The morning comes hours later, with a headache that feels as if the gods are trying to smash my skull in with a hammer. I sit up with a groan, holding my hand to my head. I'm still wearing the clothing from last night, my dress rumpled and squashed into a wrinkled mess. I look around, hoping to see the source of what was causing the pain in my head to worsen.
My room has been flooded with light, someone had opened the curtains, and the window. A fresh breeze blows in, brushing my cheek gently. I inhale deeply, the fresh air smells wonderful after the smells of the party last night. But the fresh air and light trigger something else, with a gasp, I clap my hand over my mouth as a wave of nausea hits me. I rush over to the bathroom, hoping to make it to the chamber pot in time.
I retch, the wine from last night leaving a acidic taste in my mouth as it, along with anything else I ate, came back up. I sit up, only noticing now that someone had been holding my hair up behind my face. "Thanks Justine." I mumble. "Opening the windows was nice too. How long have you been up today?"
"Who's Justine?" A voice says behind me, dropping my hair. "She won't be coming anytime soon will she?"
I stand again, this time with a groan. "Yes. Shes probably on her way now Len. So you better leave before you get caught." When I can fully see Len, I'm a bit taken aback. He looks different without his shabby street clothing. Instead he wears almost completely black clothing, with a deep blue cloak on his back. Considering I can only count a maximum of two patched up holes on the whole outfit, he must not use them much.
"What are you doing here? You'll be caught!" I say, trying to sound concerned and not wary of his presence. Amita's story of her and Briar's homes being taken over by the Underground might have gotten to me more than I thought. Even if they're probably fake.
Len lets out an exasperated sigh, running his hand through his haphazard hair. "I came because," He stalled, staring at the celing. "Because, the Underground is doubting your loyalty to your mission." Len finally lowered his eyes, forcing me to look away when they reached mine.
"You can tell them that I am still planning to remain in contact." I say quietly, staring at a spot on the wall behind Len. "And I am doing a bit of my own research for the time being." At Lens shocked expression, I elaborate. "I am not working for the Underground, but I'm not against it, whats going on in the castle is deeper than we thought. Its a delicate situation to say the least."
"I'm not sure if the council will accept that answer." Len frowns.
"What about you Len? I hear you're the new leader, don't you have some sort of sway with the council?" I ask, I need him to believe me, having the Underground against me would make my life so much more complicated than it needs to be.
"I'll talk to them. No guarantees." Len stiffened, backing towards the window. A knock, loud enough to make me cringe against the sudden onslaught of pain in my head, sounded at the door. When I looked back towards the window, Len was gone, leaving only the swirling curtains in his wake.
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"You can't possibly expect me to wear that Justine. Why are we back to the puffy monstrosities we started with?" I groan, eyeing the light yellow marshmallow dress in front of me.
It's only about lunch time, considering I spent the rest of the morning after Len's unexpected visit in bed, trying to recover. I can't remember much from last night, other than my nightmares. Tran requested my presence immediately, sending Justine (who had been the knock on my door) to make sure I didn't try to skip out on him.
Justine sighs exasperatedly, "Because the Prince said so. He also said that if I let you wear anything else, then I shall lose my position, and you will very dearly regret disobeying his orders."
I blanched a bit, if its that important I wear this that he's threatening Justine's job, his specially assigned and trusted servant, this must be important. I grudgingly let Justine slip the dress over my head, convinced I would suffocate in all the fabric. My headache hadn't ceased, instead retreating to a the back of my mind with a dull thud for every heartbeat.
When Tran arrived to pick me up, he stood in the doorway with a strict, emotionless face, taking my arm and walking me down the hall.
After that, he lasted about thirty seconds before he burst out laughing.
"You look ridiculous." He snickered.
I grimaced. "Shut up. What kind of thing is this? Where are you taking me today that I have to look like a caramelized marshmallow?"
Tran straightened up, readjusting his shirt. "To the gardens. We are set to have a 'Romantic Picnic.' With just the two of us."
"Then why did I have to wear this?!" I whisper yell, sending Tran a glare.
"Because it's funny. I never intended to fire Justine, but this," Tran looked me up and down again, "Is just payback for flooding my room. No wonder you used all the water in the kitchens!" He whispered.
