Everything was about to change.
Azriel was my mate.
And I was about to be married off to another male.
Did he know that we were mates? There is no way that he knew--unless he is better at hiding things from me than I realized.
Do I tell him? No I cannot tell him, I have to wait until it clicks into place for him to--but that could take centuries.
I let out a groan and fall into my bed. I then smile to myself, even though my whole life has gone to absolute shit--Azriel was my mate. I let out a squeal and cover my face with my pillow. I hear a thump on my dresser and I pull the pillow from my face and see the house must have put a book on my dresser. I go over to look at the title--A Ladies Guide to Proper Etiquette and Politeness.
"Really?" I say to the House with a short laugh. In reply, it plops down another book and I read the title and smirk to myself, "Now this is more like it."
My father would have given the House orders to reteach me the stuff I learned as a little girl--when my father thought me to be powerless, he stopped with the lessons saying it was a waste of time. I go open the doors to my balcony that looks over the north side of Hewn City and as I go to sit on my bed to read my book--the door bursts open.
Four middle aged women barge into my room and begin taking some of my belongings, "Excuse me?" I ask them but they keep taking my stuff away. One actually opens my drawers and takes my daggers. I jump out of my bed and walk quickly over to her, I go to take my daggers back but she hits my hand away. I wince at the sharp pain from her rings.
"Who are you people?" I demand, the one woman who took my daggers grabs the book I was reading from my hands, and her eyes widen as she takes in the title. She shows the other women who actually gasp at the title. I cross my arms and wait for them to answer me.
"We are here to teach you how to be a proper lady." The eldest one says.
"I am a proper lady." I point out, knowing full well I am not a proper lady. The women look me up and down in unison and one clicks her tongue in disapproval.
"Your lessons will begin in one hour in the dining hall." The one with white hair says to me, and they abruptly leave my rooms. I stare at the door they walk out of in confusion. Too much is happening in such a short amount of time and I do not even know what to think about.
"You would not happen to have another copy of that book, would you?" I quietly ask the house, I smile as another copy appears on my dresser. I pick up the book and spend the next hour reading instead of dealing with the problems in my life. I look at the clock and see that an hour has passed already and I swore to myself I would not go to these so called lessons those bland women spoke about--but curiosity gets the best of me and I leave my room to begin walking to the dining hall. I find the one woman with her brown hair in a bun and a grey dress already sitting--waiting for me. She slowly looks at me and then to the clock.
"You are five minutes late. A lady is never late." She stands from her seat and pulls up a chair, I reluctantly go to sit in it.
"Apparently I am not a lady yet." I say as I sit in the chair. She grabs my shoulders and pulls them back so I sit up straight. "Ouch." I mumble.
"A lady never complains." She says, and I make a face at her. Did this woman have any personality?
"What is your name?" I ask her.
"A lady never speaks out of turn." She repeats herself--again.
"Oh by the gods--" She smacks my hand with a wooden stick and I flinch and pull my hand back, she hits my back next since I began slouching again. "Would you stop that?"
She lifts her wooden stick up again and I quickly grab it and chuck it out of the nearest window, "I said stop that."
She looks at me with her eyebrows raised as another wooden stick appears in her hand and she whacks me with it again. I sit back in my seat and keep my mouth shut, if it was any other time I would have fought back and tried with my entire being to escape--but this was a good escape and break from the actual hell my life has turned into. That is the only reason why I keep my mouth shut and listen to this plain woman ramble on about what forks and spoons to use when eating different courses of meals. Every time I would get an answer wrong--she would whack me with that gods damned wooden stick.
"Now eat." The brown haired lady says, I look to her in surprise and look to all the food at on the table. I try to remember my lessons from when I was little but I can hardly remember them. I reach for a piece of bread but she whacks my hand.
"You must fill tea in each of your guests cup before doing anything else." She says to me.
"There are no guests." I mumble and she whacks me again.
"Do not mumble. A lady never mumbles."
If she says lady one more time--I think I might throw her out the window next. She snaps her fingers and about ten people in elegant gowns and suits appear at the table. My eyes widen as I notice that they are not real people--but glamor's of people.
"Do not stare--"
"A lady never stares." I look up at her as I cut her off, I expect her to whack me again but she just gives me a small smile as she nods her head for me pour the tea. I pour the tea in the cups and hand it to the glamor's--who actually take the tea and thank me. I then pour myself a cup of tea and am getting ready to blow on it to cool it down when a memory appears in my mind.
"Darling, do not blow on the tea. You must wait for it to cool." My mother says to me.
"But why, mama?" I ask her, tilting my head in confusion.
