Darkefyre (On Hold)

Four

We reached the castle just as the afternoon prayer bell rang soulfully through the court yard. Servants were bustling about, with baskets at their hips, either full with fresh produce from the gardens, or full with wet laundry. Trails of water droplets were everywhere, I made sure to dodge a big puddle near the kitchen entrance, I didn't want my leather shoes to be spoiled. They were not cheap to repair.

I unclasped my cloak and handed it to Shae.

"This is where we part ways, for now." I hugged her tightly, relieving her of the burden of parcels and that book. Shae nodded and took off into the kitchens, no doubt a teensy bit late for kitchen duty. I popped my head round the door and waved over the kitchen master.

"Shae's been with me. If I hear you berate her in anyway for this, your fingers will not be making pies, understand?" The kitchen master paled considerably and went back to work. I waited as he welcomed Shae with open arms, then I left.

I traipsed up the endless amount of stairs to my room, unlocked the door, drifted inside and quickly closed it again. I put the fabric parcels on the tea table, and shoved the book under my pillow until later. I needed to change right away. I was late for my training with Sigurdr, the sword master and lord comander of the troops.

I stepped out of the dress, folded it quickly, took off my necklace and went to a separate; much smaller brown set of drawers. A t-bar with a leather jerkin sat on it, simple leather pauldrons and vambraces slinged over the arms. I opened the drawer and stood into a pair of loose tan brown breeches and tied those at the waist. Next I put on the leather jerkin, and tied it off at the sides. The pauldrons came next and sat snugly on my slim shoulders. I tied the strapping across my chest and behind my back, buckling it closed. The vambraces were next, but unlike the pauldrons, these were slightly more decorated but not by much. A raised up , eight pointed star sat in the middle, surrounded by vines and a bevelled edge. Three metal spikes stood in a row at the sides. I often used them to deflect the weapons Sigurdr might fling at me. I pulled the leather straps tight with my teeth and tied them.

I went to the standing glass and tied my hair. High into a ponytail, then wrapped the hair around itself several times before grabbing a piece of leather and a triangular bronze pin. I wrapped the leather three quarters round the base of the ponytail, then shoved the pin through two holes on either side; firmly trapping my hair in place. I jumped into my flat soled boots, and left my room as if I was being persued by fire. I raced down the stairs, almost tripping; and arrived just as Sigurdr stood up from his ritualistic meditation.

His robes were loose too, but he wore more armour, and it was highly decorated with beasts that I knew were not from Ansmere. His silver hair was also similarly tied like mine, but I knew as soon as he left teaching me, his hair would fall only to his shoulders. His shoulders were extremely broad, but it was all muscle from many decades of fighting, training and rowing. His face was weathered and the whole right side of it was dragged down with white ragged scars. His eyes were the darker brown of someone from Nishaii, a quiet coastal island further south east of here.

He walked with a deliberate gait, nothing about Sigurdr was lazy, but he had the grace and fluidity of bamboo; he stopped when he reached the furhest side of a raised circle. He glared at me, drew a thin flexible sword about three fingers width wide by about twelve hands long. The was hilt very ornate and twice as thick as Sigurdr's thumb, and pointed it at the end of the cirlce closest to me. I nodded and bowed.

Sigurdr dipped into a wide legged stance, knees slightly bent and pointed to his chest, then mine; telling me I should mirror his stance. I obeyed. Sigurdr looked at me and frowned slightly, shaking his head before he walked to me. He straightened my spine with deft hands, and pushed the flat of his blade behind my knee to show my stance was not wide enough. I followed through and he smiled. Well the left side of his face did.

We spent all lesson going through various stances. A couple I already knew, but Sigurdr was never happy. He came over several times and would hit parts of my legs, arms and back with the flat of his blade. It hurt. I was sure I would have several deep bruises by tomorrow morning. The rest, were more taxing, often requiring me to stretch one leg or the other further out over my knee. My muscles would be sore too; but by the very end I was sweating profusely and Sigurdr smiled. He bowed to me and motioned for me to leave. I walked back to my room; wiping the sweat from my brow as I went.

I got to my room and paused. I sniffed my hair and followed through by making the mistake of sniffing my armpit. I pulled away rather quickly; not wanting to repeat the meeting of hard sweat greeting my nose again. I shuddered and divested myself of clothes, heading towards the huge stone bath that took up the corner of my room behind a red almost opaque curtain. I turned to the bucket sitting on one of the three steps into bath and sighed. It was empty.

"Let me get some water for you..." I jumped when Shae spoke. I turned and almost berated her but faltered.

"Please do," my hands drifted to cover what parts of me they could.

Shae stepped forward, swooping up the bucket and a second further away; and left my room. I waited as the air got a bit colder and decided I would not risk being seen by any uninvited servants. I clambered into the bath not so elegantly and almost jumped back out when the cold stone touched my thighs.

"Keldur's curses,"I screamed.

The secret door to the bath chamber opened, and out stepped Shae and Saffy each carrying two steaming buckets of water. They shuffled forward as quick as possible and poured the water into the stone basin. I reached over to a shelf and grabbed a glass flask filled with sandlewood oil, lathering it all over my arms and Shae poured some water over it. I sighed happily.

"Just going back down ter the kitchens to get some more," she held up the empty bucket. I nodded. The water already skimmed my belly button, but more was appreciated. I led back in the water, smiling as it lapped at my shoulders. I closed my eyes and dipped my head back, submerging my hair completely. I heard the latch on the secret door go, and sat up. More water. Shae and Saffy poured in more water, I held up one hand to pause. I reached over to the little shelf again, this time withdrawing a smaller glass flask full of jasmine oil. I ran it through the length of my hair and let it sit for a bit. I let my hand fall; and a cascade of water enveloped me. All traces of the oil were gone. I stood up and let Shae put on a clean dress on my damp skin.

This one was a bright orange and had a gently sloping, rounded neck, with very wide sleeves and a straight skirt. She passed me a dark deer skin belt to go around my waist, and left my hair unbound. It reached all the way to the bottom of my back. Shae stepped forward and twisted my hair slightly on both sides before securing them with a dragonfly pin.

"Perfect for dinner with your father and his wife." Shae tapped my shoulder.

"As much as people think he is my father, he is not my blood," I hissed. Shae abruptly stepped back and let her hands fall.

"You are right," her bottom lip trembled.

"Yes, I am. Don't ever forget it." I softened my voice.