The Halfling (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 10

After being visited by the gorgeous yet intensely intimidating lady this morning, I was taken out of my cage. How you ask? After all, there's no gate. Magic is the only word I can think of to describe what happened. The golden trees that are the bars to my cage moved. They seemed to go backwards in time to when they were just saplings. After this, they leaned closer to their now elder companions, to make the gap even larger. Two of the trees did this, making a pathway large enough for three of me to walk shoulder to shoulder through. 

I stepped once towards the opening. I felt the manacle at my left foot tighten. Great. How am I supposed to get out with this still on? I thought dissapointedly. I glanced down at my ankle, then did a double take. It's not possible. The manacle that was previously there, is gone. The chain shrank and folded to become not a chain, but a vine. It then snaked up the nearest tree, and blended in so perfectly I would never have known it wasn't there if I hadn't seen it.

Around my ankle still remains a completely golden cuff. It has my namesake on it, Lilies. Looking at it closer, It has all kinds. Calla lilies, Stargazer lilies, Easter lilies, Lily of the Valley, Tiger lilies, and water lilies. ((picture above)) The tiger lilies and the stargazer lilies are difficult to tell apart without color, but I've been around them all my life, I can tell the difference by now. 

Now that I've become thoroughly acquainted with the changes to my environment, I step outside. The first thing I notice is my feet. Although I was wearing flats, I am now barefoot. My toes curl, and my heels rock. Inside the cage, the floor is smooth and silly. Out here in the courtyard, the stone is bright white, and its roughness makes my eyes close. 

I look at myself, and I feel dirty. I haven't showered in.... well.... 2 days that I know of. There's the day I got home from school, and then today. Who knows how many days I was unconscious. I hear footsteps and look up. 

"My name is Aurora. My sisters Baize, Iclyn, and Laverna are taking care of the rest of you. You'll cooperate, if you know what's good for you." Aurora says, her tone perfectly matching the lady's from yesterday. Looking at her, I can see the resemblance in her facial features. The only difference is her hair. Where the lady's was brown and silver, Aurora's is gold. Her hair is up, and a cascade of jewels comes from her forehead as well as her neck.  Her figure is covered in a blue that could be taken for a summer or a winter color. 

(DRESSES 16 or 26.... I'm not really sure. It's up 2 u!)

She leads me to a bath house. It's entirely marble with golden veins and tones, and all the handles are gold. I'm a little nervous undressing in front of her, but my desire to get clean overwhelms that. I sit in the bath, and someone else enters. She is clothed in a chemise, which I know goes under the normal dress. For us, it's sort of like underwear... or a nightgown. She adjusts my bath, and gestures for me to stand. 

My eyes widen, because even when I'm sitting, I  have to slouch so that I'm completely covered. She glances at the doorway where Aurora retreated to.

"I'm to wash you young miss. If I don't... Well. Please at least lean front so that I may wash your back." She says anxiously. I nod slowly and lean forward. She brings out a brush and begins gently scrubbing my back. She also hands me a brush, after many furtive looks at the door. I use this brush wherever I'm not comfortable her touching... which is pretty much everywhere but my back.

((A/N: that was suuuuuuuper awkward to write. SUUUUUPER AWKWARD.  I'm so glad I'm done.))

She turns her back while I put the chemise on, but she laughs when she turns back around. "Oh dear, you've got it all wrong! It's backwards!" She laughs again, and turns around while I put it back on. Rolling my shoulders, I realize it does feel a lot better this way around. 

She helps me put my corset on (Those HURT) and then slips the dress over my head. She then tightens the back so that it fits my pretty much nonexistent figure. I look down, and I'm wearing a green dress ((Dress 4)) with my white chemise peeking out underneath. Once I'm dressed, I feel more comfortable, despite the corset squeezing my insides.

"So what's your name?" I ask the girl who got me dressed. 

"Oh. You don't need to know my name miss." She says nervously.

"Yes I do! You helped me get dressed and everything! What's your name?" I ask insistently. 

"Cielo. My name is Cielo. Now please don't tell my Lady Aurora." She says, still nervous.

"I won't. Thank you Cielo." I try out her name, which is unfamiliar to my tongue.

As I was asking for her name, she started to do my hair. It's in a braid that starts at my right temple, and comes off my head at the direct back. It then wraps around and becomes a bun. It's actually very similar to the hairstyle that the lady from yesterday was wearing.

Walking out of the bath house, I see Aurora straight away. She gives me a cursory look, then walks away. I follow her, because I'm pretty sure that's what she wants me to do. We arrive at a place where the 2 areas I could see on either side also come. I'm pretty sure it's the center of the 4 squares. (Imagine it at the center of a +)

We approach giant gold gates which swing open at Aurora's touch. Walking up, I notice the whole road has been paved with the same white stone as the courtyard. Walking up to the open threshold, I hear the ring as I step inside. It's changed back into marble, like the bath house.

Standing in the center of a circular room is the same lady from yesterday. She's wearing a pale blue gown, with silver accents (Check DRESSES- It's in there somewhere). Her hair is in a style my mother calls Half up Half down. It's where you take your hand, and run it through your hair sideways, so that you've got an equal amount of hair hanging down and in your hand, all the way around your head. Then you take the top half and put it in a low ponytail, so that your hair is pulled away from your face. In her case, it's not a ponytail, it's a bun. Her whole head of hair is also curled beautifully. The silver catches the light, and matches her dress.

She turns to face us, as she was three quarters to the right, and her face lights up. "My darling Aurora, how lovely. You've brought me the human, all dressed up and washed. I assume she's ready for testing?" She says in a particularly motherly fashion, with a hint of threat.

"Of course my Queen. The human is ready, and she is clean." She says. I notice that the Queen makes her nervous. At least I now know that this is the Queen.

"Now human. What is your given name?" She asks, clearly loathing that she has to recieve any information at all from me.

"Lily. My name is Lily... your Highness" I say, unsure of what to call her. 

"Very good. Lily. You will now sit in this chair." She says gesturing. A chair suddenly appears. Magic? It's entirely gold, and the cushion is made from a light blue fabric. I nod, and step towards the chair. Sitting on it, I feel small. It's quite a large chair... 

Suddenly, the same blue fabric leaps up and binds my hands, my feet, and gags me. My eyes widen, and I try to scream. What is going on?!

"Now, now human. Lily. This will only hurt a bit." She says, her perfectly beautiful face leaning towards me. The last thing I see before I black out is a syringe, headed straight for my bound arm.

In celebration of 300 reads!!!!!!! I finally got to where I've been planning since I started!