You can't unring a bell (Alexander and ChrisGabriel)

The merchant was a small local legend, right along side the glowing will-o-wisp that flutters above the nearby lake, the story of how the town was founded upon the thousand-foot trunk of a fallen world-tree, and just quite how old lady Macgree is (140 years, thanks to witchcraft, obviously). Some children swear he is fake, some consider him a real person who does nothing but run a scam, and some tell the story of how their brother or sister made a deal and it became true. Nobody who ever is said to actually have made a deal ever mentions a word about it, so it has been impossible to verify, and children are known to tell bigger tall tales than even professional drunkards. Despite this lack of evidence, the town does have more unusual inhabitants than would be found even in a larger city, so this story does help explain away many odd figures of the town.

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Clarabell was hesitating. While she indeed searched for a way to be more than she was - and to be more than not only her peers, but all the other girls her prince would be around - , she still shyed away from knocking on the doors of the old witch, Lady Macgree. Clarabell also knew that even if there was a will-o-wisp on the pond, she can't swim or boat there alone - anmd bringing somebody with her was not an option.

It was enough that her family was smiling at what they called her infatuation with the prince. But her friends and the meaner older girls - some of them just before marriage - outright laughed and started to giggle behind her back. So, she was alone, and seeking a solution. For what, she had no clear thoughts on, just knew that she wanted to be interesting enough for the prince to take notice. Maybe if she had beatiful long hair... or a really charming face... Maybe she needed to be a little more grown up - especially in some areas.

So, filled with thoughts and love - or maybe that was just lust, she did not knew - Cléarabell wandered the streets when she had the time for it. That is how she found herself at a crossroads at dusk, staring at the doors of the little shop on the corner. *This must be it.* she tought, and carefully tried to look in the small glass paneled big window. *Must be closed up for the day.* she hoped, not brave enough to just go in.

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The store was as dark as the street was still, but when the girl lifted herself towards the windowsill and nestled her head next to the portal, a lamp lit up on a desk on the far side of the entryroom. No figure stood beside it, and no match or a candlestick was present to pass the flame, but now the room glowed warmly, and she could see an array of trinkets laid about inside. With a blink, the girl was next to the desk, though she could not recall the door opening or herself stepping through, though it must have happened, because there she stood. So much for the shop being closed and locked up shop.

When she took a second glance around her surroundings, she found that she was not alone alongside the piles of trinkets and shelves of baubles. A man, dressed simply in a green and brown set of trader's clothes, but dressed extravagantly with rings upon his fingers and necklaces wrapped around his collar, stood staring out the very window she had been looking inward from. She swore that she had never seen him, that the room was quite lit and yet quite empty, but he was the master of this domain, and she a mere visitor. After fifteen seconds of silence, as if he were on watch for anybody that would interrupt them, he turned to the girl.

"I sense a soul that has been set upon a search. It is an old soul, with more history to it than some libraries contain inside all of their tomes. That kind of age has value to it. Young girl, what is it that YOU value? Not everybody possesses now what they want, but I can see to it that anything of value can be acquired, if given time."

"Uh... Hello? Good evening, sir?" Clarabell maybe was more tired than she tought, but even as confused as she was - and as much indecided and in love - she still tried to be polite. "I... I value, or at least valued a lot of things... But... with age, I think my values change... I heard that... maybe, you would be interested in some kind of exchange?" the girl... young woman lifted the not so small basket she had on one of her arms.

Clarabell still tried to recall how she got inside, but there was too much to look at in the shop! She could feel her mouth open, as she looked around in wonder. All the big words flied straight over her head. Not one for the academic words, all she was hearing out of it was the story. And this time it would be her story...

Without a word, the man strode his way next to her, lifting the basket off of her arm and onto the desk. He picked through the items inside as if he were picking apples from a market, turning and inspecting them, though she could not discern what he saw in them. Her favorite childhood object was tossed back into the basket, treating it like a moldy fruit, and yet he also pulled a dusty old toy and laid it carefully upon a cloth, as if it were a silver chain. The copper and silver coins were brushed away, but the bronze ones were instead stacked neatly into a pile. After his inspection was finished, five items remained on his desk, and he motioned to them.

