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his folded hands,
‘Good morning Mistress Eudora.  If it would not be too much trouble, could
you please supply us with clothing for our apprenticeships?’
    ‘Oh my! 
Why of course!  I would be delighted to!  Twins are you? 
Goodness, how striking you are!’  
    Eudora’s voice
was high and musical, reminding Mistral of the sound of a string of silver
bells being shook.  She smiled coquettishly at Phantasm and then Phantom,
her tiny blue eyes twinkling afresh as they travelled again over their angelic
features and long-limbed bodies.  With quick precise movements, Eudora
moved from behind the counter and nimbly climbed a long ladder positioned
against the towering rows of shelves.
    ‘Three of
every item apiece is standard,’ she called down from above as folded garments
began to drop down and land in a neat pile on the counter.  ‘And in black,
of course!’  she gave a silvery laugh and winked down at Phantasm, as
though this were a great joke.
    ‘Why is
everything in black?’  Mistral asked, slightly irritated by Eudora’s
manner.  She had not even looked at her and obviously only had eyes for
the twins.
    ‘So it doesn’t
show the blood of course, silly!’ her voice was slightly muffled by the large
pile of folded garments she was in the process of pulling from one of the
shelves.
    Phantom caught
Mistral’s expression and whispered, ‘Ignore her Mistral.  She’s obviously
got fairy blood.  She can’t help being irritating.’
    ‘Or flirty,’
added Mistral sourly.
    Phantom
smothered a grin and began to unfold the clothes Eudora dropped down to them.
    ‘There! 
All done!’
    Eudora slid
down the ladder as gracefully as a dancer and landed with an elegant jump at
the bottom.  She moved so quickly and lightly that Mistral almost expected
her to take flight at any moment.
    ‘Now, let’s
see what we have here,’ she giggled and held a shirt up in front of Phantasm,
as if to check it would fit.  ‘Would you like to try it on?’ she enquired
hopefully.
    ‘I trust your
impeccable judgement entirely,’ replied Phantasm smoothly, giving her a
dazzling smile.
    Eudora’s hand
fluttered over her lips as she gazed back at him and she giggled again, sorely
tempting Mistral to try out one of her shiny new throwing knives. 
    Grinding her
teeth together, Mistral elbowed past Phantasm and joined Phantom in unfolding
some of the garments.  Ignoring Eudora’s enthusiastic attempts to
establish what Phantasm was doing later that evening, Mistral discovered that
her new wardrobe consisted of three pairs of soft moleskin trousers, three
loose fitting cotton shirts, a sturdy leather belt, a pair of leather boots and
three close-fitting sleeveless vests; all in ubiquitous black.  Mistral
scoured the shelves and pulled out a fur-lined jerkin of such butter-soft
leather than it felt like silk in her hands and dumped it unceremoniously on
top of her pile.
    ‘Travelling
cloaks?’  Mistral demanded abruptly, fixing Eudora with a questioning
glare.
    ‘Over there –’
Eudora flapped a tiny hand vaguely towards the far wall of the shop, her eyes
never leaving Phantasm’s amused face while she twirled a lock of jet black hair
between her fingers.
    Mistral
scowled at her and stomped over to where Eudora indicated and reached up to
grab a folded cloak.  She dropped it out to examine the quality of the
cloth, hoping that it would be too thin or have a sewing flaw in it so that she
could shove it back unfolded for Eudora to find later.  To her chagrin the
cloak was well-made in heavy wool, durable and warm.  Phantom drifted
silently to her side and pulled two more from the shelf. 
    ‘I think we’d
better make a sharp exit.  Eudora’s asking which room Phantasm’s staying
in at The Cloak and I don’t fancy her knocking on the door in the middle of the
night!’ he whispered.
    ‘No,’ agreed
Mistral in a sour tone.  ‘I bet she won’t mind which twin she gets in the
dark either.’
    Phantom