Outside the sky was lit up with an endless field of stars; they were of the sort only truly seen in England when the usual layer of cloud cloaking the country dissipates without warning, vanishing as if in retreat after an unseen wound and leaving behind nothing but clean space. Giddy with the sudden opportunities the stars shine brighter than seemed possible, creeping closer than ever before towards the earth they know so little of, showing their constellatory arrangements to the inhabitants below who so rarely see anything but slate grey and the grim anticipation of ruining another pair of shoes.

Inside the opulent, man-made library Elladora stared upwards at the ceiling as she swirled the brandy in her glass carefully and pondered how many galleons had been spent to achieve the artistic effect. It was sublime, of that there was no question, but she had never truly seen the appeal of paintings – which naturally had nothing at all to do with her own lack of skill in the craft but rather spoke to her preference for a more physically present beautiful object to stir the emotions.

Lazily dropping her gaze to the woman sat next to her on the chaise by the fire Ella smirked as she lifted her brandy glass to her lips and took a sip.

“You’re not too appalled then?” With her left hand, what was left of it, Ella brushed the back of her index finger gently against Evalina’s silk-shod shoulder. Her hand was encased in a glove of the same material, perfectly normal for the most part but enchanted to keep its form and imitate the presence of the two fingers that had been splinched away two months ago.

Physical deformities, however slight, did not generally sit well in their crowd and even if Elladora abhorred the opinion of most she had felt some genuine anxiety over what Evalina would think.

She took another sip of brandy.

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fabulous set by Lady <3