"We do not have any clothing in the colors of Pani Rastra, M'Lady."
"Oh, erm, that' alright. I will wear the clothes of Ot Ulut for now." I answered. I wasn't sure of the importance or significance of the colors. By wearing the colors of a different country, would I then be disgracing my own? Judging by the way the maids looked to each other nervously after I said this, I assumed it was probably a big deal.
Amah had disappeared since my bath, and been replaced by three young maids who were very persistent about getting me dressed. Even though -especially after all the food they fed me- I would much rather have gone straight to bed in the nude and slept until my fatigue passed.
The maids fitted a tight black top over my torso. One that was so tight it doubled as a bra and held my breasts in place. Under that, they wrapped a long red skirt around my hips. The skirt stopped just at my ankles and was embroidered with gold thread, matching a similar pattern that had been on Altan's vest.
"M'Lady," one of the maids spoke as she wrapped a long piece of fabric around my waist in order to hold the skirt in place. The hem of it sat a mere inch away from the bottom of the shirt, leaving a tiny bit of my stomach visible.
"Yes," I answered.
"May I ask how you and His Grace met?" She looked nervously to the nearest maid as she spoke. "All of Kiziljer is curious how His Grace actually managed to talk a Water Mage into coming back with him."
Her sentence struck me as odd, and I wasn't quite sure of the best way to respond. In all honesty, I wasn't sure how a true Water Mage would have answered. "I-," I cleared my throat, "His Grace saved my life."
The maids all paused at my response. Even the one who stood behind me delicately brushing the tangles out of my curls and patting them dry with a towel stopped at the words.
"That," the maid who had asked the question smiled, "That is very romantic, M'lady. Surely you must have fallen in love with him immediately."
"I suppose." I agreed. Although that seemed far from the truth.
In truth, I hadn't thought at all about how I felt about Altan. Sure, he was handsome, and there was certainly a sexiness about him. The dimple that appeared on his cheek when he smiled was cute, and he seemed like a kind person, from the small amount of time I had spent with him. He certainly could have let me die in the desert, he had no obligation to keep me alive. But all of this gave me no reason to think that I LOVED him. Love was such a strong word.
"We have finished dressing you, M'Lady." One of the maids spoke and woke me from my thoughts. My body felt tired, and I kept finding myself zoned out. It was probably from the lack of sleep.
"Would you like to see yourself?"
As this question was asked, a male servant brought a full-length mirror into the room and leaned it against an empty wall.
I suddenly found myself eager to get to the mirror. I had been wondering what I looked like and oh boy....
I Looked, well, not like myself. A small gasp escaped my lips as I caught sight of my reflection.
"Do you not like the clothing?" a maid asked at my surprise. "It is very simple, but it's all we have right now. The Duke has already requested that some of the finest clothing from both Pani Rastra and the Capital of Ot Ulut be brought in for you. But for now, this is all we have."
"No." I shook my head, "This is fine." I smiled at the maid then nearly startled at the reflection of myself smiling. "It's very comfortable, thank you."
The maids all bowed at my words, but I simply stared at myself in awe. I had never looked at my reflection before and seen such beauty. I had always been very negative about my own appearance. And now, as the reflection followed my every movement, I still found it hard to believe it was myself.
Deep red hair; almost a maroon color sat in spirals on my shoulders and matched the red of the skirt I was wearing. My skin was light brown, nearly the same color as the sand dunes I had walked in yesterday. Was my skin naturally this color? Or my hair? On earth, I had never seen this combination of features before. Red hair was usually associated with fair-skinned people. And on top of that, my eyes were crystal blue; I couldn't tell if they were a light blue or a dark blue, then when I got closer to the mirror I nearly gasped at what I saw. My eyes were like the rippling waves of the ocean: dark underneath, translucent in some areas, and white in others, as if the tips of the waves were reflecting sunlight. The blue in my eyes moved ever-so-slightly as if there was an entire ocean hidden behind them.
It was no wonder that Altan knew immediately that I was a Water Mage.
"Is everything alright, M'Lady?" a maid asked.
I probably looked insane, staring so closely at my own reflection and gawking like I'd never seen it. I cleared my throat and turned from the mirror. Thinking about how later I would have to take a look at my naked body and see if the rest of me was as attractive as my face. "Yes, everything is perfectly fine. I just didn't realize how good I would look in the colors of Ot Ulut."
It seemed that all three of the maid's eyes widened at this statement, and I wondered if I shouldn't have said it.
"Erm, so actually." I attempted to change the subject, "I was wondering if I could have a tour of the palace?"
The Maids looked at each other briefly then one bowed, "I will get Amah, she will give the tour." she turned and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is the Dinning Hall." Amah said, and we walked into another room that was as elaborate as the last. "This is where you will share a meal with His Grace each evening, along with whoever the Duke invites to the meal."
I nodded and looked around the room. The tour of the Palace so far had been exhausting in more ways than one. First of all, it was huge. My legs and feet were apparently not in the best shape because of my hike yesterday, and the palace was four stories high and spread out over a whole li.
