Chapter Thirty-eight

Briar

We had landed down with a thump that shook the box we were in but we all made it outside safely, stumbling away from the transport in time to see all the dragons and riders fly away. The biggest dragon without a rider was surprisingly the one that had carried us all this time and so I had one last chance to admire it as it was the last to leave and I saw it beat it's magnificent wings and rise back up into the air again.

'Ok everyone, if you'll just follow me,' Hunter calls out to us as he comes running back up to us from somewhere, 'I'll get you situated in the suites they've set up for you all at the palace,' he tells us and once again we're all dumbstruck with that news. We're actually staying here?! Ruby, I and Mistress Garnet share a private bemused look amongst ourselves for a short moment. Prince Raine and Lord Ashton aren't currently with us either as they're called over by someone wanting to ask them some questions as we're being led away by Hunter who's on a mission it seems.

A huge, imposing and an impossible big, ornate building greets us across expansive grounds as draw nearer and this was only a small part of what we could see. The building dominated the landscape around it, probably just like the man inside that held dominance over the world as well I thought.

'Not that I'm complaining,' Ruby is the first one to ask and break the silence, 'but why are we staying here?' She says to Hunter who has us jogging at a slow pace across the grounds to get us there quicker to the side entrance he had popped out of from before.

'Well I work and live here for one and everyone here is invited to stay as the Emperor's guests, as he wishes to get to know all the newcomers that have arrived from this latest mission,' Hunter tells us, 'you may not have known it at the time but we were apart of an investigative team in the happenings of the Winter court lands,' he tells us this and is not out of breath at all whilst jogging at the same time.

'We had to stop what we were doing and make for a hasty retreat you see rescuing Prince Raine and all you see, because he was also apart of the investigating team,' he reveals to us our ignorance of what was really going on the whole time and we stop jogging in shock for a moment but Hunter who doesn't realise we've stopped is leaving us all behind and so we hurry to catch up again.

'I had suspected something wasn't quite right about you people all along,' Mistress Garnet admits her suspicions, her voice all breathy whilst she was becoming slightly winded as we now had entered the building.

Hunter didn't stop there though in the entrance and was making us take what I presume were the servants stairs. They kept leading us further and further up until we were all panting and sweating and I felt like even I was about to drop to my own knees but Hunter didn't seem to be affected by it at all. Clearly he did this kind of thing regularly.

He finally stopped, one floor from the very last one from the top, I could see that by the stairs that ended just above us and we were led out onto a grand corridor, the most ostentatious thing I had ever seen and I felt uncomfortably aware of my dishevelled appearance and dirty boots tracking mud allover on the plush blue grey pattern carpets that we sank deeply into.

'I'll drop you off at your assigned suites now and you'll find that everything has been prepared for you ahead of time and your personal items are coming by later,' Hunter informs us all in an organised fashion, Adrian, Lucas who has been quiet all of this time and us three, Mistress Garnet, Ruby and myself. Hunter then turns around and strides forward down the corridor in a big rush, leaving us all to trail behind him like lost sheep along the way, bewildered and clearly out of our element in the luxurious surroundings we find ourselves gawking at in confusion.

'The Emperor has also invited you all for tonight's celebration and that's why we're all in a hurry now as there's not much time left for us all to prepare for it,' Hunter informs us over his shoulder and stops at one door after looking at a list he has in his hand that we didn't see before.

'Lucas,' Hunter calls out from over his shoulder, 'this is where you're staying, you're sharing the suite with your Grandfather as we believed that would make you the most comfortable,' Hunter explains to him, 'go on in and start getting ready,' Hunter tells him after knocking on the door loudly before opening it and thrusting the bewildered Lucas inside. Just as the door was closing we could hear another man greeting Lucas happily and I presumed that was Master Leafe who I hadn't seen for such a long time.

Next Hunter marches off to drop Mistress Garnet and Ruby off at another suite and the glimpse I caught of the inside of it was nothing that I could compare it to in my experience, not even with Mistress Garnet's and Ruby's old abodes but before I could even step over the threshold to join them as well, a hoard of women from further inside the room suddenly descended upon them both to my shock.

The women were calling out to each other, issuing commands to get both Mistress Garnet and Ruby prepared for the celebrations. The door slowly closes in front of us with an ominous and final creak on the mayhem inside and it leaves both me, Hunter and Adrian looking stunned at the closed door for just a moment. No sounds reach us out here beyond the door in front of us, yet I knew there was a harrowing scene unfolding within that room.

Hunter shakes himself first and starts to pass by more doors and mutters aloud to himself whilst I'm still worrying about my friends that I've left behind. 'Raine's room, Ashton's room, on the opposite side is Adrian's,' and Hunter stops for a moment looking down at the Fae shifter wolf that's still with us, 'you have the option of going through the same thing that we just saw or you can stay in your current form and escape it,' Hunter explains to him and Adrian just looks at Hunter long and hard.

