She looked around the room, smiling in satisfaction. Everything had come out exactly how she wanted it to, the rest just hinged on her changing into the other outfit she had brought and Skyler showing up. The first was not a problem, she had brought the ?outfit? she had picked up for herself when shopping for Wyheree?s wedding gift, and the latter shouldn?t pose a problem as she had left word with Skyler earlier asking if he could please come home (to his house) earlier than usual tonight as she had something she wanted to discuss with him.
It was a request of half-truths. She did want him to come home early but didn?t actually have anything in particular that she wanted to talk about.
It was all part of her perfect plan she had spent most of the afternoon executing. First, there had been the trip to the store in town that sold music players hooked up to spell boxes. They insisted that they could load any music in the multiverse onto the player and that it would work anywhere in RhyDin?the fine type excluded the West End from the guarantee but that wasn?t a problem for Jewell. The Empress had found that they certainly did have a collection of music from all over but that explaining the particular type she wanted had proved complicated. It had almost come down to her punching the store clerk in the face but with a little singing on her part, and some searching on his, they had found a set of songs that perfectly suited her requirements.
He had informed her, before she left the shop, that the songs she picked fell under the category of Earth, English, 1940?s and 50?s love songs incase she ever needed the information for further reference. That was when she did punch the guy in the face for his snide tone.
With bruised knuckles, she had gone on to her second task?purchasing a wide assortment of candles. She stuck to one scent, remembering how her and Amthy found out the hard way that too many scents could give one a headache, but chose a variety of sizes. Matches had been procured as well, as she did not normally keep such things available in her house, before she went over to Cosmo Beach in the early evening to set things up.
She had checked with Molly, first, to make sure Skyler was gone before entering the house. She lugged the three boxes?one with the music player, the second with the candles, and a third (very small) one for her outfit?up the stairs and into Skyler?s room. Then it was time to really get to work.
She had sung quietly to herself as she went about arranging the candles. Lighting them had proved to be a somewhat more difficult task that had her using the entire box of matches?one match for each candle, sometimes two or three. She?d light the match and then tried to light the wick as quickly as possible without letting the flame get too near her fingers. If it did, she?d blow it out in a second even if she hadn?t gotten the candle lit yet.
She had managed to burn her fingers several times with this process when she wasn?t quick enough in blowing the match out or when she was trying to keep from burning Skyler?s rug. The way that worked was she sometimes spazzed out when the flame got too near her fingers, throwing the burning match away from her only to regret it and try to catch it before it burned something. The last thing she wanted to do was inadvertently set the house on fire. However, the overall result of the candles?scattered throughout the room?was well worth the small burns she had managed to acquire. Electrical lighting, convenient as it may be, fell far below the romantic quality that candles could give any room.
With everything ready, she changed out of the simple dress she had been wearing into something less warm but significantly hotter in nature?a sheer blue babydoll with darker, blue velvet trim. Her own added touch was a strip of blue velvet tied around her throat like a bow. She was a barely wrapped present, just for him.
She laid on the bed in wait. For the moment, she had an infinite amount of patience.
She watched, waiting for the doorknob to turn. When it did, all it took was a snap of fingers to start the soft music:
She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet was the night
Softer than satin was the light
From the stars
She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet were her eyes
Warmer than May her tender sighs
Love was ours
It was a request of half-truths. She did want him to come home early but didn?t actually have anything in particular that she wanted to talk about.
It was all part of her perfect plan she had spent most of the afternoon executing. First, there had been the trip to the store in town that sold music players hooked up to spell boxes. They insisted that they could load any music in the multiverse onto the player and that it would work anywhere in RhyDin?the fine type excluded the West End from the guarantee but that wasn?t a problem for Jewell. The Empress had found that they certainly did have a collection of music from all over but that explaining the particular type she wanted had proved complicated. It had almost come down to her punching the store clerk in the face but with a little singing on her part, and some searching on his, they had found a set of songs that perfectly suited her requirements.
He had informed her, before she left the shop, that the songs she picked fell under the category of Earth, English, 1940?s and 50?s love songs incase she ever needed the information for further reference. That was when she did punch the guy in the face for his snide tone.
With bruised knuckles, she had gone on to her second task?purchasing a wide assortment of candles. She stuck to one scent, remembering how her and Amthy found out the hard way that too many scents could give one a headache, but chose a variety of sizes. Matches had been procured as well, as she did not normally keep such things available in her house, before she went over to Cosmo Beach in the early evening to set things up.
She had checked with Molly, first, to make sure Skyler was gone before entering the house. She lugged the three boxes?one with the music player, the second with the candles, and a third (very small) one for her outfit?up the stairs and into Skyler?s room. Then it was time to really get to work.
She had sung quietly to herself as she went about arranging the candles. Lighting them had proved to be a somewhat more difficult task that had her using the entire box of matches?one match for each candle, sometimes two or three. She?d light the match and then tried to light the wick as quickly as possible without letting the flame get too near her fingers. If it did, she?d blow it out in a second even if she hadn?t gotten the candle lit yet.
She had managed to burn her fingers several times with this process when she wasn?t quick enough in blowing the match out or when she was trying to keep from burning Skyler?s rug. The way that worked was she sometimes spazzed out when the flame got too near her fingers, throwing the burning match away from her only to regret it and try to catch it before it burned something. The last thing she wanted to do was inadvertently set the house on fire. However, the overall result of the candles?scattered throughout the room?was well worth the small burns she had managed to acquire. Electrical lighting, convenient as it may be, fell far below the romantic quality that candles could give any room.
With everything ready, she changed out of the simple dress she had been wearing into something less warm but significantly hotter in nature?a sheer blue babydoll with darker, blue velvet trim. Her own added touch was a strip of blue velvet tied around her throat like a bow. She was a barely wrapped present, just for him.
She laid on the bed in wait. For the moment, she had an infinite amount of patience.
She watched, waiting for the doorknob to turn. When it did, all it took was a snap of fingers to start the soft music:
She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet was the night
Softer than satin was the light
From the stars
She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet were her eyes
Warmer than May her tender sighs
Love was ours