Before her stood a robed and armoured figure. The robe was the first thing to catch the eye, and seemed to be based on the black robe she had worn to this meeting. This one, however, was in a deep, bloody crimson. And there were other differences. The robe was merely knee-length and short in the sleeve, well-placed cuts added to prevent it from reducing her ability to run. The hood was full, and cast the face in half-shadow, exposing only the mouth. Leaning in, squinting, Louise realised that somehow, the cut of the robe suggested cleavage that did not exactly exist, playing at the figure underneath. Where she went in, the robe followed closely, but where things went up and down it billowed, in a deception of well-cut fabric.
And rather than exposed flesh under the garment, there was steel. Dull, sullied steel which glinted in the hellish light from the windows. It wrapped every limb tightly, and under the opened robe there was plate which implied figure-hugging while not actually doing so. Even the heels were armoured. With a giggle at the expression on Louise's face, Jessica threw back the hood, to reveal the helmet underneath. Somehow the shadows clung to it too, still-shrouding half the face in a horned helmet which brought to mind both beasts and crowns.
