The door opened, and Rythica had to resist the urge to shrink back from the world outside the walls of her comfortable nest. She glanced at the unbarred entrance, then out into the adjacent hallway beyond the sturdy door. In the past, Rythica had caught the occasional fleeting glance of the world beyond as her drones passed through, but the brief window left much to the imagination. As Rythica took a cautious step forward, taking in the Sinfreed estate for the first time, her innate curiosity warred with her hardwired instincts to stay hidden from the world.

  She forced a small corner of her mind to continuously remind her that she was still within the hive, still safe from the predators that lurked and prowled and outnumbered their tiny House by so much. She kept her hands within sight of her peripheral vision, confirming that the potion concealing her was still in effect, a task that was made trivial by the compound nature of her eyes.

  Another corner of her mind spurred up, instantly pointing out the golden jewels, vibrant tapestries, and elegant artwork that lined the walls and decadent chandeliers that hung from the ceilings. She had no names for most of these pieces of fine craftsmanship and wouldn't have the words to describe them even if she did. This was the first time she had been exposed to such items, and her mind was at a complete loss for how to process it all. Her eyes were instantly drawn towards the numerous shining metals and gems that dotted the lavishly decorated wing of the estate, and her eyes began to sparkle with greed. The girl's hand drifted up to the crown of her head, her fingers grazing the bronze ring that still decorated her antennae, an annoyance she had long since grown to accept and even take pride in. Rythica liked shiny things, after all. She liked them quite a lot.

  Although she did not miss the vacant spaces along the corridor. Places that clearly once held beautiful pieces worthy of a queen's hoard, now missing.

  She took note of a familiar dretris far down the hall, waving a strange feathered stick at one of the art installations while seeming to quietly dance to a song only she could hear. The sight of another hive member helped to calm her nerves slightly. She considered calling the drone closer. The thought of wandering around outside of her nest without any drones nearby left her feeling uncomfortably exposed and vulnerable.

  The vex was also very aware of Elara carefully studying her reactions to stepping outside for the first time. Was this a test of some kind? Was the big queen assessing her to see if she would cower away from her duties as a hive queen? Rythica forced herself to straighten her back and still her trembling claws. Elara gave an amused smirk at the false bravado but said nothing.

  The two stood there in silence for a few moments as Rythica's worldview was reshaped in real time, but eventually Elara spoke up.

  "Do you like what you see?"

  Rythica considered the hoard before her that surely marked the hive's superiority before nodding in approval. "Hiv-... House am big and shiny."

  "Yes, it is." The woman chuckled softly. "After we get your clothes in order, I'll give you a proper tour."

  Rythica looked up, confused, but Elara had already begun dragging her along before she could question their objective. Elara had mentioned something about dressing up, but Rythica was already dressed. Sure, her dress might be a bit wet and foul-smelling from splashing the potion on it, but why would they be leaving her nest to change, then? And shouldn't Julia be the one doing that? Rythica scurried to keep up as Elara pulled her along. Rythica glanced around as they moved down the hall, the unease one more creeping in as the safety of her nest grew further and further away.

  "Miss Bella," the noblewoman called in passing to the distracted Bella, "please send for Seamstress Annet if you would be so kind."

  "Yes, Mistress Elara." The servant bowed and quickly made to obey.

  Rythica scowled and looked up at her queen. "You say servant is my!"

  "Yes, but this House is mine. You are not old enough to lead yet."

  "I am big!"

  "You are growing, child. But you're not big enough quite yet. You still have a long way to go. That's why I'm here to guide you."

  Rythica hissed in annoyance, her wings buzzing, but the big queen dismissed it, moving ahead once more.

  "Oh, none of that, now. I'm trying to help you. Now, you threw a bit of a fit about your colors being shifted. That's good, it means you understand the importance of appearance. For a noble, appearance is everything, and the first part of that appearance is your attire." She pointed at Rythica's plain white and lightly stained dress.

  The two arrived at another door, and Elara wasted no time in ushering the small bug girl inside. Unlike the hallway, this room was much smaller and far plainer. Instead, there were several wooden tables lining the walls, with a pile of various folded fabrics on each of them. In the corner of the room, there was a strange folding divider large enough for a person to hide behind with plenty of room to spare. There were various papers and books scattered throughout the area as well, with images of color gradients or sketches of fancy clothing articles. In another corner, there was a large wooden figurine of an oversimplified person with openings in various areas, such as a pair of holes at the top of the head and another at the base of the spine. There was a small pile next to it of disembodied wooden limbs and other attachments. She saw a chest sitting in one area full of various strings and yarns of every color imaginable. One wall had not one, but four wardrobes lined up, covering most of the surface. Lastly, there was a massive mirror against another wall, though Rythica tried hard not to stare at her own tainted reflection.

  Elara had taken a seat in one of the comfy-looking chairs and seemed content to wait while Rythica began to explore the room. The girl dug through the box of string, tangling several and cutting a few of them with her claws by accident. Quickly growing bored, she moved on. Just as the curious vex had begun to advance toward the mannequin, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind her.

