Altered

EIGHT

EIGHT

Vale enjoyed the feeling of clean skin accompanied by fresh clothing. The changing rooms in the manor had large tubs filled with warm water, ready for anyone's use. Her skin still stung from how roughly she had scrubbed at it, trying to make herself feel clean. It was a normal occurrence for her to still feel tainted no matter how much she washed or how new her clothes were. At the end of the day, she was still a mutt.

"Vale, Alfred and his men are waiting in the hall. Are you ready yet?" Velithinna stood next to the vanity that stood next to the door. Vale hadn't realized that she had been standing still, using a white towel to dry her hair. She quickly dropped the towel into the dirty linens hamper, where her ruined dress had been thrown and then made her way to the door.

She cast Velithinna a harsh glance before exiting the changing room. Alfred stood with the men that came with him to find the two women. He gave Vale a smile that had her second guessing whether she should trust him. "You look like you feel better. I hope the amenities were to your liking."

"If you knew me, you would know that even a tub of cold water would have been heaven after travelling." After all, the Council did not waste hot water on the Altered in its care. Hot water to them was a privilege. When Vale noticed that Alfred looked taken aback, she sighed. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

He softened a bit as Velithinna joined them. "It's quite alright, Vale. The king is waiting for us in the throne room. This won't take long. Just think of it as an orientation of sorts." Without another word, Alfred led them towards a set of mahogany double doors at the end of the hallway. Vale assumed that it was the throne room.

When the doors swung open, Vale's assumptions were proven correct. The throne room was larger than she originally expected and the thrones along the farthest wall from the door were equally as impressive. The tile floor shimmered in the light of the fire that blazed overhead in a single large, crystal chandelier. It reminded Vale of a wildfire she had once seen when she was a young girl in her home region of The Void. It only took a moment before her eyes landed on the small army of men surrounding their king and queen.

Each soldier wore silver armor, complete with the Blackpelt crest on their breast. There were at least twelve of them and they all stared at her as Alfred led her and Velithinna towards the king. Vale had heard of King Kirkland in her several years in Monarch's Perch, but she was not prepared for any of the rumors to be true.

He was a beast of a man. Even sitting back against his throne, Vale could tell that he was taller than anyone she had ever seen. His armor did nothing to hide the bulk of muscle that he had probably spent years honing into a weapon that he could use in itself. Vale could see where his son had gotten his raven hair and strange eyes. She was unable to keep her eyes from wandering to the queen, who sat next to her husband and looked like she would be swallowed up by the entire room.

The queen had hair the color of fresh straw. It was a strange contrast to that of her husband and son, but Vale had to admit that the queen was an ethereal sort of beauty. She had pale skin that reminded Vale of the snow tipped mountain of Lor'anthul to the northeast. Vale briefly wondered if perhaps that was where the queen had come from. Her eyes were golden, not like the shifters' that Vale had ever come across. It was as if someone had taken threads of gold and wound them up tight enough to forge irises out of the metal. Vale had a hard time looking away.

"Your Majesty, I have returned with the women Riordan sent word about. They were not followed and they have willingly handed over everything that could have been used as a weapon." Alfred knelt down on one knee as he approached King Kirkland and his wife. Vale and Velithinna quickly followed suit, but by no choice of their own. "We are ready to give any report you may ask of us, my king."