Siren

Siren - Chapter 18

Clara snuggled into the warmth of the covers. It was a relief to be away from everyone else. Mallach was angry, Raven was silent, and Octavious was brooding. Men, she thought. The softness of the material felt like heaven against her naked body. The vaulted ceilings impressed her, she thought, as she snaked her hands through her hair and pulled upwards. There was an artisan glass window to the right of her, covered in frost, the outside like a painting behind. There was a large rug that surrounded the bed, the rest of the floor a smooth black stone, almost like the one in the streets outside. It was warm to the touch of her bare feet as she got up to get a drink from the small table in the far corner of the room, nearest the fireplace.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Hold on a moment!" she said loudly, racing to grab a nightgown she had received as a gift from her father. It was a creamy white, satin to the touch. It hugged her curves and her cleavage peeked out from behind the low cut v neck.

She had never thought of seducing anyone, rather, it made her feel beautiful. She cautiously went to the door and opened it. A middle aged woman stood in front of her, a brush in one hand, soap in the other, a towel draped over her forearm. She was slightly large, but Clara found it an endearing quality. She looked like a mother to all.

"Lord Jupiter sent me to bathe ye n’ style yer hair." she said loudly. Clara raised an eyebrow.

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

"Ye be a guest," replied the woman, "and ‘aye am to attend to ye. Lord Jupiter makes certain all his guests are well taken care o’."

Clara stared a moment before replying.

"I would appreciate the help with my hair, but I can bathe myself, thank you."

The older woman nodded, and gave her the towel and soap.

"I’ll return in ‘oer an hour to do yer hair." She bobbed a curtsy, and left.

She looked around for a washbasin after the woman had left, but did not find one. Instead, she spied a door that she had failed to notice before. What she saw, she had never seen in her life before. She was so used to taking baths in a washbasin meant for clothes that she stopped short to take in the sight of gleaming porcelain.

The room was small enough to house a tub, and a shower that protruded from the top of the wall. It glinted in the sunlight, a window casting shadows of a sleeping peach tree. Wallpaper with pastel flowers on it lined the top of the walls, a trim of whitewashed wood and a darker wood lined the cabinets and paneling below. The floor was made of delicate tile, ornately covered with hand painted images of the sea.

She stood for a moment, and then two, before dropping the towel and soap and rushing throughout the bedroom, hoping she could catch her caretaker before she got too far away.

Having rid himself of his guards, Jupiter skulked the halls of his castle. He was not made king, but that did not bother him. He would succeed the throne regardless of his mother's reign. He raked his fingers through his silver hair, his thoughts jumbled. Why had Mallach and his brood come seeking passage through to the endless sea? Why did they seek the Edge of the World? Did he not know that no one had returned from there, ever?