The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (49 page)

'Typically it’s something which moves well when you dance. So I’m going to create you a dress with a circular skirt and I think a split on one side,' she looked thoughtful as she considered this. Ada went to one of the armoires and began to rummage through it. The other three had finished their showers and sat, watching.

After locating several pieces, she turned and tossed them to Sian.

'Put these on and I’ll go to work.'

Sian looked down at the items Ada had given her. A long skirt, a shirt and a belt, the styles all went together well, but the color.

Oh well.
Sian inwardly shrugged and put the clothes on.

Kassie, Loi, and I jammed on Kassie’s bed, and watched as Ada circled Sian, who wore a long skirt and a slim fitting tunic top with a belt slung low on her hips. All in shades of rose. Loi nudged me and winked, and Kassie muffled a giggle at Sian’s slightly pained look.

Ada’s head snapped up, 'What’s wrong?'

'Nothing.' Sian gave the three of us a firm look, so we all assumed straight faces.

'Nope, nothing. Lovely color,' enthused Loi.

Sian narrowed her eyes at her. Ada ignored us and focused her energy. That odd noise I’d heard while we trained was audible again. The strange, almost dead tone. I realized it must be the sound of someone using their ‘gift’ and watched to see what she did next. The skirt began to shimmer, then blur and the hem started to rise, then fanned out, creating a more circular shape. A split opened over Sian’s right leg up to mid thigh, and the waist line reshaped so it was more curved to sit on the hips. It was like watching an artist draw, all the decisions she made were precise and intent, her lips moved as she worked.

I had to see this and climbed off the bed for a closer look, taking care to stay out of the way. At this distance, the fabric re-weaving and re-melding itself was visible and fascinating to watch. So much easier than sewing.

By the end of Ada’s creating, Sian wore a dress with floaty, kimono like, short sleeves and a slim fitted bodice that led into a circular skirt with the split over one thigh. The three of us circled Sian and studied her outfit. All the seams had vanished and if you stared close enough, you could see how the weaving of the fabric moved in several directions instead of the usual two. Loi dashed off to one of the armoires and began to search through it for the items Ada could use to create her piece.

Sian studied her reflection in the mirror. It was a very pretty dress and the fit—well, it was perfect, of course. She frowned at herself, it just wasn’t quite her. Noticing her frown, Cat touched her shoulder and arched a questioning eyebrow.

'It’s beautiful… But not quite me,' Sian said apologetically as she looked at Ada.

Ada beamed at her, surprising them.

'That’s fine. It’s much more fun if you have an idea of what you want. What shall we change?'

Frowning at her reflection, Sian chewed on her lower lip as she considered some options.

'What about racer back shoulders?' suggested Cat. 'Or a halter neck?'

Sian smiled, 'Ada, can you make it one shoulder? I want it to taper to a thin strap on the left and then remove the back of the top, and have the strap follow over my left shoulder, across my back to my right hip.'

The fabricer’s eyes went wide and she was hesitant, 'That’s rather daring. Can we make the skirt a little longer then?'

'Yes.' Sian said, glad she’d suggested it. 'Bring it down to mid calf and keep the split.'

The end result was very impressive and much more Sian. Kassie loved the open back and wished she could wear it. Unfortunately, her breasts were really too big for her to pull it off and look decent. Sian was quite small in the bust, but had nice hips, so the whole effect was delicate and sexy.

'Can you adjust the color?'

Sian turned to Ada after admiring her ‘new’ dress in the mirror. Across the room, from the pile of clothes she sorted through, Loi snorted and looked up at Kassie, giving her a wink. Sian glared at her and turned back to Ada with a questioningly look, 'So?'

She shrugged.

'If you like. What color are you thinking?'

Sian considered her idea again.

'Let’s make the strap light rose, and slowly darken the color to deep rose, then black, when it reaches my waist. Then start to lighten it down the skirt until the bottom of the skirt is white, like it’s being dipped in dye.'

Ada’s eyebrows were arched high, but she smiled as she set to work again. Kassie, Cat, and Loi froze from rummaging through clothes, to watch as Ada’s gift shimmered and slid over the fabric. They could feel the fabric respond to her coaxing, it was like watching a rose bloom. The completed dress left them spellbound. Sian spun and preened in front of the mirror. She hated to admit it, but this dress, with its delicate style and striking coloring, was fast becoming her favorite piece of clothing. She couldn’t wait to see Daron’s face.

Sian’s face began to look a little mischievous and she started to glow blue, just a hint.

'What are you thinking, Siany?' Loi asked curiously.

We laughed as she flushed at being caught out and pressed her hands to her red cheeks.

'Oh God, this is going to be embarrassing if I glow at every errrr… naughty thought.'

We chuckled at that, then set to work with Ada, creating our outfits.

Dinner seemed to last forever, and the four of us were at the edge of our seats as we waited to go back and change. I looked forward to seeing their style of dancing. Everyone was busy chatting, so I let my mind drift, thinking about my outfit for this evening. Ada had transformed a beautiful violet robe into a cowl necked, sleeveless dress. It was finished on a diagonal and fit like a dream. I felt a pang of envy at Ada’s gift, and I wondered what other ‘gifts’ you could have. Dinner finally ended and we hurried to our suite.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, the doors were closed but they could hear the music. Loi fiddled with the ties on the wrap shirt Ada had created for her.

