Her Rightful Place

2: The Encounter

"Of course, Madame Trejeune. It will be ready within a week," Mireille murmurs respectfully to one of her customers. The woman outside hands her a dress over the small shop's counter.

"I need it for my sister's wedding in four days," Madame Trejeune insists, her mouth puckering into a sour frown.

"I'll do what I can, Madame Trejeune. I have several rush orders pending at the moment. But stop by in three days, for I hope to have it ready then." Madame Trejeune smiles and nods before departing; she is unable to resist Mireille's soft-spoken charm and stunning beauty, just like all of the seamstress's other customers. As Adrennes's only seamstress, Mireille has become famous not only throughout the village but throughout the entire country of Mordalce for her skill at her trade and the rumors that circulate about her. Despite her best efforts, stories about her childhood have made it out of the village and people from all over the country travel to Adrennes to see her, the seamstress unsurpassed in talent and beauty with a heartbreaking history. Even so, she never speaks to anyone of such things, conversing only of her trade and inconsequential things with her customers.

Mireille glances at the sky as she lays Madame Trejeune's dress with her other projects. It is nearly sunset, meaning it is time for her to close up shop. Queen Bêtel, sole ruler of Mordalce, has issued a decree that all citizens of the country must be off the streets and done with business by dusk. A glance at the street reveals that her fellow townsfolk are hurrying home for fear of incurring the wrath of Queen Bêtel's secret police. Since her husband, King Tristan, died under mysterious circumstances when their son, Xavier, was only ten, Queen Bêtel has ruled Mordalce with an iron fist, and the people do well to fear her power. The only one who has ever defied her and lived is her son, and even he has never defied her openly.

Mireille, however, cares not for the decree. Having learned at a young age that being quiet and following the rules results in being ignored by authority, she fears no one, knowing that none can find fault in her. All she wants from the world is to be allowed to practice her trade and live a quiet life. She hums softly to herself as she closes the shop, admiring the sunset as she works. As she puts away the last of her projects, she notices a stranger across the street who appears to watching her and pauses for a second. While she is quite used to being a tourist attraction, she is most unaccustomed to the tourists being handsome men close to her own age. She elects to ignore him and resumes her work quickly. If he wants anything from me, he will have to come to me to tell me so, she decides as she firmly closes and locks the shutters over her counter. Then she goes to the door, turns the sign thereon from OPEN to CLOSED, and closes and locks it, as well. Finally I can have supper. I have not eaten since this morning.

She is perpetually busy and does not have much to eat, hence her long fast. The shop window opens into a large cupboard containing all of her wares and supplies. The cupboard is little more than an add-on to the main room of the cottage, which serves as a dining room, living room, and kitchen all in one. Also opening onto the main room, behind the sales cupboard, is a room only slightly larger than a cupboard, where Mireille sleeps. The small cabinets of the kitchen contain only half a loaf of bread, a morsel of cheese from a friend's mother, a few home-grown vegetables from her own garden, and a bit of tea she purchased at the market. Despite her popularity, she does not make enough money to sustain her shop and herself, so she often goes hungry. As a result she is extremely thin, probably too thin, but the fashion for corsets makes it easy for her to hide this deficiency.

A knock at her door interrupts her from boiling a bucket of well water over her small fire. Who dares to interrupt me at this hour? Surely the sun has set by now. I never receive visitors after sunset. Nighttime visitors bode no good in Mordalce; that honor is most frequently attributed to the Queen's secret police. Mireille goes nervously to the door, which she unlocks while praying for her soul before opening the door just a crack.