Playing Dress Up

This is an excuse to put Tam in a dress.

After some grueling interrogation and long negation with Eliza’s parents, the stable hand was admitted, though grudgingly, to stay with Fallin and Tam (Cleven was left out of the story) while Ellyra recovered. The ball, of course, was not mentioned either, and Fallin managed, through avenues of which Eliza was very unsure, to somehow convince the worried parents that Eliza would be perfectly safe without even hinting at the location of Cleven’s castle. Though these events should have made Eliza happy, she was not as pleased at having been charged with the task of working doubly hard to recover all the time she had lost when she finally did return home.

Although she appreciated the vigor with which her three tutors attempted to train her, Eliza would have much preferred to send Tam in Ellyra’s place. Once she even got so desperate as to suggest this idea, but the other three only chuckled and Tam pointed out that he was far too tall to pull off the role. Eliza hoped every day for a miracle cure, clinging more and more desperately with every passing day, but Tam was right; Ellyra’s condition was worsening at an alarming rate. Only Tam’s gentle reminders that Cypress had gotten worse before he got better and the obvious progress toward health, slow as it was, that Cypress made each day kept Eliza’s head from exploding from worry.

Though Cypress himself was cheerful as ever, and though his fever was almost gone, Eliza couldn’t help but fret about her best friend. As Cypress recovered, Ellyra’s symptoms only worsened, though thankfully no blood had been spotted so far despite the steady increase in the frequency of her coughs. Fallin remained tense and continued to insist that whatever illness was afflicting the two comrades was probably contagious, but even so Tam and Eliza paid frequent visits to their friends, who were always under constant watch by one or more of the ghosts in case something went wrong. Cleven tentatively followed his professor’s advice, but his resolve to keep away from his two sick guests was weakening with each passing day.

Fortunately, there was much to be done to keep all four healthy castle-dwellers occupied. Every day, for several hours on end, Eliza was given basic training in etiquette (most of which had been garnered from Fallin’s extensive research; he found the project quite amusing), conversation (taught by Cleven, as he’d spent his whole life in his father’s court and therefore was a master at the subtleties of courtly speech),  and dance, which was a combined effort, but instruction was provided mostly by Tam, on the grounds that he was the right age and he was more human than beast. The lessons were tiring for everyone and especially frustrating to Eliza, who continually reminded them that they were supposed to be thinking of an alternate plan. Though the responses of her teachers varied, she slowly, grudgingly becoming resigned to the fact that this plan was the only one that had any hope of actually succeeding at the palace without getting anyone into trouble.

“Poise, Eliza. Poise. Feel the book balancing on your head. Balance the weight… yes… good… keep going, you’re almost there… and… oh. Eliza…”

Eliza cried out in frustration and kicked the book that had just toppled from her head, forgetting the soft, golden slippers Fallin was making her wear to get used to the latest fashion in the ballroom and succeeding only jamming her toe. “Ow!” She yelled in pain and aggravation.

“I wouldn’t recommend kicking the book, Eliza.” Fallin advised, a little too late. “It’s never done anything to hurt you.”

“Yes it has!” Eliza insisted, hopping about on her good foot. “It betrayed me by falling off my head and clattering to the floor! I’m never going to get this poise thing down, Fallin. I’m too much of a stable girl!”

“On the contrary, you were doing quite well before you arched your back again. You almost made it the whole length of the room.”

“Oh joy! From what you tell me, the ballroom’s ten times as big as this! I’m never going to be able to keep this up all night!”

“Sure you will. It’s a simple matter of remembering to stand tall, square your shoulders and walk daintily instead of with those huge strides. Leave the long steps to the men.”

“Not like my strides are very long to begin with.” Liza muttered, gingerly setting her foot back down again and taking a painful step.

“Stop arching your back, Eliza! Is that really how you would stand if you were in riding?”

“I’d be sitting if I were riding.” Liza pointed out, but even so, her back straightened automatically and her head balanced easily above her neck.

“Excellent!” Fallin exclaimed, clapping his hands. “Now we’re getting somewhere!”

“Yes, but that somewhere will have to wait!” Tam cried, tearing into the room, trailed by Marina.

“What’s all this?” Eliza asked, her heart sinking as she set eyes on the seamstress ghost. She was genuinely fond of Marina – she was funny, intelligent, curious, and truly a master with a needle, but seeing her with Tam could mean only one thing.

“Your dress is completed.” Marina said shyly, holding it up for her.

Liza inspected the dress and she had to admit that it really was beautiful. Made of several layers of wine red silk, a material suitable for winter ball, the dress had a gently sloping V neck embellished by little golden flourishes. The waist continued the V pattern and Eliza winced to think of what it would be like to actually get into it, confident as she was that Marina had gotten accurate measurements of her size. Golden threads were woven artfully throughout the flowing, floor sweeping skirt of the dress and all the way up through the middle, and as Eliza looked closer she could see the threads forming glorious patterns of flowers, each a little different from the next and only visible briefly as the threads shimmered in the light.

