Page 54 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

One

T he next evening, we were on the couch, and I was multitasking, because I was screwed.

I had my tablet hovering in front of me ( Aleksei showed me it also had hovering capabilities, which was so cool it was unreal ) and I’d entered the measurements of the heroine of the movie I was working on into the Seam - Stitch at the studio.

Now I was selecting the textiles to go with each part of the pattern and entering all her costumes into the queue, so the Seam - Stitch could build them.

What screwed me was, I’d left it too long.

The Seam - Stitch had a big backlog that had been programmed in by other productions.

With each costume I was entering, the estimated time of completion was just the day before the fitting appointment I had with the actress playing heroine, which was four days from now.

I needed to get all of them entered before someone else threw something at the system and slowed my roll.

I also needed to get the other characters’ designs entered, because the fitting appointments were stacking up and I didn’t need the stress, or what it would say to Bodi that his suddenly very famous costume designer was falling down on the job just weeks before we were to begin filming.

I had a feeling he cared more that his actors had something to wear than he did about me finding my mate.

Aleksei was on his back on the couch beside me, his head on my thigh, reading a book (yep, a real one!), his long legs up, calves resting on the back of the couch, ankles crossed, showing again his capacity to be cute.

Nova was lounged on him, stomach to stomach, purring loudly because she was with her chosen one, and he was stroking her, head and booty (again with the cute).

And my multitasking included my work with the Seam - Stitch , my fingers playing with a curl of Aleksei’s hair (see? hover capacity with tablets ruled!), and I was on a comm with my friend, the designer, Lancet .

“I’ve been waiting for you to comm about this since the minute I saw you on the dragon’s back !” he complained. “ Now , I don’t even have a month .”

I’d had a conversation with no less than four people that day ( Nata , Allain , Queen Calisa and Germaine ) about whether I should design my gown for the Masque or honor another designer with outfitting me for my first public and official event as Aleksei’s mate and the future queen.

Allain and Queen Calisa said designer, because this would highlight the talent of a citizen of Night’s Fall , something I would need to consider doing on the regular.

Nata and Germaine said me, because they felt it would show the realm my talent, and make them feel they knew a little more about me.

I decided Lancet , because he was immensely talented, but his label was relatively new, and he needed the exposure.

And because he was a friend.

“I have some ideas,” I told him, touching my stylus on the enter button on my tablet to send off another costume, then pulling up the next one.

“No you don’t,” Lancet returned. “ I know you. I knew you’d be loyal to me. Do you think I’ve been twiddling my thumbs the last week?”

I sensed something from Aleksei and looked down at him.

His eyes were on his book, but his lips were tipped up.

He liked I had good friends.

It was safe to say, I did too.

“I’m sending you my thoughts. I’ve designed three looks,” Lancet said, then warned, “ The first one is my favorite, so you better pick that.”

The little screen he was on in the corner of my tablet shifted to the pic of a gown, so I said, “ Enlarge ,” and it filled my display.

I gasped.

“I knew you’d love it!” I heard Lancet’s voice crow over the vision of the gown.

I didn’t love it.

I’d begun living for it .

A massive skirt of impossibly rich amethyst ombréed up to the strapless bodice of crystal-encrusted lilac.

The precisely corrugated folds of the skirt, as well as the front of the bodice, were adorned by spikes of intricate, sparkling silver filigree.

There was a narrow crystal belt at the nipped-in waist. But the showstopper was the dozens upon dozens of little butterfly appliqués that danced along the hem and up the skirt in every hue from the deepest amethyst to softest lilac.

It was ridiculously feminine. Utterly fantastical.

It was the fantasy dream dress of every little girl who grew up not expecting much, but in the end she found her prince and became a princess.

Best part, the theme for this year’s Masque was “ Soaring ,” and Lancet’s take on that with the butterflies was genius .

“Look at the mask,” Lancet said, and my display changed to a mask that appeared like he intended it to be made of actual silver.

One side was an elaborate butterfly wing adorned with amethyst jewels. The other side was just the eye mask, but it was covered in shimmery purple scrollwork, save for a swirl of latticework that burst out of a corner.

“This gown needs to be handmade, Laura ,” Lancet warned. “ No Seam - Stitch could do it justice. So it’s going to take weeks.”

