Cosmic Twists 1 (Old Version)

Part Two - Eirah - Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

We skip down the corridor, down the spiralled stairs to the double doors which are opened by the waiting ladies in their white gowns with their warm smiles. We step into the large mirrored room, with a high ceiling and open windows bordered with silk curtains that sway in the cool breeze. They take me to one side of the room and Lara to the other, standing us each in front of our own mirrors, while two ladies produce the gowns from the closet at the back of the room, and place them on the rail between us.

In their silent teams, they get to work fitting us both into our respective dresses. I raise my arms and remain still as they bustle me about, fastening things here and there. Once the dress is fitted, they each bow to us, before leaving the room.

I turn towards Lara. My dress is noticeably longer and more formal than hers, but they are equally beautiful. Mine is a long light blue gown with a laced corset, long sleeves and a sash. Lara’s is blue and white with the same styled lace corset and long sleeves, and flows just down to her knees, with silver and blue strands swaying loose like streams of water.

She asks me to help her fasten the back strings of the corset, where the ladies had underestimated Lara’s slight size.

“You look…” I tell her in almost a whisper, taken away by her appearance.

“Wow…” she sighs, beaming at me with her wide blue eyes.

“How do you feel?” I ask

“I’ve… I’ve never worn anything like this before.” She looks down and tries to flatten the materials down so that the dress may fall lower beneath her knee, frowning as the silver and blue strands shimmer and sway against her wishes. I think she’s self-conscious. I place my hand on her arm gently.

“Don’t. It’s beautiful. You look beautiful. I suppose you don’t really have nights like tonight in Furdock, huh,” I reply, watching her watch herself in the mirror as she takes in her own appearance.

The Ladies come back and are speechless at her beauty. They tell us we look beautiful as they help us out of the dresses.

I remember what Jenna had said about the Praefectus wishing to speak with me, but Lara and I need more time.

As the ladies lead us back out of the double doors, closing them firmly behind us, Lara steps towards the way down the corridor from which we had come from the spiral stairs, so I take her hand and pull her the other way. We stumble into a run, laughing and sniggering as we race through the labyrinth of white marble corridors and staircases, hoping we won’t pass anyone in the halls. Unfortunately we pass one of the maids carrying a fresh tray of Myrica tea up the stairs to one of the rooms, but in our racy speed we blunder past her, knocking the tray ever so slightly as she calls back to us, but we’re too far ahead. Lara’s laugh echoes in my head.

We reach the ground floor where I hear voices chattering from around the corner ahead of us. I unexpectedly tug Lara’s hand in the other direction towards one of the back ways I discovered once on one of my early morning ventures. We reach an old, creaky oak door, with holes allowing sunlight to burst through in dust-spluttered beams and shafts. I creak the door open slowly, feeling the warm sunlight on my face, revealing the sandy pathway ahead.

Lara and I sneak away from the Paladium to the Elder gardens of Nahl, where we can be in peace.       I take her through the Myrica trees where their long, palm-like leaves conceal us in the shade, until we reach the narrowest point of the river that winds its way through Halneon; it is merely a glistening stream here. We plunk ourselves down on the sandy bank to catch our breath, dipping our bare toes into the cool water.

“We are the Piscesian tribe of the Guardian Spirits, for those who are born between the second and third month of each year. We watch over the trials and tribulations that our human species go through every day of their lives. You may have thought you were alone, Lara, but you never were”. As I speak; she hangs on my every word.

“So does that mean you control me?” she jests, but I sense her confusion in her nervous tone.

“So it would seem,” I laugh, “but no. It’s a sort of telepathy; I see your thoughts, I feel what you feel, and we guide you” she looks at me with raised eyebrows as though I’m joking, like she’s waiting for the punch line.

“We? You guide me? How?” she asks sceptically.

“It’s not as though you’re a puppet and I pull your strings, but the voice you hear in your head sometimes? The ‘little person on your shoulder’ as you may have been told? That is me. When we telepathize, our minds and senses become in tune with yours; we can see what you see, or feel anything that you are feeling, to an extent.” I lower my foot a little further into the water, watching as the current washes the sand away, cluster by cluster.

“So, you’re my conscience?”

“I suppose you could say that.” I speak plainly, trying to make it as understandable as I can for her, but her responses tell me she’s still waiting to wake up from this transient dream of hers induced by some kind of infection from the injury she obtained in the woods. “Would you like to see Halneon?” I ask. I watch her eyes flit around her, taking in the surroundings that she has never experienced before. I try to let my mind sink into hers, hoping that I’ll see her mind buzz with her thoughts and questions that demands answers. Nothing. She stays silent, as a small smile falls upon her lips. She nods, so we heave ourselves up and continue through the gardens until the rest of Halneon awaits before us in one vast snapshot we can see from the top of the hill we stand upon.

As day stretches into the evening, I intend to show her most of Halneon in all of its neon beauty. As the giant moon sparkles brightly above us, each plant and flower blossoms radiantly in the silvery light. I watch Lara’s eyes ignite with awe at the beauty of it. The way she begins to take a few paces ahead of me, her hair shimmering under the star-speckled sky as she takes in every colour, every sight, every natural design of flower she’s never seen before. Something about her looks so peaceful here, like she belongs here.

“I’ll try to show you the rest later. It’s prettier at night, trust me,” I whisper, snapping her out of her daze, which makes me smile. “Come on, we need to get ready!”