Just then, Talyndra emerged from the swirling mist, a broad smile on her face. She wore a simple dress made of leaves and cradled a simir one in her arms. "Emily!" she announced, her voice ringing with satisfaction. "I've got you covered—literally!"

  Emily could see her smile faltered as she took in the scene. There she was, adorned with a flower crown and a smattering of feathers, sat awkwardly on a tree branch, surrounded by the strange tea party guests. The pink dwarf, the feathered bird-man, and the bowtie-wearing snake all turned to Talyndra, their expressions shifting from cheerful welcome to something colder, more guarded. The air in the clearing crackled with tension, the lighthearted atmosphere of the tea party instantly evaporating.

  "Talyndra?" Emily said, relief flooding through her. "Where were you? I heard you scream—I thought something terrible had happened!" She felt suddenly guilty for getting so wrapped up in this strange tea party that she had not kept looking for Talyndra.

  Talyndra's gaze flickered to Emily, then back to the peculiar trio. "Scream?" she asked. "Wasn't me. I was busy gathering our garments." She held Emily's leaf dress aloft, then eyed the group suspiciously. "Who are these... people?"

  Emily shot her a bewildered gnce that said, "I don't know either."

  The pink dwarf dy sniffed disdainfully. "A little green hussy, dressed in rags, barged into our private party, unannounced, and starts interrogating us? Now I've seen everything!" she said, turning her sharp gaze on Talyndra. "It is I who should be asking who you are! Or perhaps who you think you are!"

  The bird-man bobbed his head in agreement, letting out a series of sharp chirps and clicks. The snake remained silent, its emerald eyes fixed on Talyndra, its forked tongue constantly flicking in and out, tasting the air.

  Emily, sensing the escating tension, scrambled to her feet, and pced herself between the pink dwarf and Talyndra. "Talyndra is my friend," she said. She reached out for the leaf outfit Talyndra had brought, savouring the feeling of the leaves. "Thank you, Talyndra," she said. "This is perfect. I'll just put it on and then we can be on our way."

  The pink dwarf dy let out a gasp of horror and spped Emily's hands away with surprising force. "Good heavens, child!" she excimed. "You can't possibly wear that! It's... it's utterly dreadful! The craftsmanship is appalling, the material is substandard, and the overall design is simply barbaric!"

  Talyndra bristled, her hand instinctively moving towards her hip, though she had not brought her twin swords. "Barbaric?" she growled, her eyes narrowing. "These are perfectly fresh leaves, sewn in a cssic wood elf pattern!"

  "I'm sure they are," the dwarf dy replied, contempt dripping from her every word. "And while such a thing may be appropriate for a dirty tree-swinger such as yourself, they are an insult to our Lady Emily of Shimmerwood."

  "Maybe you're confusing me with someone else," said Emily, desperate to cover herself with the outfit that was right in front of her.

  The pink dy chuckled. "Your name is Emily, is it not?"

  Emily's expression betrayed the truth of the woman's statement, though she did not recall introducing herself to these people. The sickly scent that pervaded everything in this forest was starting to make her light-headed. She just wanted to put on some clothes, find the Shard of True Reflection and get out of here. Why did getting dressed always have to turn into such a major ordeal for her?

  "Really, it's fine," she insisted to the pink dy, taking the leaf dress from Talyndra. "It'll do for now."

  "Nonsense!" the pink dy decred, her voice ringing with authority. "We insist on providing you with an outfit worthy of your status." She gestured towards Emily with a flourish. "Charles, fetch my spectacles!" she said to the bird-man. "And Seraph," she addressed the snake, "be a dear and help our guest prepare for her fitting."

  The snake moved with lightning speed, abandoning the teapot and springing towards her. Its yellow eyes gleamed with a strange intensity, and before Emily could react, the snake had coiled itself around her body, its smooth scales squeezing gently against her skin. She gasped, her body tensing involuntarily as the snake constricted its coils, pinning her arms to her sides. There was a crash, and realized she had dropped her teacup.

