Fallen Allegiance

Chapter Ten

Dwynwen, Sayer, me, and anyone else who knows. Oh, and Khadi of course,” That just made me feel sick, not only I would be punished but they would be to!

“As long as no one knows, we’re fine,” Dwynwen whispered to me. Then I realized, someone did know. Someone who was on the apposing side. Someone who had wanted Khadi dead for years. Andor. He could tell on me. He said he wouldn’t tell, but he was an Valithor, a murderer, it was doubtful he’d keep his word, and why should he? I was a Hunter! He despised my family!

“Morgana? Morgana are you okay?” Dwynwen asked me, shaking me slightly. I nodded even though I felt sick. Dwynwen sighed, “Come on, let’s get to Splendor, take our minds off things.”

That sounded good to me and the three of us carried on down the street, eventually reaching Splendor. It was a large white building with a big pink banner draping from one window to another window on the other side of the building with big swirly black letters on saying ‘Welcome to Splendor. Totally Splendid!’ It sounded totally cheesy to me, but Ariadne and Dwynwen pushed me inside, not listening to any of my complaints.

Inside was a big open dome, filled with mirrors and racks upon racks of clothes. Many girls rushed to and fro doing last minute shopping for the ball. There were signs everywhere saying things like, ‘makeup second floor’ and ‘masquerade masks third floor’ and ‘short dresses left side, long dresses right side’. I gaped in awe at the hundreds of dresses in front of me, wondering how on Earth, no, sorry, how on Valcriea I was going to find the perfect one. How on Valcriea. That sounded so weird yet I liked it.

Then another thought struck me and I turned to Dwynwen in worry, “Dwynwen, I have no money!” Dwynwen stared at me for a moment then laughed.

“No worries, I probably owe Khadi like, millions, the amount Sayer and I used to steal off her, so think of this as me giving you your money back. I brought loads with me, so go pick out what ever you want. Being a Lindsay has its upsides, my family is mega rich, though not as rich as the Hunters, of course.”

Soon we all split up, agreeing to meet at the changing rooms in half an hour to try everything on. I looked around, avoiding the ‘alive’ dresses and picking out random ones I thought might look good on me. I didn’t usually where dresses, so I found it quite difficult. Did you where long dresses to a ball or short? Or did it not matter? Were you meant to where a specific colour? I hoped not.

After selecting around ten, I made my way to the changing rooms where I sat down on a bench waiting for Ariadne and Dwynwen to turn up. Ariadne arrived first, exactly on time according to the clock on the wall. She seemed to be holding around ten dresses as well, both long and short and different colours, soothing my worries of looking like an idiot at the ball. Dwynwen, however, turned up fifteen minutes late holding around thirty dresses, smiling sheepishly at Ariadne and me. Ariadne gaped in shock while I rolled my eyes and locked myself in a changing room.

The first dress I tried on made me realize something, green was not my colour, it clashed terribly with my blonde hair and really didn’t suit my tanned skin. After knowing this, I put the dress I was wearing and another green one on the no pile. Dwynwen looked terrible in pink, was another thing I learned. It clashed just as bad with her red hair as the green clashed with my blonde. Ariadne seemed to be trying on mostly long dresses, she seemed to be uncomfortable showing her legs but Dwynwen and I pretended not to notice.

After two hours of discussing and trying on, the three of us finally had all picked out dresses. Dwynwen bought a short green one that reached just above her knees matching her green eyes and making her hair look even brighter. Ariadne bought a long, flowing gold dress made of silk which swirled around her feet making her look taller, which was helpful since she was so short. I bought a light blue dress, short at the front and long at the back, a colour which clashed with neither my blonde hair nor hazel eyes, which was a plus for me.

Next on our lists were masks. We headed up to the third floor and split up again, deciding to meet by the mirrors in half an hour. After picking up random masks, really having no idea what I was doing I went and sat by the mirrors, fiddling with the feathers on the masks. Ariadne arrived shortly after carrying a few more masks than me and just like last time, Dwynwen was fifteen minutes late and carrying triple as many as Ariadne and I.

We spent ages, trying on masks and seeing which ones looked good with our dresses and which didn’t. Some didn’t fit and fell off my face before I could stand up because the straps were too loose. Dwynwen seemed to be enjoying herself, every time she put on a new mask she would nudge Ariadne or me and ask what we thought, all I did was nod and say ‘it looks great’. Ariadne was just as confused as me, picking up random masks, putting them on, taking them off, staring at them blankly. Dwynwen sighed and got up to help us.

In the end we all had a mask as well. Dwynwen’s was silver and the most elaborate by far, having loads of black feathers and jewels. Ariadne’s was plain black with silver glitter making it sparkle and mine was dark blue with black swirls and white jewels.

We then moved on to shoes, going back down to the first floor. This time we stayed together, much to Dwynwen’s annoyance, so we didn’t lose each other and Dwynwen couldn’t be late again. Still, Dwynwen picked up the most shoes and took the longest. After much deliberation, Dwynwen picked a pair of glistening silver heels to match her mask. Ariadne picked a black shoe that had a sight heel, not like Dwynwen’s but enough to make her look taller. I went for black flats, knowing if I wore heels I would probably fall over and look stupid.

Dwynwen then dragged us up a floor to the make up section where she tested out different lip-glosses and lipsticks and eyeliners. Ariadne and I sat back in our chairs, utterly exhausted, not that Dwynwen noticed though. After she had picked up several mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks and glosses, eye shadows, foundations and nail varnishes, we head for the exit of Splendor. All in all, I thought our shopping trip was rather successful, even if Dwynwen had taken control of most of it.

Walking out of Splendor, Dwynwen gossiped about makeup and what would look great with our dresses. Ariadne seemed to be off in her own world again, humming to herself while I thought about the upcoming dance. Thoughts of universe seven kept coming back to me.

“They capture you, take you to their universe and you are never seen again.”

“What is the one thing that definitely lands you in seven?” 

“Changing universes.”