Page 8

EIGHT

"Let me guess...you're looking for a costume for the Fairytale Masquerade Ball at Tremotino Castle?"

Blaze blinked.as the door to the costume shop banged shut behind him. "How could you possibly know that?"

The woman behind the counter raised her eyebrows. "Because you're a lost-looking man who has obviously left it to the last minute, and you're the fifth one already today. On the plus side, you have broader shoulders than the previous four, so I might have more options to show you. So, let's start with the basics. Do you have any preferences? A favourite fairytale, perhaps?"

Blaze hadn't watched those since he was a kid, and even then, they hadn't been his favourites. He'd wanted to watch stuff where dragons were the heroes, not the villains, and those were few and far between. "Do you have any dragons?"

The woman frowned. "I do have a deluxe Toothless, but it's currently at the cleaners after a kids' birthday party this week. The guy who rented it swore some kid vomited on him, but if you ask me, that mess was self inflicted, with more beer than any kid should drink. Deluxe costumes come with an extra cleaning fee deposit, by the way, just in case you decide to take it to the pub. If you bring the suit back clean, you get your deposit back. Hmm...oh, I think we still have a Mushu out the back, but it might be a bit small for you. That's it for dragons for now. If you'd given me some warning, I might have been able to get something else in, but this close to the event, there's no chance. It's what I have here, or nothing. I'm afraid." She peered down at her tablet. "If you like monsters with wings, though, I do have a Goliath the Gargoyle in stock. He's a bit old school, but it would fit you well."

She slipped out from behind the counter and scanned the racks of clothing. "Ah ha!" She dived into a corner that appeared to be stuffed full with a giant sheep and a monstrous mountain of yellow tulle, emerging with a bundle of grey material. "Here he is – perfect!"

Blaze folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not going as a gargoyle." He'd had enough of gargoyles at the school gates. Worse, he'd stick out like a sore thumb, which was the last thing he wanted to do at Tremotino Castle. "Do you have anything a little more discreet? Something fairytale-ish, so I won't look out of place, but normal enough that I won't stand out, either?"

She sighed, letting the gargoyle costume droop to the floor. "Well, I suppose you could always go as Prince Charming. We have those in a whole range of sizes and colours, to accommodate the really last minute customers. But you'd be wasting your time attending the ball at all in one of those. The girls at Mirror Academy won't look twice at some generic Prince Charming. Those girls are smart and talented and educated. They want a bit of danger, or at least adventure, and they won't wait around for some prince to save them. For a start, they all picked out their costumes months ago. If you're looking to attract one of those girls, you need to stand out. Ooh, I have the perfect costume for you. How about Tarzan?" She yanked out a hanger adorned with nothing but a brown scarf or shawl – a small one, at that.

"Where's the rest of it?" Blaze asked.

She laughed. "That's all he wears, silly. He was brought up by gorillas and he wears his old baby clothes as a sort of loincloth. You should try it on. All the Academy girls won't be able to keep their eyes off you if you wear that."

"I don't want to catch the eyes of all the girls at the ball. Just one," Blaze protested.

The woman smiled. "Of course, of course. You're after the one, your fated mate, or your soul mate. The one whose eyes meet yours across a crowded ballroom and in that instant, you just know...it's so romantic, just like in the movies. But what the movies don't show is that there will be a lot of people at the ball, and to get your eyes to meet, first she has to notice you. That's where having the perfect costume comes in. If you have all the goods on display, she can't help but look at you, and once she'd done checking out the goods, then you'll have all the eye contact you need to seal the deal. Tarzan's your man, I promise you." She shook the brown loincloth. "At least try it on."

Blaze sighed. He wasn't going to get out of here with a costume unless he cooperated with this strange woman. The things he did for his sister. Though he had to admit, wearing a nappy loincloth would be a new low for him. Diana would laugh her head off when he told her. All the more reason to wear something more dignified. "All right, but I want to try on the Prince Charming one, too. And I'll need a mask. It's a masquerade, after all."