Chapter 25
One day remained until Milla was expected to be launched into the Chosen society. She spent all her time locked away securely in Tal's quarters learning the ways of the Chosen. In the past two days leading up to the ball, she had toiled restlessly to learn all she could from her teacher Saran. He was the oddest man. If Milla had to describe him on first impressions, she would definitely say that he was a typical arrogant Chosen man.
She couldn't be more wrong. He appeared to be like any other Chosen at first glance but that was misleading. Once her lessons with Saran began, she noticed that he wasn't what she assumed him to be. There was something not quite right about his nature and personality. He reminded Milla of a woman. After the first day of the etiquette lessons, Milla confirmed her suspicions and their relationship went from teacher and student to instant "sisters".
Saran was in fact what Milla would call a 'Galena' among her people. A galena was someone who preferred to be with the same gender than the opposite. It was rare to find someone so open about that fact though. Not many people were tolerant about such things on the Ice but it wasn't completely uncommon for galena's to mingle in with normal people in Icecarl society and make an unofficial name for themselves. Personally Milla enjoyed their company.
"Yes dear that's it. Follow that line when you're walking. Shoulders back! Straighten that slouch girl! Keep that book balanced on top of your head," Saran said criticizing Milla's jaunting strut.
Milla did as she was told but it was a task easier said than done. The shoes that Saran had picked for her were impractical to say the least. They had a four inch stick for a heel support and they barely had any sole to step on at the balls of her feet. Saran told Milla that they were the latest fashion and the best tools to help her slouched posture. After two days of walking in such shoes Milla assumed that Chosen women loved to subject themselves to such torture. It was killing her just to walk back and forth between the dressing table and the bed. With each failed attempt she wondered if she would last an hour at the ball without humiliating herself.
Drawing in a shallow breath so as not to upset her balance, Milla walked towards the bed for the tenth time. Her previous attempts to walk as Saran instructed usually ended up with Milla falling to her hands and knees on the hard marble floor. On the odd chance that she succeeded in making the trip, Saran would point out what she had done wrong with exaggerated comments that blew away any hope that Milla had.
"Your strut still isn't right! Watch me," Saran said strutting about on his toes.
His hips moved from side to side in a feminine manner as he held his forearms up gracefully, fingers dangling airily like that of a woman. He was almost prancing about. Milla watched in amusement that was stunted short with a tinged of jealously. How could she be outshined by a man?! Was Saran just good at what he taught or was Milla really that unfamiliar with her feminine side?
"You do it so well. Perhaps if you wear my dress and shoes, you can go to the ball in my stead," Milla jibed.
"Believe me I've thought of that. With the progress you've made, I've a better chance convincing the nobility that I'm more of a woman that you my dear," Saran said offhandedly as he adjusted his hair in the full length mirror.
Milla felt a bit insulted but wondered why.
"Oh don't get bothered over that dear. We've still one day to work on your walk and we've covered most of what you need to know about Chosen society. We just need to refine your appearance to make you blend in," Saran said registering her slightly confused frown.
Milla looked at the patronizing smile and couldn't help but cheer up at the sarcasm.
"Can we take a break from walking?" Milla asked.
Saran sighed disapprovingly but nodded and checked his parchment of the list of things to do. He suddenly brightened as he read the next item and Milla knew him well enough to know that what he liked, she loathed.
"What is it? Are you going to make me sit in front of the dressing table and play with my hair for hours on end?" Milla asked sourly fearing it to be true.
"No…" Saran said smiling even wider "We can do that later but right now we have a little something of a treat," Saran said ushering her towards a large set of wardrobe doors.
"What is behind these doors?" Milla asked uncertainly.
"A treat that any woman would enjoy!" Saran answered excitedly as he gripped the wardrobe door handles.
"Any Chosen woman…" Milla muttered.
"Oh hush! Chosen or Icecarl I believe all women love to try on new clothes!" Saran said pulling open the doors to reveal a large room that stretched a long way inwards.
Sunstones flickered to life as the doors widened to reveal many colorful women's Chosen robes, gowns, evening wear and intimate apparel. The sheer volume of clothes staggered Milla about as much as she variety and glean and sparkle of the intricate embroidery.
"Oh I knew you'd like it!" Saran said mistaking Milla's confounded expression for one of awe.
"Aren't they lovely?! Let's go try on some things!" Saran squealed excitedly as he dragged Milla into the room.
Milla could only watch as Saran started to throw items in her arms. Some items Milla recognized as 'dresses" but other items were so foreign to her that she could only guess as to their use.
"Oh these are called bodice braces and these are called under things. You wear them under your clothes to keep your bits in place," Saran explained as Milla looked interested in a pair of undergarments with two cup like things attached to straps.
After a good three hours worth of trying on all types of apparel and getting brief lesson on how to wear them, Milla was exhausted. Her feet were killing her from the constant walking about in the shoes Saran aptly called heels. Her stomach growled from lack of food and her fatigue was finally showing. As she sat in front of the dressing table getting her hair straightened and knot free, she forced herself to stay awake.
"Ta dah! I've finally made you look like a woman," Saran said turning Milla to face the mirror.
The woman looking back at Milla was so different that Milla thought that she was looking at someone else.
"Is that me?" Milla asked in disbelief.
"It certainly is darling. It took a lot of work but I finally did it," Saran said admiring his handiwork.
"It's…It's different?" Milla said trying to find a word for her transformation into a goddess.
