Chapter 4

There is something to be said for Paris. The local population accepts a woman wearing a black dress that reveals too much and carrying a black parasol around. Our first stop was a shop that sold couture dresses. No surprise they didn't have any dresses in my size and they didn't make custom dresses. Furious, my aunt left the shop in a huff with me meekly trailing behind her. She was scary when angry.

I was suddenly feeling very Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman as my aunt strode down the street, no longer gracefully dancing around the people, but plowing through them. She was an angry bitch on a mission and that mission brought us to a ridiculous jewelry store. She slammed the door open with force, causing everyone in the store to freeze and stare at her.

A young woman rushed up to my aunt, greeting her warmly, but she kept a cautious distance.

"Isadora, we haven't seen you in ages. Are you alright dear? Do you need a bit of the vintage?" My Aunt closed her umbrella and nodded, "Yes, this is my niece, she's to go with you for a moment, and I need to speak with Armand."

The lady bowed and motioned for me to follow her as she briskly walked past the counters into the back room. She took out her phone and quickly dialed.

"Armand? Yes, it's Rebecca, Lady Isadora is here and she is demanding to speak with you...yes she seems very upset...yes I already offered and am going to do that as soon as I get off the phone...yes...thank you, sir."

She hung up and looked at me warily, "Are you..."

She left the question unanswered but I smiled having already been on the receiving end of that particular question all my life, "Human, and yes that is my aunt. Don't be worried. The dress shop we came from just upset her."

The woman nodded and silently walked to a vault, then proceeded to spin the combination, use a retinal scan and a biometric scan to unlock it. The door swung open. Once inside I saw a large collection of precious stones, all loose but I didn't get to look for too long before Rebecca was opening a secret passage disguised as a stack of shelves. We descend a flight of stairs. I followed behind her and watched as she picked up a black goblet and pointed to different bottles until finally finding the one she wanted. With a pop I watched the dark red liquid pour into the goblet realizing what it was.

She looked at me for a moment, "Do you get queasy at the sight of blood?"

I made a face, "No, my family are werewolves, you get used to blood during the harvest moon."

Rebecca smiled but she tilted her head in confusion.

"Big pack hunt lots of fresh kills." I clarified.

She made a silent "oh" with her mouth and corked the bottle putting it back. Grabbing the goblet she strode past me. On the way back up she asked for more details about why my aunt was upset. I explained about the dress shop not having anything in my size to wear.

The woman laughed, "No wonder Isadora is in such a foul mood. I bet the woman didn't even realize who she was speaking to."

I smirked. "I don't think she cared really. She took one look at me and laughed. Then said there was nothing in my size. I'm not even that big a size eight is a respectable size."

Rebecca nodded and closed the vault behind her carefully grabbing a silver tray to set the goblet on. "This is Paris mon chéri. If your not a size 6 in this city then your fat." She rolled her eyes dramatically. I liked this woman.

I followed her back into the main lobby. The store had been cleared out and a man with grey streaks through his black hair was sitting in front of my aunt smiling and laughing.

He turned and looked at Rebecca then at me. His smile disappeared as he turned to my Aunt, "I am sorry Isadora, Rebecca usually never takes this long, and I am unsure of who is with her..."

My Aunt raised her hand to stop him, "It is alright Armand that young lady is my niece, and Rebecca was very punctual."

Rebecca smiled and held the tray to my aunt who grabbed the goblet and sipped it delicately,

"Ah, that is wonderful. Now to business, I will not be embarrassed again by the fact I have a voluptuous niece. That being said, I think a bit of sparkle on my niece will illustrate how serious we are about shopping."

Armand stood quickly and with my aunts, permission grabbed my hand lightly and led me to the jewelry counter. Rebecca stayed with my aunt speaking softly to her, and my aunt listened intently to the young woman. Armand released my hand and went around the counter looking through the glass.

"Lady Isadora, what were we thinking about for the young lady? Pink diamonds perhaps?"

My aunt was at my side instantly, causing Armand to wince but I was so used to my father doing that, that it just made me feel a bit homesick.

"No diamonds, a common fancy. As you can see, my niece is rare, and we must emphasize that difference."

Armand nodded and looked at me closely before going into the back and returning with a stack of different black satin boxes. He opened the first box to a large yellow opal in a bright gold set. My aunt hissed "No yellow!!!"

