Clover Madden and the Order of Ivan

7) The Legend of Mallory Ivan

The following morning is a dawn that Clover Madden thought would never come; for the first time in over two years, she wakes up feeling safe. And not just the falsified security that often deceives the brain into making one believe everything could have been a night-terror or an unpleasant thought that could be plucked from the head in an instant. Oh, no.

Instead, Clover finds herself awaking to the kind of security that was bathed in butter-milk and honey; the promise of a new life threaded together on a necklace and gifted to her like a badge of honor.

She can't even bring herself to feel shame when she remembers that all of the clothing she owns is in terrible condition—torn up from labor and stained with tears.

Clover eventually gets up and opens her wardrobe to begin putting her clothes away but she nearly gasps when she sees that a few pieces of clothing are already there, much to her utter relief, "Jane, you have to see this!"

"What do I have to see?" She asks with a small groan, hesitantly stepping out of bed.

"They gave us clothes!"

"Really?" Jane asks, rushing over to her own wardrobe.

Clover pulls out the outfits she has been given, all of which look very different from anything she has ever worn. The first outfit is what she assumes to be her uniform, looking almost identical to what Ezmerelda Lennon was wearing when they first met. It consists of the same long white pants that flare out at the bottom and a sweater of the same color with tiny patches of Oleander flowers sewn into the square neckline of it. However, right next to it is a different version of it with shorter sleeves and shorts for the warmer weather. The most interesting part of the uniforms is the long cloak draped around itt, though, and mainly because the color of it is so different; almost sheer but somehow sparkling.

The next outfit is a dark bodysuit made from comfortable elastic material. She hopes that it won't hug her body too much, for fear that people would notice how unhealthy she is. Though, she can tell that she probably won't wear that too much because it looks to be made for some type of sport. She has no intention of doing anything athletic unless absolutely necessary.

It is the final outfit that might just be the most unusual thing in the wardrobe, though; It's a long dress the same color as the cloak on her uniform.

When Clover looks over to Jane, the girl has pushed everything except for the uniform to the side and is rushing to the bathroom to change into it.

Deciding that Althorn most likely wants everyone to be wearing that, Clover grabs the uniform meant for warm weather and walks into the washroom, hoping to get cleaned up before she leaves her room.

When she steps in, the first thing she notices is that the room is much bigger than she had thought it would be. She expected her bare feet to hit tile flooring—not soft velvet. And she certainly didn't expect to see vanities that look akin to the ones from a Hollywood movie; complete with small light bulbs surrounding the outside edge of the square shaped mirrors. At the very back of the room, there are two doors, one with her own name above it and the other with Jane's. She steps through her door, seeing an actual bathroom.

Clover then takes a hot shower and gets dressed, grimacing at the fact that she looks like some sort of lunatic with such an odd outfit on.

She hopes that she and Jane aren't the only ones wearing it.

Once in the common room, they find that many others are already lounging about so they find a tiny corner to sit in. Althorn is already waiting by the exit.