Tujuheim 180

Caerwyn got me and Terry up early and announced that the three of us were going to spend the morning outside the temple. After how taxing the previous day was, I was overly excited and happy to spend the morning outside of the temple--and all the more excited to spend it with Caerwyn!

Terry was happy to come along as well. “It can be so suffocating in that temple!” Terry said as we stepped outside of the temple with cloaks on to protect us from the rain. The cloaks were also a benefit because I had to be in disguise when I went out. The guards still intended to capture me if I was seen outside the temple.

Caerwyn told his squire with a smile, “You should be more thankful, Terry! You would be on the streets if not for the temple!”

“I know…” Terry replied gloomily.

“Why would… Why would you be on the streets?” I asked shyly.

Terry frowned and replied, “My family disowned me.”

I was shocked but pressed him no further. We instead traveled in silence for a time, and Caerwyn told neither me, nor Terry where we were going.

“It’s a surprise!” He kept repeating.

We walked down the street from the temple and took a right where the path forked. This seemed to be a commercial district which had many shops. A butchershop, a smithy, a stable, and… A clothing shop!

Caerwyn stopped in front of the shop and said to me, “The seamstress is a good friend of mine and said you could have any one dress you want!”

Terry looked bored. “And why did you drag me along?”

“You said yourself that the temple could be suffocating; I didn’t think you’d mind.” Caerwyn told his friend.

Caerwyn opened the wooden door to the shop for me and I stepped in—dancing with excitement. There were dresses hanging from statues of human women being sold for an obscene amount of gold that only wealthy nobles could afford.

The seamstress, who was standing in the middle of the small shop with her hands clasped behind her back greeted me with an excited expression of her own. “You really are a moth… How fun you will be to dress!”

The seamstress picked out the dress she thought would suit me best and I changed behind a closet curtain in the shop.

It was a beautiful ballgown dress! The hem was three different colors—red, purple, and green—with a shimmering silver, transparent tool covering it from waist to hem! The bodice was beautifully embroidered with golden stars and the sleeves were charmeuse and soft!

I stepped out from behind the curtain and showed the bored looking Terry and the smiling Caerwyn my dress.

“Oh, look how beautiful you are!” Caerwyn announced loudly and stood up from the bench he was sitting on. “Let’s see all around!”

I obliged gladly and did a spin for him.

“Doesn’t she look absolutely stunning, Terry?” Caerwyn asked him as he looked upon me with admiration.

Terry raised an eyebrow, and took a moment before agreeing, “Absolutely!”

“I just need to take it in for you, Princess, and make additional holes in it for your wings and your other two arms.” The seamstress commented thoughtfully.

“So I can have it for free!” I said with a squeal of joy.

“Of course, Princess. I’m all too happy to help a friend of Caerwyn’s.” The seamstress said with a grin.

I tried on a few more dresses and Caerwyn was happy to view me in each one. Eventually, Terry got so bored that Caerwyn gave him permission to go back to the temple.

For each dress, Caerwyn commented on my beauty and how the dress enhanced it each time. I was blushing like a silly child, even though I knew he was probably just flattering me as usual and trying to cheer me up after all the templars unanimously agreed I was a hideous beast.

I felt like a princess again after I had my fill of trying on dresses. After I was finished, the seamstress promised me she would tailor the first dress I wore—which was my favorite—to my body perfectly and make holes in it for my extra arms and my wings.

On our way back to the temple, I leaned against a house and asked Caerwyn, “Why are you so kind to me? I know you think I’m ugly…”

Caerwyn looked at me searchingly and said nothing. He looked at me in a very mischievous way that set my heart to pounding. He pressed his hands on the house next to my shoulders and leaned in very close to me.

My chest heaved heavily as his head tilted as if he made to kiss me.

His lips came very close to mine, but he did not grace them. At the last moment, he pulled away sharply and turned his back to me and said, “I would lay down my life for you, Princess.”

He continued walking ahead, and I lingered for a moment, nervously twisting the sapphire he had given me in my hands.

Such loyalty he had for a foreign princess! What was this love in his heart that he seemed to have for a beast such as myself? It made no sense, but I was very grateful for it. Indeed, I perversely wished he had stolen that kiss and I fantasized that he had like some kind of naughty peasant girl, but then I snapped back to reality and followed Caerwyn back to the temple, wherein I went about my duties with Terry guiding me like he had yesterday.

The templars had no kind things to say about me today, either. I was a poor worker, and ugly in their eyes to boot. They laughed when I overcooked something, or sewed something wrong, or stepped on a cabbage in the garden, and I wept inwardly about it, but tried not to cry in front of them.

Terry was nothing but encouraging and kind to me, and I asked him as I tended the garden, “Leon said you were paying for a mistake…? I’m sorry you have to look after me.”

Terry was silent for a moment before answering, “I hurt another templar—nearly killed him—a physician barely rescued him from death. Helping you is hardly a punishment, Princess. I enjoy your company.”

“Oh…” I did not judge him. I was in no position to. He never struck me as the violent type—he seemed so sweet and young—but I supposed looks could be very deceiving.