it’s better than that dusty old thing you refuse to wash. You’re beginning to smell, and it disturbs Josette. In any case, this color will match.”
Alcibiades’ eyes instantly narrowed. “Match what?” he asked.
“Why, the outfit I’ve had made up for myself, of course!” He really was too slow. “One moment, my dear—it’ll only take a little while to change, and meanwhile you can make sure everything fits in the shoulders and around the waist. I wasn’t sure of the exact number, so I had to guess. If anything isn’t right, then we’ll send for the tailors straightaway, and they can make the alterations before dinner is even on the table.”
“Why are you doing this?” Alcibiades began to ask, but I was already closing the door on him. If he couldn’t figure out how to try the coat on properly, then he was on his own entirely and would receive no more help from me.
I’d tried to be considerate when having it made—nothing more than the simplest of cloth, and the reddest, as well. I thought that ought to please him, obdurate as he was. Perhaps I’d gone overboard with the epaulettes? Yet they offset all the red quite nicely, and were the same gold as the buttons. Besides, the collar on his old jacket looked as though it were too tight for him, especially during the talks.
And, most important, I thought he needed some reassurance. What better way to do that than to dress in his favorite color?
My own new outfit was quite different, though I’d had it in mind to match ever since I came up with the idea. We were similar in color only—according to my plan, we’d be two bright red cardinals tonight amidst a flight of bluebirds. Yet what suited Alcibiades, a proud Volstovic military coat in proud Volstovic colors, would hardly do for me. I didn’t even like red; it made me look too pale.
I compensated for it by designing the shape in purely Ke-Han style, from high Ke-Han collar to long Ke-Han hem, to layer upon layer of red sleeves, to bright red Ke-Han sash.
I looked like a bloodstain, I thought, as I caught sight of myself in the mirror and smoothed out my robes. Alcibiades would no doubt ask me what, exactly, I thought I was doing wearing a dress to dinner; I was expecting it, but I would be sorely put out nonetheless.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, my dear,” I said, sliding open the adjoining door. “I had a bit of trouble with the sash.”
Alcibiades didn’t turn for a moment—he was too busy looking at himself in the mirror. And, I was overjoyed to note, the coat fit him perfectly in the shoulders and in the back.
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Do turn around, General, so that I may see the complete effect! Does it fit as well in the front as it does in the back?”
It was the first time I’d ever seen Alcibiades do something I’d requested willingly, although he could have stood up a bit straighter, and there was no reason for him to tug at the hem or adjust the collar as though the whole thing made him uncomfortable. It was made from the finest fabric by the finest tailors the Ke-Han had to offer, and I’d made sure it was in a style he’d like. If he’d only stop slouching and keep his hands still, he would cut a fine figure indeed.
After all, since he adored the color so ferociously, it behooved him to act more proudly while wearing it.
“Well!” I said. “Don’t you look handsome? I would never have guessed it. Those epaulettes suit you—I knew they would.”
“Why in bastion’s name are you wearing a dress?” Alcibiades asked.
I sighed. “Since I am doing you the favor of joining you in this fit of pure bravado,” I quipped, “I decided it might be prudent in some ways to dilute the effect by at least giving a nod to Ke-Han culture in some other fashion. Besides, the days are turning cold, and the wealth of fabric will help on those chillier nights. Are you satisfied with the explanation, my dear, or have you other complaints to make?”
Alcibiades was silent for a long moment, staring at me. I looked him over again in the meantime, wishing he’d thought to shave. He needed a bit of a haircut, too; his curls were growing unruly.
“You look all right,” he said finally. “I mean, for a madman.”
“Pardon?” I asked, surprised out of my examination