'Good choice, stay as you are then,' Hunter says to the wolf, 'you can come with me then,' he offers to Adrian as an invite and Hunter then keeps moving past more doors and the distance between each door is getting further and further apart when he finally reaches one of the nearly last to be seen doors in this long corridor, precisely the second to last to be seen that is on this corridor that I note has been steadily growing in luxury the further we walked up it.

The very last door I can see is the one that is the most furthest away from its nearest neighbour and has the most biggest, ornate door that I have ever seen in my experience, that door right there has the honour of being the very last door and it stands all by itself, alone in the distance, lost almost in all the luxury that not many people have ever had a chance to see I bet.

'Forgive me,' is all I hear from Hunter who stands next to me, breaking me from my brief reverie of before as he knocks on the door in front of us. He looks like he already knows about what's coming next and the door swings open on its own accord it seems to me and then quick hands grab at me before I can fend them off and I'm pulled into the room before me against my will and I'm being mobbed by a bunch of strangers. The last thing I see is Hunter's face paling as he watches what is happening to me as the door slowly shuts in his face and I'm being overpowered.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Briar

I fought everyone off in there and had bought myself a small measure of time to assess where I was and who I was being surrounded by and I had to blink twice at what I saw. There was what seemed to be an army of well dressed women standing before me, taking in my measure as well as I was taking theirs in.

The oldest lady stood forward as their representative and spoke to me, 'Come now we don't have time for your foolishness and we were asked as a favour to get you presentable for tonight's celebration young lady,' she tells me sternly.

'Who are you?' I ask her in genuine ignorance.

The older lady sighs and then bows in the most glamorous looking dress I've ever seen, 'We, for this moment, are your ladies in waiting for this evening as a special request asked upon your behalf and we are the best of the best at what we can do,' she begins to list them off as she ticks off each attribute on her fingers for me, 'glamour, make up, hair, clothes, dressing up and other numerous things we are good at,' she says to me and each of the other incredibly dressed ladies take a step forward too and curtsy to me, which leaves me in confusion.

'Are you sure you have the right person? I was still just a servant a few days ago,' I try to tell them but I'm ignored.

'She looks very pretty already,' one of the women remarks as she looks at me and begins to circle around and I try to keep her in my periphery.

'Tonight it seems we're very lucky and have been given some promising material to work with,' another of the pretty ladies add as she too moves forward and peruses me from head to toe as she circles me also from my other side, making me very nervous indeed as I can't watch both of them at the same time.

'Come now young lady, we have minutes, not hours to waste here on preparing you, take your clothes off already and get yourself bathed,' the one in charge orders. 'It's all prepared and each one of us will ply our trade on you and have you leaving in record time,' the older lady steps forward after she's done talking to me and begins to usher me with her hands towards a room located behind me somewhere and because I'm watching her movements, I don't see the other two that have already gotten close to me, get closer still, grab my arms and take me towards my fate that I can't seem escape here.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

I've been bathed, scrubbed, plucked, waxed, massaged with sweet scented oils that also moisturise and enhance the natural beauty of a person. I've had my long black hair with hints of blue streaks made up for the first time beyond the simple style I donned as a servant. Shimmering, enhancing makeup had been applied to my face as well. I couldn't recognise the face staring back at me in the mirror as they transformed it with their materials and magical skills.

But most of all, the thing that they had done that was the most extraordinary for me to take in, was when I had complete strangers look at my naked body and all my markings in all their glory with something akin to awe and no one treated me badly because of them.

The whole experience left me feeling out of it as I just didn't recognise the person I look to be now in the mirror. These women had polished all my rough edges away to reveal the gem I could be underneath it all and it was truly once again another overwhelming experience for me to add to the list of moments to go over one day in the future as a special memory to recall.

When the older lady of the group saw my markings, instead of hiding them away like I usually would have done under clothes, she exposed them all artfully with the dress she actually adjusted with her own brand of magic.

As she draped the fabric around my body, sheathing me in a beautiful, slinky, gleaming and clinging, white material that made my pale skin seem dark in comparison to that colour, wherever she placed her hands, the material simply melted away or cinched tighter and the leftover fabric flowed into a jar to catch the spare liquid material.

She artfully created peepholes in the fabric to catch glimpses of my skin and my markings beneath making me appear as an unearthly beauty walking amongst us all tonight like the Gods are often rumoured to do. After she had finished performing such a miracle effect and stepped away to judge her efforts did she clap her hands together and announce what a well done job they had all did.

