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Songs and Baths
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2020-09-10 12:45:12I awoke to the sound of yodeling music. It was both loud and abrasive.
"Gah!" I shouted, hastily covering my ears with a soft down pillow. I had found a rather comfortable position to succumb into sleep yet again when my soft silken shields were forcibly taken away.
"Wake up now, Princess Elly!" Regina called out from above me in a sing-song way. "Do you like the mountain people's song?"
I groaned, and forced myself to wake. "I'd like to say that I appreciate the tunes, but I would be committing the sin of lying."
Regina laughed jovially. "Oh, the mountain nomad's tunes can be a bit of an earful at first, but the upbeat melodies do get you hopping around!"
I chuckled myself, staring at how the woman, probably older than my gnarly old mentor, danced around to the loud music. I stared at the windows and realized I had slept through the dawn. It was probably mid-morning. This surprised me because I had already set my body clock to wake at the sun's first peeking.
"You slept well?" the yellow-haired woman asked politely.
"Too well, perhaps." I stretched my body once I had sadly gotten off the bed. "I haven't slept this much in a long time."
"Huh," she uttered. "I thought children like you need all the sleep you can get. Well, I wouldn't know since I hadn't been a child in a very long time."
I laughed with slight unease. 'How old is this woman?'
"Oh, the child gets enough of her sleep," I heard my mentor's voice from the gaps of the bedroom door. "I apologize for interrupting, but I believe we must hurry if we are to start this day on time."
Regina hummed in approval, and hastily brought me into a large, marble room with lovely columns and a life-sized fountain with a statue at the center. I looked at the marble figure of a woman with a fish's body where her legs should have been. "Mermaid?"
"Ho!" Regina said. "You know your foreign mythologies, Princess Elly?"
"Hardly," I replied bashfully. "I've only read a few stories at the palace library."
"I would imagine the great Kingdom of Saule would have quite an extensive collection," she muttered, as though lost in thought. "Do you read a lot, Princess?"
"Well, I won't say I specifically like it," I said. "But one could only do so much as a princess stuck in a castle."
She laughed. "You must've been bored out of your mind. Oh, but a little birdie told me you had your own ways to have fun."
I couldn't really reply to the ambiguous words, so I only smiled back. Then, as though finally remembering why she had brought me into the room, she ordered around the floating stars with a flick of her hand, and soon they brought in towels, soaps, and all sorts of things. I heard the flow of gushing water.
"Come, let's have a bath." Regina smiled excitedly and approached me cautiously, like one would do to a shaking rabbit.
I belatedly understood what she meant, and I was already trapped in her arms. Soon, I had undergone the great shame of having myself undressed by a mere acquaintance. Although I was used to the maids assisting me in my bath, it was a wholly different story to be assisted by a fair lady, especially by a Second Magician (whatever that was)!
I could only sigh as the said mage excitedly washed me down in a nearby pool of water I hadn't noticed before. She was surprisingly gentle, and although a bit clumsy at times, she had gone through her duty with an almost mother-like tenderness.
I wondered...
"Do you have children of your own, Regina?" I asked.
Her soap-filled hands froze. Her head bent down so I couldn't see her face. "... Once."
I waited patiently, but that was it. She didn't speak about it anymore, and I didn't dare intrude any more to her privacy. Instead, the marble room echoed with her mellow song.
'Far away and long ago,
Swiftly ebbing by
The glow of sapphire in her hair
Subtly transcends time'
'Her voice was smooth
as churned out milk
And skin as soft
as widow's silk'
'But sapphire gems or ruby stones
can only last for so
For this a tale told millennia past
So far away and long ago.'
I was soon patted dry by fluffy towels, both by floating stars and by the singing woman. I was soon covered by too many towels that all that was left of me to see were my eyes and nose.
"Ish a bit twoo shtuffy!" I shouted out, muffled by the layers.
In answer to my complaint, I was released by the towel attack and instead, quickly found my face covered with another piece of cloth.
"Wear that, Princess." I heard Regina's odd voice. "I will be waiting for you at the dining hall."
I quickly tried to pull the cloth from my face, but it wouldn't budge. When I heard the click of the door, I finally got the piece to stop sticking to my face. I held it in front of me. "You little-!"
But I soon saw the clothing, and was shaken by how wonderful it was. Silk and blue and quite simple. But beautiful nonetheless.
I stared at it in awe, soon forgetting Regina's weird behavior.
"But..." I started once I had worn it and admired my reflection on the water. "Wasn't I suppose to be a boy?"
Looking down, it definitely was a dress. And my short hair stood out while I sported the feminine attire. I looked like a cross between a young boy and a dainty young girl.
"... It should be alright, right?"
I went outside the marble room and slipped my feet into a similar colored pair of shoes right outside the door. Wondering what we would be doing while I was dressed like this, I headed towards the dining hall.
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