A Childhood Accident

Iridescent bubbles floated up to the bathroom ceiling, casting and reflecting colorful lights that enlivened the pale blue tiled bathroom walls.

Ginevra was sitting in a steaming bathtub filled with rose-scented bath salts, resting her back against the smooth porcelain edge. The soapy water foamed around her, piling up like beads of pearls on the warm surface of the water. She blew into her cupped hand, sending a couple more bubbles floating into the air just as Anette walked into the bathroom, holding a towel in her arms. She giggled, trying to tap one with her finger as it floated out of reach above her head.

"Sofia would never let me do this," Ginevra admitted to her.

Anette turned towards Ginevra from where she was organizing her brush and bathroom supplies. "Sofia?"

"She was my attendant in Atheon, but we practically grew up together. Even though she's only a couple years older than me, she always acted twice her age. It was difficult to get anything past her." As she was speaking, she felt a sharp pang to her chest, as she realized how much she already missed her.

"Well, she was right. You'll turn into a boiled potato if you stay in there any longer," Anette warned, as she came forward with the open towel.

Ginevra reluctantly left the warm embrace of the bathwater into the open towel. She was rubbing the towel down her legs when she suddenly looked up to see Anette staring.

"What is it?" Ginevra asked, alarm lacing her words.

"That scar, my lady. Forgive me, but I've never seen the likes of it."

Ginevra felt herself grow rigid, as if all her muscles had suddenly been paralized. The sensation left as quickly as it had come.

"Oh that…that was a childhood accident. I fell from the roof onto a stone wall," Ginevra explained. She fell into rubbing the towel against her body, focusing on the soft texture of the cloth.

"I'm no doctor, but that looks like a close call if you ask me."

"It was," Ginevra said, meeting Anette's gaze before glancing away again. "I'm lucky to have survived." Ginevra fell into a silence, and Anette must have noticed her immediate change in mood, because when she brought Ginevra's water to her bedside, she ventured, "Forgive me, my lady, if I spoke out of turn. It wasn't my intention to stir up unpleasant memories."

Ginevra looked up at Anette, forcing a smile. "No, no they weren't unpleasant. Actually, they brought back my childhood." This time, she hadn't had to lie.

Anette nodded and bidding her goodnight, softly closed the bedroom door behind her.

Focus, Ginevra. Stop dwelling about the past. Ginevra leaned over and opening the drawer of her dressing table, pulled out the note that had been delivered to her earlier.

The Stregona will arrive tomorrow. She will ask to see you in the library in the south wing. - T

Stregona – a witch doctor. Can she possibly lift this curse?