"Ria, it's airy."
Hikari stood in the RazenHeir compound in her dress. Sheets of plain thin cloth stitched together hanging from supports mounted on her shoulders.
She pushed the vertical piece over her chest around as it left the sides of her blossom exposed to the wind.
The dress extended down to just below her kneecaps, below which the pinkish fair skin of her muscular calves and bare feet shone in the warm greenish crystal lantern light.
"Umm.. Sorry about that Hikari… Weaving an undergarment for you at your current size isn't as easy, so you have only one pair right now which you soiled when training with Sheela."
Ria was standing a distance away from her, supervising the maids dressing her up for the occasion.
Hikari raised her eyes and looked into the distance. At the top of a stone pillar, a white piece of cloth pegged to two smaller stone columns fluttered in the wind.
In the pit, a thin red stain from where she had her period during the day.
"Worry not. There are actually many air shafts that allow the outside dry wind to circulate through the fortress. That one will dry by tomorrow morning at the latest I reckon."
Hikari stood still as maids stood on ladders to either side of her to hang flowers onto her. A slightly messy assortment of colors as her lady had struggled to procure enough of the same kind to cover her giant body.
As the maids worked, Hikari glanced again at the only object that could absolve her of the airy feeling between her legs.
"Oh stop it. This is the RazenHeir compound. The hearthstone house is generous enough to provide a full detail of keepers for security. Between the patrols and the warding enchantments, it is in one of the safest places from miles around."
Hikari studied the defenses of the compound. It is indeed a mini fortress within the fortress.
Three concentric rings of defenses surround an area no smaller than the RazenHeir estate.
Walls of stones up to her eye level. Hardening enchantments all round strong enough for even Hikari to think twice if she could punch through them with her fists.
Dozens of RazenHeir scouts and hearthstone keepers roam the area.
Crystal lanterns illuminate the area, leaving only thin slithers of shadow.
Traps at every blind spot. Not lethal but could trap a thief for the keeper to tow away to the fortress dungeons.
"I see."
The maids climb down the ladders as they complete the finishing touches. Ria paced backwards several steps, allowing herself a full view of her knight in a dress.
She blushed. Her knees became weak as she fidgeted in place, pressing her arms against her sides forcefully.
"Ria! We're ready." Sheela appeared as the platform docked. She too was in a plain dress covered in flowers that was traditional to the festive season.
Short hair, tanned skin and barefooted just like Hikari.
Rey caught up to her in blanch robes. It was also part of the tradition for men to dress plainly to allow the beauty of women wearing flowers to shine through.
"Ah, miss Sheela, you look splendid tonight." Ria turned to greet her.
"Huh!? Yeah, sure whatever. I guess I agreed to do this."
"I mean it. Really. You agree don't you, Rey?"
Rey returns a stared with his dead eyes.
He had taken another dose of Hortifern at the insistence of his bigger sister that was twice his height.
"Hey! Don't encourage him, I'm not convinced yet he has fully repented. He's getting to watch because he's my brother after all. But I'll be watching him and I better not see him getting his thing up."
"Umm.. alright.. Ahem* We are running late. Shall we go?"
"Shoes?"
"Nope! No shoes for you. Didn't ya master tell you to get used to going bare foot?"
"Yes master."
The stablehands pulled the ladders away, allowing the giantess to stride forward. Sheela grabbed the pair of smaller companions with each arm and mounted them on her shoulders. Her stride was able to keep pace with Hikari.
The platform lowered.
Up above, a shadowy figure stood on a ledge. He stood just in the shadow cast by a crystal lantern around the corner. The wind blew, but there was not a loose piece of cloth on his suit.
He stared down into the city from a vantage point on the upper levels of the fortress. It was deep into the night but the streets of Escher were brightly lit with lanterns.
The man moved. His steps silent as the wind. The shadows remained still as he traversed them.
Not a flicker nor sound.
He stopped and listened. Chatter was heard.
The empty streets of upper most levels.
Not where the elites of the city live but the common soldiers manning the cannons of the top-most battlements.
The patrol approached, lanterns hanging from their belts.
Regular riflemen. Easy to sneak past their bare senses half doused by drink.
Despite the presence of soldiers, the lack of the pesky hearthstone keepers and their ability to sense vibrations through the stone makes the upper levels perfect for stashing his gear.
He dashed across the street into a narrow alleyway. Dark, quiet and empty.
He could hear the guard patrol along the next street.
Five? No, seven of them.
There was a vine growing along the side just as he memorized. He paused.
A gush of wind through the empty narrow way. The confined volume compresses the air to high velocities, rustling the leaves on the vine.
It was his chance.
The guard's untrained ears could not pick out his movements against the ambient noises.
He grabbed onto the side of the wall just below the top ledge.
A constable, perhaps out of playfulness, waved his lantern into the alleyway.
Nothing. His sergeant grunts at him with half hearted threats of latrine duty.
The young man scurried to fall back in.
Without a sound, the shadowy figure landed.
The street ahead was illuminated. A rare straight street that extends tens of metres in both directions where watchmen had aimed their muskets.
He bent his knees and dashed across in a burst of speed. A low profile, a brief blur. All the watchmen saw was a vague figure that looked like a black cat.
He cleared the barracks area with a leap off a ledge, spreading his arms and legs out in a star to cushion a twenty metre descent.
A solid flat stone ground. Below, he could hear the sizzling of the pan. Couples in blanch festive robes and flowers passed him.
The street was not as packed as those in the middle levels but they were just as lively and getting even livelier as the night got deeper.
On either side, the mouth of the bridge crossings were guarded by hearthstone keepers.
Muskets loaded with tear gas pallets. As soon as he approached, the keepers could easily track him through their connection to the stone.
He took a deep breath. With a high arching flip, he leapt over the street into the air where the lantern light did not shine.
In midair, he threw his grapple into the thick vines of a nearby pillar. The hook easily slid into the vine.
Retract. He swung on a low arc onto the side of the pillar.
The hearthstone keepers for they are connected to the stone but not the vegetation that grows around it.
Effortlessly, he traversed the vines that provided ample support points that supported his weight.
He reached his safe spot.
An area of stone that was cracked, unmaintained for years. It takes a keeper no more than a day to repair but they didn't.
He sat down and unveiled his cloak. Pale skin, dead eyes, a diagonal scar right across his face.
He was at the top left corner of an amphitheater. The towncrier was just taking center stage.
A device held close to his mouth.
"Welcome to the festival of flowers! May Herda bless this event and all the attendees with her fertility!"