The Dream Keeper's Dragon

2.21 Deborah

Aurelie's followed five servants to her chamber after the Queen had finished showing her just about every bloody room in the castle. She didn't talk much, only pointing and revealing the purpose of the rooms. Halfway through the tour, she met up with servants and made them show Aurelie the rest, instructing them to prepare her for dinner when they finished and, well, here she was. The girls, dressed head to toe in fur, didn't care much for conversation. One walked ahead and stopped in front of a leather covered door. She pressed her hip against it, and held onto the knob, pushing. The others walked inside and stopped, waiting for Aurelie to enter.

"Does the room please you, mistress?" said a woman farthest from the door.

The girl next to her bumped her arm with her elbow, and leaned over, whispering.

"Your Highness," the woman corrected and bowed her head. They wore different colors. The speaker was in black, the two next to her in white and the others in brown.

"It's perfect, thank you," Aurelie said before she had a proper look at her room. Animal skins were thrown all around the room as carpet. A wooden door on the far back end of the room was closed and right next to it was her giant bed and side tables.

"Then we shall fetch your bath water," said the woman in black. They filled out after her, white second and brown last. Aurelie had no idea how she'd be able to tell them all apart. The one speaking appeared taller, but that could have been the thickness of the fur she had on. Even the shapes of their chins were similar, all circular as if they were specifically chosen by their features.

The size of her room was bigger than the lounge area of the inn. All the fur was white, apart from that of her bed which was dark brown. It was cold and depressing. She had barely spent a day here and already wanted to go back to sleeping on Peter's couch in his crummy living room.

Aurelie sighed in relief of being left alone and walked to a bunk near an arched window. Three men swept snow off of a tiled path that led from the castle to around a large fountain and disappeared into a maze of tall bushes covered in snow. Not a single speck of color peeked out anywhere. Even the sky was grey. She wondered what Kirin was doing and how the others were handling the news of her departure.

The thought of her friends made her realize that she had to find a companion. Someone to trust . . . she used the word carefully. All the Royals were out of the question. Whatever the plan was, they'd be included. Honest information was not something that she would get out of them. Besides, it was the servants that roamed through every inch of the castle daily and had usually been so invisible to their employers that it was quite easy to let something slip around them.

The girls reentered, joined by six others, all but one carrying buckets of steaming hot water. The one in black opened the wooden door next to her bedroom and signaled for the girls to enter with the sweep of her hand.

"We'll be ready for you in a moment," she said, straightened her pose and looked straight ahead with her chin raised and her hands behind her back.

"What's your name?"

"Mrs. Jimble." She didn't move a muscle, not even her eyes.

"Sounds rather jolly," Aurelie said dryly. Jimble sure wasn't going to make it as Aurelie's trusty companion.

Water splashed, and a cloud of steam passed Mrs. Jimble. "Careful in there," Jimble warned.

Aurelie stood up from the bench and walked closer to the room where the girls were gathered. The water stopped splashing, and the sound of low whispers rose. She couldn't wait to get into the bath. Her toes were tired of clenching and aching from the cold.