12:30 PM
Lunch for Brigid was a simple affair in her rooms. When she returned from shopping, Sofia was waiting in her sitting room beside a cart from the kitchens of Emerald. Brigid sat down at the same chair and table where she ate breakfast, Sofia silently transferred a series of plates, bowls, and glasses from the cart to the table, and Brigid began to eat.
As she ate, Brigid picked through her correspondence. Mostly they were invitations from the major and minor nobility of Emerald and the surrounding Shadows who maintained embassies in the city. A few were from researchers in near or far Shadows who shared some of her varied interests.
She reserved one large envelope for last. Within was a variety of swatches of cloth. Several days ago, Brigid had received an invitation to a formal ball later in the month. For the occasion, she had commissioned a new evening gown from the most renowned dressmaker in the city, and was in the process of selecting the fabric. She immediately discarded two of the swatches of fabric as being too gaudy and flashy for the occasion; a third swatch soon followed the two to the floor as being unflatteringly harsh for her pale mother-of-pearl complexion. She finally narrowed her selection down to two, one a pale green silk shot with metallic gold threads that complemented the color of her eyes, the other a shimmering black material of a mysteriously sorcerous synthetic origin. As much as she loved the silk, which would draw attention to her emerald, entrancing eyes, the black material was fascinating: not only was it was understandably rare and expensive, the swatch seemed to flow under fingers with a warm, slippery feel that promised an exotic and erotic wearing experience.
Sofia waited patiently until Brigid finished eating, then silently collected the dishes and returned them to the cart, and, just as silently, returned the cart to the kitchens.
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