I chuckled as Armand quickly disposed of three of the boxes behind the counter and opened another. My aunt quickly dismissed one after another until Armand opened a small box with a beautiful blue stone set in a white gold setting. The beautiful chain was so thin that it was almost inevitable. My aunt dismissed it but I stopped her.

"Wait, can I try it on, please." My aunt's eyebrows rose and she looked at the stone again.

"It's blue Lilly."

"I know. I'm the princess of the Azure woods pack. What stone is more fitting than a sapphire?"

"It's cliche. Of course, the other two will wear their family colors or jewels in their family colors." My aunt said.

Armand cleared his throat."If I may Isadora you said you wanted something to showcase her rarity. This isn't a regular Saphire. This Saphire is known as the soul of the ocean. In fact to find one this size and the luminous color is very rare. It's the only one in existence." He lifted it out and put it on me quickly lifting a mirror so I could see it.

I was in love, it was beautiful, and it looked just like its namesake. It was as if the harder I looked the more shade of blue I could see. As if I was looking into the very soul of this world's oceans. "It's perfect." I sighed before taking it off already knowing my aunt would give it a resounding no.

"Very well Lily." She smiled at my surprised face and grabbed the necklace putting it back on me.

"Even if I think it's cliche. The rarity of the stone will leave a lasting impression." She turned to Armand, "I want every single Saphire you have here, and ones that you can get here by tomorrow."

Armand nodded. He and Rebecca began to spread out and grab different things from the back, the vault, and throughout the store. They presented different items and my aunt vetoed or approved different pieces or sets. I sat down on the couch and let my aunt do the work.

Much later than I would have liked we left with a mountain of bags from the jewelry store.

"How much did you spend?" I asked her.

My aunt winked at me as she handed me a few more bags. "Rebecca told me of some wonderful stores that would carry your size, off the beaten track. Care to explore?"

I smiled ruefully and nodded holding up the bags, "Without being a neon sign saying, rob me I have millions of dollars in jewelry in my bags."

My aunt smiled, "You're right we'll leave them in the car."

We dropped the jewelry off and then she grabbed my hand and we quickly made our way down a few side streets before stopping at a very crowded dress shop. My aunt pursed her lips but shrugged and walked in, the door tingling as we opened it. A very feminine man greeted us and my aunt got straight to work.

It felt weird having a man take my measurements and then say something to my aunt in French, who in turn smiled at me triumphantly, "He says you have a very beautiful body."

The man went into the back and began to pile dress after dress after dress onto the counter. My aunt and he spoke to one another in French and quickly the yellow, pink, lavender, and other offensive colors disappeared, all but dark blue, that color remained. I had one dress after another shoved onto me, pinned then pulled off, and eventually, money exchanged hands and we were out of the store.

My aunt looked completely satisfied as we made our way back to the main streets, "Hungry Lilly?"

I nodded and we stopped at a café where I ate a sandwich and my aunt struck up a conversation with a woman next to her. Eventually, we managed to get to all the stores on the list Rebecca made for us. I was dizzy from the overabundance of outfits I had just explored. It was close to the end of the day and my aunt grabbed my hand and with a reassuring squeeze walked me into a very risqué lingerie store.

I tried not to panic as see-through bras and crotchless underwear assaulted my sense of modesty. I again had a tape measure around my body and the lady relayed the measurements to a pair of very eager women who quickly asked my aunt many questions and began to pile one see-through outfit after another, all in black.

I tried on one after another, my aunt sitting with me in the dressing room. Her face went from happy to frustrated after three different outfits. "Lily you're killing me. Black is the formal attire of the court and you look hideous in it. How is that possible?"

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know. it's not like I was doing it on purpose.

She marched up to the front desk and had a heated discussion in french with the women behind the counter. To their credit, they didn't flinch at her clipped tone and responded calmly. My aunt looked back at me contemplative then nodded her assent. In the next instant, several sets of white lingerie were shoved into my arms and I was sent back into the changing room to try them on.

I made it to bed shortly after dinner. I was exhausted. Trying on the different lingerie after lingerie was surprisingly exhausting. I slept like the dead only to be woken up early by my perky aunt who took shopping way too seriously. The next day was almost identical to the previous and by the end, I was tired of dresses and lingerie. Maybe I could join a nudist colony.