Worlds Collide: Chapter 11 Designs

The next day I’m woken by knocking at the door. Very loud, persistent knocking. Groggily, I drag myself from bed and stick my head around the door.
“Finally princess, I have been knocking for 20 minutes. A heard of elephants could be storming through the castle and you would sleep through it.” Juan says.
“You are not the first person to tell me this. What do you want?” I ask.
“You have 10 minutes to get ready and then we will leave for town.” Juan says.
“10 minutes is not nearly long enough” I protest.
“We will eat in town, all you need to do is dress yourself. I know that clothes seem to be a hinderance to you, but I’m sure that even you can manage to cover yourself in 10 minutes. I have even picked out an appropriate dress for you to wear so as not to draw attention to us.” He says handing me a simple looking black dress.
I groan and take the dress before slamming the door in his face. I wash up quickly and step into the dress. It still looks fancy to me, a floor length velvet dress, but it is noticeably less elaborate than the dresses in my wardrobe. I find a pair of more practical boots in the cupboard and a red shawl to wrap around me to add some colour to the outfit.
Stepping back outside, I look at Juan. He is not dressed in his usual uniform, and instead is wearing a basic white shirt and black leathery looking trousers.
“Wow, you can follow an order.” Juan mocks.
“While wasting your time would have been fun, I am hungry and you mentioned eating in town.” I say and, as if to back me up, my stomach grumbles.
“What would you normally eat for breakfast? I know most places in town, so I’m sure we can find something to your tastes.” Juan asks.
“Well I eat anything for breakfast from cereal to pizza, but I’m really craving pancakes today. They are like a thin fried sweet bread. Do you have something like that?” I ask.
“Oh like crepes, I will take you to Raphael’s shop, he makes the best ones in town.” Juan says, actually seeming to approve of my choice.
“Lead the way” I say as I follow him out of the castle and into the town.
Juan points out some landmarks on the way, but otherwise doesn’t speak much. I spend the journey taking in the town, it is what I imagine walking around in the 1800s would be like, with no signs of electricity or technology and everyone is dressed very properly with very little skin showing. There are other things to wonder at though, like a water mill being powered by people bending water and lighting systems using fire magic. The people all just look like people to me, I keep trying to spot the different creatures that I have learnt about, but everyone just looks human.
Juan takes me to a little shop in the centre of town, there is a large queue at the front, but he leads me around the back and in a door hidden behind some ivy. Once inside the smell of baked goods makes my mouth water. Juan stands in the kitchen area as others rush around him.
“What would you like? There are different toppings, lemon, berries, chocolates or savoury toppings like eggs and bacon.” Juan asks.
“Can I have one savoury and one sweet one please? Whatever you recommend on them.” I ask, trying to stay out of the way of everyone in the small space.
I watch Juan approach a small round man and hug him. He laughs with the man and then gets handed a plate of crepes. Juan disappears into another room and then comes back with 2 paper plates of deliciousness and hands me one.
We exit the shop and sit on a bench in the street to eat. The first pancake is filled with some kind of scrambled egg and meat and is better than any full english breakfast I have ever eaten. As I eat the second sweet one, I can’t help but moan as the melted chocolate and sweet fruit combination touches my tastebuds.
“It really doesn’t take much to make you moan huh?” Juan teases.
“I don’t believe that pleasure should be suppressed and these are delicious so I am going to express that” I retort.
“They are very good, you would never guess Raphael is a vampire. He can’t actually eat his own cooking, but he learnt to cook them to impress his wife.” Juan explains.
“That guy is a vampire?! I would never have guessed” I exclaim.
“Yes he is, he is a good man though, I have known him for a long time.” Juan says smiling at some unspoken memory.
“Well I’m glad someones cooking can put a smile on your miserable face.” I tease and his smile disappears.
“Well sadly we are not here to eat, so we had better get going to the shops before it gets too busy. I can’t stand my town during the market rush.” Juan says.
“Your town?” I question.
