Page 106 of Ruthless Scoundrel
“Gave it all up for love. Wonderful. I can give you ten gold, or twenty in store credit,” she says.
“We’ll take the credit. We need to look good for an event,” he says.
The merchant’s eyes sparkle. “I have many wonderful things. Please, come in.”
She shouts in Illyan toward the back and there’s a loudpangand an “Ah!”
“I am Avina. Please, sit here,” the merchant says, leading us to a sitting room with low couches and a wide coral table. “Spiced tea is coming. I will find you some things. Just a moment.”
She bustles away, disappearing between the racks of goods and stacks of random housewares.
I lean closer to Jasper. “She doesn’t know who I am, does she?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not sure. Is your likeness well-known?”
“I’m not sure.”
Jasper’s left hand falls to the butt of his pistol and the other lands on my thigh. “Everything will be fine.”
Avina returns with three dresses, one hanging from each arm and another with the hanger looped around her neck. The first is a tight gown of deep navy with shimmery trim, the second is a soft pink and much too fluffy, and the third is a white so fine it shines like an opal. It’s cut low on the chest, with tight-fitting sleeves and waist before expanding out at the hips. Gold threads weave in interlacing, spiral patterns along the bottom of the dress and flow up one side like a wave.
“That one,” I say, pointing to the third. It reminds me of Jasper’s magic.
“A good pick. This was a wedding gown for a young woman of a wealthy family here,” Avina says.
A wedding gown…
What better way to distract Vansen?
“I like the blue one,” Jasper says, his hand tightening on my leg.
“Which will be better for the event, my love?” I ask.
His eyes go wide, and his mouth falls open in a soft gasp. He stutters, then blinks and looks back at the dresses. “Well, the white one is beautiful. Just perhapstoobeautiful.”
“Nonsense!” Avina says with a wave of her hand. She drops the used wedding dress in my lap. “Go try it on. I think the hips are too loose.”
She points me toward a curtain behind the couch and I take the dress with me. I slip out of my travel dress and look at myself in the full-length mirror with awe.
My body has changed so much. There’s muscle definition on my stomach, arms, and legs. I’m fuller, like I’m finally becoming a woman. And of course, there are sucker-shaped bruises across my thighs, stomach, and chest.
I step into the dress and pull it up to my shoulders, then tuck my arms into the sleeves. It’s constricting, but the princess in me remembers how to wear uncomfortable clothes. I work the bodice strings on the sides until it’s cinched up on me tightly.
Avina was right—it’s too loose on my hips, but that’s fine. I still look like a princess.
A bride-queen.
I push back the privacy curtain and emerge into the sitting area. Jasper coughs, covering his mouth to keep in the sip of tea he just took. He sets the cup down and clears his throat.
“No one will see anything else but you,” he says.
Avina claps excitedly. “Yes. This is the one. It’s six gold.”
Jasper groans something, but then nods to the merchant. “Have the matching suit?”
Avina smiles. “I most certainly do.”
“And what about someone to help us get to the eclipse ball,” I ask.
