Prysmcat's Fantasy

“You have now seen almost the entire house,” Wanda said cheerfully. “Or at least all the interesting bits. I saved my favourite part until last, though.”

“It’s been fascinating,” Leo conceded. Some of it he’d seen at relatively high speed, with Wanda walking into a room, doing one circuit at normal speed, and leaving again, while other parts had included lingering for stories or to chat with someone. Tarragon had seemed highly amused by the situation, as had Jake. Despite all that, he had a general idea about the layout and what the house held. “And it’s been a very smooth ride without being dropped or anything, for which I’m grateful.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Wanda said. “You could get badly hurt that way, and that’s no fun. So, over here past the music room, I introduced you to Dora remember, we have what used to be called the card room but now we use it for games of any kind. Card games, board games, spin-the-bottle, whatever.”

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Continuing the same way she’d been going, Amerie wandered past the huge main staircase. On her other side, she could look down to the floor beneath. The walls around the balcony were lined with paintings that looked interesting, and she made a mental note to come back for a closer look.

There was also an odd-looking suit of armour, or at least, she thought it was armour, but once she actually stopped to inspect it, she couldn’t imagine how anyone could get inside of it. The feet were solid and contoured like human feet, complete with toes, but from there up to the knee, it was a solid-looking spiral of thick wire that might have been shiny stainless steel; there was a decorated plate over the front of the knee itself, then another spiral up the thigh. The arms were much the same. There was a female-shaped torso in several pieces with another coil around the abdomen from pelvis to ribs, decorated beautifully with spirals of gold and silver and copper. The helmet was a generic face with vaguely feminine features and molded golden hair, the features picked out in gold and copper.

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Lennox tucked his good camera securely into the wagon where it wouldn’t shift, added the collapsed tripod, and checked that he had everything. Not that he’d really had time to take much out.

Forget trying to salvage this. He’d just report that his Hallowe’en investigation had been sabotaged by unknown individuals and there was nothing he could do about it. It left a bad taste, but maybe this was what he deserved for not making sure he had exclusive secure access to a site via the proper owner. He could use the time better in trying to calm down and getting some sleep than engaging any further with the nonsense here.

He headed to the front door.

Standing in front of it was a woman with dark hair, in an impractical and old-fashioned dress of dark grey and equally-dark teal.

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Trace stopped and stretched. The poetry book, and its neighbours, were fascinating, and had taken him through a range of experiences he would never have imagined for himself. He’d been at it a while, though, and badly needed to move around.

He wandered around more of the library, exploring the range of books. He couldn’t resist stroking the smooth polished wood of the table and standing desk, the textures of the brocade fabric of the chairs, the leather of the book spines. The library smelled pleasantly of paper and ink and leather and a faint scent that was somewhere between pine and moth balls that was stronger close to the wooden furniture. It was quiet, not the way a museum was silent and dead, but tranquil and welcoming. He could have spent many hours here, content and at peace.

He could, however, use a drink. The bag of snacks and drinks he’d bought on the way here had been left behind in the music room. He knew his way back, but he wasn’t in a hurry. The library had two doors; he took the other.

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The tea gown was definitely beautiful, and in a way it was easier to appreciate how it would look on her while it was on someone else who currently had her exact measurements. Even if it was someone who looked like a walking porcelain doll.

Just to make sure, Cosmo modelled two other dresses for her, inspecting his own reflection in the mirrors on the inner faces of the dressing room doors, before concluding that the salmon tea gown was the best choice—though he did get Diana’s agreement first. He retreated into the dressing room, and returned in the original burgundy outfit and back in what was presumably his own build.

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