A knocking sound raps at the entrance door to these rooms, as all the other ladies crowd around me praising their own efforts and myself as well. The older lady in charge looks over her shoulder at the door mildly amused at something in question and lifts her hand to crook her finger at it in a come hither kind of gesture and the door in question swings open without anyone even touching it.

'Just in time,' she remarks to me with a beaming smile, 'it was truly a pleasure young lady to work with you, now go and enjoy the celebrations,' she tells me and waves me off with her hand and curtsies to me one last time.

I stumble a little in the heels they made me wear as I am unused to such things and another one of the ladies rushes towards me and helps escort me to the doorway safely where I stop for a moment as I regain my reeling senses once more and I turn around to face all the women I have met for this moment. 'Thank you all for all you have done, I-,' I start to say and feel tears begin to prick at my eyes, because I feel overcome at having such attention and kindness lavished on me so extensively which is something I've never experienced or received before in such ways and amounts before.

'It's quite alright young lady,' the older lady calls to me, waving a hand at me to hurry out of the room, 'we understand what you are trying to say to us just perfectly, believe us when I say it was our honour to serve you for this night as your fairy godmothers and now off you go and enjoy yourself,' she shoos me away again with her hands, 'you mustn't keep your dates waiting now,' she tells me and I look over my shoulder to realise that everyone, Prince Raine, Lord Ashton, Lucas, Hunter and even Adrian in his furry form, have been groomed to perfection.

They all look like equal parts of handsome and devastating in their well show cased forms and they're all waiting just for me outside in the hallway and they don't hide their stares of appreciation over myself as well. The women in the room me sigh and giggle and make sure to firmly close the door, making sure I can't retreat back inside the room behind me.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Briar

I'm now being escorted but this time at a more sedate pace and not in a race back down the same corridor that I had arrived in earlier surrounded by all the men that had come to pick me up and we stop in front of a caged door, one that Prince Raine reaches out to touch a smooth black stone embedded in the wall besides it and noises can be heard coming from the doors I can clearly hear and a box room comes up into view.

I stare at it for a moment and then I'm hit with the realisation that this is a bigger version of the dumb waiters that I used to collect or deliver food from in the Winter court. So someone has made a large scale version to move people about instead, incredible I think to myself!

Lord Ashton opens the gate and helps me step over the slight gap, between the hallway and the moving box room by placing his hand on the small of my back and once again his heat feels like a brand against my skin. 'Be careful there,' he murmurs softly as he joins me as well, a close step behind myself.

The moment is broken as we're followed quickly by the others entering as well and the gates being pulled close by Lord Ashton again. Lucas and Adrian act as unsure of the contraption as I feel about it but Prince Raine acts completely at ease as he presses his hand against another stone inside the box room and it begins to move with a rattling clatter and descends slowly back down.

'I feel that we must all take this moment now before it gets too busy to do so later on when we step out of this lift and tell you that you look simply stunning our Mate,' Lord Ashton sincerely says his compliment to me and all the other guys, including Lucas, who says it more shyly than the rest, murmurs similar compliments to me. Hunter just gives me a wink and Adrian wags his tail profusely at me.

'You all look very special as well...,' I try and attempt to return the compliment, but I haven't got any experience in complimenting males before this occasion and so I've made it all awkward with trying to do something I've never done before I feel.

But the others look pleased enough with my first time complimenting them though but it's too late to say anything else now as our smooth ride down to the ground floor is done and we leave the confines of the lift behind and are now being swept along too quickly as we join the flowing crowds of well dressed people going into one of the biggest receiving rooms I've ever seen before in my entire life. Today is a day for a lot of firsts for me I quietly think as I observe everything in a kind of awe over anything and everything that catches my attention.

The room grows quiet as horns can be heard being blown by the heralds up in the gallery floor and the sound floats down to all of us below, signalling that something is about to start as we just enter the room with the rest of the crowd now.

We're being pushed and pulled in different directions by the ebb and flow of the people around us but I am safely boxed in by my escort of men and the people move out of the way when they turn and see that its either Prince Raine or Lord Ashton behind them and we all make it to the front of the crowd safely, just as the heralds sound the horns again and silence now descends. In front of me I can see a carved throne of white marble set on an equally gleaming pedestal.

Announcing his eminence, the Emperor,' a man calls out loudly across the space for all to hear. Everyone's sight has become trained on the throne and a very well dressed man begins to walk towards it. This man is almost unrecognisable to me in these fine clothes and the thin gold circlet that rests upon his head now like it always belonged there but I visibly start as I watch the Fae man that I had come to know, ascend the pedestal and take his seat on the throne before waiting crowd as they all applaud his entrance.

It was Ryo and he was the Emperor, a fact I'd just learned and a small part of me also thought this as well, as I continued to stare at him in shock, Ryo was most likely my Mate, though I had yet to have that fact confirmed as well.

To be continued