Stories Of Adyssia

Lupa

"Wake up! They're here!" shouted Evanora excitedly as she jilted open the firmly shut door and scampered into her older sister's room.

"Go-away..." groaned Lupa groggily, rolling over in her bed and pulling her thick fur blanket over her curly, black hair. It was her thirteenth birthday and all the citizens, including nine members from the Melasian Council had come to pay tribute to the king's daughter in a show of respect. And as was custom across Adyssia's magical kingdoms, (whenever there was a royal thirteenth birthday), today was the day that they would test her to see if she were indeed the long awaited Gate Keeper.

"Mother says it's rude to keep people waiting," replied Evanora quickly, while clambering up next to Lupa and beginning to leap up and down over the wobbly bed.

"Mother says a lot of things!" Lupa suddenly shouted, springing forth from beneath her blanket and grabbing her younger sister playfully by the ankles- she fell onto the cascading paillasse and giggled uncontrollably while Lupa tickled away at her thin arms.

"NOOO-ST-STOP," managed Evanora in between wild chuckles.

"What's going on in here?" said a gentle, disembodied voice coming from the doorway. The girls looked up and saw their mother somehow already in the room and leaning against the wall next to the ajar door, with a beaming smile etched onto her face. She had kind, brown eyes that resembled Lupa's, bouncing curly hair reaching down to her shoulders and radiant, sand-brown skin that glowed in the candlelight.

"Nothing... just-getting... ready for. The-ceremony," replied Lupa, struggling to keep a straight face as Evanora determinedly reached for her armpits in retaliation. The pair wrestled back onto the bed, which let out both a squashing and a squishing sound.

"That's enough... let's not keep the Council waiting..." their mother finally intervened, swooping in and plucking Evanora off of her sister, "...what is this?" she asked curiously, prodding Lupa's bed with her free hand, while the other arm held Evanora up.

"Eleron and I replaced the straws with water," said Lupa while maneuvering off the bed and onto the cold marble floor.

"Really? I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Neither had I..." admitted Lupa, now in front of a tall, oval-shaped mirror angled in the corner of the room, "...but he said it would feel like sleeping on a cloud and he was right! Maybe we can bring the beds to the rest of Adyssia."

Her mother and Evanora glanced at each other and chuckled quietly.

"I don't think that the rest of Melas would be willing to try sleeping on water, let alone the rest of Adyssia. Perhaps another time, in another world," said the queen, carefully rounding back to the door with her youngest still held up in her arms. "Dress quickly while I take this one downstairs," she bounced Evanora into the air playfully.

"Bye Lupa!" she shouted excitedly, flinging both of her arms around their mother's shoulders and hugging her tightly.

Lupa watched as the two left her room and shut the door behind them, and turning to linger back at the young witch in the mirror, she began plucking at her curly, long hair. Her reflection gazed back at her through eager, brown eyes which trailed down along the silk night dress flowing over her slim body.

"What to wear... what to wear..." she thought to herself as she swung away from the mirror and faced the dim, candle-lit room. Large and rectangular, it had a thin purple veil leading out onto the balcony, and glistening, gold curtains drawn over the windows, while inside, a long, oaken-carved closet stretched along half of the adjacent wall, and a dressing table clattered with quills, bracelets, two journals and five wands, was positioned on the far side of the room- with a crystal chandelier dangling high above from an enchanted ceiling. Hers showed five of her favourite ancient witches clad in black, leather robes, with each one wielding a wand menacingly; jets of electric blasts shooting out from the tips while their bodies floated inanimately across a dark, cloudy sky.