Waking up early, Yuah decided that today would be a fine day to order a new dress. Opening up her closet however revealed that there was not an inch of room for such an addition. She immediately began pulling dresses out and tossing them into a big pile. Once she had taken out all the clothing that she would no longer have worn, she had a mountain some three feet tall in the center of her room. From the remaining collection, she chose a black dress with a red satin mock coat and a frilly bodice. It was far more traditional than she usually wore, but she remembered having appreciated how it had looked the one time she had worn it. Narsa, the lizzie dressing maid, helped her get into it, after she had donned the numerous undergarments required by Brech fashion.
“Get one of the males to take this out to the car,” Yuah told her, indicating the pile of dresses.
“Yesss.”
She went downstairs and notified the cook that she would not be home for luncheon. The lizzie did convince her to have a crumpet and a cup of tea before going out. She took them with her to sit in the enclosed back porch, where she found Walworth Partridge cleaning his pistol. Walworth, a tall and handsome man of twenty-eight, had been working for the Dechantagnes since he was a teenager, employed as a driver, bodyguard, and general problem solver.
“Good morning, Mrs. D. Going out?”
“Yes, and I would appreciate it if you could drive me. The lizzies are filling the car with some old clothing that I’m taking over to the McCoort house.”
“Right-oh.” He finished cleaning the weapon, reassembled it and loaded it, and then put it in his jacket pocket. “I’ll go get it warmed up. Enjoy your tea. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Thank you, Walworth.”
When she had finished her tea and crumpet, she dropped off her cup, saucer, and plate in the kitchen on her way through, eventually going out the front door and down the steps of the portico where Walworth was waiting in the steaming carriage. He hopped down and helped her into the passenger seat, and then started off.
Though she might have meant either one of the two well-known McCoort couples, her handsome young driver knew Yuah well enough to know that it was her best friend Honor that she intended to see. It took less than fifteen minutes to reach her destination.
“Do you mind waiting a moment?” Yuah asked.
“Of course not. Let me know. I can unload this.”
“You are a dear,” she said, climbing down and walking up the path to the stone-faced cottage.
She knocked on the door, which was opened by a lizzie servant. Silently, the reptilian ushered her in and led her to the parlor, and then turned and left. Yuah found her best friend Honor reclining on a sofa. Honor looked up and opened her mouth in surprise, and for a minute Yuah didn’t realize why. Then she saw that her friend had only one leg sticking out from beneath her dress. Yuah’s hand went to her mouth and she quickly turned around.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” said Honor.
Yuah said nothing.
“You’re going to have to turn around and help me, unless you want me to hop across the room.”
Turning slowly back around, Yuah saw that a shapely wooden leg was sitting on an end table. Hurrying over, she picked it up and brought it to her friend.
“Why was it over there.”
“I had Ziggy polishing it with furniture wax. Then he left it there when he was called away to help in the garden. I was going to wait until the lizzies came through and could hand it to me.”
She pulled up her dress and fitted the prosthesis onto her leg stump, strapping it to her thigh. Then she smoothed her dress back down, pushed herself to her feet, and gave Yuah a hug.
“Can I ask you...?”
“What?”
“Do you keep your leg on in bed? With your husband?”
“Of course not. So what are you doing here? I thought you had sequestered yourself away to prevent any unwanted male attention.”
“Well, I had,” said Yuah, looking around as if she expected a clandestine observer to have his face pressed against one of the windows. “I’ve cleaned out my closet and I thought you might like one or two of my old dresses. Plus, you could tell me to whom I might give the rest.”
“Are they back at your house?”
“No. Walworth has them out in the car.”
“Ziggy!” called Honor, and when the lizzie stepped in the room. “Go out and get the clothing that is in Mrs. Dechantagne’s car.”
The lizzie had to make several trips before all of the dresses where transferred to the couch in the McCoort living room. Yuah stepped outside to tell Walworth that he wasn’t needed anymore, and he drove off, presumably back to the Dechantagne Estate.
“You say these are just the dressed you don’t want?” asked Honor, holding a blue and white walking dress up to her. “This isn’t too bad.”
“That would look lovely on you,” said Yuah, “but it is somewhat colorful.”
“A little color wouldn’t be too bad… not in a walking dress. I just refuse to wear anything too ostentatious. This, for instance, is not for me,” Honor said, holding up a backless deep purple evening gown. “My back is not as beautiful as yours, for one thing.”
In the end, Honor took three dresses: the blue walking dress, a cornflower day dress, and a more conservative evening gown in black.
“I’ll have to have these resized. I’m afraid I don’t have your bosoms. The rest, I will take to shrine. They are collecting clothing for new arrivals, though I have no doubt that these will be snatched up by the ladies already here.”
“As long as they’re being used. I don’t think I’ve worn any of them more than three times.”
“Three times!” gasped Honor. “I didn’t think you reused any of your clothing.”
“Hardy har,” said Yuah. “Speaking of. Now that I’ve emptied my closet, I have to go get something to fill it. Want to come along? I want to try out that new shop—the one the Zaeri woman from Mirsanna opened.”