  There was a rapid pattering of chitin and talons digging into polished wooden floorboards as the jumpy vex immediately retreated upon seeing an unfamiliar person enter. A whirlwind of thoughts arose, immediately drifting towards the hive's countless predators. Her claws tensed. Was this woman one of them? Was this creature about to kill and eat her? Did the potion fail? Thankfully, rationality quickly reestablished itself, and Rythica was able to push down her unease. No, Elara hadn't reacted to this person's presence. This was likely the drone that the queen had requested Bella to go fetch.

  The newcomer jerked in surprise upon seeing Rythica, but quickly composed herself. She offered a courteous bow to the diplomat first. "Good evening, Mistress Elara." She hesitated as she glanced at the insectoid species warily staring her down. "Ah, um, hello, young miss. I am Annet, personal seamstress for House Sinfreed. Are you... Rythica?" Annet glanced at Elara, looking for context clues.

  When the small princess neglected to respond to the unfamiliar drone, Elara had the honor of introducing her instead.

  "Thank you for coming today, Miss Annet. Yes, this shy little girl is Rythica Sinfreed, our House's newest adopted daughter."

  Rythica blinked at the unfamiliar words. What did 'adopted' mean? Or the word 'daughter'?

  "She'll be your client today. I'd like you to fashion something nice for her today and start preparing half a dozen more outfits for both formal and casual events." She thought for a moment, studying the princess, namely her claws, talons, and small bits of extruded chitin. "Prioritize sturdier materials wherever appropriate."

  Annet politely nodded. "Of course, Mistress."

  The seamstress studied the small vex for a moment, slowly overcoming her unease at the insect humanoid. She took in Rythica's plain white, sleeveless dress with a critical eye. "Her current outfit is clearly designed for function over appearance. It's getting a bit small on her as well, so I'll need to upsize." She scratched her chin. "I'll admit, I don't have many outfits lying around for a species with four arms, but perhaps more sleeveless apparel would work for her?" The seamstress continued to mutter to herself, trailing off.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Rythica just stood there awkwardly, having already lost track of the brief conversation. The two humans had started throwing around too many big words.

  A moment later, Annet walked to one of the wardrobes and started pulling out random swaths of clothing, piling the folded cloth up on a nearby table. Then she moved to the next wardrobe, repeating the process with a few more garments. After passing through all four closets, a decent-sized pile of various outfits had grown.

  The princess pointed to the confusing drone and looked back at Elara. "What is her doing?"

  "She's picking out a new outfit for you. As I said earlier, the first step to having a good appearance is your clothing. Now, lift your hands."

  Rythica obeyed. A moment later, the strange drone was at her side, holding up different fabrics in front of her. Rythica flinched slightly at the sudden proximity, and Annet gave her a guilty smile and apologized before returning to color matching. Rythica kept a wary eye on the drone as Elara talked, still not entirely trusting her.

  "Your clothes are one of the first things people will see when they look at you. Knowing how to dress is very important in deciding how people will see you. For example, that white dress you're currently wearing? It tells people you don't care what they think, it tells them you are from a smaller House that can't afford any nice things. That's bad. We want people to look at you and know you are bigger than them, yes?"

  Rythica processed the explanation for a moment before nodding. "So show enemy I am big?"

  Annet held up a very fluffy-looking pair of children's pants before immediately dismissing them after noticing all the areas where the material would snag on the vex's chitin, especially around the joints. The seamstress immediately discarded all pants and long-sleeved shirts and moved on.

  "Exactly," Elara continued. "It'll show them you are from a powerful House. Fashion is a very broad topic, far too big to cover in a single lesson or even a dozen, but just know that how you dress is very important."

  Curious about this new nugget of wisdom, Rythica quickly studied Elara's own outfit. The woman wore a long, paneled-style cream-colored skirt that reached her ankles with golden trimmings along the waist, hem, and seams. She wore a comfortable cyan wrap top, carefully tucked into the skirt, supporting long, breathable pearl-white sleeves and a matching white undershirt. The sleeves and collar of the shirt were also trimmed with elegant golden embroidery. Her thin, grey hair was done up in a bun with a handful of decorative lead hairpins keeping it in place. Elara wore a pair of fancy, leather sandals with a strap that braided up her shins. Rythica didn't know the names for these items, but took a moment to memorize their appearance nonetheless.

  She studied the seamstress's attire next. She wore a faded black, one-piece wrap-style dress that fell to her knees, with a frilly white belt that secured it to her waist. Her white sleeves with loose-fitting and tight around the cuffs to keep them from blocking her hands as she worked. The material was very light and breezy to keep in as little heat as possible. She wore a white apron around her waist with two large pockets full of random tools for her work. On her feet, she likewise wore a pair of braided leather sandals. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and tied with a white ribbon.