"What do each of these mean to you, child?" He quizzed the girl. "These are all things that you possess, but there are also things that you do not possess. The types of things that will come, in time. There are also things that you would never possess, even with time." He let out a soft laugh to himself. "An exchange, yes. Some of these are good. Some of these are not enough. Your values, not all of them will change. I cannot change your values. But you, you I can change." He lowered onto a knee, to look the girl in the eye. "Do not be shy, young peach, tell me. If your values now hold tomorrow, we can bargain to your delight."

Clarabell's heart was thudding fast and strong, the girl could only stare at the process. While her eyes was wide open, and every item almost burned into her mind, she could not have told more about the man that he was in a ... bathrobe. Well, she was not really sure, because every choosen or discarded item sparked some memories... but also, there was a lot that no longer meant anything for her.

She was thinking how the seemingly old or everyday things interested him more, but... well, she had them put away once because of the occasion or the meaning behind them. She heard the words, and while Clarabell started to understand the meaning, full comprehension still eluded her.

"Huh?" she started, but then shook her head and gulped before speaking agin. "Meaning? Those five items... Well, that metal horse was given to me by my grandfather, the last gift he gave me... I remember, he was always on his way, transferring goods, working with his wagon... He told me, care for the horses, because they are working instead of you..." she remembered the old man, with a smile and some tears. "After he died, we never again had horses around the house."

"That spool of thread is the first one I ever spun, cut my fingers, and got not only tangled up but too uneven to ever use, but still, a good day's work for a child... Nowadays I am better with my hands. Still not rolling the gold thread, but that is just a bedtime story." her tears dried, she was grinning now.

"That nice stone is from the river's side, gathered when playing there with my friends, years ago. One of the boys went to become a soldier, two girls moved away, the others... Well, they are around, but we are drifting further from each other." her grin disappearing, there is no real emotion on her face, just her eyes are telling that her stomach is in a knot, only slowly dissipating, as she is truly missing her childhood friends... but knows, and realizes, that they are growing up.

Then she blushes "That feather is from the hat of my prince... Lost thirteen days ago when riding through the city and stopped for apples..." her eyes mist over as she is remembering - colored by her mind - the situation. In her mind's eye, she is much closer to the young man, and he is staring down at her, smiling...

Croaking she tries to hide her reactions by shakiung her head, and have her hair flailing around. "Anyway. That last piece is a snake-skin bracelet, my grandma' says it brings luck, or at least protects against snake-bites, but my hand is getting too big to pull it on and off without the danger to tear it, so I leave it off... Found the skin in our garden, years ago..." she does not remember when, just that she thinks she had seen the snake that left it... And she tried to leave out some food for the snake. And got told by her mother, that the fodd bought in the rats... But her father told her, that snakes eat rats, so, in a way, she was still feeding it.

"What was it you wanted to know?"

The merchant nodded and intently listened through each description, better understanding these items that he desired. The girl was good, to share so much with him. Some people lied to him, so that he might dis-value their favorite objects, or mistake a poor item for one of better worth, but this child was open and honest. He still asked more about the items, than she freely told him. Some questions were easy to understand the nature of. What metal was the horse made of? Was the thread of cotton, or was it of silk? Others were less intuitive for her to grasp the meaning of. What season had she found the stone during? How deep had the cut to her hand been, and did her blood leak onto the thread?

Once he had interrogated her, he placed the items side by side on the desk, and apparently made an attempt to order them. Most of his thoughts were in his head, but a few slipped out of his mouth. "You have only had this for thirteen days? Where does its value come from, then?" He muttered to himself. He placed it off to the far right, and then started arranging the items, swapping the positions of two or pushing them in either direction to make room for a new piece, but when he had finished, he found the feather on the leftmost spot instead. He let out a noise of curiosity, and then took them each off the desk, and started again. Every time, however, he found that the feather took the spot in which he predicted she would hold the most value.