With that elaborate of a gown, I didn’t doubt it.

A Seam - Stitch could usually pump out any number of items of apparel in just hours, depending on the difficulty of the pattern and the capacity of the unit.

The studio had an industrial level Seam - Stitch .

I had a mid-level business unit at my studio (and I was probably going to need to use it as backup to get some of my costumes done).

Lancet, I knew, had an artisan level, which was slower, but not that slow.

All that said, nothing beat handmade. Not ever.

“And then there are fittings,” Lancet went on. “ I need to start immediately. And the metalwork on the mask also needs to be handmade. I’ve made inquiries, and the craftsbeing I want says it’ll take at least two weeks, but probably longer.”

“Get started,” I gushed. “ We’re done. I love you.

It’s perfect. I don’t know where you got the butterfly idea, but it’s life.

I’m actually living for those butterflies right now.

I’d marry you if you weren’t mated, and I wasn’t too.

I can’t believe you pulled my fat out of the fryer on this one. I’ll never forget it.”

The gown disappeared and Lancet’s face came back on my display.

“You’ll never forget it when it comes to your wedding gown?” he hinted.

Aleksei grunted.

Hmm.

“Aleksei kind of wants me to design that.”

I watched Lancet frown.

“In a couple of days, I have to stand in a garden or somewhere for our engagement announcement and do an interview after. You have anything for that?” I offered.

“Dearest Laura ,” Lancet sighed. “ Did you miss the fact that my staff and I will be busy making your Midnight Masque gown? You really cannot throw these things at me at the last minute.”

Aleksei grunted again.

I fought laughing.

“I have a new aide, Lance . So you’ll get far more notice in the future,” I assured him.

“I’ll re-jig the queue on my Seam - Stitch . What color are you thinking?” he asked.

“You can use the one at my studio,” I told him.

That unit was going to be busy, but my engagement photo/interview ensemble was definitely a priority.

It seemed like everything was a priority.

“And it should definitely be purple,” I continued. Then got to the tough part. “ It has to be?—”

“If you think I can’t do classic and understated, but divine , watch me,” he declared.

And then without saying goodbye, the screen went blank.

He tended to be fanciful and embellished, or willowy and mysterious (yes, he could be both, that was why he was so talented), so if he didn’t tone those down, things were going to get real.

But I couldn’t think on that now. I’d worry about it later.

I had other things to worry about presently.

I switched gears to focus to the costume and returned to work, thinking I hated to admit it, but I couldn’t wait for Nata to get a handle on my life.

Things were ramping up with work. I had an appointment for tea with Queen Calisa the next afternoon (if my quarantine was lifted, which it didn’t seem it would be, my beast was taking her sweet time).

And Aleksei had decided to double that up, since I’d be at the Palace , with he and King Fillion meeting with my parents (and that was the only thing that would make me not want my wee beast back, using it as an opportunity to postpone that nightmare).

I had yet to decide if I would attend that meeting, but it was scheduled after the tea.

There was also the Masque on my mind, of course.

And Aleksei wanted to take me to Spikeback Castle (and I couldn’t wait to go).

Not to mention, the next photo op was looming, during which I’d be wearing my engagement ring, something I didn’t have yet, and something that I worried about because, well… I was me.

That being picky when it came to stuff like that.

The entire collection of royal jewels was available to pull up on a digi-pane.

I’d located the purple topaz set Queen Calisa referred to, and the ring was a cushion-cut topaz, surrounded by unusually large round diamonds intermingled with perfectly same-sized pearls.

The coronet was narrow, but lovely, and the matching necklace and earrings the same.

It was from the Revivalist Era of the 1700s, when the style was to be compact, but the gems selected were sizable in an effort to pack a punch that screamed how much money you had.

It was pretty, but I didn’t love it.

No, I’d stumbled on a pleasantly not too big, and definitely not too small octagon aquamarine stacked side to side with four long (though the outer ones were shorter) diamond baguettes.

The matching coronet was more like a priceless aquamarine and diamond headband, and it came with no other pieces, just those two.

The design was from the Insouciant Riche era, one of my favorites, where the look was cleaner, geometric, but opulent and, for the time, very (even shockingly) modern.

The realms then had been moving away from horses and carriages and into automobiles and technology, and art moved with it.