"Asra! Asra answer me!" I desperate voice infiltrates my peaceful sleep. I shiver, reaching for my blankets. The early morning wake up calls this job required are uncalled for. I finally open my eyes confusedly when I clutch grass instead of cotton. Last time I checked, the castle wasn't so cheap that our blankets were made out of grass.
I look up into the relieved faces of at least four servants, two ladies in waiting with their noses stuck in the air disdainfully, and in the center of it all, Tran. His eyes are full of panic, and worry. Right. I'm not a servant anymore. I forgot.
As if suddenly realizing we had an audience, and that I was awake, Tran's face breaks into a strained smile. In the span of a second, he leans down and pecks my cheek, and the onlookers 'awww'; seconds before his mother explodes through the crowd.
She clears them from her path with a wave of a hand, sending the crowd that had gathered scurrying back to whereever they came from. Soon it's just me, her, and Tran in the field. He stands up, turning to meet her, and I follow, still reeling from my near death experience and what happened afterwards.
The Queens eyes narrow on my face. "I see you're still here." She said, taking in my sodden clothing and appearance. "I saw the commotion and came to investigate. Seems you found my private lake. Serves you right to fall in for snooping like that."
She turns to Tran next, frowning further. "What are you still doing here? I thought your father summoned you. You are dismissed. I shall guide the girl back to her rooms." She waved her hand behind her, walking purposefully towards me. Tran throws an apologetic look over his shoulder, before heading into the castle, albeit a bit reluctantly.
I can't say that I was happy to be alone with his mother, new questions rose in my mind, and I looked towards the castle, intending to get rid of the Queen as soon as I can. I stand, swaying a bit, to meet her. "Come along then." She says, pursing her lips into a thin line and turning back towards the castle.
I watch her stalking her way across the grounds, debating my chance of making it to my room alone. After letting out a sigh, I follow, swaying a bit from the movement so soon after I woke up. I stumble my way across the grounds after her, stopping in the doorway to watch her retreating back. "Thanks for the help." I mutter bitterly, expecting her to just keep on walking and forget about me entirely.
Instead she stops at the end of the hall, sending me a glare of annoyance at the fact I was still at the other end of the hall. Surprised, I start down after her, and she waits until I get beside her before grabbing my hand and dragging after her brisk pace again.
"It seems I cannot trust you to keep up on your own." She mutters. Digging her long nails into my skin. I wince, trying to ignore how slippery my shoes are on the floor, or how heavy the dress is now that its been soaked.
I follow along as fast as I can, hoping to get escorted to my room and that be the end of it. We head down several more halls, servants scurrying out of the path of the Queen. If they aren't fast enough, she merely knocks them aside. Barreling them over as if they aren't even there.
I don't suspect anything more than her taking me to my rooms until she leads me past the turn to my hall, not even slowing down to ponder. "Uh," I look behind me, watching the turn steadily disappear from my sight. "That was the hall to my room, where are you taking me? Your Highness?"
The Queen wrinkles her nose, looking down at me as if I am a annoying child who asks too many questions. "We aren't taking you to your rooms. After falling into the lake, do you honestly think I can trust you not to injure yourself further? No. Of course I can't. Stupid girl."
My mouth drops open at the last comment, something about the way she says it, with such disdain, not to mention right to my face, make me seriously reconsider not poisoning her right then and there. This woman obviously did not deserve to rule. Let alone sit upon a gilded throne and sneer at the people she was sword to protect and serve, making the right decisions for them, not the other way around.
But the Queen continued on as if nothing was amiss. "I am taking you back to my rooms, where my personal servants shall attend to you. Under my supervision of course, can't have you drowning in the bath." She sent me another disgusted look, "I can't believe I agreed to this. True love, Hah! Like my son would ever fall for someone like you. I taught him better." We stopped in front of an ornately carved door, no less grand than Trans room. Her door was carved with a poison ivy vine, and a flower in the middle.
The sight gave me a shiver down my spine, I could all too well imagine the flower being crushed by the ivy as it searched more sunlight, more energy and power.
I could also very well imagine myself as the flower.
"Watch your step girl." The Queen hissed, before pushing open the doors and stepping into the room. I shivered, but followed her. Her room was nothing short of extravagant, something I should expect at this point. Like the Queen, her room spared no expense.
