The Untamed

Chapter 10: Royal Blood

   The temporary room was so comfortable that Clyde didn’t want to wake up from it the next morning despite the jackhammering on his door. It was like an alarm clock that just wouldn’t quit. At last, red-eyed, he crawled out of bed and began planning all the horrible things he was about to say to Anya for waking him up so early.

   It was a girl alright, but it was not Anya. Clyde opened his mouth, but he caught himself just in time. The girl was smiling at him and she held some robes in her arms. Her blood red hair fell as braids some two feet from her head and she wore a kind smile. She extended the robes to him and Clyde nervously took it. There was a glittering, gold tag that had two letters on it: GK.

   “There’s a shower in your room,” she said politely. Her blue eyes seemed to twinkle. “If you can wash up and come out as quickly as you can, we will be happy to serve you breakfast.”

   Of course, Clyde didn’t know much about this place yet, but he half-expected the Kin to do this kind of job. He simply nodded and her face blushed as she stepped back. He closed the door and looked at the robes. It was not really his kind of thing, but he would probably look much better in the robe than in his pajamas.

   So he washed up. The water was perfect – not too hot and not too cold. Then he brushed his teeth for the first time in days and he tried on the robe. At first, he looked ridiculous so he took them off and stuffed his PJs back on. But after comparing the two, he figured he looked ridiculous either way, so he may as well be polite and keep the robe on.

   It was black and much too large for him. The sleeves covered his hands entirely and from the bottom, it dropped below his knees, hardly showing off the black pants he was wearing. It took a lot of time for him to finally get out of his room because of the hesitation, but when he did, he was astounded to see Anya.

   For a change, she looked great in what she wore.

   Her robe suited her perfectly – like the green on leaves. Hers was red with shiny rhinestones on it. She smiled at Clyde’s awe and flung her hair at him and he was immediately spellbound. He noticed the same, gold letters (GK) this time engraved on one of the sleeves. 

   “She said to go down to the second floor,” said Anya.

   “You sure?”

   She nodded. They began their descent and kept count of the floors they passed. They had only gone down three flights before Clyde grew exhausted. As they walked, Clyde noticed a series of air conditioning switches – at least one per floor.

   “They have the technology for air conditioning,” said Clyde, “but they seriously don’t have a single elevator?”

   “She came to me first,” said Anya, completely ignoring him. “Gave me my things and told me what to do.”

   “I don’t know why they couldn’t just send a Kin…”

   “Maybe so that I can have some idea of what’s going on for a change?”

   Sure enough, the second floor was its own restaurant. Many people and Kin were in there and they were all eating. The two of them looked around, wondering where they were supposed to sit.

   But within moments, every head turned to face them – particularly Clyde. He couldn’t believe this. No matter where he was – whether in California or in Endnark – people always seemed to be staring. Luckily, the familiar girl came jogging in their direction. She took Anya by the hand and urged Clyde to follow.

   She led them to a table in a corner. Then she swooped down and in a whisper only Clyde could hear said, “You’re wearing it backwards…”