She’d need to exploit those rules.
“Jewelry?” she asked again.
“No. Jewelry is stitched on the clothes of nobles—we use the general term ofnoblesfor anyone of noble birth or higher. When speaking about gentry, though, which is the highest layer of wealth and privilege, we only saygentry. Royalty is in a tier of their own.” He paused to make sure she had it, then went on. “Male nobles have the jewelry stitched in, as I said, and the females can also wear it about their person, like humans. Anyone lesser than a noble is plain, as befits their station.”
“Champions are plain?”
“Yes, unless they are of noble birth and trying to rise above their defined station.”
She cocked her head, thinking that through. “I’m a human. I should be different. Not as a toy, maybe, but as a champion. If I try to blend in, I’ll look ridiculous. Besides, you told the king I was a joke. Dress me as a joke.”
He turned to study her. “Of course. You should have human fashion.”
“That would be ideal, but do you have female human garments lying around?”
He put his hands on his hips, and his eyes went distant. He stepped out of the dressing room. “Does anyone still have any of the human clothes I brought back as gifts? Female human clothes.”
“Ohh, busted!” one of the guys shouted.
“I do!” one of the ladies said. “I think. I don’t usually throw gifts away. You never know when it might be useful.”
“I…may,” someone else said uncertainly. “I do love presents, but…you know…where would I wear it?”
Turned out that a couple dresses hadn’t been thrown away or used as rags. They’d been tossed in trunks and were horribly wrinkled, all of them from a couple years and many fashion seasons ago, but they were salvageable. The court would think they were as weird as theFallenhad. Only Tarian and Daisy knew his impeccable taste.
When she was choosing between them, she tsked and shook her head. “I don’t have time for the alterations these need. We’ll have to sew them smaller, and I’ll pass off the length as purposeful.”
Tarian pulled a small trunk from a high shelf and set it on a round table. He flicked two clasps and lifted the lid. Jewelry glittered in the glowing orbs of the dressing room, diamonds and rubies and big-ticket items.
“When searching for the chalices, I grabbed anything of value that was easy to carry,” he said by way of explanation. “I storedthem in case I ever got out of here. If my family doesn’t take me back, any wealth I possess will be stolen. It’s not pretty, but?—”
Her poignant look and small smile stopped his flow of words. She reached out to take his hand. This moment reminded her of that hotel room, what felt like so long ago, when he had shown he understood her.
Now, it was she who showed she understood him. More than understood, maybe. Was the same. Had to live the same way. They were alike in ways few other people could be.
“I’ve built quite a fortune myself,” she said, her smile growing. “Most of it stolen one way or the other. I get it, Tarian. Trust me. Been there, always do that. I could give you some pointers.” His smile matched hers. “Okay, give me a moment and I’ll put something together.”
It wasa little more than a moment, but she was still on time, so she called that a win. The fit of the dress was a clusterfuck, but she’d altered it so her bra peeked out, gathered it in some places, let it flow in others, and found a pair of slippers that nearly fit and set it off perfectly. She’d stitched jewels into the tops of those slippers, had jewels cascading down her chest, bangles on her arms, and looked a little ridiculous, but she absolutely stood out. That was the goal. She was the frail, gaudy, misplaced human. The fae of this court would think they were the predators. They wouldn’t know they were being hunted.
Her hair was next, and she was mindful of the diamond dust that sparkled and glimmered on the back of her neck just as much as it always had. She hoped it stayed forever. Or for the couple weeks or whatever she had left in this miserable realm. Her hair parted way to the side, swished over her head and dropped down, often covering one of her eyes.
Her makeup was a bit harder. This place had a bunch of powders and dyes. Thank god her skin was still doing well, because no foundation existed. She’d made the best of it with a smoky (kinda blotchy) eye and a nude lip. She didn’t bother with blush.
“Okay.” She stepped out to the waitingFallen.Only a couple of them were allowed to go, but they all wore the plain servant’s outfit in case they were needed.
They looked up as she stopped in the sitting room where they waited.
“Okay is right.” Revana stood from the couch, looking Daisy over. “If I had known this was how to wear the clothes, I would’ve used them instead of smooshing them into a nearly forgotten trunk.”
Daisy barely glanced down at herself. “This? No, this isn’t how you wear these clothes. I don’t have near enough curves for this outfit. Tarian was right to get it for you. You’d rock this thing. But the furs and things you wear outside of here are hot, too, so I’m not sure you could go wrong.”
“I’m inclined to look and see if I do have any of those clothes he brought back,” Kayla murmured. “I wondered why he had bothered, but…”
She nodded appreciatively as Tarian stepped out of his bedchambers. He stopped just outside of the doorway, noticing her and freezing. His whole body tensed.
She held up a hand. “I know it’s gaudy. But it?—”
“It’s like the stars shone down and deposited a miracle just for me,” he said in a release of breath, coming forward again. His beautiful green eyes swam with gold, sparkling like the stars he’d just mentioned. “You are absolutely beautiful, little dove. You are perfection. I see now what you were saying.”