From the glittering jars of perfume on the redwood vanity, to the huge feather mattress bed on the other side of the room, I could see how the kingdoms treasury was faring under her rule with one look. "These carpets are made of the finest wool in all the kingdom, imported all the way from the mountains." She continued, strolling into the room to be welcomed by her nervous maids who were awaiting orders.
I follow timidly, hoping my lake water soaked dress wouldn't ruin the carpet. I don't want to be here any longer than I have too. The maids stir slightly at my approach, but keep their attention on the Queen, determining her needs to be more important than mine.
"Take my," The Queen grimaces at her next words, "Future daughter in law, and wash her off. Then find her something dry to wear." She waves off three of the women in the mob, and the others rush to pamper her. In minutes she has been surrounded by dainty danishes, and only the sweetest nectar from the flowers in the garden.
In the meantime, I'm pulled off into the bathroom where a full bath awaits. Rose petals dot the surface, and I look at the water with both anticipation and trepidation. I couldn't drown in a bathtub could I? I wasn't that incompetent.
When the maids start pulling at my dress, I snap out of it. Of course I won't drown in a bathtub. I'm fine. I send them out, ignoring their protests, saying I can bathe myself, contrary to both their, and the Queens thoughts. The Queens bathroom, much like her room, is bigger than mine by far. Also unlike mine, shes decorated it to her tastes. The tiles of the room are a light pink, and the mirror is studded around the edges with priceless jewels the size of large pebbles.
The tub is ivory colored, and the water is scented with an obnoxious perfume that now that I think about it, always seems to surround the Queen in a thick mist. "Are you done in there!?" Demands the Queens voice from the other room. I wince, and slide in the bath hesitantly. At the very least I can wash off the lake water and get out before too much of the smell seeps into my skin. Hopefully I'll be able to take another bath later and scrub the perfume out of my skin as well. The smell alone was already irritating me.
In a few mere minutes, I'm done, I wrap a fluffy towel around myself, and am preparing to step into the room when one of the servants from earlier pokes her head into the bathroom, her face relaxing when she sees I'm out. She gestures towards her quickly, "Hurry, she's getting impatient," she whispers. I hurry towards the screen and stepping out into the cold room.
The Queen looks up from talking with a male servant holding up two ribbons, one green and the other a deep blue. Her face is set in a deep frown, but she waves away the servant when I get close. He passes by me, frowning as well. And as he passes, I can feel a slip of power coming from him along with the scent of raw meat. Strange.
My eyes follow him as he walks out the door and into the hall. Maybe he wasn't under the spell like all the other servants. I haven't felt any magic from them, but they are all under some sort of spell. Something that locks it away, along with their memories of ever having it. I'll have to find him later, or get out of here as fast as I can and follow him.
I long to snap my fingers and instantly dress myself, it would be much easier to do it that way, and I could dress myself much faster than I bet the Queens servants ever could. At this rate I would never be able to trace that man.
I'm jerked from my thoughts and back into reality when I feel a tug on my towel. A maid is trying to get me to let go so she can help me into some pink monstrosity that I suppose must be from the back of my closet, with the stash Tran refused to burn saying something about might be needing them someday, or from the Queens closet herself.
"I'll just dress myself thank you." I say moving to take the dress from the woman. She hand's it over reluctantly, and I head behind a screen, changing on my own. I come back out and let her button up the back, unable to reach the clasps myself. When we are done, the Queen is back in her stoic 'I hate you' state, and she was ready to usher me out the door. With a final curious and hungry look at my necklace, she backs away.
"I hope you're happy." She said with a look to the bathroom. "That bath was supposed to be for me. But since you are so attention hungry, I had to let you take it. I shall have to wait for a new one. You better not have gotten that nasty lake water on my floors." Then with a final disdained look, she slammed the door shut. Leaving me to fend for myself.
With a sigh, I shuffle down the hall in my new fluffy dress, already anticipating the silence and a warm bath in the privacy of my lamp. A new dress wouldn't hurt too.
When I opened the door to my room, I found it dark and deserted. Good. With a sigh, I unclasp the necklace, the door clicking shut behind me. My lamp grows in my hand, returning to full size and resting in my palm as a slight glow emanates from it. I set it on the vanity before going inside.
