Shades Of Grey

  ( Winterwish )

  Sat upon her bedroom floor, Winterwish tore a blank page from her journal and passed it to Cherrychomp along with her pencils. Ruby eyes panned over the stationery with disappointment.

  "What's wrong?" asked Winterwish.

  "Why's they all the same?" asked Cherrychomp. "Grey is borin'."

  "I guess it kind of is..." said Winterwish. "Maybe I'll get some more interesting colours the next time I'm in Rainbow City, but for now do you think you can draw with just grey?"

  The little red fairy took a deep breath and leaned back, as if the impossible had been asked of her. "I guess I can try."

  "Great! And you can draw the Fairy Princess you saw?" asked Winterwish.

  Cherrychomp nodded and squeezed the pencil in her fist, before assaulting the paper with violent scribbling. "Maybe you should get a table an' chair too."

  Winterwish looked around her barren room. "Yes. You're probably right. That would make this a lot easier. Do you have any furniture in your room, behind all those soft toys?"

  "Jus' plushies."

  "Seriously? There's nothing in or under that mountain of cuddly toys?"

  "More plushies!"

  "Well, it's your room. Suit yourself, I guess. How come so many of them have bite marks though?"

  "Sometimes I get 'ungry in my sleep!"

  "Huh," said Winterwish, unsurprised. She watched somewhat fearfully as sharp graphite scratched and stabbed at the paper.

  Conk-conk.

  Winterwish looked to her bedroom door and rushed to her feet. "They're back!" she gasped excitedly.

  But after racing to open the door, she discovered not Merrymint, nor any of her other sisters standing in the hall, but the Royal Tailor. She had a patchwork pack strapped to her back, which gave the impression she might be planning on travelling.

  "Oh... Hello, Lady Dollymop," said Winterwish.

  "Gee. Thanks. So glad I came down all those stairs."

  I guess she must carry faefire too if she can use the Sky Spire...

  "Sorry," said Winterwish. "It's lovely to see you, of course. I'm just worried about the others."

  "About that," said Dollymop. "Just where is everyone?"

  "Well, it's kind of a long story," said Winterwish. "Me and -"

  "Shorten it," interrupted Dollymop.

  "R-right. Well, they're out searching the Enchanted Forest."

  "Must be dangerous out there these days," said Dollymop. "Saw some new fresh forestfolk up in Rainbow City earlier. From the look on their faces, they must've been through some real messed up stuff. They might not have the easiest time of things going forward either. Rainbow City is getting kind of cramped, and not everyone takes kindly to so many new arrivals."

  Damn. I didn't even consider that...

  Winterwish frowned.

  The raggedy lady barged into the room and looked about. "Well this is just sad."

  "I'm working on it," said Winterwish. "I've been busy, is all."

  "You've been busy?" snapped Dollymop. Button eyes loomed up close and personal.

  "A little bit, m-maybe," whimpered Winterwish.

  "You know, after your little stunt during training, Titania ordered your outfit be completed with all haste. I haven't stopped. I haven't slept."

  Winterwish opened her mouth with the intention of apologising, but in her excitement, something else slipped out. "...Is it done?"

  Dollymop put fabric hands to textile waist. For a moment, Winterwish feared she might've said something wrong.

  "Who the hel do you think I am? I'm the Royal Tailor, best in Titan. Of course it's done!"

  "Oh thank you! Thank you so much, Lady Dollymop!" gushed Winterwish. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I'll be able to start practicing my magic properly now! I can get stronger! I'll be useful!"

  "Steady," said Dollymop. "As I said before, the magmasilk and scorchthread should stop you from freezing up, but I've had to entwine a ton of nullseams to stop you from cooking yourself. At some point you're going to hit a wall. If you try to force your way through, the result won't be pretty. You understand?"

  "Of course, of course! It sounds perfect! I just wish you'd brought it with you! When can I see it?" Winterwish was met with a blank button stare. Her gaze switched back and forth between the tailor's eyes and the pack upon her back. Realisation clicked. "Dollymop!" she almost squealed.

  "Ha. You really thought I came to your room for the depressing vibes?"

  Winterwish watched with tingling anticipation as Dollymop shrugged the pack off and opened it up. Slowly but surely, a luxuriously glamorous coat emerged, followed by matching boots and gloves. As requested, it was just as white and fluffy as the one she'd been wearing up until now, only this one sparkled and shimmered with even the slightest of movements, like a blizzard of diamond dust.

  "Oh Dollymop, it's beautiful!" Winterwish praised.

  "Of course it is. Who the hel do you think -" started Dollymop.

  "Fluffy!" screamed Cherrychomp. She'd finally looked up from her drawing just to rush over and press her rosy cheek to the soft fabric.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "Please don't drool on it," begged Winterwish.

  She looked up to thank Dollymop for what might've been the dozenth time, only to see the Royal Tailor was more interested in the paper Cherrychomp was clutching.

  "What've you got there?" asked Dollymop.

  "Drawin'!" boasted Cherrychomp.

  Stitched lips curved to a smile. "I didn't know you were a fellow creative. May I see it?"

  The little red fairy beamed with pride as she presented her work. Dollymop's head tilted one way. Then the other. Then she tried rotating the paper itself. With each confused movement, Winterwish felt her hopes of identifying their attacker slip further and further away.

  "...Great work, kid," said Dollymop. "Keep it up."