'You look fine, Loi,' Kassie gave her hands a playful slap.

'Leave it be.'

Loi shrugged and smiled at her diminutive friend. She didn’t know why she felt so nervous. Sabyn had seen her in far worse. Maybe that was it. This was the first time she’d really been ‘dressed up’ in front of him.

I guess it’s good practice for the ball.
The guards pulled the doors open for them. The spectacle that greeted them made Loi’s jaw drop. It felt like she’d stumbled onto the set of a movie, as a large group of courtiers performed a dance in the center of the room. All the tables had been moved out of the way, against the walls.

The room looks so much bigger, and the dancing!

The four of them stood and watched as the dance continued.

It was very striking. Colors swirled past and it appeared that dance attire here was colorful and fitting. Not as revealing as on Earth, but still along the same lines. Sian squeezed my hand, 'Do you think they were all made by fabricer’s? They look amazing.'

I nodded absently, distracted by the dancers.

They’re so good.
The dance style looked snappy and fun. Lots of spins and lifts and occasionally all the women would perform a move and then the men. It was fantastic. I jolted in shock when someone grabbed my hips from behind and spun me around.

She looked amazing. The violet dress clung to her curves and made him wish she’d renege on her ‘taking it slow’ oath. The color of the dress emphasized her creamy white skin, of which, rather a lot seemed visible. Alek couldn’t help the suggestive smile he gave her. He raised her hand and this time twisted it, exposing the soft underside and pressed a languid kiss to it. Cat’s energy flared out and there were sounds of shock and surprise as those close leapt out the way. The other three girls and Rumal, who’d just arrived, started laughing as Cat flushed red.

Dammit!

I need to learn to stop that. It was kind of hard to though, when he looked at me like that. I flushed again as Alek’s eyes roamed over me. This was a bizarre sensation for me. Normally, I had fun chasing the boys and I always had the upper hand. Not this time. He had me between a rock and a, err, hard place, and he knew it. I also knew, full well, that he’d be happy to ignore my go slow rule if I let him. And right at that moment, I wanted to—bad. He wore a green shirt and slim tan pants. The shirt hugged him enough to show the hard muscles underneath and the pants, I just knew, would make his ass look great.

Cat had stopped blushing and now studied his outfit. She lifted her eyes and he saw that look. Exactly the same as when she had watched him in the river. He still had her hand and pulled her into the dancing crowd. Her eyes went wide as he spun her around and when he lifted her in time to the music she let loose a squeal, startling those around them into laughter.

'Alek,' she half wailed. 'I don’t know what I’m doing.'

He laughed, delighting in her uncertainty; it was fun to have the upper hand in this situation. The thoughts it inspired would have made Loushka yell at him. He resisted the urge to laugh and lifted Cat into the next spin. She seemed to have a better grip on the steps and moved with him.

Loi was left by the entrance, looking for Sabyn. Rumal and Daron had whisked the other two off and she’d lost sight of Cat and Alek in the crowd. She twisted her fingers in the silk fabric of the high waisted-harem style pants as she scanned the room. Plenty of heads twisted to stare but none were Sabyn.

Where is he?

A touch to the shoulder made her jump and she spun to find him smiling at her. Loi smacked him on the arm.

'Don’t do that. Where have you been?'

'Ow,' Sabyn rubbed his arm. 'Sorry, I got caught up talking to Yakov.' He offered his arm, 'Shall we?'

Actually he’d finished talking to Yakov a good five to ten minutes ago and had watched Loi for that time. It was the first time he’d seen her dressed in evening clothes, and he'd wanted a few moments to admire her. The outfit Ada had created was stunning, and she might not have realized it while she looked for him, but it had seemed every male in the room idolized her. The navy pants made her already long legs look endless and the dark gold shirt hugged her waist and breasts. She looked incredible. Part of him just wanted to whisk her away somewhere private.

Maybe later, he thought as he led her through the dance steps.

Rumal was stunned. For the last part of the hour, he’d been trying to teach Kassie the dance steps. Yet it seemed no matter what he said, she got them wrong. If he said left, she went right. Even when he moved with her she got it wrong. Now they had a small group of people trying to assist and all giggled helplessly as Kassie got it wrong, yet again. The bronze haired woman just laughed along and had fun. At least she was enjoying herself. Rumal shook his head at her.

'C’mon then, Kass, if I lead you through it we might get it right.'

Okay, so dancing isn’t my forte.

Sian, Loi and Cat had been flummoxed when they discovered her skill at getting it wrong. For a short period of time the girls had taken belly dance lessons, and apparently she’d gotten every step wrong. Still, it had been lots of fun. Kassie shrugged those thoughts away as Rumal lifted and spun her.

This style of dancing was great. And as long as he led her she seemed to be going the right way. It also gave her ample time to ogle him, and damn, he looked hot. The sleeveless black top showed off his biceps and muscled chest, and the fitted pants were awesome. She smothered a giggle as some inappropriate thoughts stole into her mind.

Mmmm, really should go and find a broom cupboard or something.