He pointed to the stone, second from the right. "Annamaia is losing her friend, is she?" He mentioned the name of one of the children Clarabell was with when she collected it. "Well, that might be part of the price that she pays, I suppose. Though, I haven't gotten to know the two others. That girl wanted to shift her life, that is for sure. She was interested in being more popular, not less, but nobody can be liked by everybody, I suppose." Far more interesting, however, was the green-scaled bracelet. "You worry about tearing this, child? I think your grandmother hid one bit about it from you." The man lifted the item from the farthest position, up in both of his hands, and gave her a shock when his arms separated and he tried to pull it apart, though the thing barely stretched at all. "Not snake skin, but scales of a greater serpent. Two serpents, to be precise. He arranged the bracelet with his hand, and stuck his nail between a seam in it. When the two sides were pressed together, it had a hazel color to it, but when he split them ever so slightly, she could see a shine of blue and a shine of yellow.

"These two are what you can pay with, child." He suggested, and put the bracelet back down. "And these two are what I think you desire." He motioned to the horse, and the feather furthest at the opposite end. "A fulfillment of prosperity, and a fulfillment within your heart." He closed a palm, leaving only a finger open, and poked the horse and it easily fell over. "I pride myself on my work. I will not give you what is already due to you. Prosperity will be of little concern in your life, little one." He did, however, grab a doll from off a shelf, a figure of some boy, and set it on its back next to the feather, and then laid the feather within its hands. Once activated so, it seemed to almost sit up on its own, though it moved no further after it had risen as such. "Shall we see how it might react to you?" He offered with a wave of his arm for her to stand in front of it, as if she were about to be judged by a toy.

Clarabell was entranced by the movements of the man, her eyes and thoughts unfocused, her lips mumbling something or other... The only audible exclamation was when her bracelet was seemingly transformed. "Good magic trick!" she smiled like a happy child... But she was not that naive to accept every word of the shopkeeper.

"You are good, knowing the town and the nearby villages like you do is paying off, I hear..." how could he had knew her friends name otherwise? But maybe Clarabell herself told him... She did not really remembered every moment of the time around the shop, after all.

But she giggled when the figurine seemingly moved. Blushing, and pushing some hair behind her ear, and moved where he directed her. "And now? Should I bow?" Clarabell curtsied clumsily.

A finger wagged dangerously close to her face, as if the merchant were quite offended. "No tricks here, miss. I do not deal in tricks and falsehoods." He crossed his arms against his chest. "You are seeing the effects of a divination. A foretelling of the future, this is nothing closer in this world to an absolute truth than what I work for you now." His voice was hard and stern, as if he did not understand that children did not grasp everything and needed to be lectured on matters beyond their comprehension. He had seen the same ability within her, present but undeveloped, when he analyzed the items that she brought, so perhaps the man had mixed up the girl before him now, and the one he looked towards in the future.

The merchant smiled at her imagination, as she introduced herself to the toy, and his demeanor softened. "No need for formality with a doll, young one. Simply face it. For this, you must always be facing it." Almost as soon as he said that, the doll turned to its side, away from Clarabell. "Did this represent the prince, you say? The young master might have high expectations for one to catch his eye." He looked at the girl, a confused look upon her face. "But it did not turn away from you, so there must be hope yet. Tell me, sweet girl, if you were simply standing before him, what do you think it would take to grasp his attention?"

"All right, Mister, Sorry! ... I just never seen anything like this..." Clarabell now could focus on the man itself for a short time, but she could not remember him except the slight anger and frowning. "I am very thankful of your work here, and the magic and time you are spending on me..."

She tries to follow the turning of the doll, wanting to 'face it', as the ... merchant told her. "I don't know... maybe? Because the feather?" then she was thinking about what it would make to.. "Well, he is a prince. So maybe he is looking for a princess? Or some rich noble girl? ... Well, I am neither of those. Does he likes intelligent women, or beatiful ones? I think I would be both to have his interest find me, and to keep him."