“How did you do that in three days?” Eliza asked, awestruck.

Marina shifted a little, and Eliza got the feeling that she would’ve been blushing if she had the solidity to do so. “I wasn’t the only one working on it. I just put it together really. I had some help with the flowers and things. And what else am I going to do? It’s not as if I eat or sleep or any of those other silly human necessities.” This last part was said almost in jest; of all the ghosts in the castle, it seemed to Eliza that Marina

was the least melancholy.

“Try it on!” Tam encouraged enthusiastically. “Marina may have to make some modifications.”

“It’s three days to the ball!” Eliza protested indignantly. “You told me I wouldn’t have to do anything but learn things until it was absolutely necessary!”

“Would it kill you to be in a dress for the afternoon?” Tam challenged. “You need to get used to it anyway if you’re going to be walking around and dancing in it all evening.”

“I’m only going to be walking around and dancing in it if I end up going to the ball in the first place.” Eliza retorted. “And that’s only if we don’t think of an alternate plan.”

“Eliza, please cooperate.” Fallin beseeched her, sounding worn an exasperated. “We’ve all been working hard so you’ll be ready and the only one fighting it has been you. Even if we could think of another plan, I doubt that we’d have time to execute it given out time constraints.”

“You promised we would think of other ideas! You promised me that this was a last resort!” Eliza reminded him, paling slightly. Although the idea that she would actually have to go through with going to the ball had been looming closer and closer, in her fantasies she had always rationalized her way out of going by some brilliant idea that would strike one of them at the last minute. Her resignation to the plan’s efficacy was not equivalent to her perception of actually carrying out the idea.

“We have looked for alternatives.” Fallin assured her gently. “But so far nothing’s come up that’s plausible. I went so far as to send a finch to the king the other day asking him to reconsider and we all know where that got us.”

 Even Marina

winced; all the ghosts knew of the reply, as Eliza had raged about its language and message for a full two hours the day before.

“I’m still not wearing that dress.” Liza said flatly, folding her arms over her chest.

Tam sighed dramatically. “All right then. If you’re going to be childish, then I’m going to treat you like a child.”

“You can’t boss me around! I’m not a—” Liza began in protest, but Tam held up a long, elegant finger.

“Remember your manners, Eliza. It’s rude to interrupt. I wasn’t finished.” Tam interjected slyly, with a playful glimmer in his sapphire eyes that could only suggest that he was up to something.

Eliza rolled her eyes, exasperated. “You hypocrite! You just—”

“Ah ah ah! Just wait.” Tam interrupted again.

Eliza sighed heavily and shut her mouth, waiting to see what Tam had up his metaphorical sleeve.

“Cleven!” he called. “Bring out the garment!”

Liza watched Marina’s transient hand fly to her mouth to smother a giggle and a few seconds later Cleven poked his beastly head into the room.

“Tam, are you absolutely sure about this?” He asked, his eyes darting uncomfortably from Liza to Tam.

“Completely sure, Cleven!” Tam assured him gaily. “Come and show our esteemed beauty her compensation for her cooperation.”

Cleven shuffled nervously into the room and held out another, bigger dress, grasping it carefully by its shoulders in his large, fur-laden fingers. This dress was a completely different style than Eliza’s; it was far less traditionally elegant, though it had its own version of prettiness to it. The top half was light, pastel pink with a darker pink sash tied neatly around the middle. The skirt of the dress was also pink until just below the thighs, where the pink fabric opened out to frame the white layers of silk underneath. Lightly shaded pink ribbons formed bows on the shoulders of the dress and were sewn at intervals on the white part as well.

Eliza’s eyes budged. “What, are you trying to scare me into going?” She asked, “Because I already hate dresses enough and I’m certainly not going to wear that one.”

“Oh no, fair lady, you misunderstand!” Tam responded histrionically. “That dress doesn’t even look to be your size! And why could that be?”

“Because… Marina took the wrong measurements?” Eliza ventured hesitantly. “It’s an old dress? How should I know?”

“It’s because it’s not your dress.” Cleven said, partially in wonder.

“Correct!” Tam cried. “It’s mine!”

The room was dead silent for a few seconds before Eliza burst out laughing. “Why Tamarisk!” She snickered, “I didn’t think you were one of those!”

“I’m not.” Tam said, regaining some of his composure and managing to place a very convincing serious look on his face. “But your resistance to the idea of wearing a dress has forced me to engage in some drastic measures of my own. Because you’re acting childish, I’m going to make you a deal. If you agree to wear that dress when we, your loving professors and helpers to make your evening at the ball run smoothly, request it of you, then I shall don this incredibly feminine costume for the entire afternoon. Solely for your entertainment. But you must promise that you’ll wear your dress with minimal complaints and no more resistance. Have we got a deal?”

