesting had given her little to help her fight the demons, but she remained hopeful it might help her find them and find a weakness.
Every day she told herself that she was doing something, doing what she could, but as she stared out at the starry sky each night it never felt like enough. She'd cry and she'd pray and search the trees as if for answers or signs of Takal, but the gods gave her no relief from her pain. Then she'd have to remind herself that staring out at the tree line would do nothing to help Cinna and force herself to do something productive.
Still each night she found herself doing exactly that. She would stare at the sky and search the spot Takal and Torn had dropped her off at. She'd wish and pray for them to come to take her back, whether to the castle to help rescue Cinna and the other girls or for them to just arrive with her sister, having already saved her. She never let herself sit there too long though, because all it did was fill her with sorrow and guilt and it did nothing to help her sister.
At the end of three weeks, she would march to the demon's lair, with or without the army, with or without the mob her father had failed to rally as no new demon attacks had calmed their fears. She had to do something or die trying... or the guilt of being the only one to regain their freedom would drive her to complete insanity.