10 10: Becoming a Lady

"Kenia, what is that strange meat you are cutting?" Amaris asked, curious about the new world surrounding her and everything in it.

"Milady, we call this meat duck. It has a rather wonderfully rich flavour, and is a staple of the court's many feasts." Kenia said, placing a slice of the meat, duck, on Amaris's plate.

"I feel like I should know what these things are," Amaris said in despair. "And that I don't is incredibly frustrating."

"Milady, the reason you are the best candidate for the Lady of the people is because, unlike many vampires much older than yourself, you grew up as a common slave and, unlike the werewolves, you represent a minority population that is considered being the lowest of the low. If his Majesty wants to have a truly equal society, then he needs to have both races at the table, no matter what the Lords of the council may believe."

"Do you know why the Lords want me dead?" Amaris asked, taking a bite of the meat. It was like nothing she had ever tasted before, and it was absolutely delicious. Much better than the weak porridge that Montego used to allow her to consume, just to keep her alive and able to work.

"Milady, I can only speculate, but I suspect they want you dead for two reasons. One, you may spark a rebellion, leading to a never-ending series of wars potentially ending in the death of his Majesty. Two, simply being a living, breathing vampire can be cause enough to not like you. Their vampire superiors mistreated all three of the lords, and old wounds can be the hardest to heal."

"Thank you for being what seems to be one of my few allies, Kenia. Your words give me hope."

"Your welcome, Milady." Kenia said, taking the dish back over to the side table and picking out a dish that was piled high with what looked like potatoes. "This is a dish of crispy potatoes, slathered in butter, garlic and parsley."

For the next hour Amaris dined with Kenia explaining what the dishes were. By the end, Amaris was so stuffed that she was sure that Kenia would have to roll her out of the dining room and into bed. To her surprise, she could still stand. Amaris got up and walked herself back into her bedroom, sitting on the bed. In the darkness she could see the faint outline of Kenia as she set to work, pulling out a nightdress and many combs.

"I think I would like to take a bath before bed, if that is okay." Amaris said.

"Certainly, Milady," Kenia said, stopping what she had been doing and going into the bathroom to draw a bath. Amaris, still full from the best meal she had ever had, pulled herself off the bed and headed to the desk where the pieces of paper inscribed with the alphabet had been stacked neatly. Sitting down in the purple desk chair, she pulled the stack of papers over and started going through them. By the time Kenia had finished drawing the bath, Amaris had gone through the stack of papers at least once, maybe even twice. "Milady, your bath is ready."

"Thank you Kenia, I will be there in a moment." Amaris said, organising the papers into what she thought was the correct order. Apparently what she thought was the correct order was wrong, as Kenia came and re-arranged them. Amaris got up and went into the bathroom.

The first thing that she noticed that was different about the room was the smell. Wild apricots with a hint of lavender, both scents that the prostitutes at The Bitterhead Inn liked to use. Steam filled the room, emanating from the bathtub filled with a liquid that was both pink and had bubbles in it. Kenia has really outdone herself, Amaris thought, disrobing and slipping into the Ablundite tub.

It was as if heaven was a bath. Amaris felt herself immediately relax, almost melting into the warm water and bubbles. She felt that if she stayed in the bath too much longer, she might never want to come out of the tub. Here she was in the lap of luxury, in a nice bathtub, having a hot bath, with no time limit on how long she could stay. And when she got out, clean clothes that did not have so many patches that only the cuffs showed their original colour. This was what it meant to be wealthy, she realised; a decent meal, a hot bath, clean clothes, and a safe place to sleep.

Once she felt she could not possibly get any more dirt off of her body, she reluctantly hauled herself out of the bathtub and toweled herself off with a towel that Kenia handed to her. The snowy white piece of cloth was a lot softer than any of the rags that Montego used to provide the slaves at The Bitterhead Inn, almost like a feather across her skin. Once she was completely dry, Kenia helped Amaris into a nightgown made of a strange, translucent fabric in a lilac hue.

"What is this fabric?" Amaris asked.

"I made this garment out of a fiber called silk, Milady."

"Wait, you made this?"

"Yes, Milady. In fact, I have made many of the garments in your closet."

"Is that one of your tasks?" Amaris asked.

