Of Winds And Quakes

31. The Request

Year of the Roses
Floral Season
Alysia's bedroom
Altsas

Alysia

MY EYES FLUTTER OPEN and I stare at the unfamiliar ceiling of white satin curtains. I blink.

Jolting upright, I try to take in my surroundings. Stony walls, dresser, silver chandelier, wooden closet and the bed I'm lying on.

Then all the events of the last few days comes crashing down on me. Sighing, I stretch and release an involuntary yawn.

After the princess had pushed her empty cup into my hand and made a dash for the exit, I had also followed suit and retired for the night. The Duchess had given me a room just next to the Princess'.

I swing my legs off the bed and slip them into the pair of soft slippers made out of a material I can't identify. Just I'm about to cross the room and enter the bathroom to wash up, the large wooden door swings open with a creak.

"Good morning." I recognize the maid from yesterday. Rosa. She gives me a soft smile and closes the door behind her as she steps in. "How did you sleep?"

"Good. Thank you," I reply.

She walks to me and places a hand on my forehead. "You seem ill."

"How is that?" I ask. I feel totally fine. Energized even.

"You look pale," she answers simply. "How did you enjoy the dance yesterday?"

"I didn't stay long at the dance,"I reply. "I felt out of place."

She nods slowly." Homesickness," she diagnoses. "Don't worry, after you are married to the Prince their Majesties may allow you to visit your family someday."

I'm not sticking around long enough to be married to their Prince. Once I'm fully recovered, I'm leaving this place even if it means I'll have to create an earthquake strong enough to bring this palace to the ground.

She starts walking to the bathroom and I follow her closely behind.

"There is no one to visit," I say vaguely. Rosa turns and looks at me with an expression between worry and wary.

"Pardon?" She asks.

"There is no one to visit," I repeat myself," Kintil is in ruins."

Something flickers in her slate coloured eyes. Pity? "Kintil is not in ruins my dear," she bites her lips clearly having a debate inside her. "Only the young were captured. Parents were left alone." And with this, she opens the door of the bathroom and gestures for me to step inside the wooden tub.

I'm about to ask how she knows this but I'm scared that questioning her will only make her more tight-lipped in future. So I let the matter drop.

I obediently climb into the tub and she pulls the skimpy piece of silk off me. She hangs it on a hook next to a towel.

"I can bathe myself, Rosa," I say.

She looks at me like I had spoken in a very foreign tongue.

"Please," I add. She sighs then makes to leave.

"Will you want hot water?" She asks.

"No. Thank you," I reply as politely as I can manage. All my life in Kintil we had always bathed cold water even in the Frigid Season when the water was always icy.

Relieved I'm allowed to take care of my hygienic needs, I fill the tub with water from a drum and proceed to scrub my body with the washcloth I found hanging from the rim of the tub.

I use the perfumes and bath oils sparingly.

Scrutinising my body, I can barely see the bruises and scars beneath the henna. The arrow wound on my arm is almost completely healed. Feeling refreshed and revitalised, I wrap my body in the towel and saunter out to the bedroom.

I'm not totally surprised when I see Rosa in my bedroom. She smiles at me as I enter and continues straightening the bedsheet of the four-poster bed.

"Wear that. It's a lovely colour don't you think?" she points at a teal coloured dress which hangs from a hook.

Wordlessly, I pick the dress off the hook and discover a piece of lacy material hung behind the dress. It's a skimpy pair of  knickers in pastel peach colour. I slip it on and pull the dress over my head.

"Did you rub on some oil?" Rosa asks scolding.

Feeling silly, I remove the dress and grab the first bottle my hand touches. I sniff the bottle. Coconut oil. I rub it generously onto my skin before wearing the dress again.

The dress is a breezy ensemble with thin straps and a flare skirt. It's the simplest dress so far and I'm very grateful for it.

"Now for your hair,"Rosa says. "Sit."

I slump into the chair and stare vaguely into the dresser mirror.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping the Princess and not me?" I dare to ask.

"She's already dressed up," Rosa says without skipping a beat.

"I slept later than the Princess?" Aren't princesses supposed to enjoy endless hours of beauty sleep?

"She didn't sleep a wink." Rosa begins to comb at my nest of hair. I didn't bother to wear one of those fancy silk caps I saw in the closet.

"Why?" I wince when a knot of my hair gets caught in the teeth of the comb.

"I have no idea." Rosa rubs in some fluffy white hair cream that smells like cake and I know I'll go by the day reeking of coconut and cake.

"Alysia?"

"Hm?"

"Lysia needs a... Sister. She has been really lonely. You see, being the princess she has never left the Palace and she only interacts with people during a dance or social gathering. Lysia has no friends, she was really excited when she heard about you," Rosa pauses and looks into the mirror. "Do me a favour and keep a sister to her. I'd ask you to be a friend but she needs more than that."

My hair has been neatly pulled into a chignon at my nape. I stare back at the middle-aged woman at my back. She's almost the same age as my mother, she somewhat reminds me of my mother; soulful eyes and charisma.

"I'll try, Rosa."