Dahlia was quiet for a moment. "That could be an acceptable price," she said. "With the stipulation that you would not use the shoes to do anything harmful to the princesses, or let anyone else have the shoes to do anything harmful. Harmful in all senses of the word." She met his eyes evenly, waiting to see if he'd agree to that.

Gold raised an eyebrow.

"What I do with my possessions is my business," he said. "And a dozen pairs of shoes in exchange for a block of apartments seems more than generous, to me."

"Yes, generous on your side," Dahlia agreed. "Personal possessions can be powerful magical objects, we both know this. And while in general I would not care what you do with your possessions, without your word that these girls are not giving you a way to get at them more easily, they won't agree." There were other ways, after all. Besides, Gold wasn't used to anyone bargaining with him; she suspected he just needed a push to show that they weren't going to be pushovers.

Gold studied them for a moment. He wasn't pleased at Dahlia's interference, but there was nothing he could do about it right then that he really cared to do.

"Very well then, Your Highness," he said, sneering the title, "you have my word. None of the shoes will be used with the intent of harm on their previous owners."

Dahlia lifted her head, her whole demeanor shifting subtly to Queen.

"Then your terms are acceptable as far as I am concerned." She looked at the girls to leave the final decision up to them.

Maria hesitated and looked at Violet, who reluctantly nodded. Then Maria nodded at Gold.

"Excellent," he said. "I will have arrangements made shortly, and then I will be around to collect my payment."

"Alright," Maria agreed quietly.

Dahlia looked at him for a moment, somehow managing to look down at him though she was shorter, before she gently steered the girls out of the shop.

The girls let themselves be steered out of the shop, and Violet let out a relieved sigh once they were out on the sidewalk.

"That was nerve-wracking," she muttered. She looked at Dahlia. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Dahlia said with a brief shrug. There was a brief dusting of snow around her, though. "Come, we should tell your sisters the news."

Maria nodded and headed back towards the studio, but Violet hung back a bit.

"Are you really okay?" she asked Dahlia softly. "You're dusting."

Dahlia smiled faintly. "I do not enjoy dealing with him," she murmured. "But at the same time, he is a challenge." More snow dusted around her. "I will be fine once my temper has calmed."

"Well, come on back to the studio," Violet said. "You can sit and relax and rant while I'm warming up. Sound good?"

"Sure," Dahlia agreed after a moment, letting Violet lead the way. After a few moments, she said, "I hope the price wasn't too high."

"It's different for some of us," Violet replied softly. "For about half of us, they're just shoes. Beloved shoes, but still. Just shoes. For the other half, though..." She was quiet for a moment. "They might have a bit of leftover magic in them."

"Hmm." Dahlia was quiet for a moment. "That could be bad. However, we have Gold's word that they won't be used to harm any of you."

"Yeah," Violet said. She shook her head. "Well, I can get one more practice out of these shoes before I have to give them up, so I might as well take advantage."

Dahlia nodded and moved over to the side to settle in and watch for a bit. She wasn't so good at ranting; normally she just made a few more guards for her castle. But she didn't exactly have a castle anymore.

Violet let Maria handle the rest of her sisters. She took her time putting on her pointe shoes and gave a couple of quick steps to set the magic wards around the room.

"There we go," she said, going over to the barre. "Magic wards are up, so you can rant or do whatever."

Dahlia had felt the swirl of magic and blinked.

"I wasn't aware you could do magic," she said.

Violet looked a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, a few of us can," she said. "About half of us. I mean, we didn't know we could, under the curse, but now that we all remember..." She shrugged a bit as she stretched and warmed up. "It'll take some of the younger girls longer to try using it again, I think. Holly especially, she'd only just come into her magic when everything... happened."

Dahlia nodded. She was quiet for a moment.

"I don't know much about dancing, or other kinds of magic than my own," she said with a shrug. "I am unsure how much use I will be apart from negotiating with stubborn magic-users."

"Who says you need to be?" Violet asked. She looked at Dahlia, from where she had one leg up on the barre. "I mean, we're friends, right? That's what matters. Maria and Anne can help the younger girls with their magic, no problem."

"I have not had many friends," Dahlia said, looking at her. She looked rather sheepish.

"Well, you have some now," Violet said, grinning a bit. She rose up onto her toes delicately, just enjoying it for a moment, before going through some basic exercises.

Dahlia just watched her for the moment, getting used to the feeling of her magic again. She sent a few icicles glittering along one wall.