NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The king’s carriage made a stop in one of the towns of the kingdom. Its allure was enough to make heads turn in its direction as it shone under the sunlight.

Some of the people present recognised the carriage as the king’s and were eager to meet the king to curry favours from him, while the others, wary of him, maintained a distance between them.

Sthena stepped down from the carriage and was almost immediately approached by a young man and a woman, who followed closely behind him.

”Your majesty,” The man bowed in greeting, a smile on his face. ”If I had known you would be visiting the town, I would have specially prepared a gift in advance.”

”You flatter me Mr. Thorvaldsen. Now I look forward to this gift.” Sthena responded with an equal smile on his face.

Thorvaldsen chuckled, his shoulders high in pride of having met the feared and reputed king himself. Looking at them, one would think Thorvaldsen had a close relationship with the king. ”I’ll make sure to have the most befitting gift prepared.”

At the same time Thorvaldsen finished speaking, Sthena turned to assist Perdita in getting down from the carriage.

Seeing the woman step down from the king’s carriage, the woman beside Thorvaldsen narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and immediately put on a charming smile the next second she noticed the king’s stare on her.

With a quick glance at the lady beside the king, Thorvaldsen stepped to the side, subtly turning his back on Perdita. He shoved the woman beside him forward in front of the king that had Perdita’s brow squint in annoyance from the subtle disrespect from the man. She heard him speak, ”I believe you haven’t met my beautiful sister, Adeline, Your majesty. Perhaps, this is the perfect moment to meet her and who knows she would be the desired gift to you.” He laughed, finding his words funny.

A smile spread across Sthena’s face making Thorvaldsen’s head swell more in pride as though the king had already accepted his sister and the smile on his face widened the more.

”I didn’t know your sister would one day become a commodity, Mr Thorvaldsen.” Came Sthena’s reply that had the smile on the man’s face slightly fade out and it was completely wiped off when Sthena continued to speak, ”I hope you don’t mind I give her out? I sometimes like to share my gifts. What do you say?”

The words struck a chord in Adeline’s nerves. Her grip on her dress tightened while she tried to keep a calm face as though she was unaffected by the humiliating words of the king.

Thorvaldsen let out a chortle, embarrassed because of the king’s suggestive words. He made to speak, but Sthena beat him to it, saying, ”Now, if you two would allow me, I have somewhere to be with my lovely lady.”

At the King’s words, Thorvaldsen turned in the direction of Perdita with a bright smile on face as though he was delighted to meet her. ”Who could this lovely lady be?” He extended his hand, waiting for Perdita to put hers on his so he could kiss the back of her hand. However, Perdita made no attempt to lift even her little finger.

”When I see people, I always wonder what can lead them to an early grave, and yours Thorvaldsen, is your mouth always spouting words that ick my nerves and also wanting to use them to dirty the hand of my woman.”

Thorvaldsen’s and Adeline’s eyes widened simultaneously in surprise and realization of what Sthena’s words implied. He quickly retracted his hand to his side and bowed in apology.

While Adeline sulked inside the sea of envy, her brother was quick to step to side on the thought of not wanting to offend the king. ”We’ll be on our way as I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting, Your majesty, My Lady.”

Sthena tilted his head to the side merely acknowledging Thorvaldsen’s sudden thoughtfulness. His hand went to the Perdita’s back as he led her away from there.

”I’m sorry for that disturbance. Were you uncomfortable?” Sthena quizzed. He turned to glance at Perdita who shook her head to a no.

”No, I wasn’t. I was only curious to know who they were. Seems you know each other well.”

”Calling him an acquaintance will make me look cheap in terms of me forming acquaintances with people. Forget about them, they shouldn’t be of worry to you.”

”Oh,” Perdita mouthed. Not dwelling on the topic anymore, she asked. ”Do you plan on getting anything?”

”No. But now you’ve said it, why don’t you pick something for me.” Sthena suggested, his hand guiding her as they stepped into a shop.

In front of the shop stood mannequins enclosed in a glass case. Each one was dressed in a beautiful, rich, and costly dress endowed with precious stones that glistened as rays of th sun touched them.

A doorboy standing outside on seeing them approach immediately stood and opened the door with a courteous bow.

Stepping inside, Perdita was greeted with more beautiful dresses she had ever beheld. Each one was meticulously sown and designed to suit the taste of ladies of the higher society.

A man aged man walked in from the adjacent room with his female assistant trailing behind him. ”A pleasure to see you, Your majesty.” He bowed as low as his waist could carry him. Straightening his posture, his eyes squeezed shut as the aching on his back shot straight at him making him grimace.

”Quick prepare a seat for the king and the lady,” The older man instructed. Turning to Perdita he bowed, ”My Lady.” To which Perdita reciprocated by inclining her head in a bow.

”Show the Lady your latest designs for her to choose from.” Sthena ordered, taking a comfortable position on the chair. He said to Perdita, ”Pick any dress you fancy. If you don’t like anyone here, we can go to other stalls too.”

”The dresses here are all beautiful, I’m sure I will see one that will be comfortable on me in no time,” Perdita responded still trying to get used to being shown this much affection in public by Sthena without feeling flustered. She could feel the curious eyes of the owner of the shop and his assistant on her, while quietly accessing her.

Looking through the racks of dresses brought out and those folded in a box because of how delicate they were, Perdita now stared at three dresses with a conflicted look on her face.

”The dresses are all beautiful and will compliment you in every way. You can test them to fully make up your mind on the one you desire the most.” The shop owner suggested while patiently waiting for her to make a choice.

”That would be better. I’m more conflicted on the colour and the most comfortable one to wear.” Perdita confessed with a small smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Sthena who had gone from where he sat to one of the racks came back holding a silvery grey dress in his hand. From a first glance, Perdita could see it was a lovely dress not that the others weren’t on par.

”That won’t be necessary, test them all to see if there are any adjustments to be made and then send the four dresses to the castle this evening when you are done.” Sthena said to the shop owner and handed the dress to the assistant.

A few minutes passed in silence except for the small conversation that went on in the other room where Perdita tested the dresses with the help of the assistant who took note of the adjustments to be made.

”We’re done,” Perdita announced and walked to where Sthena sat waiting for her.

”Are you certain you do not want more dresses?” Sthena asked her to which she shook her head and replied,

”No. These ones are enough. I have more dresses I haven’t worn before and the royal tailor is also making more dresses. I fear I might have to start wearing more than three dresses a day to be able to wear them all.” Perdita chuckled to herself.

It still shocked her how things had drastically changed in just a few months after meeting Sthena. She had gone from owning just a few dresses to have lots of them where she changed almost every time she was went out. At first, she had refused, but after much persuasion from Emily explaining this was one of the protocols of being a lady of high status, she had no other choice but to give in.

Sthena stood from his chair and from his coat pocket he took out a heavy pouch filled with gold coins he handed to the shop owner then gestured to Perdita, ”Come darling, let’s get you some shoes to go with the dresses.”

The duo stepped out of the shop, leaving the owner of the shop and his assistant inside. They shared a knowing look with each other and then back at the disappearing figure of the King and the woman beside him.

”She is one of us,” The man said, his black eyes suddenly changing its colour to dark shade of green.