(Pic: Hattie)
Mailee felt as if she'd barely closed her eyes when a hand jabbed her side. She groaned, wincing as the drapes were thrown back to welcome the morning sun.
"Wake up, dearie." A little surprisingly, it was Hattie. Mailee shimmered beneath the blankets, pulling them over her head, but Hattie grabbed the covers and threw them to the floor. Her tank-top was wrapped around her stomach. Mailee shivered.
"Damn it's cold," she moaned, holding her knees to her body. She didn't care that she had only a few days to beat the other candidates -- she needed sleep. It would have been nice if she knew more about this whole festival so that she could have some time to make a plan; however some reason she couldn't find anything about the festival per say, but one thing was for sure everything here was kept hidden from the outside worlds.
"Get up, it's already late morning." Hattie ripped the pillows from beneath Mailee's head. "Now you're wasting my time to clean." If the old lady noticed how much skin she was showing, she didn't react. Grumbling, Mailee slithered to the edge of the bed, dangling a hand over the edge to touch the floor.
"Fetch my slippers," she mumbled. "The Floor is ice cold." Hattie gave a small hiss, but Mailee ignored her as she got to her feet. Mailee staggered and sliced into the chair in front of the desk, where an enormous breakfast lay out on the desk. Hattie jerked her chin toward the food.
"Eat up, dearie. The other candidates started the hunt at day break already." Whatever nerves Mailee felt, she kept them hidden from her as Mailee gave an exaggerated sigh and collapsed into a chair with the grace of a large beast. Mailee scanned the desk. Yet now than last night, there were small stacks of items already neatly cleaned by Hattie. Mailee stabbed her fork into a piece of sausage. While Hattie was moving around cleaning, she asked, "Why, might I ask, are you so tired?" Mailee gulped down the rest of the red wine and wiped her mouth on a napkin cloth.
"I was up most of the night reading," she said. "I wanted to find out what I can for my challenges. But it seems that I was able to only find out is a little bit so far." But that was only half the true, because what she really was doing was trying to find information a out this place and the true meaning of this festival. Hattie shook her head in disbelief at the young woman and paused in her cleaning to stare at Mailee.
"Dearie, I may not be able to tell you much. However, I can only give you and the other candidates one clue on that list. Choose wisely, my dearie, for it could be the only difference between life or death." She gave Hattie a simple smile and took a bite of ham.
"So what you're saying is that I can ask any clue to one challenge?" Hattie dipped her head in confirmation.
"Yes, dearie."
"I want to know about the tallest point of this place." Mailee waved her hand. "Can you tell me where that would be?" She spooned porridge into her mouth, found it to be bland, and scooped five helping mounds of brown sugar into the gray mess. It took Hattie a moment to get her answer, but when she did it wasn't what Mailee thought it would be.
"The tallest point would be the center of the palace or manson. However, looks can be deceiving at first glance." Mailee smiled slowly disappeared in disappointment. Hattie just continued to clean as she was almost finished. "I see that's not the answer you were hoping for, dearie. Don't worry about it. Well I am finished here. Good luck, break a leg!" Hattie responded to Mailee silence and walked out of her chambers.
"Carson a tha mi a 'dèanamh seo a-rithist? (Why am I doing this again?)" Mailee gave a blank stare at Nooroo and asked not really looking for an answer, but Nooroo have her one anyways. Nooroo have a confused shrug. "Yeah mi cuideachd. (Yeah me too.)"
Suddenly not hungry, she pushed away her bowl of porridge. "Bu chòir dhomh èideadh fhaighinn. (I should get dress.)" Mailee rose and drummer her chin before pulling clothes out of her bag.
Her corset silver breast plate armor covers her to her waist and is bound on each side of her waist. The sleeves of her red shirt was a comfortable fit and reach down to just above her hands, they were rolled up to her elbows out of the way.
The her shirt had a wide, rectangular neckline which reveals part of the noble necklace worn below it and she wore a dark cloth belt, which is held together by a small belt buckle. The cloth belt is almost entirely a functional addition.
Her pants are simple and incredibly wide and reach down to her heel boots. The shoes are made from a rare hide, but are otherwise quite simple. She also put her long hair into a braided long-time to keep it out of her face.
As she was checking her self in the mirror one last time before walking out her door to try an find the first challenge. "Gheibh sinn seo a-null le, Nooroo. Cha toil leam an àite seo, mar as luaithe a nì sinn seo as luaithe as urrainn dhuinn a dhol air ais. (Let's get this over with, Nooroo. I don't like this place, the faster we do this the faster we can go back.) Nooroo have her a nod as they walked down the silent halls.
YOU ARE READING
The Mirror Guardian
Random((Book One of The Guardian Series.)) She was the Flame of Light craving peace... They say she is powerful. They say she is the Flame of Life. They say she instill fear into the hearts of many. It is even said that the Devil himself is afraid of her...
