I stood and motioned for Orchard to follow me. “Come on, we have some things we have to do to get you ready. I need you looking in top form tomorrow.”

  “Won’t looking too good make me seem greedy? Extravagant?” He looked at me worried, his hands wringing each other.

  “Looking as bad as you do now, you’ll seem desperate lending credence to the narrative that you are looking for a payout. We want to make it look like you’ll be fine without it and that you are both stable, but humble. I’m not going to make it look extravagant. Just clean, ready, and strong.” I brought him to my car and helped him inside. First stop, a barber.

  We pulled up to my favorite barber. There was no line this time of day as he usually only had business at lunch and trickles throughout the day. I escorted Orchard inside and waved at my barber. “I have a new client for you today. I want a full hot shave, face massage, and a nice aftershave that will keep the hair from growing back for a few days.”

  His eyes sparkled and he nodded, if there was anything about him it was that he was a quiet and private man of few words. He guided my client over to the gnome sized chair and raised it up quite high in preparation. He stepped into the back and soon enough came out with a steaming bowl of water and several towels.

  I watched as he laid out several straight razors, a mortal, and special soap for his brush. As he prepared Tinglepots looked on with interest. A novel experience to be sure. Laying back a towel soaked in hot water was laid around his face leaving his nose exposed as the heat would soak into the skin. Thick powerful fingers pressed against the towel rubbing the heat and moisture into Orchard’s skin. I could see him visibly relax with the attention as his hands unclenched and his shoulders slid into a more comfortable position.

  When the towel started to cool it was unwrapped with extreme care exposing the skin to the cool air. It sent a shiver down his spine. I smiled as he luxuriated at the treatment. The thick heavy scent of sandalwood filled the air as the soap was spread across Orchard’s face and neck. A thick lather like whip cream coating his face.

  With it settled in I was always amazed at the sheer grace of the barber's hands as he made the straight razor dance across the skin, the crinkle of hairs being cut filling the room. It was like watching a master painter at the canvas with the movements of the man. Barely a fleck of the lather remained on Orchard’s face when it was done. A quick wipe down with another hot towel had him clean shaven, relaxed, and ready for what was coming next.

  A ghost of a smile was on his face when he looked at me, the tiniest strain at the corner of his mouth. He looked at a mirror, examining the handiwork of the best barber in town. Finally the large burly man spread an alchemical mixture across Tinglepots’s skin preventing hair from growing and giving a softness that most hardened men never achieve. It almost shaved ten years off his face if not for the gaunt thinness he was gaining from the stress of the trial.

  Walking closer I looked at the handiwork and tipped the barber handsomely for such a well done job. The quiet smile and nod he gave me was the best I would ever get. In all my time I had only heard a few sage words come from him, I promised, next time he spoke it would have my full attention.

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  Back in the car Orchard sighed as he settled into the soft seats, the most relaxed he had been in weeks. “Usually my wife is the one that shaves me. She is good, but that man is a master.” His voice was wistful and filled with love. Thoughts of his wife making his eyes sparkle a little.

  “Well, when we send you home in victory we can make sure you're scruffy just for her.” I joked as I started the beast of a vehicle. He chuckled lightly and I realized that was the first time I had ever heard him succumb to jesting.

  “That will make her happy, not as much as us winning. Are you sure you can do it? I looked into that lawyer fella Grizzlebats hired and he is pretty famous for his age.” Orchard leaned back resting his head on the seat behind him as I rolled through town going to the magical seamster that would make him presentable. All of this would be expensed when I won. I’m going to win, I promised myself.

  We pulled up to the shop that I had gotten my suits from since I started at the firm as an intern and even the suit I saved up for that I started to wear for the trial. I walked Tinglepots inside and presented him to the seamster that would help us.

  “What have we hear, Mr. Smith, my favorite customer.” The elven man was also known as the Threadsmith. Studying the thread and needle for longer than I had lived. His hands could dance dozens of times faster than one of the automatic machines that had been growing popular. With potent enough magic to enchant his wares without hiring a separate wizard.

  “You say that to every customer,” I smiled at him as he clasped my hands with his calloused fingers. Slowly he started to look me up and down. I stopped him, “Not for me today. My client needs something professional, but not extravagant.”

  “A tall order for the finest seamster in the world. But come, my new friend, with me. Stand here.” Tinglepots was escorted onto a small platform as with an expert skill the elf rakes his eyes along the small body of the elderly gnome. “Not extravagant he says,” A glance over his shoulder, “Pah! You’re just tightening your purse, heard you finally took your first case!”

  “Yeah, and I’m preparing to win too,” I said nonchalantly as cloth was wheeled out and held up against the gnome, testing colors and feel. The whole time the Threadsmith spoke to himself, grumbling about how he should be making his final masterpiece but the constant interruptions from clients denied him.

  “Soon enough I’ll show you! You will beg me just to touch the suit that will be perfection.” Satisfied he whipped some cloth he chose and started cutting. His scissors glided like a boat through a still lake as he expertly cut the shapes he would use to make the suit. Earthen brown pants and jacket, of fine thick cotton lined with soft silk. Shined buttons perfectly sized for the smaller man. Even a pair of undergarments of fine materials.

  It was like watching a tornado at work. But instead of tearing apart houses it was pulling together a suit. Needles danced, pins held things in place. Thread spun like spider’s silk through the air as it all came together. Emerging from the chaos was a three piece suit. A brown that would bring out the homestyle tan the gnome had that would lend him humility, made with perfect stitches that showed he could afford to live without the tainted gold of Grizzlebats. The tuft of white hair matched with the button up shirt that adorned the man.

  Threadsmith stepped back tapping his lips as he held the ensemble against Tinglepots and nodded to himself. “It would have been better if I sewed it under a full moon while fairies danced around me. Alas, when does that happen when I want it to.”

  “You always have to complain about your own work. I swear this masterpiece you speak of wouldn’t even satisfy you when you make it happen. You’ll find some flaw or thing you could have done better and toss it aside like it wasn’t your best work of all time.” I nudged the elf with my shoulder as he rolled his eyes.

  “I could barely charge you for something so plain. If only I could incorporate some magic into it, maybe the first tilled soil of the season. Or better yet the last seed harvested in fall. You are too cheap for me John. I am meant to make art with my skills.”

  “Does art pay your bills?” I joked.

  “No, but you do.” He held out his hand and I paid the man. Getting a receipt once more. This was a gamble to be spending my own money on all this but it solidified my belief that I would win.

  I looked at Tinglepots as he stood stoic and with renewed vigor. The barest spark of defiance and preparation for war in his eyes as i was about to send him into the front lines. Into the path of danger that could tarnish his name for good. Whether I won or lost Tinglepots was going to sacrifice something.

  I just needed to make sure it wasn’t much.