"A lady must be patient, even with something as small as tea cooling." My mother smiles at me
"What if I do not want to be a lady? What if I want to be a warrior like Rhys?" I pout my face and my mother smiles even more.
"Who says you cannot be both?"
I quickly set the tea cup back down on the table to allow it to cool, I look back to the brown hair lady who is just nodding her head in approval.
"Your hour of training is up, you must report to the ballroom for your next hour of training." The lady says.
"Since we are finished with training, will you tell me your name?" I ask her.
"No." She simply says and elegantly walks away. I stare at her back in shock as she leaves.
I slowly make my way to the ballroom to find the white haired women holding another wooden stick--this was going to be fantastic. Fortunately for me, dancing comes easier than choosing which fork and spoon to hold when I eat. Dancing has always been similar to training in the sparring ring for me. The white haired lady did not praise me for my dancing, but she did not hit me with the stick either. My hour was soon up with her, and when I asked her name she did not tell me either. She had just told me to report back to my rooms for my next lesson. I can assume that I will have four lessons all together considering the four ladies that were in my rooms earlier--or at least I hope so. I do not think I can handle anymore than four versions of the same bland lady.
I reach my rooms with the raven haired older woman, but this time she has two younger women with her. They begin silently doing my hair and makeup as the older woman explains to me what is appropriate for a lady to wear and what is not. She then talks about what hairstyles I am allowed to wear before I am wed and then after I am wed.
I stop listening to her as I drift on in my own thoughts and I have to stop myself from drifting off to sleep as she continues speaking. They finally finish working on me after an hour and I stop myself from flinching at my face and hair. My face has been made so pale using powder, and the red on my lips and cheeks make me look like a doll, and my hair--
I frown at myself as I take in the very tight curls that make my hair appear so short it now goes up to my shoulders. I give a small smile to the girls and thank them. I once again try asking the older women her name but she just walks out--telling me to report to the library for my next lesson. I try for about ten minutes to remove the corset and dress they have put me in but I cannot reach the back. I finally give up and begin making my way to the library--my heart tugs at the thought of my old friend I might see there.
That thought slowly goes away as I see the red hair lady with grey streaks in her hair sitting at a table waiting for me. She motions for me to sit down in front of paper and a quil and I do. I notice she is not holding a wooden stick like the other ladies.
"Write your name." She says to me. I oblige and write my name on the paper. When I am finished, she turns the paper around to read it and nods her head.
"That is all for today." She says.
"What?"
"You obviously know how to write, so why waste an hour of both of our time?" She asks with one eyebrow raised.
"The others--"
"Oh, child, you will soon learn I am not like the others." She says with a raspy laugh. "I know you are a curious child, so you can use this hour to do as you like."
"What is your name?" I ask once more.
"Sigrun." She replies with a small smile and begins to walk away. The name sounds familiar, but I cannot quite remember where I heard her name from before. I shake the thought from my head as I my thoughts from earlier consume me.
Azriel is my mate.
It did not make sense--well it kind of did considering we were both shadowsingers. I never thought of myself as deserving as someone as amazing as him. We had known each other for decades so why now is the mating bond just clicking into place? Why were we chosen to be mates out of everyone in this world. I go find the nearest librarian.
"I need some books on mates." I say to him, and he barely even acknowledges me but points to a section of the library where I find a few books about mates and the mating bond. I soon get frustrated when every single book begins to say The Cauldron chooses everybodys mates before they are even born, some books even mention how The Mother decides. I slam the books shut and begin my descent into the deep pit of the library.
Welcome back. Bryaxis says into my mind.
"I am sorry I came down here without an invitation--I just need--"
I know what you need, and I know that you know where to find it.
"The temple?" I ask.
You believe in the old gods--not many do but you will find books pertaining to the mating bond that fit in with your beliefs.
"How did you know?" I narrow my eyes at the figure in front of me.
You are practically screaming about it in your mind. A small chuckle comes from him.
"I thought we talked about going into my mind. How would you like it if I went into your mind?" I point out.
It would not be an issue because you would never be able to. Bryaxis retorts.
"Thank you, for confirming what I need. And thank you for the warning before I went to Hybern." I say to him.
I am sorry they did that to them--to you. Something like sorrow fills his voice in my head, I rarely ever feel emotion from Bryaxis but when I do it is absolutely horrifying.
"I will be okay." I lie, and he knows I am lying but I say it anyway, "I will speak to you soon."
I walk back up the stairs and begin making my way through the halls to another set of stairs that go down into the depths of the House of Wind.
Where the Temple of the Goddess Nyx awaits me.