“Oh my Maker!” I squealed when we stepped into the large space. Floor-to-ceiling white jade stone encompassed the room, with a giant copper soaker tub in the middle. Hot curls of steam rose to the ceiling, and a lemon-fresh scent reached my nose. The wallpaper was a gold and purple floral pattern with jade stone border. It was the most beautiful bathhouse I’d ever seen.
“I could get used to this,” I told Narine, and started to undress.
“Well, don’t, if you don’t take this competition seriously,” she snapped under her breath.
I’d clearly upset her with my harsh words before. I tried to patch up what damage I’d already done. “The king is a fine man that most women would be blessed to marry.”
Again that glare, one that made me no longer want her in my presence. This was not going well. “I can bathe alone,” I murmured, and with a curt nod she left the room, shutting the door a little more forcefully than was appropriate.
Holy Hades, this woman was a nightmare! Would it be mean of me to request a new maid from Annabeth? I should be lucky they’d given me a maid at all, but who wanted to be around someone who glared and slammed doors all day? I mean, I had said that I didn’t want to marry the king, but was that so bad? Would she marry him if he ripped her from her village and threw her with a bunch of other women in a competition? It was barbaric and wrong. I would marry for love. End of story.
After stripping naked, I dunked into the bath, letting a sigh escape me at the comfort of the warm clean water. I was still angry at Narine, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin the bath. That was three hot baths in a row. I should probably ask for a warm bucket of water next time so I didn’t get used to such luxuries.
I scrubbed quickly, making sure to get the healing wound at my back, which I could now barely feel. I wanted to hurry, not wanting to soak in the man’s blood that I’d killed. When I was finished, I got out and donned the clean blue cotton dress that was folded on the chair and the golden tinted leather sandals that were a half size too big. I looked like I was going for a stroll in a garden. How a proper lady should dress, I supposed.
There was a hairbrush, scented perfume, and makeup on the counter that I wanted nothing to do with. I wouldn’t know how to put on makeup. My mother never bought it or wore it, but I did brush my long hair; otherwise it would knot up. I’d had a moment to think now about how ungrateful I must have seemed to Narine about not wanting to marry the king. In her mind, even being considered would be a great honor, and I needed to be more grateful. He was in fact paying five hundred jade coins just to have me here for a moon’s time. I decided to go in search of Narine to apologize and possibly explain my side of things.
It was not easy to be ripped from your home into a new land with an expectation that you might marry a stranger and carry his children—even if that stranger was your king. Not to mention that my mother had warned me he might kill me if he detected my magic which had yet to present itself. I had good reason for saying what I said, but she didn’t know that.
I stepped out of the washroom and through a hallway before I came out into the living room. I was about to open my mouth and call out Narine’s name when I heard her voice coming from the front entryway.
“My girl won’t stop crying, I don’t know what to do,” an unfamiliar voice said.
“My girl doesn’t even want to be here or get married. So I can kiss my prize money goodbye,” Narine called back to her.
Prize money?
“Oh, Narine, I’m so sorry. I know how much you needed that money to pay for your little sister’s wedding.”
Narine growled, “Doesn’t matter anyway. No matter how well we do their hair and makeup, and teach them to be proper, the king will pick the most powerful one anyway.”
“Annabeth gave us both Cinder girls. She must hate us.”
Narine snickered. I’d heard enough.
I cleared my throat loudly and Narine jumped three feet into the air, slamming the front door shut and facing me with her head hung low in shame.
“My lady! There’s no excuse for what you heard. I’m so sorry and—”
I waved her off. “What prize money? Is that why you were so upset with me? You get some prize money if the king picks me?”
She swallowed hard, her brown eyes meeting mine, and nodded. “As an encouragement for the maids to do our best in preparing you to meet the king and get through the competition, Annabeth has promised the winning maid one hundred jade coins prize money.”