Fire

Chapter Twenty Three

"Okay so we've narrowed it down to four possibilities. The midnight blue, black, yellowish-white, and red-orange," Conny says.

"Won't I be cold or anything? I mean, it is winter and that isn't a lot of material," I say as I eye the choices. Each set has a tight set of very modest silk-like undergarments of the matching color with a mesh, see-through tunic. In all honestly, it is a weird ensemble.

"No you won't be cold. The mountain is on a hot spring which helps to keep the mountain warm. And yes, you have to wear it. No, that is not up to debate." I groan and she chuckles at my response.

"Okay fine. But I am mismatching the over clothes with the under ones." I grab the red under clothes and the black tunic and hold them up. "This is my pick."

"It's a good choice," a voice behind me says.

Turning around, I see a tall, lean man with jet black hair and golden eyes. He is wearing a fancy tunic, warrior style. Upon seeing him, I pull the towel tighter around me in an attempt to keep myself covered in front of this unknown male.

"Seb! You should know not to sneak up on the newbies. Let alone this one."

"And you should know better than to mess with a fire breathing dragon but you never learn," he says jokingly.

"Fire breathing dragon? Pff... I talked down a fire mage twice in the past hour. You got nothin' on me!" Conny jokes back.

"A fire mage, huh? I thought those were extinct."

"Well apparently not because I'm sitting right here," I snark.

"Mmm, feisty too. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised."

"And who are you exactly?" I ask impatiently. I am not a fan of sitting here in nothing but a towel in front of a complete stranger, and a man at that.

"Lighten up, Fire. He's cool. Well, as cool as a fire dragon can be."

"Excuse you, Conny. I am not cool, I'm hot." Conny snorts.

"Yeah, okay. Well Sebastian's like my brother. We grew up together. He is Zara's son."

I ignore Sebastian as I grab the outfit and walk behind a screen to change. Dropping the towel, I quickly slip on the under clothes and walk out holding both the towel and the tunic. Sitting back down, I run my fingers through my short hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sebastian looking at my chest. Glancing down, I see that my tattoo is out for others to see.

"Whose mark is that?"

"I wouldn't ask her about that Seb."

"Well, I am. So whose mark is that?"

"It isn't a mark," I snarl. "It's a tattoo."

"Okay jeez. Calm down," Sebastian says as he puts his hands up defensively.

"I told you not to ask her about it, Sebby," I hear Conny say in a singsong voice as she walks over to the box she brought over earlier. When she opens the box, I see a variety of paints and jewelry with a variety of gem arrangements. She smiles apologetically as she starts to pull out and assortment of paints.

"I'm sorry but I kinda have to paint your face on, quite literally," she jokes.

"It's fine, Conny. I understand. He wants what he wants..." I trail off. She smiles sadly as she starts to paint my face. She lines my eyes with black paint to accentuate them and then paints my lips bright red. She does a few other things to my face to make it more angular. She then starts on the primer for under the tribal tattoos that will cover the edge of my face near my hair, my neck, chest, and arms. She gets down to my chest when she stops.

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

"I am going to have to cover your tattoo."

"Okay, and?"

"And I will have to repaint Lord Emil's mark over it," she says quietly.

"Just do it," I whisper as my face goes blank. She nods and starts to cover my tattoo. Conny finishes the primer within five minutes as she and Sebastian talk back and forth quietly. She then trades out her primer for an ice blue paint and then proceeds to flip through a book until she finds what she is looking for, a picture of Emil's mark. Dipping her brush in the paint, she starts to draw the brand on the skin over top of where my tattoo is hidden under the primer.

"Is that Emil's mark?" Sebastian asks.

"Yes," I respond curtly without looking at him.

"He is your master?" he asks, his tone bordering on angry.

"You mean is he the one that abducted me from my home and made me his slave? Then yes," I say as I turn to glare at him. He stares at the brand being painted on my chest with anger in his eyes. I go to ask him why he is so angry but Conny silences me with a look. I watch curiously as he storms out of the room.

"What was that all about?"