28th April 1563

Amaranta returned to work in the theater, keeping one thought in her mind: not letting anyone think more of her. She stared at the work of making dresses; it numbed her mind more than she thought.

“Amaranta, there’s something I need you to do,” Cecilio said, standing right before her.

Amaranta had finished the last piece for the performance starting tonight, mostly an alteration for a work that she volunteered to do.

In Amaranta’s mind, it couldn’t be the current opera in play. Since she knew they were performing today, if there had been anymore. He is more frantic than others. “Is it a new performance?”

“Yes, we’re making a costume for a new performance,” he said. “You’ll have the chance to see the complete process. Sabina will take you through the process. First, we get the measurements and creating some of them. The actresses who aren’t novices in the company have some input.”

Sabina came inside, the timing all too perfect.

Cecilio turned to Sabina. “I just told her about what she needs to do next.”

“I see,” she said. “You don’t need to worry too much, I’ll be leading it for this round since you’re new. Although Gina did a lot of her own, but that was only in her second month.”

“So, how long would an opera run?” Amaranta asked.

“It depends, we can easily shift the dates around since we make them with a month in advance to account for any extra work,” she said. “We never really needed to make over ten or twenty actual costumes for each production. For this production, we may need to make more since we don’t have a lot of dresses in this period.”

The older costumer lead her to the room where they would take it. Amaranta trailed a step behind, following her but not letting her think that she wasn’t following her.

Inside one of them, under the marble floor, Sabina entered inside a room, inside with a table settled. This was old, but well-maintained.

“The major actors come here in a room every time there is a new production, we take the measurements. Then we have a few more rounds to get them to see how the clothes fit, and to discuss any changes with the clothes they may wish us to make and it doesn’t cost much.”

“I suppose the extras would be different,” she said.

“We use few of them,” Sabina said. “But they are handed any costumes, and usually they would be offered a contract after.”

Amaranta noted a piece of paper on the table. A number they were given, and the samples of the period. “So, what does the house do for us?”

“They give us our budget, I do the measurements before Cecilio, since there is more complexity for women’s clothes.” Sabina looked as she wrote them all down. “And in case we need any special materials, whether it’s satin or fine wool. I suppose you understand what the cost is.”

“Yes, it was expensive to get satin,” she said. “And a lot of things. My mother wasn’t one to need them too much. She had maybe a few dresses that she used for official events, I doubted anyone really noticed it.”

The door opened, their work began. Actresses came in, all having their own scripts in hand, memorizing during their idle time.. Although reciting lines was half the work, they still needed to inhabit their character. Amaranta stared at the first woman who took a seat down, continuing to learn her lines and the gestures.

The actress focused her attention on Amaranta.

“Do you know her?” Sabina looked to Amaranta.

“I met her once,” she said.. She didn’t want to do quite a lot to show them just what she knew either, too. The woman pretended to not know her, Amaranta was more thankful. “It was from afar.”

The first wasn’t the actress, much to Amaranta’s relief; but a woman with light blonde hair, bound into a braided bun, and large vivid brown eyes. In a light brown gown.

“I’m Hagne, well you know that this time around, I’m supposed to play a lady-in-waiting to a duchess, daughter of a wealthy merchant who bought his way into becoming a lord and freshly married,” she said.

The actress stepped forward to allow for Sabina to take in her measurements. Sabina wanted Amaranta to observe how she did it, mostly unobtrusive and less work. Amaranta never had much experience for measurements, since she was given them. Mostly, she did it with her sister who was the person there she learned how to measure.

Sabina finished it quickly. “Would you mind if she did it for you again?”

Hagne nodded, strolling to the end allowing Amaranta to begin measuring.

Hagne in her boredom, looked at her as Amaranta used her ruler. “What’s your name?”

“You can call me Amaranta,” she said, before mostly moving around the woman to get the measurements.

“I see, where did you come from?” Hagne asked. Amaranta put down the numbers she had already taken.