“Since when has engaging children in deal-making been a way to treat a petulant child?” Eliza wanted to know, laughing behind her hand.

“Eliza, you’re changing the subject.” Tam chided sternly. “Either agree to the deal or not. Though if I may say so, it’s a pretty sweet trade. Also, Marina and the other ghosts worked hard on this dress just like they did on yours, so it would be a pity for all of that work to go to waste, don’t you think?” He held out his hand. “Shake on it.”

Eliza hesitated, offered her hand, but then quickly withdrew it. “Can I ask a question first?”

“You may.” Tam answered, looking sure of himself.

“How is it that you’re okay with this? Are you like, used to dressing up in women’s clothing or something?”

Tam sighed softly. “Actually, Cypress and I played dress up a lot when we were small boys. We had access to a lot of Cypress’s mother’s finery, and she didn’t mind letting us use it as long as we didn’t rip or break anything. Cypress, being the noble little brat that he is, always wanted to play Kee- er… knights and ladies, and because he outranked me and it was his mother’s old stuff we were playing with, I always ended up being the lady. So as you can imagine, I was in dresses a lot as a little kid. I complained about it way more than you did, believe me, but eventually I got used to it. By then we’d grown out of it, though, except sometimes he’d make me dress up again just for old time’s sake and then I’d pummel him.” Tam grinned. “Good times, good times. Anyway, I’ve answered your question, O petulant one. It’s time for you to deliver.”

Eliza listened to Tam’s explanation with interest and did finally take and shake his hand. “I want to see that you’ll do it first.” She told him, smirking a little.

“That’s fair, I suppose.” Tam answered, nodding graciously. “Thank you, Cleven. I shall return.”

“Good luck, Tam.” Cleven said gruffly as he took the dress, but Tam could tell that the rumbles in his voice were caused more by laughter than by concern.

“I shan’t need it.” Tam declared, and he disappeared into another room to change.

A few minutes passed and everyone, even the ghosts, seemed tense with anticipation.

“Do you think he’ll really do it?” Marina asked, amusement in her light, ethereal voice.

“He made you put all that time and effort into the dress, didn’t he?” Fallin pointed out. “And he just promised Eliza. I’m sure he’ll do it.”

“Oh that poor, poor man.” Cleven groaned.

Eliza shifted, feeling a touch guilty, although that was more on account of the double effort that Marina had put into both dresses than for Tam’s sake. She knew that even if he hadn’t resorted to such “drastic measures” she still would’ve eventually worn the dress, but it was a good way to get everyone to laugh. Things had been so tense around the castle since she arrived, and even though everyone tried to make Eliza’s lessons fun, fuses ran short because of the stress of the event and the ever-present worry about the two invalids. A little laughter would do them all good, and she was glad that Tam recognized that.

Eventually, Tam emerged from the changing room, looking perfectly ridiculous. He did not enter the library - for it was the library where this particular lesson in poise was being held until he had interrupted it - with a shy air as so many other insecure men would; his eyes did not dart swiftly around the room and he was not about to recoil at the laughter that was sure to erupt. He strode confidently into the library, grinning broadly and with no hint of remorse in his dancing eyes. “I’m back!” He announced, but his declaration was sufficiently drowned by the peals of laughter erupting around him. His mirthful laughter soon joined the rest, and he twirled elegantly, the skirt of the dress billowing gently around him.

“You pull it off!” Eliza informed him, impressed. She was still wiping tears of joy from her eyes, but the spontaneous snickers were beginning to fade from her voice.

“Why thank you my lady.” Tam responded graciously, executing a nearly flawless curtsy. “I do seem to have the face for it.” He glanced ruefully at the dip in his chest. “Unfortunately I don’t fill it out quite as well as you will yours, however.”

“Well, you can’t have everything, can you?” Eliza said, her eyes sparkling.

“Truly, you cannot. However, I believe it’s your turn to hold up your end of the deal. I’m sure you’ll do your dress a great deal more amount of justice than I’m doing this one.”

“On the contrary, Tam, I really don’t see why you can’t go in my place.” Eliza said, half jokingly, as she had pointed out many times before.

“Oh Eliza. We’ve been through this so many times before. My hair is far too short and too curly, my eyes are the wrong color, my structure is wrong, I am far too tall, and above all, I am too male to even consider passing for Ellyra. I’m sorry, but that burden will continue to rest upon you. Now. Hurry along now like a good little lady and go slip into your own exquisite dress. I believe that you’ll do it far more justice than you think.”

Eliza sighed, but realized that her time had come. “I’ll be back.” She informed the others needlessly, and accepted her dress from Marina.

“I’m completely awestruck.” Cleven admitted, finding his voice soon after Eliza had gone. “I can’t believe you actually followed through with this crazy notion.”

