The Cinders of Dezu

5th: Girl in a High Tower (3)

Raina eventually ate her breakfast, though she spent a whole lot of time inspecting it. It was mostly made up of what she supposed were different types of fruits and veggies. The hot dish seemed a lot like candied yams only it had a granular quality to it. Another was a veggie that was crunchy like a carrot but tasted something like a cross between a green apple and a stalk of celery. She was given a pitcher water as well as a pot of some kind of tea paired with a small bowl of sugar. The tea was very florally. She decided it tasted like how a daisy smelled with none of the bitterness of chewing on one like she had done as a smaller child.

When she was finished, she began exploring her room. She noticed a door that she had previously assumed was a closet and opened it. Inside she found a sink and a toilet. They were a bit different from ones she had seen though, as they weren't the customary white porcelain but were made of some other material. She decided to use the bathroom. The sink and toilet worked like normal with running water. The only difference was the sink there didn't seem to have a hot water option. But there was even a bar of soap next to it that didn't smell like much of anything.

After a few hours had passed she heard a knock at the door again. Raina quickly closed the dresser drawer she had been rifling through. In walked Caddock with another tray. Raina smiled.

"Hello!"

"Good afternoon, Miss."

"You can call me Raina," she said with her hands behind her back, making sure the drawer was closed.

"Miss, Raina," he nodded as he placed the tray on the nightstand.

He removed the old picked apart tray with its dirty dishes from her bed.

"How has your day been?" she asked.

Caddock paused and looked at her.

"It's been good... thank you."

Raina smiled.

"Was breakfast enjoyable?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

"Well, I hope this is even more to your liking."

Caddock smiled as he walked out with the dirty tray. As he was closing the door Raina spoke.

"Can I eat outside?"

Caddock stopped and looked at her through the cracked door.

"Or at like a dinner table or something?"

Caddock cleared his throat.

"Um, the king has asked that you be kept here in this room for your stay. He says it's a big castle and he wouldn't want you to get lost while he's trying to find your relatives."

Raina frowned.

"Oh..."

Caddock looked at her with a blank expression and then turned and let the door shut behind him. Raina heard the click of the lock.

She turned back around to the dresser. She opened the drawer again. In it were clothes. Clothes that she found seemed to be for a girl just around her size. They were different than things she had seen before though. None of them had any tags, which she wasn't used to. But they were also in a style she hadn't really seen in real life. They looked a lot like the kinds of clothes she had seen regular people wear in stories of knights and princesses, although she had found neither a suit of armor nor a ballroom dress.

She began laying out her favorites on the bed before checking out what Caddock had placed on her nightstand. She received another yellow fruit with the blue insides. She was excited about that. But when she lifted the lid of the largest dish on the tray she almost jumped back.