Clarabell was nodding. "Really, intelligence is not something that is easy to show off fast without a bad situation, and without compassion it just makes someone too full headed and nose in the sky. .. Not that beauty could not be like that..." she was trying to come up with something that would make her stand out, and catch the prince's eyes.

"Cleveage!" she blurbs out "I mean, nice boobs shown off makes them stare. I mean, everyone, even My Prince. But I think it would also need cleanliness, as in spotless silky skin, long, clean, shiny hair, and good smell. Healthy teeth and body, and more like the smell of a clean female than the ones who smell bad, or had to use too much scent on themselves..."

The girl was young, but she was not completely a child, either. She had begun to grow, in many ways, that made it slightly harder for him to negotiate a deal. "I am sorry, young one, but once you have started to show your age, I cannot..." He trailed off, as he eyed the girl. Her clothes were simple, not bulky, and they did not hide anything. In this regard, at least, she had nothing to hide. And so, the rule went, if she had nothing of a thing, then she could wager for anything of it that she liked. "Ah, I speak ahead of myself. Let me explain, my girl. You have your skin, and you have your hair, you always have and you always will. Once a thing is yours, it is not mine to interfere with." The man broke off with her, to go grasp a tall wooden mirror that had been tucked in the corner. He pulled it up next to Clarabell.

"But the endowments you speak of are different. They will be yours, yet you do not have them now." He tilted the mirror, such that if she looked into it, she would see the reflection of the doll on the table. Yet looking at the toy directly, and through the mirror, it somehow faced away from her at both angles. "You do not catch its attention now. And, sadly, you do not catch its attention in the future. But do not lose hope! Perhaps if you had more of what you desire, that would also be what he desires?" The merchant reached behind the mirror, where Clarabell had been quite confident there was nothing but the back side, and pulled out a pair of tops, one quite like her own, and one more the shape of a coat, though both were quite unfitting onto her small form. He offered both to her, one held in each hand, to try on. "If, in time, you filled these, would you fill his heart with yearning as well?"

"I .. I really do not know... What I do not have now, that I will have? Is there something I should have later you can provide? Or.. Or you are speaking about selling you things that I do not have now, but would have later?" Clarabell was staring into the mirror, looking at herself and looking at the doll, then took the coat, as that one she could try on without removing her clothes.

Her mind was working over his words, and all the things she had seen or heard about up until now. What she did not have, that she would need or want to have later? "Is there more to this thing than a full woman's figure? Can't you divine what he would love to see me have?" Clarabell was trying to discern if it was just outward changes he was selling, or maybe she could buy things she would never have with her background. Or at least not enough.

He chuckled at the girl as she took the coat first, as the girl didn't seem to be wasting any time trying out the larger of the two garments. The doll before her, it didn't move. It never would, because it was in the present. But the reflection of the doll in the mirror turned its head towards Clarabell's direction, though it did not face her. Something that had happened, had stirred it a bit. "Only a small nod?" The merchant wondered aloud. "It was certainly not a small change. It is a stubborn one you yearn for." He might need to fashion some even larger clothes, if he were to properly seal an exchange with this girl. "You might need to think even bigger, in that regard, young girl."

"Of course I can divine what he would love to see. You brought all of his mementos in that second basket around your other arm, yes?" For the first time, the man spoke sarcastically. "But with the feather, I can make do. It is not much to work off of, it is not so different from a guess. But I assure you, it is a very good guess I will make for you." He scoffed at the implication that all he could do was bend Clarabell's form to a more exaggerated shape. "Did you want a tail? Do you envy an elf that never has to sleep? Are you ashamed that you have both the blue scale and the yellow scale in your blood? You have not shown either aura yet, so one could be taken away to make you more pure with the other. Replaced with a more devilish or divine heritage, perhaps?" He seemed to talk about attributes beyond her physical form.