I could feel my face turning red, from embarrassment, shame, or anger I couldn't tell which. I guess it wasn't such a good prank after all. Even if he'll be sleeping on a wet mattress for weeks to come. I suppose he could just have the servants get him another, but then he'd have to explain how he managed to soak the entire thing in the first place.
I smiled now. At least I won't be waking up soaked every morning. I suppose suffering one day in a ugly dress can be bearable, as long as its only one day, if he thinks he's won, I suppose I can let it go.
We continue down the hall, entering the gardens from a side door to see a blanket spread in the grass with a basket on top. I pull my hand from Tran's, running out to smell the air. Inside the castle its dank and smells of stone and earth. It feels good to be outside again.
"Nice?" Asks Tran with a smile, coming up to sit on the blanket and begin unpacking the food. I can see fruit, including apples and grapes, as well as a soft bread and cheese. "We better eat now, or the ants will get to the food before we do."
"Do we get the garden all day?" I ask, unable to help myself. After all, I've only been outside three times in the past thousand years. Once while escaping, once leaving on a mission, and then now. I wish to use the time to just enjoy myself for once.
"You can stay here as long as you would like, but after this, I am expected to go to see my father in his rooms. They say he has quite the hangover from drinking so much last night." I wince, momentarily reminded of my own headache. As drunk as the King was, he probably tried to drink more to make the pain lessen.
I lay on the blanket, looking up at the sky. "It's quite beautiful out here today. Are you sure you must go?" In answer, Tran holds a grape in front of my nose. I stare at him, confused. He subtly nods over to the windows of the castle, where I can see the servants who were washing windows a moment ago, watching us.
"We must give them a show, otherwise the ruse might not be so believable." He mutters, and I grab the grape, popping it in my mouth instead of eating it out of his hands.
"Even if we really were to be married, I do not believe I would do that." I say, speaking around the grape, and grabbing a few more in the process. Tran tsks.
"You mustn't talk with your mouth full. It's unladylike."
"Don't care. I wasn't raised in a castle, why should I act as if I was?"
"Because if you were meant to rule this kingdom, you would." Came a new voice from behind me. I turned to see the Queen herself walking from the castle, hiking up her skirts and grimacing when she stepped into dirty spots on the garden's stone path.
Reaching us, the Queen gingerly placed her skirts on the ground, looking up at Tran, and blatantly ignoring me. "Upon unseen events, the King has requested you join him early. I'm going to have to cut your," She looked around with a sneer, "Outing early."
Tran stands with a sigh. "Any particular thing I should know about before I go to see him?" He asks.
"He is drunker than usual. Crying about not finding his magical being last night I suppose." The Queen tsks. "You better change before you go to meet him though. You are absolutely filthy." I examine Trans clothing, hardly a spec of dirt on them.
Tran looks confused, but obliges. He starts off towards the castle with a farewell to me and the Queen, still ignoring me, promptly picked up her skirts and hustled back inside, leaving me on the blanket alone.
With a shrug, I finish the food, putting what I don't eat back in the basket. I assume a servant will pick it up as I wander the gardens, if not, then I can take it in myself when I go in later.
I stand brushing off my skirt, I wish I could change it, but the castle is far too close, and in the daylight someone will surely see. If not, then they will surely notice when I go back in wearing something I didn't go out in.
I turn, and walk deeper into the gardens, sniffing the flowers, and hearing the stones clack under my boots. A light breeze lifts my hair, bring with it the fresh smell of water. I can hear the lapping nearby, and head over into an area enclosed with hedges to find a small lake.
The lake has pebbles lining the edges, crunching slightly with each step. The water lapped against my shoes, but the watertight leather of the boots kept my toes dry. Quite good craftsmanship might I say. I stand, marveling at the clearness of the water. I can see the bottom of the lake crystal clear, but my reflection still blinks at me from the surface.
But at the lake draws towards the middle, It gets deeper, until I can't see the bottom at all. A bit of a marvel really. I wade in deeper, eager to see how deep the lake goes, but stop when I'm up to my shins, not wanting to hike my skirt to an indecent level when anybody would walk into the little area and see me. Besides, at that point the lake dropped off into what seemed to be a pit, explaining why it was so dark in the middle of the lake.