Her skin was still the delicate pale complexion but the blemishes that Milla once saw were gone, hidden away by powder. Her once slightly bushy eyebrows were plucked thin and shaped to perfect arcs whilst darkened lashes made her pale green eyes stand out like sparkling gems.
"It certainly is different," Saran scoffed at Milla's lack of praise.
"My hair… How did you make it…like that?" Milla asked pointing to her new hair do.
"A lot of combing with scented oils and a lot of hard work on my part," Saran said smiling at the fact that Milla was speechless at the transformation "Before you complain about the style, it falls to me to inform you that women of stature must wear their hair bound and decorated," Saran added.
"Why?" Milla asked as she experimentally touched the top of the curled up braid.
"Apparently it is a sign of lewdness to see a woman with her hair flowing free in natural beauty. I say it is more alluring than lewd. I guess nobility must appear as strict and in control as possible," Saran explained.
"Well it does have its merits," Milla said pulling out one of the hair pins. She tested the point and found it sharp.
"Now see hear! Don't be getting any ideas," Saran said snatching the long sharp pin from Milla and placing it back in her hair.
Milla smiled genuinely through the mirror at Saran.
"I wouldn't dream of it," she said.
"Good. It was hard enough for me to get you to relinquish your armor and weapons without first sedating you with my sunstone," Saran said before consulting his to do list.
As her lessons continued through the sleeping hours of the Castle, Milla confirmed her suspicions about how vain Chosen women were. However that was not to say that they weren't aggressive. Anyone who could confidently wear revealing clothes and bear extremely tight bodices and still manage to walk balanced in impractical shoes was a force to be reckoned with.
After Saran was satisfied that they carried out everything they could, Milla was finally allowed a few hours of uninterrupted rest. She was so tired that bypassed changing into her sleeping attire and simply drifted off in counting breaths on the large and comfortable bed. In her sleep, Milla watched as the portioned entities in her mind were coping with their new surroundings. The maiden in her loved the pampering and found Saran's lessons informative and told Milla to listen carefully.
The warrior in her knew that she was helpless to interfere in the Castle but never ceased to give advice on what her new surroundings offered as alternate weapons such as her hair pins. The warrior insisted that she wear a bodice at all times lest she need a little protection. The tight bodice while constricting was also thick enough to stop any wayward pierce attacks.
Milla heeded both parts of her consciousness and they finally silenced their voices leaving Milla with lonely feelings. She missed Tal. She had not seen him in two days and he never sent word to her to check on her progress. Tal warned her that he would be caught up in the politics of the Castle but she had not realized that it meant that she was not going to be able to see him for days at a time.
Milla forced herself awake when she heard something. Her eyes opened to slits as she saw a shadow pass over her. In a flash she pulled a hair pin from her hair and held it towards the person who was standing over her in the dark.
"Nice to know you haven't lost your edge," said a familiar voice.
"Tal?" Milla asked peering through the gloom of the dark room.
"Yes it's me," he said approaching her lighting his sunstone.
Milla replaced the hair pin and tried to find a comfortable way to sit in the stiff bodice.
"I see you're still adjusting," Tal said sitting by her on the bed.
"Chosen ways are complicated. Many of your ways have impractical meanings to Icecarls. I'm still trying to sort out what passes for etiquette around here," Milla answered.
Tal smiled and chuckled softly.
"Now you know why I wanted to leave the Castle," Tal said.
"I thought it was because you wanted to become a real Icecarl," Milla jibed giving him her secret smile.
"Well I had hoped that I could just stay out on the Ice with you and not have to care about the Castle anymore," Tal said jokingly.
"Yet here we are," Milla said trying to stay light hearted.
"Here we are…" Tal repeated.
For a brief moment they looked at each other and thought the same thing but before either one could react, Tal stood and turned.
"I just wanted to check up on you. I…I trust you are keeping well and studying the Chosen culture with all due haste. We can't afford slip ups," Tal said before he started off.
"Wait!" Milla said getting to her feet quickly.
Milla stumbled forward and wheeled her arms around as her balance was lost. She forgot that she had heels on. Milla fell forward and braced for a hard fall but before that happened Tal spun on his heel and caught her. His momentum was too much and the pair stumbled and landed on the bed, Tal atop Milla.
"Careful," Tal said after a moment of gazing longingly into Milla's eyes.
Milla pulled Tal into a kiss and when Tal tried to pull away, she held him in place.
"Are you to leave me so unsatisfied?" she asked "I know you long for me as much as I burn for you. I have not seen you for two days and when I finally do, you try to leave without as so much as a kiss or a hug,"
"You know why we can't do this…" Tal said as his resolve shook under her true words.
"There must be a way for us to be together. At least in secret," Milla thought allowed.
"There isn't," Tal said pulling Milla into a sitting position.
Tal knelt before her and looked up at her.
"Milla we agreed that we would control ourselves…It would hurt our cause if we were to give into our urges." Tal reasoned.
"Could you resist your urges for a year?" Milla asked.
"That's not fair," Tal said looking away.
"Tal. We must appease ourselves. If we do not then it will build until we go insane or until we do things we regret. We came block out our desires," Milla said gently.
"We can try," Tal said barely audibly as she drew his face towards her.
"We will fail," Milla whispered before she kissed him deeply.
Before they were swept away in their passion, Tal summoned enough self control to lock the doors.
"Best be cautious," he said returning to finish what was started.