She was lost in her thoughts, while trying on the coat and turning this way and that to see how it looked on her - or more like so how it would look on her future self. She had some imagination, but never before did she thought about how she would look when she grow up. "Isn't thinking bigger would mean to wear an even bigger coat made for winter?" she tried to think about all the fur around her face and gloved hands, and what kind of hem it would have...

"Sorry, I mean, I have one more memento, but..." she reached under the coat, and searched her belt for the buckle she wore. "Here, I found this after his passing - and wore it from that moment..." Clarabell blushed, giving the piece of - she did not knew - saddlery to the man. Then she removed the coat, laid it down on his arm, removing the top - then exchanging it for hers, even if it meant to remove her whole dress, leaving her standing there in her undies. Whic was a thin layer of dress too, but still not for the eyes of men, or outside of her room... But she found herself too warm and a little bit daring, not really caring.

"Isn't blue and yellow becomes green, when mixed? And no thank's, I do not want to have any parts he would not like on me!" At the mentioning of devilish heritage, she shuddered, like someone walked over her grave. "More like angel wings and a halo, than being always horny with a swaying tail!" she never realised that her words had a slightly different meaning than the pointy devilish appendages on her head and the tail pointing backwards...

He shook his head to the left and to the right. "Style, layers, material, they all play a role. Do not fret. The next size up would be a robe, but then it is a matter of the more exotic cloths." They might be able to predict the effects with a larger piece of clothing, but in turn it could also be something more intimate as well. He had no intention of starting of with something of that nature on her, however. For all he knew, the prince could have been delighted with even the smallest boost to her, and though excess was lucrative to him, he wanted happy partners, not ones who had been taken advantage of. He was pleased when she produced the second item, so that he might switch from a mere guess to a more accurate prediction. He took a piece of string, and wrapped around the buckle from each of its corners, and then tied it behind the back of the doll. Hardly a show of fashion, but in the mirror, the visage of the doll changed from a copy of what had been placed on the desk, so something more properly resembling a boy. It did not have his purple vestments, or the royal seal upon his ring finger, or most of the details of the real prince, but a more proper face appeared upon it, and it now shared his hairstyle as well. "We are getting closer to the real thing." He said with a smile.

The merchant pointed at the green bracelet the girl had. "You are putting it together, now? That is not your grandmother's, or a snake's. It represents you. There were magnificent beasts in your family's heritage, though I have never seen two in one child." It almost caused him a bit of concern if those two parts of her began to oppose each other, and what havoc in might wrack upon her. "Is that what you wish for, child? To hold an angel's heritage within you, instead of a dragon? Do consider your own wants, beyond the yearnings of your heart."

"There are celectial dragons, or at least one, or so I heard..." Clarabell tried up the smaller top, before hesitantly taking her bracelet in hands. She tried to see how it was possible that it was the same she wore that long, and still able to show her something new. Small excitement ran through her, as she tried to put the two together, to see if she would get the old one, or something new...

"However, I can't even imagine how could be beasts, magnificent or not, in my heritage... that is like bloodline, as in who was my grand-something-parent? Must have to be really far away, or I would be more like a half-elf or other mixed blooded human, aren't I?" her heart was heavy with vorry, not knowing what the prince would say to a future wife who was not fully human... Clarabell just knew that the people usuallly feared and ridiculed what was different. .. Would not it be the same if she was their queen?

"So, you could make sure that I would be always look like human, even if my heritage would indicate differently? I did not want to just throw away everything my family gave me... but I would like to be able to look the best of what humans can be. Even if my powers came from a dragon, angels or the devil, there are stories that all of them could look like beatiful humans..."

The band had only been split in one specific spot, and Clarabell found it easily reattached. Significant harder, however, was to get them to separate again, as if it were something only the merchant could do.

"I have found, that the more mystical the ancestor, the less obvious effect. I have met some with great stature, who had a giant somewhere in their family, and Lilly the half-elf is rather famous here in this town, isn't she? But you could go out and find one of their kind if you really searched for it. On the other hand, I doubt an angel has descended, or that you would get nearby a dragon's lair, and they always say you never find a demon, for it will come to you." He waved towards the girl, in comparison. "Your father looks like a man, and your mother looks like a woman, and nobody is the wiser, yes. Or maybe, both of your bloodlines come from a single one of the two, just like a child of yours with the prince would? Regardless, little girl, you look like a human and you always will, lest there is some great desire you ask of me."

