Legend of the Swords

19: Erilyn

I was awoken by the sound of shuffling through my room, and I slowly rose, examining the room around me for my intruder. In the end it was Lord Varen, going about and looking at things and putting small trinkets in new areas. He was also accompanied by a young woman who was grabbing clothing out of a trunk that I recalled had been loaded on my carriage when I had been leaving home. "Good morning." I startled them both and they jumped up quickly.

"Good morning Erilyn." Lord Varen smiled as he made his way over to my bed.

"Lord Varen-"

"Varen," he corrected me as he walked closer.

"Varen. I'm going to have to ask you to leave briefly please and to not come any closer." He looked at me curious, and my face went red with embarrassment as I tucked myself further under my blanket. "You see I didn't know where my night clothing was so I'm not clothed at the moment." Lord Varen stopped dead in his tracks.

"Apologies Erilyn, I didn't even think-"

"It's okay. I just need a minute." Lord Varen smiled kindly and quickly left, whispering something to the young servant girl before leaving. She looked over at me and came over with a smile, bowing as she got to the foot of my bed.

"Apologies your highness. My name is Missy and I will be in charge of your care while you stay with us." She seemed to be about 15 years of age, thin, and very pretty.

"Thank you Missy. Would you mind please grabbing me a change of clothes. Particularly a pair of pants and a corset?" She smiled as she turned, going back to the trunk and pulling out the items I requested. She brought them over to me and waited for me to stand up, but I stayed put. "Would you mind if I dressed myself? I'm not accustomed to being in the nude around people." 

"Of course my lady. I'll just put some things away in your closet then. Call me when you're dressed and we'll fix your hair." She smiled and turned away, a bounce in her step as she hummed and grabbed some more clothing before disappearing behind what I assumed were my closet doors. 

"Do you like working here?" I asked as I got dressed, smirking to myself with how happy she seemed. 

"To be frank my lady, everyone in the castle is in good spirits today now that the King and Lord Ryan are locked away. I'm sure there will be quite the commotion in the town today. My sister and her fiancé were talking about how there's to be a party tonight." She kept working and then seemed to remember my original question because she came rushing out as I was finishing tying my shirt. "Now that's not to say I don't like working here my Lady, it's just better now." 

I laughed at her desperate expression, all worried over my opinion. "It's okay Missy, I understand." She smiled in relief and went back to hanging up some clothing only emerging once the rest of the items were put away. By the time she had done so I was dressed and looking around the room at the trinkets Lord Varen had been fiddling with before he had left. One was an intricate jewelry box, which I saw had a few of the pieces Dimitri had organized in my vanity back in the castle. The thought of him, and kissing him, sent butterflies off in my stomach. I shook my head quickly, looking around and finding her getting some things ready by the mirror for doing my hair. "What are all of these?" I asked her, taking one of the vials in my hand and smelling it's contents. 

"They're serums for your hair Highness. Lord Varen specifically asked me to use that one since it's made from roses that are bought from your kingdom." I smiled at the thought and took another whiff, the scent similar to the serum I had put in my bath the first night I had been brought into the royal palace. "Here, come sit." I nodded and sat down in front of her, letting her work through the tangles in my hair from tossing all night in my sleep. She was almost finished when Lord Varen reappeared beside her, which startled the both of us as we had been chatting and hadn't heard him come in.