  Rythica pointed at the two of them. "Why not is same?" If they were from the same hive, shouldn't they both be wearing the best clothes possible to scare off potential predators? By the contratry, their outfits couldn't be any more different.

  Elara smirked. "Even within the same House, clothing is a message of position. Servants do not wear the same outfits as the nobles do."

  The vex lowered her hands and thought about that. It made some sense, she supposed. But it did seem a bit dumb in some ways. If a predator attacked, wouldn't they instantly know which one was the queen? But on the other hand, if a queen wore a different outfit than her drones...

  "I am want many shiny clothes."

  Elara and Annet both laughed.

  "I can see she's fitting into her new title quite quickly," the drone joked.

  "Indeed," Elara confirmed with an amused tone. "Don't worry, child, we'll get to that eventually."

  Finally, Annet held up a new outfit in front of the princess for a moment before nodding. "This should contrast nicely with your natural tones, without obstructing your movements too much." She glanced back at Elara. "It's not the nicest outfit I have available, but I'll be able to refit it within the hour."

  "That would be perfect, thank you."

  Rythica was forced to remain still for a very long time as the woman took measurements and made cuts in the material to account for Rythica's unique anatomy. As time continued to drag on, Elara explained the various aspects of why clothing mattered and how it was a tool to be wielded. She explained how various styles had different meanings and explained the concept of House colors. Rythica absorbed most of the information, greedy to adorn the appropriate designs and proclaim herself as the strongest hive queen in the world.

  Finally, after a painstaking eternity of holding random poses and waiting around as the seamstress worked on making adjustments, only to make more random poses and repeat the process, the seamstress had finished her work. The woman wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and turned to the tiny yet exceptionally impatient queen.

  "Okay, do you need help getting dressed, little one?"

  Rythica tilted her head, trying to decide if she trusted this new drone enough to turn her back to them. Once more, she checked Elara's reactions, and the woman seemed completely at ease around this drone, so Rythica nervously shifted before finally turning around. There was a short pause before Rythica felt the knot on the back of her dress being untied and finally falling loose. The vex twitched as the clothing drone kept bumping into her delicate wings, but kept her scowl to herself. Julia was much better at this type of thing than this new drone. Rythica turned back around and lifted her arms once more, waiting for the drone to remove the old outfit and finish dressing her.

  "No one taught you how to dress yourself, little one?"

  Rythica shook her head. "Julia dress me."

  "I see. It's a very important skill for a young girl to have. Next time you see Julia, ask her to teach you, okay? Now, hold still."

  Rythica gracefully ignored the slight from a drone giving her an order, only reacting with a tiny glare, before letting the drone continue.

  A few minutes later, she found herself staring in the large mirror, mouth agape. Clothing really did make a difference in how one was perceived, didn't it? Even with the alchemical downgrade to her natural beauty, the clothing helped recover much of her lost pride. She had long since grown accustomed to wearing clothing, but had never really taken the time to consider the benefits of the horribly uncomfortable materials, or rather, how uncomfortable her old dress was. This new outfit felt incredibly soft against her skin, and the texture actually felt pleasant to move around in, even against her chitin, unlike the somewhat scratchy texture of her old dress. She didn't bother looking back at those rags, already swearing to never wear something so far beneath her ever again. Her tastes were much more sophisticated now.

  Rythica stared at the fancy fabrics adorning her and puffed up her chest with pride. Clearly, even the hive's many predators would tremble in their boots at such a boast of her hive's many linen luxuries.

  Rythica now wore an ankle-length, dark cyan silk dress. It was a single piece, sleeveless, and didn't get in the way of her many pointy bits. The collar, sleeve openings, and hems of the fabric were all trimmed with a thick bronze band, covered in endlessly weaving golden knots. Rythica wore a dark gray sash around her waist, securing the dress in place and tucked in such a way that the end hung down her left side, matching the length of her dress. Her silver and gold hair was pulled back into a ponytail, tied with a dark gray ribbon. She was left barefoot, mostly because her talons wouldn't fit within any sandals the woman had on hand.

  Elara placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, pulling her away from admiring herself. "See? Do you trust me now?"

  The princess nodded much more firmly. She twisted to face Elara, a pleased expression on her face. "Yes. I am bigger House now."

  "Good, good. You look lovely, dear."

  Rythica beamed at the praise.

  "Do you want to go show off to the rest of your family?"

  Rythica hesitated but quickly firmed her resolve. Elara's comments about the predators and the countless warnings about needing to hide her presence had spooked her quite a bit, but the girl felt much more confident in her new threads. She nodded.

  "I am ready meet House."

  Or is it even an issue at all? I'd love to hear your feedback on it.

  A special thanks to Becket, Techpriest Antharann, and UnderwhelmingBird from the Discord server for their help in designing the fashion of Saltbrook. (Fashions of other stations will probably be explained at a later time.)

  Thanks for reading! I really appreciate all the amazing feedback and support. I hope you're enjoying the story so far and are having a wonderful day.

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