Eclipsis: Water

Chapter 17

"Second in command?" Ondine repeated.

She did not want to be second in command to her father. She did not want to have anything associated to do with Lune at all.

"I'll let you sleep on it," King Calder replied dismissively, a small hint of annoyance in his tone. He sat down at the desk. "Tomorrow's a big day, little wave. Make sure you get some rest." He then gestured to Junto, who rushed forwards at once.

"Come with me, miss." Junto said with a click of his beak, one scaly arm outstretched in the direction of the silver-patterned double doors.

Ondine looked at her father, but he was no longer paying attention to either of them. His face was angled towards a few sheets of documents on the desk in front of him, and he was writing something down on them very quickly.

She turned back to Junto, who was still waiting. With a small sigh, she made her way towards the double doors, and Junto scrambled forwards to get ahead of her, grasping one of the silver swirled doorknobs in his hand. He pulled it open for her, averting his eyes as she walked through, back into the corridor.

"Where are we going?" She asked, and he looked up at her as he shut the door behind them.

"I'll be escorting you to your room now, miss Ondine," The kappa answered. "Follow me."

He led her back through the way that Tikaani and Tai had taken her, back past the numerous rooms. Once again, every guard that they passed paid no attention to either of them. Once they had reached the foyer with the two winding staircases, Junto took the right one, looking back to make sure that Ondine was still following. She did, one hand running over the cold bannister in case she lost her footing.

The stairs were made of ebony wood and were quite slippery, as though they had just been polished. Ondine wouldn't ever have guessed that Lune kept its castle looking presentable; she had expected it to be practically falling apart. Perhaps this was due to her father being King.

She stayed close to Junto as they ascended floor after floor. If it weren't for her continuous training she knew she would've been completely out of breath by the time they had reached the 5th floor. Junto sure was, one hand clutching at a stitch in his side as he wheezed his way up to the landing. She didn't ask him if he wanted to take a break. Even though he hadn't done anything in particular to make her dislike him, he was still a Moon and therefore not worthy of kindness or trust.

Ondine had a very brief thought about picking him up and throwing him back down the stairs in an attempt to escape. He didn't look as though he weighed much - he was significantly shorter than her despite nymphs being rather small themselves. But what would she do after she threw him to his death? There were guards on every floor, the winged ones hanging in seats from the ceiling. They probably wouldn't kill her; they were bound to know that she was their King's only child. But would that stop them from hurting her? Even if they didn't, she might be locked away somewhere so she could never try to escape again.

So, wordlessly, she continued following Junto away from the stairs until he stopped abruptly in front of one of the rooms. It was a very short walk away from the landing - only about 20 seconds. She wondered if her father had chosen this particular room so that the guards would more easily be able to keep an eye on her. The wood of the door was mahogany, a rich, deep brown that reminded Ondine of chocolate. There were no patterns on it like the doors to Calder's study, but the doorknob was a silver crescent moon.

Junto opened it for her, beckoning her through. The first thought Ondine had as she stepped into the room was that it was ridiculously big. It was extravagant and beautiful yes, but surely no one needed their bedroom to be this spacious? It just made Ondine feel all the more alone.

"I'll leave you to get comfortable, miss," Junto said from behind her. He hadn't stepped into the room with her. "There is an ensuite bathroom, so there's no need to leave your room. If you need anything, pull that right there," He pointed a yellowy-green finger to a black tassel hanging just by the doorway. "And a guard will come and assist you. There is clean clothes in the wardrobe. I will personally come and collect you for breakfast in the morning. I hope your stay here is restful."

Ondine focused on one particular sentence: "there's no need to leave your room". Sure, he had said it in the context of the bathroom, but she knew what he really meant. She merely nodded to show she understood what he had just said. He inclined his head, the water in his bowl-like dent sloshing once again, then turned and left.

Ondine closed the door quickly, careful to not let it slam, then ran over to the windows, opening one of them at once. The cold wind whipped through her short hair, pressing icy fingers to the skin that was exposed. She felt herself immediately begin to shiver, but she pushed the coldness aside, instead looking for a possible escape route. But alas, it was pointless. She was on the 5th floor, therefore far too high up to attempt to climb down without the risk of grievously injuring herself, or worse. She couldn't help but think her father had put her on this floor intentionally.

Perhaps if she got to a lower floor, it would be easier to climb down? She squinted through the darkness of the night, trying to work out if there were any foot or hand holdings in the wall, but she couldn't see anything. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she wiped them angrily away.

I'm going to find another way out, She thought to herself firmly.

She wondered what Alara would do in this situation. First thing as soon as she woke up, before Junto fetched her for breakfast, she would look to see if there was any way to scale the walls of the castle. The light from the sun would make it a lot easier to see. She nodded repeatedly, trying to reassure herself.

She pulled her head back out of the gap made by the window, and closed it, shutting off the freezing air. She wished that she was back in Sol, where it was always warm and sunny. The clothes she was wearing now were not adequate enough in any way to keep her warm here. She was just thankful that they had heating in the castle.

She suddenly remembered what Junto had said about there being clean clothes in the wardrobe, and strode over to it to pull it open. It was the same chocolate mahogany as the door. Inside, there were hangers upon hangers of different types of clothes, alongside others in piles above the horizontal pole.

Ondine touched the item hung directly in front of her. It was incredibly soft to the touch, made of some sort of black fur-like fabric. She took it off its hangar, surprised at the heavy weight to it. She was used to clothes being light and flowy.

It was some sort of hooded outdoor cloak; when she slipped her arms through and pulled it over her shoulders, she was immediately blanketed in warmth. It was long, nearly to the floor, and fit her perfectly. She stared at herself in the mirror fitted into one of the wardrobe doors. She looked incredibly regal, but she didn't like the look of it on her. She had never worn something like this before.

She scoffed, placing it back on its hanger. I don't need to like the way it looks. I now have something to wear outside, she thought to herself.

She focused on looking for something to sleep in, a material that felt as though it could be put in water without being damaged, which she found in one of the neatly-folded piles. Pleased with herself, she walked to the bathroom to shower. She scrubbed all the fear and dirt off of her with soap that smelled like purple water lilies, hoping that the hot water she rinsed herself off with would give her some strength and bravery for the coming day.

When she had changed into the new clothes, Ondine stepped into the iridescent silver bathtub, far more spacious than the one she had at home, and tried to calm her mind enough to go to sleep in the warm water.