Playing the Game

Chapter 27: Boys Will Be Girls

I was left in the care of palace servants to be cleaned, dressed, and transformed back into the young woman I spent months hiding.

They were bustling around as they ripped my rags away, leaving me fully exposed to the cool morning air. For modesties sake I tried to cover up my feminine areas with my arms, but after three months of wasting away in the cells I was no match for their minimal strength. I was a pathetic weakling; a shadow of the resilient gladiator I had become. The servants grabbed me by the wrists to extend my limbs, scrubbing away all the dirt and dried blood with scratchy sponges. When they got to my back, I screeched in pain. This caused them to ease up a bit, but they had to follow orders at any cost. I couldn't blame them for it. After witnessing how badly the Emperor treated his own son, I could only imagine what he'd do to these girls if they didn't do their jobs. I pressed my eyelids shut and bit the insides of my cheeks to divert the agony.

When they were finally done, I was covered from head to toe in smelling oils and powders to dilute my tanned, poverty stricken skin. My face was painted to bring out my features and cover up all signs of malnourishment and sleep deprivation. Undergarments were tossed at me as the girls debated over the best dress to parade me in, throwing the rejected pieces onto the lounge chair beside the wardrobe. They finally settled on a navy blue satin gown with silver trim. It certainly wasn't what I would have chosen- far too luxurious and nefarious looking- but it was the most logical choice in my current condition. The dress was floor length with full sleeves and a high collared neck. Basically, the garment covered my entire body from prying eyes in case the body powder wasn't enough to mask my hideous injuries. It was also nice to have such a soft fabric hugging my back.

The last thing to take care of was my hair. The servants fussed over the length, not used to working with something so short. Women, both rich and poor, have always had long enough hair for decorative purposes. Having a style that is only truly acceptable for a boy was really throwing them off. After an hour of fidgeting and arguing with no success, one of them finally came up with the idea to fake it. She left the room for a while, instructing the other girls to slick back my hair while she was absent. When she returned, she held a box of decorative hair pieces that were meant to enhance a Lady's style. Many of them incorporated real hair into the design, adding more volume to a woman's look. The servant pulled out three pieces that best matched my colour. She began to artfully pin them each in place until they all looked like one design. Long curls fell from the exquisitely twisted bun that crowned my head. The final product was so mesmerizing and precise that it could fool anyone into believing it was my real hair.

I stood in front of a full length mirror to take in the full picture. It was nearly impossible to recognize myself. I was no longer a boy, and I was far from the girl I used to be. I was an imposter masquerading as a future royal.

There was a knock at the door. One of the servants moved to open it. There was a deep muffled voice coming from the other side that caused my blood to boil and heart to race. I wasn't ready to face Maximus or Decimus just yet, especially since I wasn't even sure I was ready to face the new me.

The servant nodded, "Yes, she is in a presentable state for visitors."

I cursed under my breath. But when I looked back in the mirror to see who was entering the room behind me, I was startled to find Kilgorian at the door.

"Could you girls give us a moment, please?"

They all nodded and shuffled away, lightly closing the door behind them.

The silence that was growing between us was too awkward to bear, so I shrugged my shoulders and spat out, "So what do you think?"

"You look terrible." He answered plainly.