“It really was a ridiculous idea.” Fallin added. “But it worked. Well done.”

“What did I tell you?” Tam grinned. “When you do something crazy enough you get wonderfully effective results. And Marina, I must sincerely thank you for the energy you put into this dress. If I were female I’m sure I’d wear it everywhere. It’s quite well-made.”

Marina

smiled and chuckled softly. “It was nothing, Tam. It was her dress that was hard. Thank you for finding that magic thread for me.”

“Oh, no trouble at all! It’s just a matter of recognizing it.” Tam saw the way that Fallin was looking at him, an expression he recognized as one of deep calculation and speculation, and added hastily, “My mother used it all the time when I was a little child. Some of my best clothes were made with it, and I always loved the way it shimmered.”

“Your mother?” Cleven asked, puzzled. “I thought you told us you were an orphan.”

Tam winced, remembering that he had, indeed, released this information during one of their late night chats while they were watching the coals in one of Cleven’s great, but largely unused, fireplaces. Cleven would only join these discussions after the flames had gone out, lest he hurt his eyes, but he was very perceptive and retained much of the information that was passed there. “I’m sorry Cleven.” Tam said softly. “When I say my mother, I really mean Cypress’s. We were raised… almost like brothers, you see. His parents were always like parents to me. That’s why we’re such close friends.”

Cleven closed his eyes and stared at the floor after opening them. “I’m sorry Tam. I didn’t mean to…”

He was interrupted by Eliza’s reappearance, and that shocked all three men into stunned silence.

“Well?” Eliza asked awkwardly, a little intimidated by this response. “How bad is it?”

“Why Eliza.” Cleven breathed. “You’re a vision.”

“A vision of what?” Eliza asked wryly. “Death and destruction? Little furry creatures? Future well-being? What?”

“A vision of beauty of course!” Tam exclaimed excitedly. “Turn! Turn!”

Liza could feel the hot blush burning crimson in her cheeks as she turned, admiring the way the golden threads shimmered in the light.

“You are incredibly gorgeous.” Tam told her firmly. “You make the dress so many times more beautiful, not to cheapen your work, Marina.”

“No…” Marina agreed. “I understand. I agree. It fits you very well, Eliza.”

Cleven stared quietly. “I can safely say,” he began slowly, “that I have never seen a woman look anything like that in court. And I’ve lived there my whole life. It’s… unique. It’s eye-catching and astounding. And you make it wonderful, Miss Eliza. You really do.”

All eyes except Eliza’s shifted to Fallin, but before he could open his mouth Eliza cried “Stop!” She wrung her hands. “I don’t need this much praise. I’m sure I don’t actually deserve it. It’s the dress, not me. I… please. Stop. I can’t take it!”

A bit of the excitement on Tam’s face faded to concern and he walked over to Liza, hugging her gently. It looked a bit odd to see both of them in dresses, but the rest managed to keep their tongues from laughter.

“You know if you don’t act as if it’s out of place on you it’ll start to feel like you’re not out of place.” Tam told her gently. “Sometimes it’s all in the way you act. I’ll give you a few lessons before you have to go to the ball.” He pulled away from her hand smiled. “But now, on to matters equally as important. Marina

, please make your adjustments, although it looks like not very many will be necessary. And then, my dear Eliza, I shall teach you how to curtsy, for will be an invaluable skill in the ballroom, I can assure you.” 

 

Author's Note

All right, I admit it - this is a very short chapter that I wrote during NaNo because one of my friends suggested that I put Tam in a pink dress. At the end I decided to redeem that chapter by throwing in some backstory for Tam and I suppose it's kind of valuable to see Liza's reaction to everything (and to describe her dress) but honestly this chapter is the kind of thing that would constitute thirty seconds of "training montage" in a movie. Should I keep it? It's funny, at least, but I'm not sure if there's enough substance to it.

Reviews

[Hannah!]

Yanno, I think people underestimate the importance of a good filler chapter. The story was getting to a very tense point, and it was nice to have a good laugh. Personally, I think this chapter is pure gold--it may not drive the plot, but it does do a lot of other things. For one thing, this is the first time we get to see Eliza being anything less than completely secure and confident--and more than that, we get to know her better without Ellyra being around, soaking up all the attention. And the backstory for Tam is interesting and important (I have been wondering for awhile just what Tam's relation to Cypress is, and now I know), and...the chapter is just fun to read.

Plus, I think this is one of the few chapters where Cleven shows real...humanity. Before this, he was all nobility, or he was a beast, it seemed--his reaction to Tam's wearing a dress was a nice reminder that he was, in fact, a human being (of sorts), and deepened him as a character, in my opinion.

So, if you ask me, I say leave the chapter be. It's funny and diffuses tension, and sometimes, readers really do need that.