Rose

Chapter 29

Wow. My jaw dropped open as I took in the sight of my chambers. One wall was a large bubble-like window looking out over the kingdom and I had walked over to the view without consciously deciding to do so. A school of yellow and blue fish swam past my window, their scales glistening as if reflecting the light from the palace. Some of the largest living coral seemed to be planted around the Palace and I wondered how long it had made this place its home, it must have taken so many centuries to grow that large. The brightly coloured reef seemed to span some distance. The sight was breathtaking.

"May I enter?" A voice on the other side of my door brought my attention back from the view.

"Yes of course," I answered and a water elemental walked in. She was dressed very differently from the others I had seen here so far, more modern. The guards had been in their metallic uniforms, and the royal family had seemed to enjoy lush fabrics and designs that reminded me of the elegance of perhaps the 19th century, but without the poofy dresses and petticoats galore the ladies wore. This girl was wearing quite light and floaty fabrics and I imagined they looked quite beautiful gliding around her in the ocean currents. She wore her turquoise hair short in a pixie cut and the tiny scales on her face seemed pearlescent. She was stunning.

"My name is Mira, I'm here to help you get ready for tonight's revelry." She smiled, gesturing to an archway I hadn't yet looked through.

Inside was what I presumed was their version of a bathroom. An alcove that looked like it should be a large walk-in shower, except for the fact there were no shower heads, was built into the centre of the wall. The confused look on my face must have been too obvious because Mira smiled at my expression. "It will fill up when you step in," she explained.

"Oh," I nodded as if I understood, but seriously, was it magic? Because I was pretty sure Witches were the magic welders. If I had ever been worried about being naked in front of a stranger, that worry was overpowered by the fact that I was in dire need of a bath. I stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the bathing alcove. The water started to fill around me; a bubble forcefield kept the water from spilling out into the rest of the bathroom. The water rose higher and higher around me and just as I started to panic that it was getting a bit high, it stopped.

The water was warm and I felt myself relaxing. It was just like being in a hot tub but without the bubbles. I could get used to this. I lifted my legs and just floated there quite easily on the surface of the bath. I looked around for something to clean with but could see no soap.

"Are you ready to be cleaned?" Asked Mira. She was on the other side of the bubble forcefield that had thankfully turned frosted so it was hard to see details and my modesty was mostly intact. Then it registered what she'd said. Surely she didn't plan on getting in with me and washing me, did she?

"Umm" how did I phrase this without seeming ungrateful or prudish?

"Shall I send in the cleaners?" I wasn't sure what she meant and I really hoped she didn't mean a team of people who were going to scrub me from head to toe. "Miss?" She needed an answer.

"Ok." I held my breath for a moment, not sure what to expect next. Then I felt something touch my foot. I yelped and jumped away.

"It's just the cleaners miss," she chuckled.

I looked down to see some small bright pink elongated fish swimming around my feet. I watched in fascination as they started to slide up against my skin. The feeling was very strange. It kind of tickled, but not in an uncomfortable way, it actually felt rather relaxing. As I stood there in the strangest bathing experience I had ever had, I let them get to work cleaning me from toe to neck. I wasn't sure I was ready to put my head under the water and let them work on my face so I just thanked them and they disappeared back into the wall where they came from. So weird.