“Theater school, I think it was the Marallo School for the Arts. Since it became fashionable for the wealthy to enter the arts,” she said, then moving onto the next. “Or opened to any middle class whose children couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. But I asked to go there.”

“So, it’s a college to learn about the liberal arts more than performances?” Hagne asked, aware of how it was seen by most. Of all the performing arts, they held only writing in high regard.

“A lot more, but I was more practical and liked to make dresses.” Amaranta jotted down the last part of the record that she needed to do.

Before she showed her the result. “You know quite a lot in terms of measurements, but this round, just help me take note. Next time, we’ll reverse our roles.”

Amaranta nodded, gladly being more than happy to note it down. She could feel someone gazing at her, but she focused on writing.

She turned to see her. Sabina noticing, since it was just the four of them. There was only Hagne remaining with her.

“I’m Signorina Ferida,” the actress said, with her smile and her eyes seeing the air and not Sabina or Amaranta.

“Signorina Ferida is playing the leading character for this play, and her first,” Sabina whispered to Amaranta.

“I’ll be measuring, but the new costumer would take it down.” Sabina held up the ruler and then measure. “Watch how I do it and learn what you’re missing.”

Amaranta nodded, knowing she needed to do a lot.

“She isn’t an apprentice?” The actress asked Sabina, who was already at her side.

“No, she had sufficient qualifications to be a costumer,” Sabina answered, continuing to take the measurements.

Amaranta focused on the instructors that Sabina gave her on the piece of paper right before her.

She could feel the eyes on her. She let out a breath once she was complete; the actress left.

Sabina looked at the paper before looking at her junior. “There’s quite a few who would think that all costumers are minor, but we have our own way of getting back.”

There were more performers than there were costumers, Amaranta could see how she got even. She gave those who treated her well with more preferential treatment, but never neglecting the rest for them to complain or notice.

“I get it,” Amaranta said. This had been something that she knew. Being at the backstage she knew the way they were treated. For the audience rarely appreciated all the work that went into making costumes.

“I think you get it,” she said. “They’re too arrogant.”

Amaranta glanced, knowing that not that causing her to say such words. Rather, it was something else. A slight, an insult she couldn’t tell. Before she mostly didn’t. “Hagne was rather nice.”

“That she is, she makes friends with everyone and I invite her over. Just as she does the same to me, and her small clique of actors and actress. I really like her,” she said. Before Sabina took the measurements and then left the room, moving closer to the rooms where they worked. With a larger door, inside an immense space. Lines of old costumes laid out with a few mannequins. They were the most expensive.

Inside, the room that they could see. “Here is where we look for the material to make costumes, or request from the management if we lack them. Also, we’ll find and reuse old costumes if we can use them or change them if we are never going to perform the opera again. And adjusted for a new actress.”

Amaranta stared at the wardrobe, Sabina turning around. “These are all the cloth we have. We have been performing long enough that we only need to make them for the maybe ten characters."

“This is plenty,” she said.

“Pick that dress for Hagne, and I’ll leave it up to you, I just need to make an addition to your measurement,” Sabina said. Amaranta nodded, choosing a light pink dress. The sleeves were wide, a dress during the realignment.

“You like her a lot, don’t you?” Amaranta asked. This was a dress for a shorter woman than Hagne, who was around Amaranta’s height. They were both tall women, as tall as the men.

Hagne was playing the third lead, a noblewoman who learns to love her husband who she despises, but she eventually convinced him to become more charitable.

Sabina opened the wardrobe, Amaranta assumed it was for a costume meant for the leading actress.

But it seemed Sabina wasn’t done with it just yet. She smiled when the door opened. It was Cecilio.

“Good, you’re here, I need you to look over certain details.”

“What is it?” He asked, staring at what Sabina was doing. “I see, this is for the sake of taking the stock of the material.”

“One more thing, the stage manager had told me he would seek another costumer. Since this is a much larger production, I said yes to his offer, and I asked him to give me time to find my candidate but also accepted his aid to help look for one too,” he said.

“So, he finally increased your budget?” Sabina asked, with much interest.

