Kaya

Part 1. Welcome home

I walked up the stairs to the third floor of the house, the only thing to break the silence being my humming.

I entered the room at the end of the stairs and closed the door behind me, starting my routine with turning on the fairylights.The room didn't have any proper lighting, it was always dark and slightly uncanny, for outsiders at least. He liked it that way though, so it would stay that way. He sure loved to show off.
I opened the roof window and reached out with my hand into the cold of night. The stars were covered by thick rain clouds, though the moon peeked through every once in a while. Everytime I caught a glance at it, it seemed to hold me in its grasp before disappearing behind the clouds again. I lclosed my eyes and relished in the feeling of the cool air on my skin.
But it was short lived as I remembered he would arrive any moment now.

After closing the window I went into position. From the end of  the rug 5 steps back with my hands behind my back. I had done this an uncountable amount of times, every time he came back home.
Now I waited.

I inspected myself in the big wall mirror opposite of me. I pulled the black crystal on my choker back to the middle. With a few  strokes, I got out most wrinkles in my skirt. My bun was messy but I didn't have time to re-do my hair. As a last touch I quickly tucked in my top underneath the skirt  and put my hands back in position.

I kept waiting. Growing irritated, I checked the time.
He was late.
There was nothing I could do but to continue waiting in silence. The only sound was the rain pattering on the roof windows and my deep sigh.
It was only the two of us who lived here, so I was used to being alone for a few days or even weeks at a time. Well, I did have company sometimes but he better not find out about that.
I had zoned out, staring at the rug for a few minutes until a little spark of light finally appeared and brought my focus back. More and more sparks formed until a long, oval shaped portal lit up the room.

"Welcome home Master." The light vanished as I looked at the wooden flooring.

"Thank you Kaya. I hope you've taken good care of the house."

With the mentioning of my name I looked back up at him. "As always."

He turned around and I  swiftly took his coat off his shoulders to hang it up. It was reeking of that damned incense smell again... and there  was a hint of Iron.
"..Where have you been?" I asked as I turned to face him.

He met my gaze, "The usual. More you  needn't know." He stated while tapping on the bright purple jewel hanging around his neck. I knew this meant he had done some sort of ritual to replenish his magic, something about offerings to some god I think? He‘d never tell me the specifics anway.

"Now, I would like to take a bath."
That was fancy for „Prepare me a bath Kaya.“, which I did.

After a bit of time he came out of the steaming bathroom and I closed the door behind him.
"Any unusual occurrences while I was gone?" He asked as he sat down on his bed.

"No, the last two days were completely ordinary."
Of course I didn't tell him about the girl I had over last night, he‘d be furious. That was his first rule for when he wasn't here: 'No visitors and especially not over night!' I chuckled on the inside. If only he knew.

"Tomorrow you're coming with me. We're going to the past, during King Philip's reign. I expect you to dress and act appropriately."

Did I hear that right? "Wait, you're letting me go with you?"

"Yes. Is that so unusual?" He quipped back.

„Wel,l yeah. Last time was at least a year ago, why the change?“

„Would you rather stay behind?“

„No. Gets boring here...“ Whatever he was doing surely would be more exciting than sitting around and watching TV all day.

„Then off to bed. Good night.“ He brushed me off just like that.
„...night.“ Without another word I closed the door and went to my room.

My Alarm woke me at 7 am the next morning.
In my black dress, I walked upstairs to the portal room. Sylen was making his last preparations when he saw me.
"I said dress appropriately!" He complained.

"They wore things like this back then!"

He let out an angry huff. "I'd make you sew a different one if we still had time! But it'll have to do."
He turned to the wall  mirror and raised his hands before looking at me from the corner of his  eyes, wanting me to step behind him. Once I was out of the way, he created a long oval of light which filled with little sparks. He turned around and took my hand, pulling me through the portal.

Complete silence in a void of white surrounded us, then we fell.While Master Sylen landed on his feet, I had a painful landing on the hard ground.

"Ugh! I will never get used to this!"