The last quip of hers, however, was terribly broad, and he had to pull out a parchment and a quill in order to jot down his notes. "The best of what humans can be? I know what you want is rather, best of a human that the prince would want, because everybody holds their values differently. There are a thousand things that would change to fit that, and two thousand things more which have already begun their start with you that I cannot touch. You will need to be a little more specific."

"Well, I do not want to just wander around dragons, devils, or angels lairs, for that would mean death for me, or at least a lot of pain, I think... But if I am thinking more about it, why not be able to manifest whatever my bloodline and ancestors gave me hidden? Just need to make it possible to hide anything abnormal all the time. Maybe only able to show off my heritage whenever I want, and otherwise staying all human?" Clarablee mused to mostly herself, finishing putting on the top, and - for no better place for it - put on the put together bracelet too.

"Huh, it is really a big list then. Why don't you remove the things you no longer could help me with, and remove things grown up girls should not have? Even more, if there is something that could be added to my exchange to you, feel free to tell me what they worth?" she was thinking, and trying to come up with something. "What about exchanging my possibility to become a mother until I am wed, to make sure I would be able to give birth to a son for my prince? Straight away from the moment we have our first lawfully wed night together..." Clarabell was smiling and her eyes unfocused made it quite possible that she was imagining, or even daydreaming about the wedding itself, as she did not had any real idea what would happen in her wedding night. "Oh, and what about having all the knowledge how to keep a man happy come naturally for me? Maybe not just the knowledge, but be able to do it too? Like a fighters body know when and how to fight, mine knowing how to love and pleasure?" of course she was blushing hard after her words.

"I told you once already, young one, I will not give you what is already due to you. To one in my trade, making such a promise would be theft. If you wished to be one inch more, or even three, there is little business for us to share, for that would be yours in years and months, unless we wager here to stop it. But if you specifically wanted three beyond what is due to you if you had waited out the time, there is where my strengths lie. Likewise, the inheritance of the scale is yours to be had without my hand. If you wished for it to never be, I could offer you something in return. But as it is, all I can offer you is a guarantee of either blue or yellow, if the thought of a random half of green did not entice you." The merchant did little to repeat himself of before, that she would look as ordinary as her mother and father do, the girl had enough to think about already.

The man turned his parchment towards her. Sure as he had spoken earlier, for every three items he had written as example, two had been crossed out. The ones that were not, he had circled around. The circles were of various sizes, with the two around her scales being the largest. The things that she had asked for were rather meager in comparison, so she might have plenty of room left to negotiate. There were certainly physical attributes, though there was a mix of what was permitted and off limits. She could add new shades and hues to her eyes, but she could not outright change their color. She could not enhance the scents that her nose picked up, for that worked quite fine for her already, but it seemed there were more ethereal fragrances that a human would never sense, that were on the table for her if she wished.

She had also caught him off guard, with her request to delay a change, rather than prevent or instigate it. "Hmmmm..." he pondered to himself, wondering how he would pull that one off. "It isn't within my grasp to base any of our trade upon an event, as opposed to time. When do you think you would have the prince wrapped around your finger, little one? You might have to contribute towards controlling your fate with that one, perhaps by picking now a birthday you would wish to make special for him with a child."

Her eagerness to please almost put a grin on his face. "I do not trade in skills and lessons learned, you must find those from a mentor and a teacher. My task would be closer to... making you irresistable to those who would give you that knowledge you seek, and a strong, sturdy self to retain all of it." Still, he did not want to leave the girl empty-handed. "There are sensations of love and pleasure that you have yet to know. Perhaps it would be appropriate to have them... stand out... for you, to better burn them into your mind when you must recall them. That might be a little more... self-indulgent... than you intended." He muttered something about a shriek and a mandrake to himself.

