Kingdoms Rise

Nine

The sun was barely rising over the mountain outside Mae's window, through the curtains she had closed the night before. She squinted at the rising brightness. There were two figures standing at the either side of the window. Cerridwyn and Aderyn.

Mae groaned and turned away burying her face into her pillow and under her blankets.

Someone nudged her shoulder with a gentle hand. Mae peeked out from under the blankets. A slight female stood before her. She was shorter than Mae by almost half a foot. She had a gentle face, warm and kind and... full of light, Mae realized.

Mae didn't recognize her like she had the twins. She couldn't recall seeing her in that throne room from all those weeks ago.

"If you don't get up now we'll never be ready for the Harvest Moon festival," her voice sounded just like her face looked: warm, gentle.

Aderyn walked around to the other side of Mae's bed as she sat up. "Mae this is Madelaine, the Royal Healer."

"Royal Healer?" Mae asked, looking to Madelaine, whose blush nearly matched her hair.

"That's her official title, though, she hates when people introduce her as such," she through a playful smile to the healer.

"Royal just sounds so... empowering," she looked almost disgusted by the title.

"Are you the highest ranking healer?"

"Yes. I started at a younger age than most and excelled greatly in a short time. I learned more than what our tutors knew." There was no shortage of pride in her tone despite her earlier disgust.

Mae didn't say anything more as she dragged herself out of bed. Harvest Moon was something that was celebrated by the mortals on Edyssa. It was also her birthday—the Fall Equinox. She doubted anyone in this room knew of that, and she didn't feel inclined to share.

"Your bath is drawn already," Cerridwyn informed her, walking to Mae's vanity. "Bathe fast, there are five people in this room who need to prepare for the Festival."

Mae looked around her room and only counted four people. "Five?"

Cerridwyn smiled, "Gwendolyn will be joining us, handmaids do attend the Festival."

Mae gave a subtle dip of her chin and walked into the bathing room. She went to the mirror. Shit, she thought when she beheld her reflection. Ignoring what she saw, Mae stripped and sank into the warm water.

She sat there for long moments, ignoring Cerridwyn's command to hurry. Mae thought about what she would have doing if the events had never happened.

It would have been a day of merry singing and sweet bread, Tegan and her parents. Gifts she would have refused but then yield and accepted them.

She sighed and submerged her entire body beneath the water's surface. Mae came back up with a soundless intake of breath.

Scrubbing at her skin with a rosemary scented bar of soap, Mae took her time washing her body. With the same scented shampoo, she took longer washing her hair.

She wrapped herself in a towel and took another one to dry her hair as she walked out of the bathing room.

"You surely took your time," Cerridwyn moaned. She was sprawled across the chaise lounge that she moved next the vanity, which Aderyn occupied.