𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 || 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚✔

Chapter 4: The Meeting

A torch burned in the air and floated in front of her. Three more torches whirled in to lead the way. Roseanne followed the invisible handmaidens, and they walked her through a great hallway into a bath chamber.

The chamber hosted an indoor pool, full of fragrant warm water. It was surrounded by golden pillars supporting the vaulted roof.

Then the mortal princess felt gentle hands on her body. They began to untie her wedding dress. Other handmaidens tied back her flowing golden hair. Once she was naked, Roseanne could hear a soft chorus of gasps. Her beauty astounded even those celestial beings.

Standing in all her bare glory, Roseanne felt her face redden, but as she could not see anyone, the embarrassment wasn't so bad. The princess stepped into the streaming waters of the sunken bath. She moved with wonderful grace. The water came up to her calves, then her knees, then her thighs, and last, the soft tenderness of her body.

Her handmaidens helped washing her back and beautiful limbs. The warm flower-scented water eased her fatigue, and Roseanne began to let her mind rest. After finishing her bath, fleecy towels came floating over to wrap themselves around her body. Her hair loosened from its bun, and a jeweled comb gently ran through her silken lock. Then a flask of perfumed oil began to anoint it.

Once again, the princess was led through the empty palace towards a large dining hall. It was beautifully furnished. There were carpeted floors, mosaic walls, and decorative moldings with velvet tapestries, paintings, and ornamental statuary.

At the center was a long wooden table. A chair scooted itself for her to sit. After Roseanne settled down, various plates flew in. They were brought not by human hands but seemingly unsupported on a gust of wind. The dishes of gold and goblets of crystal shells hovered before her until they were placed on the table. Delicious food steamed on the plates and the goblets filled with purple wine as rich as nectar.

There was a civet of hare, a quarter of lamb which had been a night in salt, a stuffed goose with garlic, and a loin of veal with red onions and honey. Roseanne looked on in amazement as another myriad of dishes came to fill the table. Dessert was brought in; gilt sugar-plums, and pomegranate seeds, then an enormous pie, surmounted with smaller pies, which formed a crown. The crust of the large pies was gold-gilded all round and frosted at the top. The serving-maids were invisible, and she could merely hear their words emerging from thin air.

Then she was urged to have her rich feast while a singer entered and performed unseen, and another musician strummed a lyre with harmonious melodies. A tuneful choir struck her ears with pleasant songs. And Roseanne began to enjoy the meal whole-heartedly.

The virgin maiden had tasted the most wonderful delicacies like no others. She had drunk the richest wine that might as well serve the gods. In the back of her mind, she knew she wasn't in a dream and neither was she hallucinating. She could never imagine anything as magnificent as this.

At last, the feast and entertainment came to an end, and the advent of darkness induced Roseanne to retire to bed.

The invisible maids brought her to her beautiful chamber and closed the golden doors behind her. Roseanne looked around in admiration. Nothing imaginable was missing. She was brought up as a princess but she hadn't seen anything so delightful like this place. The maiden stepped onto the terrace which looked out over the valleys and the moonlit sea. And she began to wonder when the winged monster, who was her arranged partner, shall appear.

The thought of her capture caused a tremor in her heart, but she knew she had already accepted this doomed fate.

The night grew deep and dark. Roseanne was lying in her soft silken bed when a genial sound met her ears. Since she was utterly alone, she trembled and shuddered, fearing for her virginity, and she dreaded the unknown presence more than any other menace.