by Sandra Elsa
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Even though Captain Torel had said she could sleep in, she awoke early the next morning.
With her first stirring, Conall shifted off her feet but remained at the end of the bed. She got up and added some wood to the fire, then got dressed. She tried to do her hair as Tessa had the day before, but in frustration at the unwieldy mass she braided it as usual and doubled it up to catch it with the golden barrette making it the tiniest bit more acceptable than just hanging.
She was sure Tessa would disapprove but it would get her across the Guard compound without looking like a complete bumpkin. She was going to have to get Tessa to teach her how to do something with her hair. As a slave she had always kept it braided so it didn't interfere with her work. Traveling with Johann she had always kept it either under a scarf or blowing in the wind. Since she signed up with the Guard, she had returned to keeping it braided, she had never had to learn how to do anything with it. Yet another thing she was inept at.
A contented sigh from the bed brought her the fleeting thought, "I like it loose, and blowing in the wind.”
"So do I,” she agreed. “It gives me a feeling of freedom.”
By the time she had finished the futile attempt of doing something with her copper locks, it was time to meet Tessa. She hurried across the Guards compound and in the door she and Tessa entered the day before. Outside, a mass of soldiers headed to the mess hall. On this side of the door, the hallway was quiet.
She didn’t wait long before Tessa came bouncing down the hallway, entirely too cheerful for this time of the morning. Tessa took one look at Bella’s hair and dragged her off to her room to fix it.
“This will be quick, but after we eat we’re going to be in here until you get it right.”
Two hours later she could do a fair job of putting her hair up and had been inundated with other details of Court etiquette. Then it was her turn. She dragged Tessa off to the salle as Captain Torel had requested. Tessa looked curious when they passed the stable but she went along willingly. Captain Torel had brought her a shield and helm. She proved to be an enthusiastic, if unskilled, weapons trainee.