The lamp is as I left it, pillows strewn everywhere, but at least the water is gone completely. It only takes although to set everything back in its place, I don't have the energy nor the motivation to pick it all up by hand. I sink into a heated bath, sighing as the warmth chases all the remaining bits of lake scum off my skin. When I finally feel my skin is clear, I wash my hair, taking the time to brush it as well.
When I feel sufficiently cleaned, I stand and the bath disappears behind me. I dry off, thinking of the day when I can be free of the King and Queen. In my dream world, even Cynthia is gone for once.
Completely dry, I think about what to wear. My nightclothes are tempting, nearly drowning will take alot out of you. But I still have to meet with Amita, and Len said he would have an answer for me before the end of the night. I don't want to meet him in my nightclothes.
In the end, I settle on black trousers and a tunic, as well as a mask to cover part of my face, it won't help much if I'm caught, but I'm hoping to avoid that. The color will help me blend in at the least, and if we're discovered the trousers will be a key component in getting away. I sigh, before exiting the lamp, it returns to necklace form, and I reluctantly put it back around my neck. The gleam of faint light on the copper is the only indicator that its there.
Carefully, I exit my room, using the window instead of the door. If someone sees me walking about at hours such as these dressed the way I am, they will ask questions. Of course, if they see me at the window, that might raise more, but if it comes to it I could always just wipe the memory of whoever sees me. My feet touch the grass gently as I lower myself from the stone wall, and I look up, marking my windows spot in the wall in my mind.
A quick check of the stars confirms my time. Turns out the bath in the Queens rooms plus my own personal one had taken long enough for it to become at least ten or eleven. I continue through the gardens, searching for a spot I can wait at until Amita appears. I didn't really specify a spot to meet in other than the gardens... I groan mentally. It could take me all night to search this huge place.
But still, I creep along the ground, staying well out of sight of any passing guards. Eventually, I pass into the garden where the larger plants are grown, including a few sparse trees. I begin to scale one, wincing as the bark cuts into my uncovered hands. When I'm settled on one of the branches, I look below me to survey my increased sight from the tree.
From here I can see the ground under me, but only that. The other trees block any view of the garden I might have gotten here. Frustrated, I climb higher. The only thing I'm really able to accomplish is the feel of the now small branches bending beneath my weight. But I do get a slightly better view.
If I turn my head just a bit...
Up on tiptoes...
Crane my neck...
Ah forget it.
I slump down a bit, giving up on finding her without cheating. I cup my lamp in my hands, holding them close to me to let as little amount of light seep out of the branches and leaves. Nothing would alert anybody to my location faster than a glowing tree. Silently, I extend my consciousness, a trick I taught myself during my years of fear when I was still in the possession of the Crawdoves. I never knew when they were coming for me, and found I could stretch my consciousness with a little effort, mapping out the layout of the mansion in my mind.
I continue stretching my consciousness to the edges of the garden. I can sense guards, but they remain to the edges and doors, more focused on keeping the castles inhabitants in where they belong instead of patrolling the grounds as they should. They've become lax in their duties then. It works in my favor at least.
It takes me a second, but after noting all the guards locations, I find Amita. She's hiding behind a bush. I almost laugh, she's hiding from me. I suppose if I was her and believed I was helpless, I would arrive a little early and hide, just to have the upper hand. But, I have to appear in control of the situation here. Otherwise she'll never keep my secret.
I sigh, releasing my mental map of the garden, and wait for my hands to stop glowing. When they do, I slip down the tree. Amita's plan has one major flaw, she's right next to a guard, and I can't exactly reach her when he's snooping a little ways away. I can teleport her to me, but it's slightly painful, and with no warning it can give people in bad health a bit of a heart attack. I'm a bit reluctant, but my plan seems much better than hers by a long shot. No matter how startling it might be, and it will convince her I'm more powerful, in control.
At the very least, she'll stop bothering me.
I shake my arms out, releasing a bit of built up energy in the process. You can do this. I remind myself, You've done it before. No problem.
Even if the last time I did it was thousands of years ago, and I had my Dad helping me through the process.
