Grey Souls

The Smile

Chapter Sixteen

"She installed fear and awe with a single smile."

The steam raising up from the water made Daga sigh in pleasure. The extremely hot water turned her snowy skin an angry red, the water so hot it was almost scolding and burning her but she gave not a single care, she relished in the feeling of the pain that soothed into pleasure.

She stared blankly at the roof of the bathhouse and thought of all that had passed since she had arrived back to her homeland. She had already reconnected with her adopted father and her eldest child, her most devoted and beloved Uncle and her aunt.

Her adopted father had followed her instructions precisely, he told her father and step mother that he brought exciting news and gifts from the land afar and that they needed to plan a feast for their closest to attend. Daga knew her father had sent word for the oldest of her brothers and his wife to return to celebrate such an occasion.

Daga knew the feast would happen today and she knew that her beloved brother bear had returned two days prior along with Thorunn and their warriors. The blood haired warrior had spent the week of her return spending nearly all of her time deep in the woods getting used to the lands of her home again with her beloved son at her side, she had already begun her teachings to him and he devoured everything she could show him. Ubbe had remained faithful in his belief of his mother's strength and powers and had loyally awaited her return to him with baited breath. Ubbe was quickly growing into a fine young man and Daga knew that the little Prince would grow to rule one day just as his sisters would, her children would one day take over the rule of her empire and make it even greater then she or her brothers would see it.

Daga stood from the wash tub and stepped out to dry off and prim her hair and skin, after her routine was finished she fixed her long hair by letting it hang loosely down her back and over her shoulders with small braids in random sections and took the top layer and pulled it back into a larger braid from her face.

She dressed in an outfit that would surely shower her with the attention of all those in attendance. The dress was fit for otherworldly royalty but never once took away her essence of how dangerous and how powerful a warrior she was, the dress was sleeveless but had thick leather straps resting on her shoulders. The top of the dress was black leather that pushed up her bosom and showcased a nice amount of cleavage there were softer fabrics that came down on either side and crisscrossed and wrapped around her stomach ending at the skirt of the dress that was also a flowing inky black fabric that hung down touching the ground but had a large spilt on the left side putting her left leg on full display as she walked.

She wore all of her jewelry on full display and used a black charcoal paint to draw otherworldly symbols upon her bare flesh, she lined her eyes with the charcoal and drew a black line on either side of her bottom lip from each corner of her mouth going straight down her neck only stopping at the tops of her breasts.

Her fierce blue eyes glowed brilliantly encased in the bottomless black lining her eyes just enough to make the color stand out all the more vividly.

Once she was done she dipped all of her fingers in the black mixture and let it dry nicely before adding the final touch, she quietly walked over to the stool beside her bed area and removed the pure white cloth that laid over something upon the stool. A brilliant white light flickered from the metal laying under the cloth, Daga stared at the beautiful shining metal arm cuff and picked it up revealing that it was actually a set of matching cuffs that she clipped securely around each of her upper arms.

She grabbed the large black wolf's fur cloak and fastened it around her before pulling the hood up. All that could be seen of the warrior princess was the fiercely glowing cobalt blue eyes as she walked like a living shadow out of the room her three canine companions following dutifully behind her.