Dreamwalker

15- The Iron Woman

Bell woke up slowly. Aysal's arms were wrapped around her and the blankets were pulled over both of them, almost over their heads to keep the light out. Sometimes her eyes would flutter open, and then close again to snuggle deeper into the mattress. Aysal was finally the first one to sit up and rub her eyes. "Well," she said, stifling a yawn and stretching her arms over her head.

Bell followed suit and sat up with her. "I don't remember taking your dress off," she muttered.

"Oh?" Aysal looked down at her bare chest. "Oh. I don't remember either." She grinned and glanced sideways at Bell. "It was wonderful, though."

"I do remember that." Bell rested her head on Aysal's shoulder. The princess put a hand on her head so she could run her fingers through Bell's matted hair.

"Did you get any sleep?" Aysal asked.

"A little. I had a strange dream though."

"Really? What happened?"

Bell closed her eyes and tried to remember. She was crying in the corner of a sunlit church, hands over her face and knees tucked over to her stomach. One continuous thought ran through her head, you'll never be enough, you'll never be like him, you'll never be enough, you'll never be like him. That was all. Bell could remember the inescapable feeling of hopelessness drowning her in that corner. "I was crying," she finally replied, because the rest wouldn't make a lot of sense.

"That sounds awful. I'm sorry."

Bell shrugged and turned her head so she could kiss Aysal's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, if that helps," she added.

"I certainly hope not."

"I promise it wasn't. Let's get some breakfast, I'm starving again."

"Again? Is your stomach never satisfied?"

Bell laughed and climbed out of bed. She found her dress in a ball next to the near-empty plate of food so she put it on over her head. Smoothing out the wrinkles over her torso and around her legs, she remarked, "how would one find breakfast in this castle?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'll go down to the kitchens and ask for something. Do you want to come with me?"

"Of course I do. I'll never turn down a meal." They left Aysal's bedroom together. Sunlight filled the halls through each rainbow window, making Bell's head pound. She still wasn't sure what she drank the night before but it certainly gave her a hangover.

The kitchens weren't far away. Aysal said there were about four kitchens total in the palace, and Bell believed her. They went to one on the first floor, a steaming room filled with iron stoves, open fires, and full shelves of bottles and spices. Servants bustled around with bowls of this and plates of that. One of them, an old lady who reminded Bell of a round purple prune with a wrinkle for a mouth, stopped Aysal with a hand on her arm and exclaimed, "why, lady Aysal! What are you doing down here? We were going to bring food up to your room!"

"I'm sorry, I was too hungry to wait. Do you have anything we could eat right now?" she asked with an innocent smile.

The prune-woman glowered at her, then gestured to the kitchen, as if to say, "it's all yours anyway," before hurrying away.

Bell rushed forward, weaving in between the workers, to snatch a seed-encrusted loaf of bread and a bottle of something that resembled milk off a table. When she turned around Aysal already had an armful of fruit and an ecstatic grin. They ran back out of the kitchen to sit down in the hall outside. Bell put the bottle of milk on the floor and pointed to some of the fruit in Aysal's lap, which she didn't recognize. "What's all that?"