"Yes, Milady." Kenia said, bowing slightly as she helped Amaris to step into the nightgown.

"What are your other jobs? If you do not mind me asking."

"I do not mind, Milady." Kenia said, straightening up. "I make sure that you get a decent night's sleep, I wake you up at a decent time, make sure that you have a decent breakfast, make sure that you have a decent, clean and well-maintained wardrobe, I send you off to where you need to be if you need to be anywhere, I make sure that you have a clean room to come home to, I make sure that you have a decent dinner and sometimes lunch, depending on what you are doing."

"Wow, you are doing a lot more work than I did. I had to keep myself presentable, help with cleaning the many rooms of the inn and work the on-site farm before I served the patrons of the inn who wanted a cheap bed time companion."

"Milady, it would not be fair to either of us to compare our experiences. Working in an Inn and working in a castle are two totally different experiences."

"Indeed, you are correct Kenia." Amaris said, stepping back into the bedroom. "I am tired, all of this learning plus the travel has exhausted me." She walked over to the bed, with its purple silk sheets and feather soft mattress.

It did not take long for Amaris to get to sleep. When Kenia woke her, Amaris surmised she had slept in, given that by the time she woke the sun was already high in the sky.

"Good morning, Milady." Kenia said as Amaris dragged herself out of the bed that had given her the best sleep in her entire life, stretching.

"Good morning to you too Kenia." Amaris said, walking to the elaborate Ablundite and gold dressing table that occupied a corner of the room, opposite of where the desk stood.

"Milady, his majesty has requested that you join him for breakfast, and I suspect he may want to spend the rest of the day with you." Kenia said, picking up an ivory hairbrush inlaid with gold.

"So, breakfast and potentially the rest of the day with his majesty the emperor." Amaris mused out loud. "I guess I should dress up."

"I agree, Milady." Kenia said, brushing Amaris's hair, which since her arrival at Craester Castle had turned from a dull, dirty blonde colour to looking like it was made of spun gold. It did not take long for Kenia to brush through all the knots, and when she had finished, she went to the pale white closet adorned with gold and Ablundite door handles and pulled out many gowns.

Amaris stood from her perch at the dressing table, amazed. Kenia was pulling out gowns of so many colours and fabrics that she did not believe that all these gowns were hers to wear.

"Kenia, are all these mine?"

"Yes, Milady."

"Where did they come from?"

"Many of them belonged to your mother and sisters, and some are old garments of Lady Lyra and Lady Kafei's wardrobes that they did not want anymore, so they are letting you have them. Every thing else, like undergarments and night dresses, I made myself."

"Really? Be sure to pass along my thanks to Lady Lyra and Lady Kafei. And thank you for your contribution to my wardrobe."

"Yes, Milady, and you are very welcome. Which dress would you like to wear today?" Amaris eyed the row of dresses. All of them were exquisite, no matter how simple they appeared to be.

"This one," Amaris picked out a beautiful, emerald green dress with delicate lace around the cuffs and collar.

"Excellent choice, Milady." Kenia said, hurrying to find something in the wardrobe's drawer. Having apparently found it, Kenia stood up. It was an odd-looking item, similar to the skirt of a dress, except there was no bodice attached to it and had a lace ruffle attached to the hem. "We call this a petticoat, Milady." Kenia said, seeing the confused look on Amaris's face. "It's meant to help support the weight of the skirt. I made this one out of cotton, and will go over your nightdress and under the gown."

"So is this what is used to make the hemline of dresses so flared and pretty?"

"Yes, Milady. Now if you will just step into the middle, I will do the rest." Kenia said, as she unbuttoned a slash in the petticoat's side and arranged the garment so that it looked like a ring of fabric on the floor. Amaris obediently stepped into the center of the fabric ring, and Kenia brought the waistband of the petticoat up over Amaris's hips, tucking the night gown in and securing it at the waist with the buttons. Kenia then pulled the gown off the bed and, unwinding the cord at the back of the gown that secured the dress in place, helped Amaris pull it over her head and laced the back of the dress back up again. "Milady, you look like such a vision that his majesty is going to have a hard time keeping his eyes off you."

"Do you really believe that?" Amaris asked, a little self-conscious. Kenia nodded. "Then you should be proud of yourself. without you, I would not be this beautiful." Kenia blushed.