Center Worlds - Spark

by Tim Morrison

  Chapter 10.2

  A New Dawn, Grand Hall, Tara -3 BA

  Aya woke the next morning to see Mistress Tya sitting on a chair quietly talking to Kya in soft whispers as she brushed the younger girl's hip-length hair. As Aya stirred, Kya looked over, then rose with a smile and walked over to embrace her Lady in a warm hug, kissing her cheek as Aya sat up.

  “How does the new bride-to-be feel this morning?” Mistress Tya asked as she watched Aya stretch and wake up.

  “Am I? Really?” Aya asked, still feeling overwhelmed.

  “Yes, my darling. You are to be the Lord Emperor's Consort and his bride.” Tya said with a lilt to her voice that Aya did not recall ever hearing before either. Tya was happy, happy in a way that made Aya feel even more at ease with all this sudden change.

  “Do we know when the wedding is going to be?” Aya asked nervously.

  “At Zero Bright, on Conjunction, when the Cometary Storm is in full bloom, my girl.” Tya replied as she came to sit on the bed while Kya crawled over and cuddled Aya from behind, lending emotional support to her friend and Lady who was still very much in turmoil.

  “That's only three weeks away.” Aya said, then glanced at Mistress Tya. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  Tya laughed and kissed Aya on the cheek. “No, my girl, not at all. The people need something to celebrate, I have known for some time this is what the Emperor wanted, but like Kya, had been sworn to secrecy so that you would not know.”

  She rose and walked back over to the door, which she pushed open and with a wave, left Kya to help Aya fully wake up and face the day.

  “Kya, I don't want to wear a dress. They are too tight on me.” Aya complained as she sat on the bed, wrapped in a warm robe, frowning at the small pile of dresses that Kya had presented. All of them rejected for one reason or another.

  Kya chuckled. “You are in the palace, my Aya. Would you like to just be naked?”

  Aya grinned at her. “You like to be naked, why can't I?”

  “Because, my darling Aya, You are a Lady of the Court. In fact, you are going to become The Lady of the Court. She does not stroll around the palace bare.” Kya said as she sat on the bed and brushed a few tangles out of Aya's hair with a tsk and a whirl of the hairbrush she always seemed to carry.

  “Do we not have any clothes for me that are looser? I feel bloated today.” Aya said with a sigh.

  “I will see what we can find, my Aya. You may feel bloated, but you look as magnificent as always.” Kya replied, then began to look through the dresses until she pulled one out that had adjustable ties and made some changes to it.

  She pulled the bodice closed over Aya's small breasts and fastened it loosely so that it fit her snugly but not at all constricted. Then as her Lady stood, Kya pulled up a thin slip and then the dress itself to attach and made her look presentable for the day.

  “Well?” Kya asked as Aya looked at herself critically.

  “It'll do.” Aya said as she swished from side to side, letting the dress spiral around her and seeing tiny jewels in it light up as they brushed against each other from the friction.

  Kya smiled, then quickly got herself wrapped up in a similar but not as elegant dress, did her own hair in a long cascaded braid that ended in a velvet bow at her hips, and then she and Aya were ready to be seen by the public.

  Sitting in one of the hundred groves deep within the palace gardens, Aya relaxed, kicking her feet in the central pool and watching the shimmering water change colour as she splashed. It was something that was always different here. There were always sights, sounds, and smells to explore. Never the same thing. This particular grove was her favourite though, and she had spent many days just sitting her, feet in the pool, or sometimes, when she was sure nobody was around, stripping off and getting fully into the pool of glimmerpearl water for a swim, watching the water change colour as she swam. The motion of her body causing the particles of pearl to impact each other and give off tiny coronas of light.

  Kya was always close by, and would get her out in time so nobody saw her bareness, Aya still felt far too proper to be seen naked by anybody else, and would be mortified if people did see her. Kya was sitting under the shade of a beach tree, watching her Lady as Aya relaxed, letting her mull over her own thoughts and keeping a wary eye out for possible interlopers.

  She was quiet as she heard booted footsteps and watched as the Commander came into the grove, Mistress Tya on his arm, they paused just for a moment as they realized there were people there, then Tya pulled gently on his arm, and they walked into the sunlight as Aya looked up with a smile that rapidly faded into surprise.

  “You...” She said, then stopped, eyes wide and mouth open.

  “Aya dear, close your mouth, it's not ladylike.” Tya said with a soft laugh. Aya immediately obeyed and stared at them both wide-eyed.

  “But you're mine ... and you're mine ... and you're both ... but how?” Aya was roiling with confusion now, Kya could feel it rolling off her in waves, and rose to walk over to her, only to have Aya lean over and splash fully into the glimmerpearl water and dive deeply as Tya laughed.

  Aya broke the surface in the middle of the pool, streaming shimmering water off her hair and face as she treaded water, watching her father and her palace mother, definitely intimate and much closer than she expected, which on top of her own engagement, was enough to drive anybody around the bend. She dove under the water again to surface at the fountain, which she climbed onto.

  “Aya, what are you doing” She heard Kya ask, but ignored her, climbing up the statue of Astolla to sit in the cradle that normally flowed with glimmer water when it was turned on. That only happened in the evening, when the lights came on, to fill the pool with the most wonderful colours imaginable. Now, sunslight did that job more than adequately.

  She stood and looked at the three people who in a lot of ways, mattered the most to her. Kya was standing on the rim of the pool, ready to jump in and swim out to, then climb up the statue and get her, but Aya was not in any danger, she knew that. She was free, she was going to be married to the Emperor, Mistress Tya had found somebody, it happened to be her father but that was OK, it still made sense, sort of, kinda.

  Aya unbuttoned the top of the dress and pulled the wet bodice clear, then threw it towards Kya, who caught it with a laugh as her Lady stripped to stand, coated in the glimmerpearl shimmer, sunlight gleaming off her naked form, and then dove into the deep water at the centre of the pool, to finally surface right by her family who were standing near.

  Aya reached up, and Kya leaned down to help her out of the pool, only to find herself pulled into the water with a shriek as Aya laughed at her, then dove with a flash of bare behind to surface a safe distance away from her Lari'Sota who sputtered and got her own bearings.

  Aya cautiously tread water watching Kya warily, until she was sure she wasn't upset, then dove and was up beside her in an instant.

  “What are you doing, My Lady?” Kya said as she felt Aya's nimble fingers at the fasteners of her own dress.

  “Making you comfortable.” Aya replied, then with a few deft manoeuvres, handed a mess of soaked fabric to Mistress Tya who placed it beside the other wet dress that now lay on the stones beside the pool.

  Ryo chuckled, watching his daughter play. “Is this normal?”

  “For these two, most definitely.” Tya replied with a soft laugh, then guided the Commander to sit on one of the soft stone benches that surrounded the pool as the two girls cavorted in the shimmering water.

  They watched Aya and Kya swimming in the chest deep waters of the pool edge for some time, then as Aya lifted herself out of the water to lean on her hands, arms straight as she held herself up, iridescent water streaming off her, Tya had an idea.

  “I know what to do.” She said, getting to her feet and pulling Aya out of the water with a startled squeak to stand, dripping iridescent water on the paving stones.

  Tya looked her over carefully, then with a kiss on th
e cheek, dashed off, dragging the bemused Commander with her, leaving both girls to look perplexed at each other before Kya pulled her Lady back into the warm water with a splash.