Old Blood and New Ch. 04

"To put it gently, yes."

Vyn stretched out his legs and rolled his shoulders. "I won't work for free. Those pieces of shit burned my house down, so if you want me helping you out, I want a new place to live, a nice place I could keep a wife and children in." He'd just wept right in front of this man, might as well go all the way with uncomfortable feelings.

"Do you have a family?"

Shaking his head this time, Vyn answered, "No, but I want one."

One of his shoulders shrugging, the Duke said, "I can find a position for you, along with an apartment in the castle. There should be enough room for a family, but first I need to know what position to give you. What skills do you have?"

"I can fight," Vyn automatically said, but he looked down at his scarred and uneven hands and added, "but I'd rather not do that for long. I'd rather sew. I can be a tailor, a seamster, even a staymaker. I'll sew any piece of clothing you want, and I'll embroider it into the fanciest thing you can think of."

"Oh? I wouldn't have assumed you could do that sort of work, but if you can prove your worth I'll grant you a position with my private tailors."

Vyn felt tension slowly leave his body, even his teeth.

***

The next morning, Vyn was led to one of the largest rooms in the castle, which was actually a workshop of tailors. Two tailors and their apprentices, technically. There were drawers, racks, and chests of materials all around. There were also tables and chairs and hooks and all sorts of other things. Essentially, if a tailor needed it, it was in there. There were even desks for embroidery.

With a kind smile, one of the tailors went to Vyn with fresh measuring tape, which he used to make notches and notes to get a good idea of Vyn's body. There was only a single set of notched tape hanging on a nearby wall, and Vyn assumed that tape had been used to measure the Duke long ago.

"His Grace will pay for a new set of clothes for you," that tailor said. "Be grateful, Sir. Few have such an opportunity."

Fabric was expensive. Nobody liked to waste it, not even the Queen herself.

Vyn specifically told the tailor he needed his clothing to be several sizes too big with drawstrings. The tailor nodded and said His Grace had told him as much.

Once Vyn was measured, the second tailor urged him away and asked him to assist with some projects. He even asked him to use a pattern to cut out shapes.

Before, when Vyn had made a dress for Joselyn, he'd had little choice but to use a pattern that he'd invented, but the truth was that when women ordered clothing patterns weren't commonly used. It was more typical for a dressmaker to drape the fabric over the woman's body and use that as a base. Men were a different story. More often than not, men's clothing required some kind of a pattern.

Here, Vyn was cutting out clothes for the Duke himself. He knew because the fabric was such a high quality that he almost felt guilty touching it, but at the same time he was entranced by the process. He'd worked with fine silks and velvets, for example, quite a few times before but this was a rare treat. This metal shot silk had a color he'd never seen before. It was mostly red but with a hint of pink. He loved it. He personally wanted a strip of it to make a ribbon for his hair. It was soft too, like a flower petal.

After that, Vyn was asked if he knew how to embroider. He confirmed and took a large frame with a man's formal coat stretched out on it. Sometimes, fabric was embroidered before it was turned into a garment, but here was a different method.

Vyn thought the pale lavender coat would be well suited for golden thread, so when he was handed a spool of such thread he was thrilled. He was also given silver thread and pretty glass beads of a dark green color. One of the apprentices showed him the design that had been asked for, and what he'd already been in the process of stitching. Vyn put it all together well enough and continued the work.

At the end of the day, both tailors said they'd tell His Grace that Vyn was a suitable tailor indeed. In fact, they both agreed that Vyn should open up his own business one day with his own apprentices. Vyn thanked them for their time and went back to his bedroom. He'd been told he'd get that fancy apartment the Duke had promised within a few days.

In the meantime, a craving for revenge was bubbling in Vyn's stomach, and he wondered how he'd end up helping the Duke.

***