“Yes, this is the province that I am lord over.” Juan says proudly.
“Oo great, I’m sure we can get some good deals then” I say excitedly.
We spend hours trailing around shops and I see less and less of Juan each visit as I pile him up with fabrics and other resources to carry. By the time we are back in my room, I’m surprised that he can still feel his arms with the amount of weight he has been carrying.
“Please tell me that is us finished for today?” Juan complains.
“See shopping is really a workout. Yes I just need to work on them myself now. Normally I would play music while I work, but I guess I can make do without. Thank you for your help today.” I say
“Did you just say thank you princess? Well then, you are very welcome. I will be outside if you need anything else.” Juan says and leaves me alone.
After a while of working, I hear music drifting in through the window and I go to look out onto the courtyard. There is a small band playing classical music there and I smile, thanking Juan silently as I get back to work. Hours later I’m interrupted by a knock.
“It is late princess, you missed lunch already, but you should eat dinner.” Juan says.
I agree and change into the outfit I have made myself. It is a long light purple dress that hugs my figure with lacy white sleeves and a fake corset style on the back.
“Please could you send this to the queen for her approval?” I ask Juan, handing him the dress I had made for Ava.
“If it is anything like this one, I’m sure the king will like it at least.” Juan says and hands the dress to another servant to deliver while walking with me to the dining room.
“We have missed the official dinner, but food will be delivered to us here.” Juan explains as we sit at the table which feels too large for just the 2 of us.
Before the food is delivered, the queen comes rushing in in her new dress that is blue with little white floral decorations. She runs up to me and hugs me.
“It is beautiful Rain! Thank you! Please make more before you leave us, I need as many examples to give our seamstresses as possible so that they can recreate your genius.” She gushes.
“I’m gad you like it. I tried to make it match the style here as best as possible but I still added some of my own ideas.” I explain.
“Please could you make me some things from your world? I would love to compare them.” Ava asks.
“Of course. I have a lot of material left so I will do what I can while I wait to speak to professor Vladimire” I say.
“Thank you. He should be back tomorrow evening and I’m sure he will be able to answer your questions then.” Ava says.
“Oh, while you are here, please could I measure you, I had to estimate your sizes for this, but it would be better to have specifics.” I ask
“No problem. My maid is waiting outside, you can ask her for a measure” Ava says and I get up to go to the door.
I hear Ava whisper to Juan as I walk away with my sensitive hearing. “I like her, you really should give her a chance.”
Juan whispers back “She is a dragon Ava, you know I can’t trust her, yet alone anything else” and I hear Ava sigh as I speak to the maid.
After Ava leaves and we have eaten dinner mostly in silence I decide to bite the bullet and ask him straight out. I had thought that he was warming up to me today, but the conversation I overheard made me doubt it.
“Why do you hate me?” I ask.
Juan sighs “You are a dragon”
“And? You are friends with a vampire and I don’t even know what you are, why does it matter?” I ask
“Because dragons are dangerous so you are a threat” He says through gritted teeth.
“No people are dangerous. Humans do terrible things to each other and from what I understand its the human in all creatures here that is the common ancestor. We all have the ability to do good or evil, to feel hate or love, but it’s the individuals choices that lead them down one path or another. No one is truly all good or all bad and so everyone is a potential threat, but you can’t live your life believing that because then you are living in constant fear. Instead you have to accept what comes your way and believe in you own ability to handle it” I say.
He looks at me pensively for a moment and then his tone changes “You are right, and we already know that I can handle you, so maybe you are not so dangerous after all.” He says cockily, making me roll my eyes.
“I still don’t understand how you did that, but I’m going to blame it on being drunk and disorientated in this unfamiliar place. If you are not a dragon and you hate them so much, why and how did you look like one?” I say.
“A dragon was the best option to fight a dragon. But I that is all I will tell you for now, to keep the upper hand, just in case.” He explains.
“Fine then, I don’t intend to fight you again, but I’m tempted to just to find out what you are hiding and to prove that I could win” I say competitively.