  "Don't worry, dear," the pink dwarf dy said, her voice saccharine. "Seraph won't hurt you. He's a darling, really."

  "Burn it!" Talyndra shouted, her hand again hovering over the absent hilt of her twin swords. "Use your fire, Emily!"

  The pink dwarf dy, however, shook her head, her expression grim. "I wouldn't advise that, dear," she said, her voice ced with warning. "Seraph's wouldn't hurt a fly, not consciously, but he does have extraordinary reflexes. Survival instinct and all that. His venom is quite potent and very fast-acting. We wouldn't want to risk an unfortunate accident, would we?"

  Emily looked into the snake's yellow eyes and felt the end of its tongue against her forehead. Its embrace tightened slightly. While she could summon her fire almost instantly, engulf herself and teleport back to the ruin, she may still not be fast enough to avoid a bite. She gnced at Talyndra, whose expression mirrored her own apprehension.

  "Tell your pet to release her," Talyndra said coldly.

  The pink dy tittered with amusement. "Seraph is no one's pet. He is my dear friend, and a kindred soul in matters of taste. I dare say his fashion sense is more exacting than even my own. He is merely protecting our dear friend Emily from the indignity of those rags."

  "Indignity!" Talyndra fumed. "You've been forcing her to stand her around here naked!"

  "Any dy of taste would sooner bare it all than deign to adorn herself with that disaster!"

  "It's perfectly adequate," Talyndra growled, holding the leaf dress out in front of her. It was quite simir to her own, a short sleeveless dress made of broad leaves.

  The dwarf dy raised an eyebrow. "Adequate? My dear, 'adequate' simply isn't in our vocabury. Especially not for the Stoneshell Bearer." She snatched the leaf dress from Talyndra's grasp and turned it this way and that. "The stitching is haphazard, the leaves are uneven, and the overall design is just uninspired."

  "It's a dress made of leaves!" Talyndra protested. "We're on a mission here, not attending a debuntante ball!"

  "A dy should always look her best," the dwarf dy said. "But perhaps we can still work with this. It'll be a challenge, but Maisy Hillflower never shrinks from a challenge. We'll start with the material. Those leaves are far too coarse." She turned to Charles, the bird-man, who handed her a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles. "Thank you, dear. Now, please fetch us some silk leaves from the whispering willows by the stream. And some dew-kissed petals from the moon orchids. We need something with a bit more shimmer."

  The bird-man bowed and scurried off into the mist.

  "Now, the design," the dwarf dy, Maisy Hillflower, continued, turning her attention back to the leaf dress. "It cks... flow. Movement. Drama." She closed her eyes for a moment. "We'll need to incorporate some cascading vines, perhaps some iridescent moss, and definitely some strategically pced gemstones. Yes, I suppose we might be able to salvage this after all."

  She handed the dress back to Talyndra. "Here," she said. "Unweave this, and then we can decide what to keep. Some of these leaves may be acceptable as a base, but I think we will discard most of them."

  Talyndra gred at the dwarf, her hands clenched into fists. But, looking at Emily's pleading expression and the snake that was still tasting her forehead, she took the dress and began to carefully unravel the woven leaves, her movements stiff with suppressed anger, the green tendrils of her magic bright and jagged.

  Emily, still trapped in the snake's coils, could only watch in frustrated silence, her cheeks burning with a mixture of embarrassment and indignation. She felt like a prize pig being prepared for a show. All the while, the sweetly nauseating scent of the mist intensified, and the snake's scales began to feel cmmy from her own sweat.

  Maisy Hillflower, perched on a moss-covered rock like a tiny, pink queen, directed Talyndra's every move with a relentless stream of criticism and instructions. "No, no, no! Not like that! You're pulling too hard! Do you want to tear the leaves? Honestly, I've seen goblins with more finesse!"