~however big a 'li' was.~
Secondly, there was so much to look at and take in that it felt as if my brain was on overload. It felt as if I was being given a tour of an ancient museum. Especially with the small history lesson that came with nearly every room and how past Dukes had decorated the rooms and for what reason they had decided to do so. Not to mention, the detail of each room was immaculate. Nearly the entire building was made with white marble and golden trim. The only splashes of color was the light that shined through the ever-present and ever-intricate stained glass windows. Which, at the sight of nearly everyone, Amah had stopped to tell me the story behind the picture depicted in the stained glass.
The stained glass that was in this room was high on the wall and extended the length of the long dinning hall. The art depicted in the stained glass was that of a man at the center of a table surrounded by women in different colored clothing.
"This window," Amah began, and I sneezed suddenly as she began speaking. She paused and looked at me as I quickly rubbed my nose and apologized.
~Crap, I'm not being very lady-like.~ I thought as I saw the Amah's lip curl as if in disgust at my mannerisms.
"This window, " She began again, and I acted interested. "Shows the 23rd Duke: Sampson. He was known for his good looks." she paused and looked at me, "Not unlike our current Duke." she looked back to the window, "Here you can see his many concubines. He had at least five from each country."
My head snapped to attention at her words. "Concubines?"
~They take concubines in this world? Does that mean I'm going to have sister wives?~
I shivered at the thought. Not that I was judging this idea. There were people on earth who still had many wives and practiced polygamy. But not where I was from. And it didn't particularly sound like something I wanted to partake in...
Heck, there was enough drama on "the Bachelor" when a man dated a bunch of girls at the same time. Imagine marrying them all...
~Maybe The Dukes don't take concubines anymore. She did say this was the 23rd Duke. that was a long time ago; I know because there had been a different stained glass window that depicted the 47th Duke doing something with his sword -I already couldn't remember- and that meant that Altan could possibly be anywhere from the 48th to the 100th duke.~
"Is there a problem?" Amah asked..
"Erm..." I couldn't act too stupid about this world... But then again, I was technically from another country. "Do the Dukes of Ot Ulut still take concubines, even now?"
Amah's eyebrow raised at me. "Do they no longer take concubines in Pani Rastra?"
~Crap, I asked a bad question.~
"Uhh,"
"Duke Altan, is expected to have at least three wives and ten concubines by this age." Amah spoke, and I didn't know if I should have felt relieved that I did not have to answer her question or feel freaked out about what she just said. "But he has taken none yet because he vowed that his first wife would be a Water Mage."
"He did?" I echoed, confused.
~So this is why a Duke would choose to marry a random homeless lady he found in the desert.... Was I really the only Water Mage he could find?~
"His Grace has been away from Kiziljer for the last three years in search of a wife." Amah continued as if answering my own question. "We were all amazed that he found one."
~Was that supposed to be an insult to the Duke? If you ask me, I wouldn't think it should be difficult for the extremely-handsome-courageous-and-sexy Duke to find a woman to marry, Water Mage or not.~
"I see, then it is fortunate that His Grace and I found each other." I said in an attempt to appease Amah.
She eyed me after I said this. "Indeed." then she turned to leave the room and I followed after her, sneezing again as we went.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is the Library." Amah lead me through a pair of doors and I felt like a zombie following behind her. How many chambers, and ballrooms, and studies, and sitting rooms could a palace have? not to mention the tour was no help at this point because there was no way in hell that I would be able to find my way from wherever-we-currently-were, back to my chambers without getting lost and possibly starving to death in the process.
The Library however was interesting. It looked incredibly large and the ceiling-high, white bookshelves looked beautiful cast in the light of yet another stained glass window.
"This window," Amah began, and I cut her off. I really could care less about the story behind this window that looked like yet another Duke holding a large sword.
"What kind of books does this library hold?"
The Amah's words cut short, and she looked at me displeased.
~Maybe I should try a little harder to seem like someone worthy of marrying the Duke. But then again, I don't know the customs of this place. Something that could be considered polite on earth might be extremely offensive here.... basically, I'm hopeless.~
"There are books of all manner in this library." She answered me and a cold shiver went down my spine as she spoke.
"Are there books on history?" I asked.
"Yes."
I smiled and wondered to a long wooden table that had a few stray books laying on it. "What about Geography?" I asked. "I would love to learn more about the great country of Ot Ulut." I tacked on in hope of earning some favor.
"Does M'Lady know how to read?" she asked, and it surprised me.
~Was I not supposed to know that? Should I act like I can't? What if women were not allowed to be educated in this world?~
"Uhh,"
"I apologize, M'Lady." Amah spoke again before I was forced to answer. "You just came across as uneducated."
My mouth moved into a flat line and I decided to ignore her words. "Are there any books on astrology?" I asked, "It's my favorite subject.."
"Astrology?"
"Yes, the study of the stars." I informed her.
"Oh," she put a finger to her chin as she thought, "We might have to ask the librarian... I'm not sure if we do."
"That's alright I-" My words cut off as I began to cough. I covered my mouth and expected it to end quickly, but then I couldn't stop. It felt almost as if I was coughing up all the sand I had inhaled yesterday. and it hurt.
"Lady Azul." Amah rushed to me when I didn't stop. "Are you ill?"
~You know... now that I think about it... I might be. I kept sneezing. My body ached then felt hot and cold, I feel exhausted, and now I can't stop coughing.~
When I couldn't answer because the coughing persisted, Amah began to guide me out of the room. She turned to a male servant as we exited the Library. "Inform His Grace that Lady Azul has fallen ill."