by Lance Wilson
It is early in the evening when Neckity is gently nudged awake by her spider. Smiling she gently strokes her pet and with a stretch and yawn she gets out of bed. For a moment she has to think about how to deal with this, she is to go to the feast on the arm of Mellyruna, Mecmed knows a bit of her, he knows that she is blind and that it is Skorm that takes care of her. He however knows nothing of her abilities and visions; Skorm has taken great care to keep this from him. She wonders what Mecmed will think when it is her at this new princes side, probably nothing, however it might also please him. Skorm is close to him and his trusted advisor, well as trusted as anyone can be with Mecmed. Mecmed knows that she is close to Skorm, perhaps by going on the arm of his chosen prince it will show that this prince may also get close to Skorm. Either way she cannot stop it now, she said she would go on his arm, but she also promised that she wouldn’t leave with him. She knows Mecmed and she knows that if this is the day that he will be announced to the world to be a man, then Mecmed will see to it that he is a man, in all ways, and he will have something special waiting in his room. Without care she walks to her closet and lets her fingers drift over the hangers, she knows what is hanging on them by where they are, being blind you have to compensate and make ways of knowing where things are. Carefully she selects a long and elegant dress. The dress is strapless and a magnificent black silk with thin silver threads woven into it so that it makes the silver shimmer and shine, giving it the illusion of the stars in the night sky. It falls just at the center of the calm with a slit up the side only thigh high, nothing too much, she wouldn’t want the court talking and making rumors too soon. She then reaches down and selects a set of knee high boots, they too are black and made of a soft leather, she pulls open a drawer and slowly selects a set of gloves that like everything else are black, the gloves are velvet and pull almost to the elbow. Knowing that this is enough she then takes care of herself, taking out a comb and brush she takes extra care with her hair, making sure that it is soft and silky to the touch. She wonders at first is she should tie it into a tail, or maybe put it up, but in the end she knows that she will be wearing one of her cloaks, so she only lets it hang. The next part of her preparation takes great concentration, slowly see pulls out a small jar and brush, taking off the jar one can see that it is some kind of ruby red paint. Gently she takes the brush and dips it carefully in, listening to the sound to judge how deep in it has gone. She then takes her hand and feels her face, taking care with the lips. Taking a deep breath she puts the brush to her lip sand begins to pain them the same ruby red. She has not done this often but has practiced long and hard and knows that she can depend on her friend to tell her if she has flawed the paint. Once she is sure that she is done she snaps her fingers, she hears the spider move up behind her and tap her twice on the calf, she has done it flawlessly, if she had made a mistake there would only be one tap and she would have to wipe it off and try again. She gently places the brush into a glass of water and puts the lid back on the jar, she then pulls out another jar and opens it, inside is a ball of cotton. Taking out the cotton you can see that under it is a kind of powder, the powder is a soft pink color. Again she takes her hand and feels her face, she has not had to add makeup to her face for some time, and she is not often invited to any kind of celebration. She then pats the cotton ball into the powder and then gently pats her cheeks; this should add only the slightest color to her cheeks, giving her face a more appealing look to it. Again she snaps her fingers and again the spider taps her calf twice, somehow she has gotten lucky today, everything has gone on flawlessly. Gently she puts the cotton ball back into the jar and places both the jars back into the drawer from which they came. She then walks over to the closet one last time and lets her fingers gently slide over the hangers. This time she selects a cloak, it is not one of her work cloaks but one she has liked but had little use for. It is a black silk cloak with silver silk lining and gold knot work embroidering the edges. It was her mother’s cloak; both the outer and inner materials are thin so it is mostly for show and celebration. She knows that left open it will flow nicely as she walks through the crowds and if Mellyruna asks her to dance, she also knows that it will make a great counter to his own cloak, the golden cloak of her fathers guardians, although she is not sure he should wear it. Lastly she reaches to the dresser for her black silk blindfold, she is sure that Skorm would prefer to wear the mask, but the blindfold is what Mellyruna would prefer and she can simply explain to Skorm that she is humoring the young prince. He will not scorn her for that; he might even applauded her for thinking ahead. Besides she did not take all this care on her makeup to just cover it up with some kind of mask. She pulls the blindfold over her eyes and ties it behind her head, this time letting her hair cover the back of it. She then pulls the edges of her hair so that it falls gently over her breasts and clasps the cloak over her shoulder, at first she thinks of pulling the hood up as she always does, but for some reason she feels the need to show herself off and decides to keep the hood down.
