“The baron’s daughter,” Nora puffed out her cheeks. “The young chit has as many dresses as days in the season. I can make it bigger. But there’ll be no getting in there with the house so busy.”
Gretchen reached to pick up the crystal on the floor, and Nora and Rapunzel’s heads whipped toward her. Or on a place lower to the ground where they thought she was.
“They won’t even know I’m there. Just tell me which way to go, and I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Although unable to keep the smirk from her face, Nora gave her directions through the sprawling house. Taking a last longing look at the food on the table, Gretchen left through a door that led deeper into the lower floors and found a set of spiral stairs to climb toward the populated areas of the house. When she emerged into a hallway, she checked both ways before scurrying to the right to search for the next set of stairs to take her upward toward the bedroom suites. She paid no mind to the servants passing her along the way with tired eyes fixed straight ahead above her level. But once she stepped onto the plush carpets where the family’s residence lay, she slowed to listen out for the sounds of footfalls.
“Third on the left,” she muttered, craning her neck to count the doors.
Creeping close to the wall, she tiptoed along glancing each way to check for those who would apprehend her for intruding. But Nora was right, the baron had made a poor choice keeping his people from their festivities, and Gretchen wagered more than a few had snuck away for the night. When she got to the right door, she pressed her ear to the lacquered timber, and when she turned the handle it swung open without a squeak.
“This is all too easy,” Gretchen wandered in and pushed the door closed behind her. “I could be in here stealing a fat purse of jewels.”
Spotting several armoires set against the far wall, she opened the first and swept a cursory glance over the frills and lace spilling out. Cursing herself for neglecting to ask what Rapunzel liked, she flipped through every shade of violet and pink looking for something… Gretchen stood stumped. At home she kept one fancy dress, and by fancy it looked like all her other black dresses except for the silver buttons.
Giggling in the hallway snapped her out of her quandary, and as the handle on the door rattled, she dived into the armoire and closed the door behind her.
“... I never thought we’d get away. Did you see Liza’s dress, positively—”
The wet smoochy sounds sent a shiver of revulsion down Gretchen’s spine and she batted away an errant strand of lace tickling her chin. Of course, it was too easy. The sound of something hitting the floor, perhaps from the nightstand, and the creaking of timber made her stomach churn. She would not be party to that kind of nonsense. Snatching a random dress from its hanger in the dark, she felt around in her pouch for something that might be useful. Cataloging her items in a magical set of shelves had been tricky to get used to, but she was glad she’d figured out a kind of system, and when her fingers clasped a vial much shorter than the rest a grin spread over her face.
Opening the door a crack, she unplugged the stopper and rolled the cylindrical vial across the floor and counted to ten. When smooching turned to coughs, she took a deep breath and launched from the wardrobe into the smoke-filled room and wrenched the door open to make a getaway.
No longer caring about being waylaid, she sprinted down the hallway, almost smacking face first into a servant carrying a laden tray, and flew down the stairs to the lower floors. She slowed only to a fast walk on that level and heaved a sigh of relief when she arrived at the cold stone steps leading to the underground floors of the house. Paying no mind to the screeching of rats as she made her way back to Nora’s workroom, she swung the door open victoriously and held the dress up as she dropped the stone on the table.
“It’s… hideous.” Rapunzel’s face mirrored Nora’s, both held rigid in disdain.
Gretchen looked the dress up and down and swallowed. Fuchsia-pink lace and bows were sewn into every inch of the bust and sleeves. It looked like a cake gone horribly wrong, and Gretchen dropped the dress to the floor in disgust.
“Well, it was the best I could do. That girl came waltzing in entertaining her male companion. I had a wretched time getting out of there unseen.” Gretchen dropped to the bench and held her head in her hands. “As it stands, that room will have its own special smoke cloud for days.”
Nora chortled at that but the sound of Rapunzel sobbing tore at Gretchen’s heart. “I’m sorry, Rapunzel. You should have never come to me. I can’t do anything right.”
The girl wept openly, not bothering to brush away the tears, and Nora pushed a handkerchief into her palm. “There, there. Now why don’t you clean yourself up and we can talk about how silly you’re being?”
Rapunzel blew her nose and hiccupped. “Silly?”
“I saw you out there on that cart today. Had people flocking to you to admire that shiny hair and pretty dress. But they listened, too.”
Gretchen lifted her head and watched Rapunzel run fingers through her hair.
“You’ve built an empire selling lofty heights as the most exclusive hotels in the realm. The pinnacle of elegance,” Nora waved a hand down her limbs. “Much
