Xavier took a moment to study my tense features. “Come.” He took my hand, leading me through racks of clothing. I wondered what he was doing. When he stopped, my eyes followed his. I stared at the line of dresses hanging on a wall. Some were pink, and others blue with puffy sleeves and shiny things on the chest. They were long with big skirts and all so pretty.
“Dresses made for a princess,” he said when I looked at him. “Go on, try them. Take as many as you want.” He released my hand.
Slowly, I walked from one to the other, touching the material and rolling a fingertip over the shiny things. I picked up one, then another, and another until I had five folded over my arm.
“You can’t be serious, Xavier. She’s obviously a grown woman, not a child. And my boutique is brimming with haute couture from sophisticated fashion houses. This place is for simpletons, poor people not worthy of your status.”
I looked over my shoulder, having forgotten Suman was still there.
“Sometimes the rarest diamond is found under the hardest rock, deep within the earth’s core.” Xavier was looking at me as he spoke. “Such beauty within simplicity.” Then he looked at her. “Something you’ll never understand, Suman, because pound signs block your vision.”
Her jaw clenched, she looked angry. About to open her mouth to say something, Xavier’s brow lifted, his expression daring her to challenge him.
She quickly smiled. I could tell it was fake. “I’m just saying these clothes are more for little girls, not grown women.”
Stepping closer, I stared at her until she shifted from one foot to the other. “There’s an inner child in all of us, Suman, some grow up far quicker than they should, a few indulge in simple pleasures to keep them younger, and others...others,” I breathed, “have their little souls raped of the chance to live, laugh, and smile. Which one are you?”
Startled by my response, she looked from me to Xavier and back. “Um...”
“Can I have these, please,” I said to Xavier, who had that expression I didn’t understand on his face again.
He nodded, took the dresses from my hand, and handed them to Suman. Even though she didn’t look happy, she accepted them and followed us around the store as Xavier stopped at various racks and shelves. He picked up a few items.
“These are jeans and T-shirts.” With each one he showed me, I touched them, feeling the material, learning the patterns.
I liked the pretty pink ones with the princesses on the front. “Can I take them, please?”
“Yes, love.” He smiled. “Anything you want, remember.”
I was beginning to feel like an actual princess, Master far from my thoughts. Maybe there was hope for me to live a normal life, like everyone I read about in my books. Each time he gave something to Suman to hold, she grumbled.
Next, he moved me to the shoes, made me sit, and brought me a few pairs to try. With each one, he knelt in front of me and slipped them on, then allowed me to hold onto his shoulder while I stood. The flat ones were easier but still weird around my feet. The higher ones made me wobble like I was learning to walk for the first time. Twice I fell, and Xavier scooped me like a fragile doll both times.
“Are you okay?” he asked the second time, his eyes filled with so much worry it made me want to smile.
I tried and failed. “Yes,” I replied instead.
It took Suman’s throat clearing to realize we’d been lost in the other’s eyes. Xavier set me down and then knelt to remove the heels.
“You need these.” He held up a bra a few minutes later.
Conscious I wasn’t wearing one, my eyes darted to the red one Suman wore under her white blouse. Xavier must’ve noticed because he chuckled, drawing my gaze back to his face.
“Try them,” he said, his voice softer. “You also need these.” He picked up matching black knickers.
Without thinking, I shrugged off the heavy coat, leaving me with just the knickers I wore. The shirt I’d worn under his jacket when we left the castle now hung over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Suman gasped, looking around the store.
Except for her, another lady who’d helped with the sizes of items Xavier asked for, and him, I didn’t see anyone else. Her gaze ran over my scars, her eyes widening with each one.
Ignoring her, I took the bra Xavier held out and turned it around a few times, trying to figure out how to put it on. Master had never let me wear these. I’d seen them on the ladies he brought as guests to the red room. Sometimes I thought they were worse than men, punishing my body like an act of revenge.
“Here, let me.” Xavier took it from me. “Turn around.” I did and watched as he put the bra on. Done, he turned me to face him. “How does that feel?”
I wriggled my shoulders and arms, not liking how it bit into my skin. “Tight.”
Xavier turned me around again. He did something near my shoulders, and immediately it felt different. “Now?”