Cecilio took a piece of paper containing everything of the stock. “Yes, it’s just that he’s also hiring more actors too. This time, we’re having some crucial patronage from a royal, someone who is interested in seeing an old play performed at the Salenzian court. A famous one that we heard.”

“I’ll help to look at anyone I can get,” Sabina told him, getting back.

“I want to know, is there anyone who is looking for work?” Cecilio asked, turning to the two women.

“I think I do,” she said. “Let me just check my letters with any who have sent them to me. Most of my schoolmates are in Marallo or moved to Nexia. Since, Nexia still have their own council, although the Queen allowed every province to have their own laws different from others.”

She could contact them, but it would take a while for her to find someone. Few came inside to work in the backstage, more of them went to the back only upon getting some accident. Although far less glamorous, but the work was steadier. Since it was becoming a little harder to find them.

But this seemed to be far more steady in terms of their employment, if they could afford to have them. It was a sign of prestige, otherwise, the costumers would usually do independent work.

“Will a temporary seamstress do?” Amaranta asked. She knew quite a few of

Sabina took a pause, as though she didn’t think that was possible. “They’ll rather pay for us to stay here so we can spend every waking hour working on the costumes over that.”

“I can try, there is a lot of opportunity,” she said. “But most who came to my school was because of the theater, or maybe just running the backstage. They didn’t enjoy making anything, but when someone did, they found their life there quite easy there.”

“I see,” she said. “We’re getting more from the boutiques, and I guess that we offer them too. But it’ll be good that if you can recommend us one of those who trained.”

There were only a couple of schools who did so, since it was a niche that only began under the Queen and during the peace. And made such schools, mostly to encourage the upper classes to work instead of taking leisure as their way. The bourgeois had mostly followed her lead, convenient for their own purposes. Since merchants, investors and bankers dominated, making their fortunes in crafts and services instead of land.

She shrugged her own shoulders, before leaving to go back home.

“Thank you, for offering. We’ve been having issues to find them,” he said.

“Is there a reason the method doesn’t work? A lot of those that I know choose that since there’s more freedom. More chance to do things that make them interested,” she said. “And it worked well for the theater, since they don’t need to do anything other than to pay them per piece instead of wages.”

“They’re traditional as a theater, following the old ways,” he said. “But it’s better for me, since it pays the bills.”

“I see,” she said. She stared at the theater, shrugging and then leaving.

Amaranta went home. To keep her promise, she knew she had to find her secretary. She found Cosetta sitting at her table.

“Do you have the mail that came from Marallo?”

Cosetta nodded, standing up more than ready to grab it for her. Annibale came inside. She could ask whether he knew anyone.

“Do you know anyone who might even want to become a costumer?”

“Not at all, I have issues just covering the number of people who have the skill of carpentry. But I could keep an eye out.” It was easy for her to say it.

Cosetta brought the letters. Amaranta went through all the letters, not being able to find anyone who she could recommend a job to.

She put them in two piles, one which was useless to her, for her to answer at a later time. And of course, one that showed they were still on their travels. They were all either in work or far from Rovirna.

Annibale turned right back to see her. “Wouldn’t they have their own network to draw on?”

“Apparently they don’t have a lot of them. All things considered, I enjoyed making clothes more than I acted. Especially after that. And it’s becoming a rare hobby.”

Annibale didn’t seem to believe the explanation, she wasn’t sure that she was too. “There’s something really wrong with it if they can’t seem to find a reason to tell you why they can’t even have someone on hand. I mean, I often screen the people who work for me, because somehow every time I try to fill in a new opening, I get swamped. After I got past the first few I never needed to worry about having none.”

Amaranta leaned back, staring at all the

Maybe there was someone that she could have found, Cosetta came in holding one more letter, her eyes below on the table. “Actually, there is one more letter.”

A letter from a former classmate, sending out to see who was looking for work. As he didn’t think about it, in the same manner that Amaranta did. Having already looked around long before she came, except that he took a slight vacation and went out of money in Rovirna.

He knew how to tailor, this would be good enough for her. She picked up the pen and wrote to him first.