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Looshiana finally got around to doing it. ^^'
I have some information missing which is kept between [brackets], so please do edit them to your liking. The entire thing is around 700 words but you don't need to keep the first part.
"Assistant! Fetch me the finest furs we have, I must pack them for my trip.”
The [breed] threw a quick nod at her direction before skittering off to look in the massive storeroom she kept. It left Quarazi alone, save for the papers upon papers full of blueprints that were sketched, erased, and sketched again on her desk.
“Now, let’s see…” she scribbled another design hastily on the last strips of untouched paper with her piece of artist’s charcoal. It had potential, she decided, and promptly held it up to the light of her window. Before she could finish deciding on it, however, the door to her office creaked open and the aforementioned assistant stepped in, with a meager few pelts in their arms. Startled, the tundra crumpled the part she was holding onto, taking the design with it.
“I sincerely apologize, madam,” the [breed] bowed their head, leaving the furs for Quarazi to inspect. “It’s alright, I shouldn’t be so jumpy.” Chuckling lightly to assuage her fears, she looked over the goods, and back to the crumpled design on her desk. “No good, no good,” she muttered. “We’ll need more, better; maybe quality twine and some gold chains too… go look for them as well, [name], and if there aren’t any make haste and retrieve some from the market. Here are some coins--” she directed them to a satchel weighed heavy by the gold within.
“Any specifics you have in mind, madam?”
“No,” she glanced at the creases of her paper. “I’ll design it when I meet with Her.”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself for this, madam,” the assistant mutters, but she is too lost in her work to hear.
Quarazi tried hard not to tremble in the presence of the Lady. She had more grace and tact to compose herself for the lesser earls, and Vanhild and Hjalmar were lovely people. There was something, however, about Jolfriga-- maybe it was the way she carried herself as if she was on the top of the world, or the myriad scars dotting her face-- that Quarazi didn’t want to linger on.
“Shall I knot them here, your grace? Maybe a pair of them on either side, I think--” she carried on, thinking up more details to distract from Jolfriga’s icy gaze, “It’ll match the embroidery on your cape.”
“You don’t understand, lady Quarazi--”
“I can do anything, no matter how splendid… please don’t hold back, your grace. I’ll make it a masterpiece.”
“It’s really alright--”
“Or maybe, I can line the embroidery with gold, as well…”
Jolfriga could see what game the seamstress was playing. It was a good insight for battle, but she didn’t wish to wage more war over how glamorous her cape was. In truth, she’d envisioned a more… deferential type of person, but she was well-acquainted with the nobility. Perhaps this was her way of quelling her anxieties, and no one ever needed to tell her off for it. She probably should, mused the nocturne, it would be better for both of them if she did. Much less nerve-wracking, at the very least.
“Enough, lady Quarazi.” The tundra immediately shut up. “I don’t mean to disrespect your skill, but-- and truly, they really are a wonder-- but I don’t need a cape laid with gold, nor one with a web of knots. I just need a simple fur cape, something to keep warm with.”
“Yes, your grace! Right away. Is… is that all you ask for?”
“Ah, right. Do make sure the pins are gold. They’d fit my cuffs quite well.”
“Absolutely, your grace. Consider it done,” Quarazi repeated. Knowing not to overstay her welcome, she hurried back out of the lady’s chambers, with Jolfriga’s watchful eye on her all the while. The closed door pinioned the light from the hall, leaving the lady alone in the comfort of her desk.
“Never been so much trouble about a cloak,” she said to no one in particular. “But, I do admire her spirit. I suppose most courts would have wanted this fare, after all.” The lady, never for a moment left alone, traces over the interaction in her mind before getting up to answer another knock at the door.
