five

"Come out!" Macia called from the hallway. I was trying on a dress Macia wanted me to wear, it was long and pale, a nice pink colour.

She told me it was her absolute favourite, one of her best designs. She admitted that it was supposed to be someone else's dress, but she loved the thought of it on me.

"Let me see!" She called again, "Don't keep me waiting, Amoret!"

"I'm coming," I answered, slipping through the doorway of the room I would be staying in.

"Parfait, juste parfait!" She smiled, "I love it on you!"

"Thank you," I blushed, "I really like it."

"I do too. Malheureusement, it is too fancy to wear out and about. We need to send you to a party in that," Macia sighed, quickly fixing the flowy ruffles on the dress.

"I've never been to a party," I admitted, twirling around in front of the long mirror she had set up for me.

"Oh, don't you worry! You will attend many with me! I still can't believe your mother had you locked up in the basement, she's my best friend but I could never understand why she would do such a thing!"

"Mama said it was too dangerous for me," I told her.

"Mensonges! The world is a beautiful place, Amoret. Your mother had no right to hide you from her own fears-" Macia grabbed my face between her hands, "-remember that."

Macia smiled to show off a gap in her teeth, "I'll remember, Macia, thank you," I replied.

"Good!" Macia laughed. Hands on her hips as she mumbled to herself, "Now, where is that boy?"

As if on que, Henrik came running in with an armful of clothes, "Here, I got everything you asked for."

Macia pointed to the bed in my room, Henrik nodded and sauntered in. He threw the pile of clothes on my bed and turned on his heels, smiling at us

"Thank you for the clothes, Macia," I said, "I greatly appreciate it."

"My best friend's baby is my baby," Macia cooed, "besides, what kind of seamstress would I be if I didn't have thousands of spares."

"Thousands sounds a bit much, don't you think, mom?" Henrik spoke up.

"Oh, stop it, you!" Macia pointed to Henrik, "I can say whatever I want!"

Henrik only laughed, Macia joined in, and I was able to see how much they looked alike. Henrik had the same black hair but it wasn't as curly, it had volume but definitely not curly. While Henrik had blue eyes, Macia had grey. They both were tall, although everyone I seen was taller than me. Henrik had high cheekbones and a straight nose but Macia didn't.

Seeing the similarities and differences between them made me wonder about who his father was and why he wasn't there.

I shook my head. Mama always said staring is rude. "Macia?"

She turned to look at me after talking with Henrik while I was in my own world, "Yes?"

"Do you think I could sleep now?" I asked her. "I didn't sleep on the trip here."

"Oh, yes! Of course, here!" She moved out of my way, pushing Henrik out as well. "Have a good sleep, Amoret. I'll make Henrik take you out in the morning. Bonne nuit."

"Thank you," I yawned, "Bonne nuit."

"Ah, I knew you could speak French," Macia smiled, "I knew your mother would teach you."

Macia closed the door behind her. I made a mental note to ask her how she met my mama. I rubbed my eyes as I took off my dress, pulling my nightdress back on. Adding another reminder that I would have to apologize to Henrik in the morning for earlier.

Before climbing into bed I opened the window in my room so that I could look out of it as I fell asleep.

•

I woke up to Flynn's voice, I never realized how loud he was until then. Quickly, I got dressed into a simple yet very pretty dress and made my way out of my room, heading downstairs where Macia's shop was.

The first thing I saw was Macia piling dresses and suits into Flynn's arms.

"Do these look right?" Macia asked him, continuing to fill his arms.

"These look about right!" Flynn answered with a grin, not bothering to go over them, "Now, if you don't mind, can we pack these up?"

"Of course! I'll get Henrik to pack it up for you and you can head out! When is the party?" Macia asked, taking back the items and hanging them up on the nearest rack.

"Same as usual! I hear Alpha Kaius will be attending this year, I don't know how I feel about that quite yet. He's more wolf than man," Flynn told Macia with a lifted eyebrow.

He reminded me of my mama when she would gossip.

I shouldn't have been eavesdropping but I didn't want the conversation to end, I wanted to know more.

Sadly, it didn't work out that way.

"Amoret," Flynn said, looking right at me with the look of approval, "I see you've ditched that cloak, thank goddess! It stunk."

"Oh, it did?" I asked, I never noticed.

"Yeah, it hurt my nose," Flynn admitted, flaring his nostrils and moving his nose side to side.

I forgot Macia was there until she spoke up, "You two know each other?"

She looked back and forth between us, Flynn answered for me, "Yeah, we met on the way to the boat. We're good friends now, isn't that right, Amoret?"

"Yes," I smiled and watched him grin.

"Isn't that something," Macia mumbled loud enough for me to hear and from the smile Flynn gave her, he heard it too.

"Anyway, I should go," Flynn announced, "I'll be back later to pick the clothes up. See ya!"

I waved him goodbye and so did Macia.

"Macia?" She looked at me, "Can we talk?"

"Of course, dear, what is it that you want to talk about?" She asked, taking off her glasses.

"About my mama. How did you meet her?" I asked.

"Oh, I've known your mother for a long time," Macia smiled, "I met her when I came back to France, we were both seventeen. Your mother was very nice to me, especially with me being pregnant and alone. I shouldn't get into all the details but your mother was there for me when I needed someone the most, I love her for that."

"You weren't always in France?"

"No," Macia answered, "I was in America. I've been all over the world, Amoret."

Before I could get any more information about her or my mama, Henrik entered the shop. "Hey," he greeted me, "you ready to go?"

W O R D  C O U N T : 1151

I've been kind of updating a lot if we're being honest.

Its been planned so it's alright.

T R A N S L A T I O N S

Parfait, juste parfait - Perfect, just perfect

Malheureusement - Sadly

Mensonges - Lies

Bonne nuit - Goodnight