Chapter 57 – Preparation and Execution

Wherein Rose asks Marissa for help and invites her to join the party.

The next Paladay, after a private tutoring session with Mr Bosch, that Rose survived by pasting a polite smile on her face and just agreeing with everything he said, followed by lectures, she made her way to the library at the University of Unseen Arts. She was greeted as she walked in and pointed in Marissa’s direction.

Marissa was returning books to their rightful places, up on one of the balconies. Rose dropped her bag and violin case at an empty desk and made her way up a spiralling staircase.

"Hey Rosa Rose. Have you come to heal your soul?"

Rose reciprocated the offered half-hug.

"No actually. I’ve to ask you for a favour."

Marissa pushed the levitating book trolly a few rows further. "Did something break again?"

"Thank the Divine, no." Rose shuffled her feet. "There’s a party I’m going to, and I was thinking… Is it possible that you magic pig ears onto my head, just for a night?"

Marissa’s expression shifted from flabbergasted to pensive. "Can I ask why you want this?"

Rose breathed in deeply and relayed shortly what Marissa hadn’t known about Brittany and the bullying that went on at Bardic College. She also explained the basics of her plan to overcome this.

"Rosa Rose… Two things," Marissa said. "First, of course I’ll help." Her soft blue eyes betrayed she felt hurt. "Secondly, why did you keep being bullied – to this degree – from me?"

"I’m sorry." Rose looked at her feet, tension tightening her frame.

"It’s not your fault you’re being bullied, you know that right? You did nothing to deserve this." Marissa gently squeezed Rose’s shoulder, ignoring the delightful zing of magic occurring upon touch.

"Have you been taking counselling lessons?"  

"Headology 3 actually," Marissa grinned, letting go of her friend after this successful change of topic. "Come, we’re going to get some folks together to make sure your performance will be kick-ass."

With an eagerness that Rose had not expected at all, Marissa gathered a group of senior students. All of them could have graduated years ago, but chose to stay at university because it suited them. One of the wizards wore an actual pointy hat with stars on it. When pointed to the misspelled word on his hat, he merely levelled a very dry-eyed stare at Rose. She let it go.

This impromptu committee then set about determining who would do what in a multi-houred meeting. Rose zoned out at some point, which, going by the snores of one of the older blokes, wasn’t all that uncommon.  

The next afternoon, as Rose presented herself at the library, the pointy-hatted wizard presented her with a hefty piece of marble that held all sorts of interesting carvings. He explained to her how to use it.

"Does it work only once?" Rose turned the stone this way and that in her hands, fingers tracing runes.

The question earned her another dry-eyed stare. "Do you take us for charlatans and quacks, Miss Rose?"

Rose blushed. "So it’ll record more than once?"

The pointy-hatted wizard sighed. "Yes. Yes it will. But! … you’ll lose the previous recording." In a barely audible whisper he continued: "And eventually the spells will wear off and you’ll be left with a dead piece of marble."

"Thank you." Rose slipped the stone into her bag. "I really appreciate all the work you put in."

"Oh, psh." He waved her gratitude away, but blushed until his cheeks were as red as his hat. "Anyway, you can repay us by playing at one of our parties. We’ll let you know the time and place. You bring some saucy songs. You know ‘a wizard’s staff has a knob on the end’, right?"

Rose didn’t and wondered what it was about, but decided not to invoke the ire of this easily annoyed wizard. She agreed and walked away.

Rose checked her outfit one last time. Tight red dress with way too much cleavage and not enough skirt, check. Pig-ears magicked onto her head, check. Pig-tail sticking out of a hole in her dress, also magicked on, check. She wiggled it. It felt weirdly natural. 

She looked at herself in Valentina's standing looking glass. She looked... unnaturally busty in her sequined red dress, but nothing had been improved upon in that aspect of her physique. She caught Marissa's gaze in the mirror. The wizard was lounging on the bed behind her, while Valentina flitted to and fro wearing a shimmery silver dress that left as much to the imagination as Rose's red one. 

Marissa’s smile indicated she approved of the attire.

"I'm not sure..." Rose said, feeling exposed. She had thought she could get herself over it, but it was turning out to be harder than it was. 

"Rosa Rose..."

"Rosie the Pig, remember?" 

"You're never going to be anyone but Rosa Rose to me," Marissa said firmly. 

Rose deflated a little. She smiled sweetly. Hearing that actually helped. 

Valentina flitted over to Rose, wrapping her arm around Rose's waist. Valentina had an even deeper cleavage than she did, and way more exposed flesh. "We can do this."

"Yeah, we can." Rose sounded more self-assured than she felt. She thought of the composition she had drafted for tonight. She would bring her restored violin, so she could actually make it squeal. The rest of the music was already recorded on the stone.

"And I'll be there to help you with the magic." Marissa rolled off the bed to stand on Rose’s other side, wrapping an arm around her waist as well. The wizard was dressed as everyone's favourite - if slightly funky - aunt. Her big glasses did nothing to distract from the flowers in her hair, her tie-dyed dress, her mismatched stockings, and an arm full of silver bracelets. 

"Ya'll ready?" Bosra walked in without knocking. To the women’s surprise, there had been no footfalls to announce her arrival.

Bosra wore her combat leathers. Her hair was braided back into a tight braid that showed off the clan-markings on her neck, shoulders, and sides of her head. 

"Uhm... Bos... It's going to be a party," Rose ventured. 

"Know that."

"Then why not wear a dress?"

"I'm going into a combat zone, not some fancy gala." 

"Okay. Sure." Rose figured Bosra took her position as bodyguard a little too seriously, yet she was also comforted by the idea. "Cab’s waiting out front, and the driver is antsy."

Rose looked at Valentina for this answer. She herself was all ready to go. 

"Yes. We can go." Valentina's smile didn’t reach her eyes. There was a little tremor to the side of her mouth, too.  

Bosra knew better than to say anything about it. She turned around and stomped down the stairs; the noise being indication enough that the grey-skinned Highlander didn't agree with any of it. 

The cab was gone when they stepped outside. There was nothing for it but to take the tube. They were the only four occupants for a good part of the route.

Even with a soft leather jacket to cover her body as they travelled, Rose felt the evening chill. Summer hadn’t yet had a chance to settle in, though the days were rapidly getting warmer.

Rose looked at her old farm boots, which  contrasted heavily with her stylish outfit. They were the perfect underscore to her being a Fairfields girl.

Next to her, Valentina shivered in her mink fur coat. Rose wrapped her arm around her friend and huddled closer as the porter monitoring the tube struck up a chat with Marissa. She couldn’t wait for the night to be over.