Scarlett's Light

Chapter 5

The next day they get to the gates of Demir around noon and tells the guards their lie. Once Reynold parks in motorcycle in large garage next to the castle, he calls Harrison to ask if he would see if the small cottage just outside the castle garden was vacant. While they waited for an answer, Reynold takes Scarlett to the needlewoman to get her some new clothes. They get to the small shop and Scarlett sees an array of differently styled clothing. “Whoever made these must have learned under someone who made clothes for royalty.” She thinks to herself. “Everything here is beautiful...” Scarlett says.

“Thank you dear, you look a little thin, I’ll have to alter anything you buy today.” Says the needlewomen as she comes out of a backroom just beyond the counter in front of Scarlett and Reynold. The woman looked to be in her mid-fifties, she is slightly shorter than Scarlett and her was an ash gray. “Scarlett, this is Ophelia, the town seamstress. She makes all the clothes the Revenants wear and runs this shop for the rest of the town.” Reynold explains.

“I also enchant your clothing Reynold don’t forget, that’s the whole reason that werewolf didn’t kill you when you were younger.”

“I remember Ophelia.” Reynold says with a chuckle. Ophelia comes around the counter with some measuring tape and start to take Scarlett’s measurements. Once she is done, she looks at Scarlett intently, “I know exactly what will fit under your armor, assuming Reynold will be training you.” She says looking toward Reynold, who nods his head confirming her assumption.

“Ophelia, I was wondering if maybe you could use an apprentice, Scarlett has little knowledge of stitching, but she is a fast learner and I’m sure she would love to help if you needed it.” Reynold mentions and Scarlett nods her head excited.

“I could use the help, I’ll give her a needle and thread, let her show me where I need to start teaching her.” Reynold hears his phone ring and pulls it out, seeing that Harrison was calling, he excuses himself, “perfect, I’ll be back in twenty minutes, Harrison needs my assistance.” He leaves, and Ophelia escorts Scarlett to the backroom she had come out of before and sits her down in front of a sewing machine. Scarlett looks at her with concern, making Ophelia chuckle. “Don’t worry dear, you are not starting out on that. I have some clothing that need small repairs at the seams,” She hands Scarlett a shirt, a needle and thread, she sees that the sleeve was beginning to come apart at the seam and the hole had become quite large. “Please sew that up and I’ll assess how you did.” Ophelia says before sitting down in front of another sewing machine to work on her own piece of clothing.

After about thirty minutes Scarlett happily walked up to Ophelia, with a big smile, “Ophelia, I’m finished.” She says and hands Ophelia the shirt. Ophelia inspects the stitching, and it surprised by the amount of skill Scarlett showed, “I’m going to be honest; I wasn’t expecting you to be very skilled, but this is very good for someone with little knowledge. I’m highly impressed, I believe you will do very well with my mentorship.” Ophelia says smiling back at Scarlett.

“Thank you so much!”

“Scarlett?” Reynold says from the front of the shop, her and Ophelia walk out to greet him. Reynold sees Scarlett smiling brightly and smirks. “I see things have gone well.” He says.

“Yes,” Ophelia agrees and looks at Scarlett. “I would like you here first thing in the morning, you can finish the rest of clothing that needs repairs, and I will teach you how to embroider the protection charm I use to keep those like Reynold safe during their travels.” She adds, she grabs a pile of neatly folded clothes and a pair of knee-high boots off the counter. “Go change into these so I can see what I need to alter.” She says handing the clothes to Scarlett. Ophelia looks to Reynold and shoos him out of the shop.

A few moments later, Reynold hears the bell over the shop door ring, he turns around and sees Scarlett in her change of clothes, her shirt was a slight off-white, long sleeved, and off shoulder. Around her waist was a black, front lace corset, her jeans were same shade and looked comfortably tight. The boots Ophelia gave her were black leather and had a small heel, making her look a couple inches taller. “How do I look?” She asks and Reynold is at a loss for words for a moment, “She gave them to me as a welcome gift.” She adds, hoping he would say something.

“You look… awesome.”

“Thank you… How did things go with Harrison?”

“It went fine, his wife wanted to rearrange the bedroom in your new home, so it had more space, that bed frame was ridiculously heavy.” He answers as they walk toward the large castle. Scarlett is stunned by its size and could never imagine living in such a big place. All her life she lived in that six-story palace, but it was just a small home compared to this massive place. “You… you live here?” She exclaims.

“Yep, since I was five. I’ve moved a couple rooms, but this is my home.” Reynold responds with a faint, but joy filled smile.

They make it to Reynolds room and Scarlett looks around in complete awe. To her, he got to sleep in his own library, something she begged her father to let her have or to just let her sleep in her favorite section of their library. “It’s like living in a library.” She says as she scans a few books on the shelf she walked up to. Reynold looks around as well, never thinking of his room that way before. “I guess so,” he says with a chuckle, “you are more than welcome to come by and borrow any book that catches your eye.” He adds, setting his gear down in a chair.

“I’ll keep that in mind, I just didn’t expect Revenants to read.”

“Not all of us are dim witted, I quite enjoy reading.” Scarlett continues to scan Reynold’s collection and her eyes fall on a small section of poetry. She giggles a little before turning in his direction, “You read poetry?” She asks, Reynold sighs with a slight embarrassed grin.

“It’s a guilty pleasure.” He responds as he approaches her.

“In this and any lifetime, I would find you and choose you all over again. It was you. It is you. It will always be you.” He says, taking Scarlett’s hand in his. He watched as her cheeks turned pink and it seemed like her eyes started to water. She quickly takes her hand from his, backs away slightly and hides her face. “Letty, I’m sorry.” He says quickly. She looks at him with quiet surprise as that was the first time someone had given her a nickname since her mother passed. Scarlett sighs, knowing she had ruined he mood Reynold tried to create. “I should get going Ophelia has a lot for me to do tomorrow.” She says, keeping her head down as she slowly heads to the door.

“I’ll… I’ll walk you home.” Reynold responds following her, turning off his bedroom light and shutting the door behind them.