  Talyndra gritted her teeth, her fingers moving with increasing speed and precision as she unraveled the leaf dress. The vibrant green tendrils of her magic sparked and crackled around her hands.

  "And the stitching!" Maisy continued, peering through her spectacles. "It's atrocious! Utterly barbaric! Are you using thorns? Thorns! Have you no sense of decency? We'll be using moonbeam silk, spun by the dreamweavers themselves. It's finer than a spider's web and twice as strong."

  After Maisy had rejected Talyndra's third design concept, Emily tried to interject. "I appreciate the gesture, truly," she said, her voice strained. "But we are in a little bit of a hurry here."

  Maisy Hillflower waved a dismissive hand. "Nonsense, dear! There is always time to look one's best!"

  The snake, Seraph, tightened its coils slightly, perhaps in agreement with Maisy's assessment. Emily could feel its cool scales pressing against her skin, the pressure almost comforting despite the awkwardness of the situation.

  Just then, Charles, the bird-man, returned, his arms den with shimmering leaves, iridescent moss, and colorful flowers. He id his bounty before Maisy, who examined each item with a critical eye.

  "Excellent, Charles!" she excimed, her voice ringing with approval. "These silk leaves are exquisite! And the moon orchids... divine! Now, let's see what magic we can weave with these." She turned back to Talyndra, her eyes gleaming with a manic energy. "Right, you! Pay attention! I'm going to show you how a real artist shapes nature's bounty."

  For what felt like hours, Emily watched, trapped in the snake's embrace, as Maisy Hillflower directed Talyndra in the creation of a new dress. The dwarf's tiny hands moved with astonishing speed and precision, weaving the silk leaves, iridescent moss, and glittering gemstones into a garment that seemed to shimmer and shift with the light. Unlike Talyndra, Maisy did not use magic, but weaved and sewed like a mundane dressmaker.

  Talyndra, her initial resentment gradually giving way to a grudging admiration, followed Maisy's instructions, her own magic softening and blending with the dwarf's meticulous craftsmanship. Occasionally, a fsh of green would erupt from her hands, a spark of her own creative spirit asserting itself, only to be quickly subdued by Maisy's sharp reprimand. "Not there! That's too much! Ugh, I despair for wood elf kind!"

  As the dress neared completion, Emily couldn't deny its beauty. Maisy had transformed Talyndra's rough and ready creation into a garment of great beauty. And unlike the work of the st seamstress she'd encountered, this dress had no conspicuously missing sections. She found herself eager to try it on, and not merely to regain some scrap of modesty. Clothing had become utilitarian during her time in Thesson, but this dress awakened long-dormant feelings that were perhaps more appropriate for a department store changing booth than the middle of an enchanted forest. After all she'd been through, Emily decided not to begrudge herself the girlish excitement of trying on a pretty dress.

  Finally, Maisy gave Talyndra a curt nod and took the dress from her, holding it up to the light. She gave a small sigh of satisfaction and cast a meaningful gnce at Seraph.

  Emily let out a breath as the snake uncoiled himself from her body, finally allowing her tensed muscles to rex. Seraph slithered back to the teatable and used his tail to pour a fresh cup of tea, which he pped at with his darting forked tongue. Relieved and a little bit excited, Emily took the dress from Maisy and carefully stepped into it. She'd been expecting an outfit made of leaves to irritate her skin, but this one was so finely woven it felt as smooth as the softest silk.

  "Stand up straight!" Maisy instructed. "Let's see the dress properly!"

  Emily did as she was instructed, pulling her shoulders back and stretching into her neck. She'd become unaccustomed to this sort of proud posture, to intentionally making herself the center of attention. At Maisy's command, she flounced the dress pyfully and spun around for her audience.

  "Magnificent," Maisy said finally. Then, turning to Talyndra, she added, "Perhaps you have the makings of a competent dress-maker after all."

  Talyndra merely rolled her eyes, but Emily could see a flicker of pride in her expression. She'd never admit it, but this strange pink elf dy had drawn the best out of her.