To make sure she gets to Mellyruna’s room in time she makes her way through the castle by means of the hidden passageways. It only takes her a few minutes to arrive at an entrance that opens just a few doors down from him. The halls are patrolled carefully during any kind of celebration and she has to be careful when she slips out of the passage but with her heightened hearing she makes it out without being seen with ease. She then makes her way to his door way and taps gently on the door, when there is no answer she taps harder, when for the second time there is no answer she tests the door and finds that it is unlocked. Chuckling at his mistake she only walks in and shuts the door behind her. She is careful as she makes her way across the room using her mystic sight to see the energies around her. The dresser and all other wooden objects glow with a residue of life they once had, it is a faint pastel color and she can see that his room has been fully furnished, in the middle of the bed she can see him, well his essence, a faint outline of a person surrounded by bright golden flames. With her mystic sight she is able to make her way through the room easily and without disturbing anything. Carefully she walks up to the edge of the bed and she feels herself brush up against something, oddly she didn’t see it with her sight, gently she lets her hands drift to the object, no wonder, it is a blade, it must be unused before him. She knows that most weapons tend to absorb the energies of their users, but if a blade is unused then it is a dead object to her sight. Slowly she moves it just out of his reach, she knows of only one reason why he would put it so close, and now that she is about to wake him, the last thing she wants is for him to get jumpy and cut her down. Smiling she places her hand on his shoulder and gently shakes him. At first all she gets is a groan or two and he then rolls so his back is to her. She only chuckles at this and shakes him some more, still gently
“Hmmm, grrrr” Mellyruna only lets this out as he pulls the covers higher so that they not cover his mouth.
“Mellyruna, it is time to wake and prepare for the feast, it is in your honor so you have to be there” She says her voice sweet and soft, she knows how much she hates to be pulled out of a deep sleep and figures she might as well make this easy on him. It is always best to stay on the good side of the prince, a general chosen by Mecmed, besides if she is to use him for her own freedom it is critical that she be his friend.
Like her he lets out a long and powerful yawn and begins to stretch, the outline and shadowing in the golden fire allows her to see his build and tone body, not to mention with her sight the covers and his undergarment hide nothing, but she will not tell him this. He is a strong and powerful build and she has to admit a bit better hung then some men she has seen. But that will not matter, he will not be her lover, no one can be, with that one act she would loose her gift of sight and prophecy and that is something she cannot allow, not tell she is free of Skorm. However, she’s still free to look, and imagine. Once his eyes are open Mellyruna sees that it is Neckity standing in front of him and quickly j
umps in shock pulling the covers close to him.
“Oh yes, you should cover up, you wouldn’t want to show anything to the BLIND girl” she says putting emphasis on the fact that she is blind to remind him how foolish he is being.
Mellyruna opens his mouth to say something, but only hangs his head and chuckles, of course she can’t see anything and he shouldn’t be so shy around her, but it was just the shock of a woman in his chambers. Well, a woman other then his mother, and Maeraer, although Maeraer was getting older and he was starting to get a bit shy around her, he was pretty sure she was starting to get curious about how boys are different from girls, and he wasn’t going to be the one to show her. With this thought he only lets out a chuckle and watches as Neckity only cocks her head in confusion.
“Sorry, just thinking about my little sister, but that’s a story for when we have more time. I should get ready, thank you for waking me” He says and waits for her to leave but instead she doesn’t, she only walks over to were there is a chair and sits, her legs crossed her hands on her lap.
“Do you mind?” he says calmly
“Not at all, I can wait” She says her voice sweet and pleasant.
“I…” but he is stopped as she puts her finger to the blindfold, again he only hangs his head, how can he forget her blindness so easily with her. Maybe it is the way she acts and moves, you really can’t tell it. With her grace and presence it’s almost like the blindness isn’t there, you don’t pay attention.