“Mrs. Deneuve. I can’t say I’m really in the mood to watch you purchase clothing, but I do admit I’m rather curious as to what the confluence of Zaeri and Mirsannan culture might produce.”
“I’ll buy you lunch while we are out.”
“Fine, but you’ve sent your car away.”
“We can take the trolley or hire a rickshaw,” said Yuah. “I’ve never been overly fond of steam carriages, and I currently find them doubly annoying.”
“All right. Let me get ready.”
Fifteen minutes later, they left the house and then walked to the corner. In the center of Gerechten Iolanthe Way was a trolley stop, and lined up along the west side of the street were half a dozen rickshaws, their lizzie proprietors waiting for any humans who wanted a ride.
“Let’s go for a rickshaw,” suggested Yuah.
Though Honor didn’t look thrilled, she nodded.
They walked up to the lizzie who was in front of the line. He was a big male, well over seven feet tall and very strong looking. His left hand, which was missing, had been replaced with a metal hook that strapped onto his wrist not unlike the way that Honor’s leg strapped onto her thigh.
“Tsu see ghahk Deneuve’s Fashions?” Yuah asked him.
He shook his head slowly.
“Tsu see ghahk Empire Street and Azalea Avenue?”
He nodded.
“Excellent. Szessit?”
He held up two fingers on one clawed hand and one on the other.
“Two marks fifty! That’s daylight robbery!
“If you don’t want to spend that much,” said Honor. “We can ride the trolley for a pfennig apiece.”
“No. It’s fine,” said Yuah, fishing three silver one mark coins from her purse and handing them to the reptilian.
He helped her and then Honor climb into the vehicle.
“This is a nice one,” said Yuah, appreciatively admiring the leather seats. “Can we put the top up? I don’t want to get a tan.”
The lizzie unfolded the top. It w
as made of a golden-colored material, reinforced with steel bands, and fringed with gold tassels. The large fellow then took hold of the yoke connecting the two pulling shafts. In this way, he was actually pushing, rather than pulling and had no problem working with his prosthesis. New arrivals to Birmisia Colony were frequently amazed at the speed lizzie-pulled rickshaws could achieve. This was due to the fact that lizzies typically moved much slower in just about every other activity.
“The lizzies are demanding more and more money,” said Yuah. “I think we’ve taught them greediness.”
“I think it has more to do with their change of lifestyle.”
“What do you mean?”
“They used to just go lay eggs in the forest. Then when their hut needed a new member, they would just go capture a wild adolescent. Now they are laying eggs nearby and keeping all of the babies.”
“They’re all doing that?” wondered Yuah.
“More and more of them,” said Honor. “That means they have many more mouths to feed.”
“Its seems to me that things were fine the way they were.”
“I’m sure many lizzies say the same thing about the times before the soft-skins came.”
“All I know,” said Yuah, “is that before too long we’re going to be ass deep in lizzies.”
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the corner of Empire Street and Azalea Avenue. On the southwest corner was one of the new apartment buildings. It was nine stories tall, but unlike the tenements one would find back in Brech City, this was well constructed. While residences occupied the upper floors, the ground level was divided between Deneuve’s Fashions and Riley’s Grocery.
The lizzie stopped and stepped back to help the ladies out of the rickshaw. Yuah fished out two quarter-mark pieces and handed them to him, to pay for him to wait. Then she and Honor started toward the shop’s front door.
“I should have had Walworth drive us all day. I’m going to have spent ten marks on that reptile before the day is over.”
“And how much is that diamond on your hand worth, do you think?” asked Honor airily.
Yuah pursed her lips, not wanting to respond.
“Well?”
“Only about thirty thousand marks,” said Yuah. “I chose not to wear the big one.”
“Well of course,” said Honor, stepping forward to open the door. She bent at the waist and waved like a doorman for Yuah to enter. “Who would want to lug that great weight around on a day-to-day basis?”
Yuah looked around the small shop in wonder. It was amazing, crammed to the seams with dresses in all types and styles. There were traditional Brech dresses with large bustles and some of the newer styles out of Freedonia with smaller bustles and then there were new Mirsannan fashions that would have been too small to allow any type of enhancement. She was particularly drawn to one cream-colored dress. It seemed very much like many of the dresses she wore from the waist up. It had a low neckline, though not as plunging as some, and flowing half-sleeves. From the waist down though, it was very different. It hardly flared at the hips at all, but draped down to stop just above the ankles.
“If I wore this, I would look like I had no bottom at all.”
“No, but it would accent your bosoms,” said a husky Mirsannan accent.
Yuah turned to find a woman just behind her. Her skin was very dark brown, making a very striking contrast with her light rose dress, which was of the newer Freedonian style. Beneath carefully arched brows, she had very large and round brown eyes. Her mouth was narrow, but her lips were thick, the top lip just touching the gold ring that hung from the center of her nose.
“Madame Deneuve, I presume?”
“Mademoiselle, actually. And you are His Lordship’s mother, Madame Dechantagne.”
“Oh, my name sounds so exotic when you say it.”
“Dechantagne is a Mirsannan name originally, of course. In Natine, there is a Rue de Chantagne.”