Deciding that having the full effect of my lamp would be helpful in this endeavor, I pulled it from the chain and waited for it to grow in my palm. At full size, I hoped it would make the complicated spell just that much easier. First things first, I created a sound bubble. Something that would at the very least, take the edge off of any sort of screams of surprise and or pain from Amita for me, and it would seal off our conversation from anyone else unless they were included in the bubble.
It was kind of like we had a soundproof little room, except it would look like the forest right now, and you wouldn't be able to leave or enter or leave without my permission. Hopefully it would keep us from detection from just a bit while longer.
Finally, the sound bubble made, I take an unsteady breath and let it out slowly. Focus. Focus is key if you want her here with all her limbs attached. I grip my lamp, feeling my heartbeat speed up in anticipation.
I reach out my consciousness, tagging it to Amita in my mind. With a tug, I can feel her gasp, looking around uncertainly for what had pulled her. I frowned, tugged harder. She should be here already, she can't fight, it'll only make this more difficult.
She resisted again, this time pulling back. I had to mentally anchor myself down as she in turn, tried to teleport me to her. Sweat beaded on my brow from the effort, and in a final last ditch, I tugged as hard as I could, locked in a battle of wills against Amita. I didn't know she could be this strong.
With difficulty, Amita finally relented, and I was able to pop her out of the bushes, right in front of me. But instead of the frightened, grumpy, and cowering Amita I expected, a white blast knocked me off my feet, knocking me into the barrier I can created myself.
My plan had seriously backfired to say the least.
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I made it to the forest unscathed, considering the amount of snakes living in the grasses around my house, it was a wonder I hadn't been bitten as I picked my way through. Our little three room hut is set on a little hill, in a little field, by a little forest. Little. Little. Little. I sigh, everything we have is little, unnoticeable. All so we don't attract attention to ourselves.
I always knew my parents were paranoid, but downsizing so much and pretending to grow our own food to just seemed strange. Especially when we could conjure up anything. We couldn't even invite anyone over, even if anyone had lived close enough anyways. The house was practically empty. Other than the kitchen and visiting area, the house was devoid of furniture. Of anything personal.
Mother and Father slept in their lamps, me in a small (temporary) bed in my room. They saw no need to continue the illusion past the first room. But me, oh how I loved to decorate my room. I had it covered in any way I wanted. Me and mother redecorated it at least once a week.
With magic we could make it look like anything. At the moment the theme was foreign adventures, my walls decorated lavishly with real flying carpets, (Father and I secretly enchanted them, we were going to take them on a ride later) and every color imaginable. It was a chaotic mess of color, and it was my favorite one so far. I longed for the day when I could decorate my room with a flick of my hand, without mother hovering over my shoulder and judging my decisions silently. Of course, there would be no point in decorating my room then, considering I could sleep in my lamp and just decorate that like mother and father did.
But what was the fun in that?
The trees creaked, branches rattling in a unseen wind. I shivered, and pulled the cloak I had pilfered closer, trying to hide from the gaze I could feel in between my shoulder blades. The forest gave me the creeps to be honest, and Mother warned me away from them, claiming wolves lived in caves and tricky pixies played hopscotch in the trees. They would fall on unwanted trespassers in the woods, cursing them if they didn't get a soft landing.
I hope none of them fall on me, I watch the treetops carefully, just in case. I shouldn't believe in such stories at my age, but I couldn't help it. Even if the story was probably made up by Mother just to keep me out of the forest.
I sigh with relief when I reach the meeting place, a small clearing in the forest, the trees created a perfect circle, and their branches could stretch as much as they wanted to, but they didn't reach the center. No pixies would be falling on my head tonight.
In the center of the clearing was a well, old and forgotten now, but before the forest it had probably been a popular spot for locals to retrieve their water. Next to it was a small but homely campsite. The makeshift tent was only a bit of rough-spun fabric propped up by a stick. Some laundry was hung out to dry next to it, the water still dripping from the freshly washed fabric. The campfire beside it flickered slightly, almost out of fuel completely.
I checked the tent, confirming that he was gone before sitting down in front of the fire to wait. I set a few more ready cut logs up on top, and watched them catch fire as I waited.
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A/N
Comment, and vote,feedback is always fun!
~Mg~