Slowly he gets up and walks to the closet, quickly he takes out his golden cloak and lays it on the bed, he knows for sure that is something he is going to wear. He then walks over to the dresser to select his clothing. The first thing he pulls out is a short-sleeved shirt that is royal blue. Next are his pants, he looks them over for a bit and finally pulls out some white silk pants that hang a bit loose on him. He then opens one of the smaller drawers and finds some different sets of leather bracers, smiling he chooses a set of white leather bracers with a bit of gold metal for trim. Walking over to the closet he looks around at the boots, finally he picks a simple set of white leather boots. Once he is done with that he walks back to the bead and begins to grab the cloak to throw it on.
“What no armor, come now, this is hardly what I would call prepared, go on, pick some out” Neckity says knowing that he will be expected to wear armor, that and only an idiot would go into a feast in enemy territory not protected and armed.
Mellyruna thinks about it for a bit then figures why not, but nothing too extravagant. He then goes back into the closet and opens the massive trunk, like he though there is a ton of things in there. The first thing he finds that he likes is a set of pauldrons; they look like just curved metal with gold trim and another plate attached to cover the upper arm. So that when put upside down they kind of make a L shape, the second plate however is attached so that it moves and bend with the arm. He also finds a pair of plates that form a kind of skirt, three sections cut into so they form a square, then point at the bottom, but they are unlike anything he has seen, the bulk of these sections is a chain mail that has been treated so that it has the color of his shirt, a royal blue, he can tell by looking that this is the metal itself and not some kind of paint over it. But on the outside, in the center are huge plates of ivory attached with gold inlay of vines and leaves, this gives the appearance of the blue metal as a border and then a golden border just around that. Seeing the metal of the plates for the legs he quickly rummages though the chest to find the chain mail shirt that would match, it takes a bit but soon he finds it, the chain mail shirt has a high collar that comes down it a small V at the front and no sleeves, but the metal in this too has been treated so that it has the royal blue color. Attached to the shirt on either side of the chest is a golden dragon, this however doesn’t seem to affect the flexibility of the shirt. Neckity slowly gets up and walks over to the bed where he has been laying all this out. Feeling the armor she gets a good idea of what he will look like, well, without color, she also knows what is missing and walks over to the closet as he begins to put the armor on over his clothing. On a hanger she finds it, she just hope it matches the rest in color, it is a piece of cloth that you would wear over your shoulder and let hang down like a roman toga, she can also feel that embroidered into it is the image of dragons. She also pulls out a belt that has some kind of studs by the feel of it.
“Here, this will complete the outfit, I hope it’s the right color.” she says and lays it on the bed.
Mellyruna takes a look at what she has chosen and is shocked, she has picked out a white toga like cloth with golden dragons embroidered on it, and a light tan belt with golden studs with a dragons head for a buckle. Once his armor is on he throws the toga over it and pulls it tight at the waist with the belt. He then walks over the dresser and opens the drawer holding the combs and brushes. Smiles and wets his hair with the cold water in the pitcher then combs it nicely. As he puts the comb away he notices something, a long piece of blue cloth with a dragon embroidered on it. Smiling he takes it and ties it as his headband, letting his hair cover what it can in back. Taking a look at himself in the mirror he smiles and then walks over to his sword, he carefully straps it over his back, the baldric crossing opposite of the toga, then grabs his cloak throwing it over everything and clasping only the neck shut so his outfit can be seen, he also pulls the shoulder of the cloak over so it doesn’t hinder his blade if he has to draw.
“I wish you could see me, I’ve never had cloths quite like this, they feel a bit out of place, like they should belong to some kind of king” he says looking hard at himself at the mirror, everything is so extravagant, so perfect.
“You are a king remember, and I don’t have to see you to know your worth, I know by what you have said, and how you have said it.” She says and gently strokes his cheek.
She has never met someone like him; he is so powerful, and yet so humble. All the kings and lords she has met before him have been full of pride and arrogance, but not him, he somehow only sees himself as some kind of kid playing games.