Without warning, a large gust of wind come out of nowhere, shoving me forward and into the water. I gasp, inhaling water before I have the sense to close my mouth and hold my breath. For a second, my hair obscures my vision, and I thrash wildly, before it clears and I can see I've somehow landed right in the middle of the lake. My dress, the fluffy fabric being troublesome enough on land, was waterlogged and dragging me down.
When I pathetically tried to swim, the fabric hindered my movement. It was a waste of air, considering I didn't even know how to swim anyways. I never saw the point of it, living far inland from the ocean, I never had the opportunity, nor the motivation to swim as a child.
Now it seemed that would be the death of me.
But I continued to thrash, trying to reach the surface in vain. Finally, I began to sink, and I watched the light of the surface slowly fade to black before a dark shape appeared above me.
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I'm floating on a cushion of air, my legs dangling off the edge and kicking absentmindedly. The sky was so beautiful today, almost completely clear from any clouds as far as the eye could see. That, in part gave it it's beauty, considering how much effort it took me to get up here. I flip over, undaunted by the sheer drop below me. The farmhouse father had moved us to this year was right below me, and I could see mother standing in the yard with a hand shielding her eyes as she looked up.
Drats, he must have ratted me out then. With a sigh, I slide off my cloud, gently floating to the ground below. I wanted to be able to skydive off it, and parachute down, but Father hadn't even entertained the idea for a minute. He said that my birthday wish of being able to sit in the clouds for a day was enough, not to mention anything else and we'd give Mother a heart attack.
When I land on the ground, she gives me a frown, clearly showing what she thinks of my latest wish, turning fifteen had been a milestone for me. This was the year I was supposed to get my powers, to be able to grant wishes like my parents. My Mothers usual smile is gone though, replaced by this new disapproving frown.
"Do you know how dangerous that is?" She asks me, not even waiting for an answer before launching into a speech of how I could have been hurt. "Someone could have seen you Asra, using magic so plainly is asking for trouble! We moved out here for a reason, to protect you and show you how dangerous it is for us! And here you are, just floating on the clouds!"
"But Daddy said..." I start, before stopping and changing direction. "This is my last birthday wish from Daddy, I wanna make it count." Mothers face softens, before hardening with my next mumble. " 'Cause we all know you never let me do anything fun."
She lets out a sigh, kneeling down into the grass, and pulling me down beside her. "We do this for a reason you know," She says quietly, pulling me into a hug. "We've just heard terrible stories, what happened to my parents..." She pulls away, looking me in the eyes. "I just don't want to lose you. Humans are abusive, never satisfied with what they have. If they knew of your heritage, I just know they would try to take you from me. I don't want to see that happen, and neither does your Father, however reckless he is."
She smiles gently, "I came looking for you because I want to know your final wish from me honey. Preferably something I can get without using magic. I think your Father has shown off enough for today."
I can feel my own face break into a smile now, just imagining my prize, a silver comb I've been eyeing at the market stall for weeks now. My hair is only at my shoulders, but Mothers reaches to the back of her knees when braided, and I want to have mine that long someday. Maybe a magical brush will help. "You know what I want..." I say mischievously with a smug grin.
"All right, all right. Don't think I haven't seen you eyeing that brush. The shopkeeper hasn't either, I'm almost convinced the poor woman will just give it to you so you'll go bug someone else." Mother teases, "And when I come back tomorrow, we'll get your new lamp out as well. You should be able to connect to your magic by later tonight. Just don't get into any trouble all right?"
I nod, playing the dutiful daughter. What she doesn't know won't kill her. She stands, satisfied, and heads into the house, leaving me to play absentmindedly with a dandelion in the grass.
The market is at least a days walk away, but Mother takes our only horse so she can be back in time to see me connect with the magic. I stand waving excitedly, Father taking a nap in the house. Don't come back too soon... I think, watching her cross over the hill towards town.
When she's gone, I take a final check to make sure the calamus oil I put in Fathers water is doing its job, snapping my fingers to make sure. It's only a small dose, something to keep him asleep and unworried until I can get home. He's out like a light. Next, I slip out the back door, heading towards the forest. It's the place my only friend resides in, being as far away from the village as we are, I don't really get to play with any other children than him.
I hope he's there today, I did tell him it was my birthday after all. I can't wait to show him my new trick. The clouds view is sure to amaze him. I skip into the forest, my head held high.
Not knowing how wrong it could go.