  Despite having produced little more than a messy scribble of long-tongued monster, Cherrychomp's smug smile spread impossibly wide.

  You were supposed to draw the enemy Fairy Princess...

  Winterwish sighed. "Do you have an interest in art, Lady Dollymop?"

  "I respect the process."

  Winterwish glanced over toward her gilded journal and shuffled uncomfortably. She hadn't shown anyone her work yet. The idea of presenting her sketches to another made her anxious. It almost seemed presumptuous to put someone on the spot and demand an opinion. After all, what if her art was far worse than she perceived it? Then others would feel forced into pretending to like it. She hated the idea of putting someone into that situation.

  "Is there something you want to show me?" asked Dollymop.

  "H-huh?" stammered Winterwish.

  "You've been staring at that book for nearly a minute," said Dollymop.

  "Ah. Well. I mean, it's nothing. Just -" started Winterwish.

  But Dollymop had little interest in excuses. She strode over and snatched the journal before opening it up. For the next few moments she quietly flicked through, studying each page in silence.

  "Uhm, Dollymop?" asked Winterwish.

  "...You know who these girls are, right?"

  "I do," said Winterwish. "They're the sisterhoods that preceded us. I thought maybe I could collect some information on them. You know, sort of like a definitive record. Or, as close as I can get."

  "You've got talent, kid," said Dollymop. "Maybe one day it'll be your work hung all over this palace."

  Winterwish's cheeks suddenly burned with an irregular heat. "Th-thanks! ...Come to think of it, you made most of the Fairy Princess' outfits over the years, right? Odd question, but I don't suppose you remember making a wet and squelchy dress for a girl who could throw exploding stones?"

  Button eyes glanced up from the journal. "Ew. No. I'd never make such a disgusting thing."

  "I figured as much..." sighed Winterwish. "Well, then maybe you could help me with some other details? Fill in a few gaps? The portraits don't give me much to go off."

  Dollymop slowly and carefully pressed the pages to a close. "Titania wouldn't approve of my involvement... but, thank you. These girls do not deserve to be forgotten." Her tone betrayed a hint of regret.

  Winterwish frowned. She carefully tore a fresh page from the back of her journal and passed it to Cherrychomp. Only when the little red fairy was distant and distracted once more did she speak in a hushed voice. "Lady Dollymop... The previous sisterhoods. They didn't graduate, did they?"

  The Royal Tailor didn't say a word. She didn't have to.

  "They're... dead, right?" whispered Winterwish. The lack of denial wounded her heart. "So many..." She shook her head. "It's hard to believe."

  Dollymop gently returned the journal. "No one can fight ichor forever, kid. It only takes one drop. Sooner or later, everyone slips up."

  Winterwish suddenly felt all the more concerned for her absent sisters. If she wasn't so painfully aware of her own weakness, she'd have rushed out into the dark woodland that instant.

  Merrymint...

  "And you didn't hear that from me." Dollymop headed toward the door. "Well, on that positive note, I'll be leaving you. Laters."

  "W-wait!" called Winterwish, practically chasing after her. "I think I have the answer to your question!"

  Dollymop's head flopped. "Question? What question?"

  "Back at your warehouse, you said I should be thinking about where residual magic came from," said Winterwish.

  Once again, stitched lips remained silent, but button eyes peered expectantly.

  "Was it The Reckoning?" asked Winterwish. "Or maybe The Dreaded Dragon?"

  Dollymop's reaction was perhaps the most human yet. Her shoulders slumped. Her head hung. "Damn, kid... I shouldn't have put ideas in your head. Nothing good will come of digging up the past. Just... I don't know. Enjoy what you can in the here and now, ok?"

  ...Well, that's ominous.

  "Lady Dollymop... I don't think we should turn our backs on history. If something terrible happened, then it's even more important that we remember," said Winterwish. "Why is it so hard to get information around here?"

  "Because asking questions isn't your job, kid." Dollymop opened the door and stepped out into the Dormitory hall. "Neither is answering them mine."

  Winterwish followed her, as if connected via an invisible leash. "Just one more? Please?"

  Dollymop took a deep breath, then groaned in exasperation. "...Make it quick."

  Winterwish pushed the door ajar behind them and lowered her voice once more. "What do you know about Stargazers?"

  String hair swayed with the slow shaking of Dollymop's head. "You sure do like dangerous subjects..."

  "I know it's forbidden!" whispered Winterwish. "Though... I'm not certain why."

  "Titania wills it," said Dollymop. "That alone should be enough for you."

  "It is! For sure!" Winterwish repeated the most loyal phrase that came to mind. "The Queen's will is absolute... I just think knowing the reasons for her will would make it easier to enforce, and, well, you seem to know your stuff."

  "Listen, kid. I get that you've only just woken up, and this might all seem confusing, but the only reason things are as nice as they are around here is because of the difficult decisions Titania makes," said Dollymop. "I'm not going to stand here and claim that all worship leads to ruin. Obonia permits it and her Queendom seems to do just fine. But when folk start turning to the ethereal for answers, it opens them up to crazy ideas. That's a risk Titania isn't willing to take, and we have to respect that."

  Winterwish bit her tongue.

  What about respecting people's freedom? Forcing everyone to go through life without believing in something greater seems... well, brutal.

  But it was plain to see that the Royal Tailor's patience was wearing thin.

  Winterwish bowed her head. "I understand. Thank you, Lady Dollymop."