Now thinking more clearly as the surrounding shop and situation did not took her interest astride, Clarabell nodded. "I think I now understand you better, good shopkeeper... You could grow or diminish, hasten or slow any attributes I could ever have..." she was ready to ask for three things... and two of those made her blush.

"In exchange of my blue and yellow scales, why not give me access to the green ones? I heard the palace gardens are quite big and exotic, and the prince loves to ride and hunt in the wild too... While I do not want to turn any other color than now, having a greater rapport with nature is to my liking." also, she heard of a green dragon somewhere near by, maybe they could become friends instead of food... Little did she knew that there was more options too...

"I am only started to turn into a woman, maybe you can help me became all I could much sooner, but let the worries of childbirth pushed out to a time when I reached my peak?" Clarabell was ready to call her 25th birthday as the age when she would have to give her prince his son at the latest, but she knew that if she succeeded to snare the man, then he would want them working on a heir after the marriage ceremony... And not able to give him what he wanted for years could get her marriage annulled.

"And getting all ready and able to experience love and pleasure in their fullest sounds like someone should have. I heard women speaking among each other about how they sometimes hurt or was not ready for their lover, I never want to have a problem with it!" while her thoughts was still focused around the prince and their time together, Clarabell just conveniently forgot that a lot of other thing could and would give her small pleasures of the flesh... and that getting turned on from things that was possibly pleasurable from time to time did not meant normally to get aroused by them all the time.

He had anticipated that the girl would pick one or the other, but the girl defied his expectations and asked for a brand new color, outside of her bloodline. It wasn't impossible, by any means. Indeed, he had expecting the girl to pay for any part of her end by giving him one of her pair. He didn't have any in supply now, but two powerful bloodlines now would certainly give him the opportunity to give her back one later. "Your choice of scales can be done." He nodded at her. "You may have to wait slightly longer for a green one to manifest..." he cautioned her, though surely she would understand that such a powerful alteration would not be done in an instant. None of them would have.

He chuckled when the girl wished for maturity, as children were wont to do, and then it would be a matter of years before she longed for her youth once more, and by then it would be far too late for them to trade again, any wealth of hers that would be of use to him gone ages ago. "You are so young, little one..." He began to caution her against her folly, but hesitated when he decided it was not his business to judge, only to please. "You would wish to have your womanly form sooner?" She must have known by now that he could not give her things right away. It would be closer to say that he adjusted a scale upwards or downwards, at least in regards to what she was destined to possess. She might have had the leeway she wished for with entirely new attributes, but that was not the case here. "We could see to it that you had the features due to you by twenty-one, at sixteen instead." He offered. "You would be looking at extra beyond then, of course." By sliding that scale to meet at half the age, she would be looking at approximately double, in regards to the 'extra' part, but these were her decisions to make. As they discussed, if she looked closely, she would have noticed the mirror prince becoming quite infatuated with Clara, a cry away from the previous disinterest. "And it would be tricky, nothing terribly precise, but I think we could see your inner maturity suppresed until your outward maturity finishes." She did not quite understand she was asking to be only partially as fertile, but if she gave herself to the prince at the right time, he would have enough heirs to carry his bloodline, though it would be unlikely for her to flood the halls of his castle with offspring.

The final bit only got a brief response from him. "We will make sure you're never in a position to turn down your lover." It was to the point, but easy to miss how general of a statement that was compared to the very specific person she had in mind.

"What more I can wish for, what more I can trade with?" Clarabell asked loudly, quite flummoxed, but choosing to err with caution. "Is there something that you had been asked to provide, linked to anything I wished for? Or something you long to have, and I could give you in exchange, good man?" The young girl's head was dizzy, her heart thundering, and she only had eyes for the curiously interested prince doll.

"And is there anything we have to do to finalize our businness? Maybe a guarantie that it would happen as you told and as I asked?" She did not wanted to hurt the kind man, but was quite eager to go home and wait for any changes...