Dragon Kin - Resurrection

Clothed and Fed

Drak was right about the storms ferocity, but its end did not seem to be in sight, as the chief suggested.

Before attending the feast, Vada was led to a new sleeping chamber. Moments after she crossed the threshold, the room was flooded with women. At once they attacked, stripping her clothes to replace them with a large robe, then they pulled her from the room once again. As she was led through the many winding halls and down the twisting stone staircases, Vada wondered if she would ever be able to find her way through the maze like mountain alone.

Finally they slowed as they entered a room filled with steam, the sound of bubbling water filled Vada's ears. Through the haze Vada noticed pools of cloudy blue water. One large vaguely circular hot spring had been completely obscured by purple petals, it was this bath that Vada was unceremoniously shoved into. 

Dunked beneath the cloudy heat, Vada held herself there, floating in the warmth. It reminded her of home, of her kinfolk and of Cas and the flames that danced along his skin at his will. Twisting and stretching out in the water, Vada indulged her stony muscles, enjoying the relief of the heat as it spread through her.

Circling the bath like waiting birds, her attendants stood with expressionless faces. They did not seem like real people with thoughts and feelings, Vada thought as their arms plunged into the pool, reaching for her.

Their hard grips only relented when they turned to scrubbing at Vada's hair and body with scented lotions, pulling her every which way all at once. Their treatment felt anything but hospitable, but afraid of offending, Vada did not complain.

When finally she was returned to her sleeping quarters, the attendants dressed her in a soft, pale grey gown, and her hair was plaited and tied with dark blue ribbon before slippers of an identical colour were slid onto her feet.

Then finally, the horde retreated like a tide going back out to sea, leaving Vada alone. 

In the silence she sighed, relief flooding her body, and at the same time, dread. The last thing she wanted to do was attend a feast. Looking down at her dress she imagined how princess like she must look and gathered the fabric in tight fists of frustration. . . tempted, if only for a moment, to rip it from her body and attempt an escape, blizzard be damned.

Such thoughts were banished when someone cleared their throat in the open doorway.

It was with a barely concealed frown that Vada greeted Drak.

He did not take offence, instead he bent into a low bow and spoke to the ground at his feet, his tone as flat as the stone, 'Chieftess Vada, it would be a great honour to escort you.'

Vada did not believe him, but played along regardless.

On the long walk they did not speak and the air was thick with tension. Though she did not turn to him to take in his countenance, Vada imagined it to be severe, disapproving as he was.

The feast that Chief Urthka promised was a grand affair, held in a large columned cavern towards the base of the mountain. Upon closer inspection, Vada found the columns to be towering flues, at the base of which fire-pits belched, boiling the contents of large cast iron pots suspended above the flames. 

Drak led the way, without fuss, through the cavern. The people parted swiftly, opening a long clear channel directly to a small platform upon which the Chief sat, grey and glowering. Around him, several finely dressed women knelt demurely, seated atop plush cushions in a variety of colours. They did not speak, smile or seemingly dare to move in his presence. 

Annoyance blossomed in Vada's chest but she fought to keep the emotion from her face.

As they neared the Chief, he quickly gestured to a nearby group of men. Vada scanned the room once more, noting the stark difference in dress among the common folk and their superiors. The wealth in Shinsei pooled around the Chief and his men, dripping from their fingers which bore fat golden rings and sewn into the immaculate silk of their robes. Large platters of fine foods surrounded the king, servers waited, eyes cast down, ready to pour wine at his whim. Meanwhile, his people gathered around communal stewing pots, their meal warm but simple fare. 

Vada's annoyance turned to a slowly simmering anger.

Drak indicated where Vada should sit, perched atop a large brash orange cushion, directly opposite the chief, with her back to his people. The position felt wrong, to have so many strangers at her back made her skin itch and crawl, her body longed to twist and turn. 

If the chief noticed her discomfort, he did not comment upon it. His men had displaced the women that had once sat around the Shinsei chief.

All but one of them that is.

The woman was young, Vada thought, close to her own age perhaps. Her skin was soft and unscathed by age or hardship. She sat primly, bolt upright with her hands clasped in her lap. She would have looked impeccably regal, if it were not for the way the corners of her mouth pulled down. In the very centre of the prepared platters of food, sat a large roasted bird and it was there that the woman's gaze was fixed. 

Drak sat himself beside the mysterious woman but she didn't acknowledge him, or anyone else for that matter.  

Vada's fingertips tingled with the sudden urge to shake the girl and see if she was real.

'She doesn't look all that powerful,' noted a portly man as he eyed Vada suspiciously, 'certainly not worthy—'

The men mumbled their agreement, nodding their heads and throwing disdainful glances in Vada's direction. 'Perhaps you should rethink-' the portly man began.

'Silence!' The withered old chief thundered. The hall obeyed, breath was held and feet stilled,  even the cauldron's seemed to stop bubbling. 

Vada caught a movement from the corner of her eye, the doll like girl had lifted her head ever so slightly and now she stared at the portly man who had dared to disagree with the Chief. Vada tried to read what passed between them, but the girls gaze was blank and the mans terrified. He had shrank back, almost vacating his cushion entirely.

Turning her eyes back to the chief, Vada found him watching her.

'Eat.' 

His gaze bore into her and as she reached for the nearest platter, Vada couldn't help but think there was something familiar about the cold look in his eyes.