Beyond the Glow

Chapter 13

"Sit still Miss." The comb rakes through my hair painfully, pulled by my personal maid, Justine. Who was of course, assigned to me by none other than Tran. I would just magically take all the tangles out myself, but Tran has forbidden me from using magic in the presence of anyone else. Nobody but him and a few guards are to know my magical history, I have no idea why, but I need to gain enough trust for him to loosen his watch on me. Something that will allow me to break away from him.

I bet Justine knows I'm a genie, and just is here to keep an eye on me. I need Tran to trust me, and giving me a personal spy is not too trusting. I just hope it's over soon. As far as I know, the Grimlock is still where I left it, wedged under the mattress. As long as Amita doesn't notice the lump, I'm fine.

"Ow!" I cry, Justine is working her way through a particularly snarled spot in my hair, pulling as much as she deems fit to make the brush go smoothly. I reach back, and put my hand in the thick of it, holding her back with my other. "Calm. Down. You have way too much energy to be doing my hair." I tell her, and after a moments hesitation, I pull the brush from her hand to gently undo the knots myself.

I'm not saying didn't use magic to help just a little bit though. Tomorrow, I vow that I will wake up and untangle the knots myself, before she ever gets here.

Another benefit of being in the favor of the Prince is the room. Instead of the cramped thing I shared with Amita, I now have a spacious suite with an adjoined bathing room. The whole room is done in pleasant grays and greens all over the walls. The bathing room consists of a beautiful iron tub, painted white with golden clawed feet, and a standing basin below an ornately carved mirror.

The tub even has a small tube that spills already heated water from the underground pools below the castle. The maids do not have to carry water to my rooms here, even Cynthia did not have luxuries such as these!

But however amazing it is, I'm still a prisoner. A prisoner with quite a few luxuries might I say.

"My lady." Says Justine, holding out a ruffled terrible thing of a dress. It's an obnoxious shade of pink, covered in bows and ruffles and anything else that will fit. Its a hodgepodge mess, and I wrinkle my nose a bit before zooming into the closet and whisking the door shut behind me. It shuts with a final click, my magic making quick work of the lock in the knob.

Justine immediately bangs into the door, "My lady!" She calls. "Lady Asra, please open the door!"

"Just a minute!" I call, whirling through the entire closet like a tornado. I pick up any dress I can find, and each lands on the floor behind me when I discover it's the worst shade of its color, or it has too many frills; most of the frilly dresses were from at least a few years ago, when the whole kingdom went slightly delirious and thought they were the best advance in style in years. They fell out of favor quickly, but I never did develop a taste for the horrid things.

The Prince was trying to make me look like a fool today, when he would introduce me to the court. A dress like any of these would make me a laughing stock to both the king and queen, and all of their advisers.

"What is wrong with this dress? It would look wonderful on you!" Pleads Justine from the other side of the door.

"Ah, just not my color I'm afraid!" I call back, throwing down yet another offending dress. I look around me, frustrated. Every one of these dresses were offensive in one way or another. He must have hand picked them himself. What was Tran playing at?

I give in, and touch the lamp hanging at my neck hesitantly. He gave it back to me under the condition I don't use it. Nobody must know who I really am. I can't risk losing it, but I can't wear any of these. My fingers curl around the necklace, and with hardly a thought, I'm standing in a dress of silver and white satin.