Frozen Flames

Chapter Eleven

    When I get out of the tub, the maid uses magic to dry my hair. Sarah then came in the room to help me get ready as well as do my hair up so it would go with the dress. 

       “If anyone asks who you are, don’t tell them.” Sarah says as she pushes a few crystal-studded bobby pins into my hair. 

I frown at her in the mirror. “Why can’t I tell them my name?” 

      She meets my eye in the reflection. “Don’t. Your life right now is on the line.” 

Twisting around, I look up at her. “I know that.” I say. “The King wants me dead.” 

       Sarah shakes her head. “That’s not all.” She puts her hands on my bare shoulders and twists me about around to face the mirror. 

      “Then what else is there to worry about?” I ask her when she doesn’t say anything else. 

     Sarah, again, doesn’t say anything. Instead she continues fixing my hair and then goes to the other side of the room for my shoes. 

They’re white shoes, and flats. 

    I frown a little bit at Sarah and take them from her while slipping the shoes on my feet. 

     “Just don’t tell anyone your name.” She says quietly. “Your identity is at the upmost importance right now.” She reaches onto the vanity for a pink and white beaded mask that goes with the dress. 

     I pull it on over my eyes and look at my own reflection. My pale freckled skin looked almost non-existent with the dress on. 

And for a second, I almost believed that I wasn’t myself; that I wasn’t the girl staring back in the mirror. 

      I stand up and turn to Sarah. “Thank you for helping me get ready.” 

      Sarah shook her head. “Drake said he wanted to see you before you went down to the ballroom. So go there and then I’ll see you later on, alright?” 

     I nod my head and leave the room with Sarah. 

I can hear people talking as they enter the castle. Voices echoing down the halls and getting louder, but I didn’t see anyone while walking down to the hospital wing. 

     “Drake?” I ask walking inside. “Sarah said you wanted to see me.” 

Drake looks up from his desk. On top a bag sits with multiple things in there. He closes the bag and moves it off the desk before I can get a good look of everything that’s in there. 

      “Are you leaving?” I ask him. 

Drake shakes his head. “No.” He pulls out a syringe with clear colored liquid in it. 

    I took a step back. “What is that?” 

Drake’s eyes were hard. “I’m not going to hurt you, Eria. Just hold still.” He walked closer and took my arm in his hand.

     I felt the needle on my skin and flinched back. 

Drake’s grip tightened on my arm. “Eria, I don’t want to inject it in the wrong place.” 

     “Tell me what it is first.” I say, yanking my arm away and rubbing the bare skin. 

Drake sighed. “It’s an addition to your costume.” He says. “Also it’s supposed to help you regain your grip on your own magic.” 

      “You mean so I can use it again if I need to?” I asked. 

Drake nodded his head. “Yes. Someone tried to take your magic away when you were born. But they didn’t do it correctly. That’s why you have trouble with your magic as it is.”