The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 10: Going Home

"I doubt they'll fit," Sabrina sighed.

"And I have been instructed to see that you eat well," Aurora said, helping Sabrina out of bed. "I have not yet breakfasted, so I hope you will join me."

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Sabrina wasn't particularly interested in food or clothes, but somehow she found herself clearing her plate and trying on the clothes that had been aboard Khediva. Some of them still fit, mostly loose-cut ones, but there was a significant difference between the twenty-one-year-old Sabrina who had lived an active life aboard Khediva and the thirty-two-year-old who'd spent evenings at Capitol Hill cocktail parties and receptions and most of her days behind a desk. In the end, Sabrina discarded the few outfits she could still wear as being too outlandish or outmoded for wear aboard a Praxatillian military ship.

Aurora, whose gentle but implacable insistence never faltered, seemed to have been prepared for this, because she immediately produced two calf-length dresses and a tunic and slacks set cut in uniform style, similar to what she was wearing. "I asked around the crew for some off-duty clothes they might be willing to lend you," she explained, as Sabrina admired the soft fabric of one of the dresses.

"I'm sorry to put you to so much trouble," Sabrina murmured.

"It was no trouble. I was already finding clothes for myself and Her Majesty," Aurora smiled. "It's one of the more amusing duties of my job. You would be surprised how often we have been called to deal with a crisis for which we had no wardrobe with us! This was not nearly as difficult as some. Everyone was pleased to be of assistance, and the women I chose as being near your size all said they would be honored if you would make use of their clothes, and consider them a gift if you like."

"Oh, no, I don't want to steal their clothes!" Sabrina said quickly. She had been away a long time, but she could still see that the dresses, at least, were probably their owners' best. She hesitated over the tunic and slacks as being more comfortable, but in the end found one of the dresses irresistible. It was made of a fabric she'd never seen before, a bright white with an almost iridescent powder blue sheen. It was a simple, elegant dress, long-sleeved with a scoop neckline, gathered slightly above the waist and falling in graceful folds to mid-calf. "Is it too much?" she wondered, when she had finished changing into it and walked back into the main room of the suite that Aurora shared with Mara.

"It's perfect," Aurora assured her. "Ford will like it, and if you are to keep him amused enough to remain in the infirmary, you will need all the resources you can command. Now, see if these boots fit. I am sorry I could not find any slippers." She handed Sabrina a pair of soft white boots, which reached almost to the dress' hemline. "Ah. Perfect. Now, let me do your hair, and we'll be finished."

"There's no need, really," Sabrina protested as Aurora guided her to a chair in front of a small vanity table.

"But I am enjoying myself," Aurora said. "And you need have no fear I will disgrace you; I did Her Majesty's hair this morning too, since her household is still on Praxatillus. I rarely get to do anything so satisfyingly creative. My duties are mostly diplomatic, and the results are generally abstract at best. Once in a while I prefer to do something that I can look at and admire, at least for a time."

As she talked, she brushed Sabrina's hair until it shone and then began pinning it up in a style Sabrina didn't recognize. With deft use of some unfamiliar implements and a sweet-smelling cream, Aurora even managed to make Sabrina's fine, straight hair produce charming waves over her ears while the rest of it was pinned in shining, intertwined coils behind.

"Good heavens," Sabrina said in amazement when Aurora was finished. "I don't think anyone will even recognize me! This is more elegant than I ever was as Regent!"

"Not so," Aurora laughed. "I have seen holovideos of you, remember! You were always elegant, as far as I could tell."

"I have a feeling," Sabrina said, "that what I remember as the Regency and what Praxatillus remembers of the same time period is going to be amazingly different."

"Probably," Aurora admitted. "It is not often our history comes to life. I know it cannot be easy for you."

"No."

"But comfort yourself with the reflection that you have intrigued rather than disappointed us. Even Ford, and he always had a rather romantic view of the Regency. When we were young, we would hide from our tutor in your library and read those charming novels. Sometimes," Aurora reflected with a reminiscent smile, "we would act out stories from the Regency itself. I always got to be you, of course. Ford and Zeph took turns being various other characters."

"Zeph?"

"Our tutor's son. His name is Zepharan, and he was our great friend in childhood. We were a troublesome bunch," Aurora chuckled. "Ford has a talent for mischief that really defies belief. I am so glad my parents never knew of half the things we did, or they would have aged sadly with terror! Fortunately, Her Majesty is a fairly serene parent. Very few things we did seemed to trouble her; in fact, most of the time I had the impression that we amused her."

"She was a mischievous child herself," Sabrina replied. "It doesn't surprise me. You'll have to tell me more sometime."

"And I would like very much to hear about your childhood, as well," Aurora said. "I imagine your brother made it quite lively."

"He did," Sabrina said, smiling and resolutely thrusting away her anxiety. "But I shouldn't be keeping you. I know you must have a lot of work to do."

"True," Aurora sighed. "And they'll be needing you in the infirmary if Ford has awakened. I warn you, he's very adept at getting his own way."

Sabrina suppressed a chuckle and the urge to point out that Aurora seemed equally so as the two of them left the suite.