“Yes. I am of the opinion that there are entirely too many streets named after my husband’s family.”
“They are your family too, no?”
“Oh, I’m just the dressing maid.” Yuah turned to her friend, and pointed toward the dress that had caught her eye. “What do you think, Honor? Would you wear something like this?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have your figure, dear. I can see that one wouldn’t wear a bustle with such a dress. What about a corset?”
“Oh, no no no,” said Mademoiselle Deneuve. “In Natine, the corset is pas à la mode—how you say, no longer done.”
“Then one would be walking around with no ass, a thick waist, and bosoms just going in all directions,” said Yuah.
“Would you like to try it on?”
“I think not.”
“Then I will wear it for you,” said Mademoiselle Deneuve. “Then you will see that such a dress can be attractive for your man.”
“Mrs. Dechantagne is not interested in a man,” Honor pointed out.
“For your woman too then.” The Mirsanna steered the other two women toward two overstuffed chairs. “Sit. I will bring you some wine.”
“None for me, thank you,” said Honor.
Mademoiselle Deneuve returned briefly to hand Yuah a tall glass of deep purple wine. Then she stepped behind a curtain into a back room.
“I’ve never met anyone so dark before. I didn’t know it was possible.”
“My Großvater used to say that Mirsannans came in shades from half-baked to burnt,” said Honor. “I’ve come to realize however that he was a horrible racist.”
The dark skinned woman stepped out from behind the curtain and sauntered across the room, did a twirl, and walked back. With a shock, Yuah realized that she could make out the shapes of the woman’s legs as she moved. Then with another shock, she realized that she could also make out her hips.
“Oh, my!”
“Do you know who she reminds me of in that outfit?” said Honor.
“No, whom?”
“Senta. Not the way she usually dresses, but you know, in her scary sorceress clothes.”
“It’s because you can see so much,” said Yuah.
“It’s because you can actually see her move. She so… what is the word?”
“Lithe.”
“I understand that you are Zaeri,” Honor said.
“Oui. From my père—how you say, father. His family moved to Mirsanna from Zur many years ago.”
“How lovely. Would you like to join us at shrine?”
“You are Zaeri too?”
“We both are.
“That’s funny,” said Yuah. “Here we are, one Zaeri lady each from Mirsanna, Freedonia, and Brechalon.”
“It’s not terribly funny,” said Honor.
“You are from Freedonia?” the Mirsannan woman asked Honor. “Ce qu'il faut avoir vu.”
The three of them were silent for a moment.
“Perhaps I will visit your shrine,” said Mademoiselle Deneuve, and turning back to Yuah. “Would you like to see something else?”
“Yes,” said Yuah. “Do you have one in a darker color—a deep rose perhaps.”
“Absolument,” she said, returning to behind the curtain.
“I can’t sit here all day watching you look at dresses,” said Honor.
“You could if you wanted to.”
“And there lies the rub. I’m going next door to buy some cucumbers. Then I am going home.”
“But we were going to have lunch together.”
“I fear it will be tea before you leave this shop.”
“I’ll give you money to take the lizzie with you,” offered Yuah.
“I have more than enough for the trolley,” Honor replied, kissing her on the cheek and then getting up and striding out of the shop.
“Your friend is gone?” asked the shop proprietor, when she returned wearing a deep rose dress of the same style as the other.
“Yes, and too bad. She should have seen this. It’s so daring.”
&nbs
p; “You want to try it on, no?”
“I could never wear it. I would be too embarrassed.”
“Come in back. You can try it on. If you don’t like it, then you don’t buy it.”
Yuah swallowed the rest of her wine and followed Mademoiselle Deneuve through the curtain into a back room that was about the same size as the shop, but seemed much smaller because it was even more crammed full of dresses on standing racks.
“I shall be your dressing maid, eh?” The Mirsannan woman held up a magical dressing wand.
Using it, removing Yuah’s dress was far easier than it would have otherwise been. She unfastened and removed her bustle, and then the proprietor unlaced her corset from behind. As Yuah was removing all but the lowest layer of her undergarments, she looked up to see Mademoiselle Deneuve slipping out of the other outfit. Beneath it, she had on a long black slip, but nothing above the waist.
“Oh my God!” gasped Yuah. One hand went to her mouth and the other pointed.
“Tétons percés,” said the other woman, smiling. “They are—how you say, bosom rings.”
“Holy smoke.”
“Yes, they are dans la mode in Natine. All the women are having them.”
“Did it hurt?” wondered Yuah, pulling her hands protectively toward her own chest.
“Oh oui. Very much. It is worth it though. Don’t you think?”
“I wouldn’t think it would be. I didn’t even notice when you were showing off the dresses. What’s the point in something so painful if nobody can even see it?”
“These are dresses made by Mirsannans for others. This is not what we wear in Natine. Slip into the dress and I will show you.”
She stepped to the other side of a rack of clothes while her customer finished dressing. Using the dressing wand to fasten herself up, Yuah stepped out into the shop and stood before the cheval glass, turning this way and that. She looked so tall and thin, and yes, when she walked she looked lithe. And it did show off her bosoms.
The Dragon's Choice Page 13
