And, here is the next one! I am always looking forward to your reviews :)

14.

Beautification

Rolanda's head was still spinning as Ronan led her out of the throne hall, away from this now even more mysterious and whimsical King Severus, still having found no answers to all the questions that were swirling around in her mind. She wished she could have asked Ronan if he knew what this was all about, but the man still looked a bit baffled himself, showing clearly that he had no idea why the king had made the decision of offering her to become his servant to keep her sister save.

They made their way down a long hallway lighted by only a few torches and climbed down a floor to walk down another hallway. This corridor looked less luxurious, as if it was only used by the countless servants and maids that worked in the king's service. Therefore she was not surprised that the room that lay behind a door he opened for her was plain and functional – in the half dark, she could see a wooden bathing tub that already looked pretty old, a small drawer and a few candlesticks.

"Oi! Come on, everybody, I have some work for you!" Ronan screamed down the hallway and only a few moments later, three women hurried into the room, their heads bent low as they awaited his instructions.

"Here is the new servant of the king. I want you all to prepare a bath for her and ensure that she looks decent again and is properly dressed for her task. Inform me when you are done with her, I will be in the throne hall," Ronan ordered and the women nodded hastily, two of them immediately hurrying out of the room again. Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact that it was already pretty late by now and the women looked a little bit tired, just as exhausted as Rolanda felt, actually, but they worked nonetheless.

Rolanda did not know what she was supposed to do or say as Ronan left and she was alone with the one woman who had not left the room, but had started to light the candles to bring some more light into the room.

Should she at least greet her, be a little bit friendly towards her?

The woman showed no signs of emotions as she gestured Rolanda to step towards the tub and started to rummage through the drawer that stood in the corner, taking things as combs, sponges and soaps out and arranged them on the top of the piece of furniture.

A few minutes passed until the two other women returned, followed by a few other servants, everybody carrying one or two buckets of hot water which they poured into the bathing tub until it was full. All the other people left, and now it was only Rolanda and the three women again – Rolanda tried to smile at them shyly, in an attempt to break the silence that was causing her to feel a bit uncomfortable about their presence. But it came out slightly forced and maybe crooked too, and none of the three returned it.

They did not even exchange any words at all between each other as they put a few small pieces of the sweetly smelling soap and stirred the water a bit so it turned from clear into a milky white colour.

Rolanda nearly jumped and screamed as they grabbed the seam of her dirty nightgown and wanted to pull it up, but then she just told herself to take a deep breath and let them do their job, even when it included to give up control over herself. At least she did not feel like she had to defend herself in here – the women maybe were not talking to her and this situation was just awkward, but still they had something soothing about them. Maybe it was the way they acted so motherly towards her that made Rolanda trust them: They were careful and not rough at all, as if they knew what she had been through in the last few days.

As she was pretty tired and it also felt good to have somebody take care of her, she just let them do as they pleased as they pulled the nightgown over her head.

After they had undressed her, they gestured to her to climb into the tub and one of the women actually held her hand to support her as she swung her legs one after the other over the side of the tub.

The warm water already felt wonderful around her lower leg as she stood in the tub, and she could not hold back a sigh of relief as she finally sank completely into the hot water. It felt like heaven, really, and she became aware of how much she had unconsciously missed taking a bath during her time down in the dungeons. She closed her eyes and allowed herself a short moment of pure enjoyment, one in which she could forget for a second that she still was in a pretty dangerous situation.

oOo

In the throne hall, King Severus had finished the main course and was now letting his ravenous gaze wander over the freshly served desserts – caramelised eggs, almond pudding, many different fruit compotes, little pies... As dessert truly was his favourite course, he had ordered the cooks to serve him as much diverse dishes as they could think of, and therefore the table was just as full as it had been during the main course.

Severus had just helped himself to some sweet blueberry pies as Ronan entered the throne hall, approaching his master in a fast pace.

"Ronan, my friend. May I offer something to you? I know you have a weakness for these savarins," Severus exclaimed, his mood seemingly brighter than it had been during the last few days. Ronan shook his head and spoke in a hushed voice:"Your highness, I know that you don't have to justify any of your actions, especially not in front of me, but I have to admit that I am a little bit curious about your decision to make this girl your personal servant! Please let me voice my concerns, my king – are you really sure that this is a good idea? I mean – she tried to attack you, master!"

Severus glared at him, though his expression looked pretty mild as he answered:"I am moved by the amount of concern about my safety, Ronan, but I know what I am doing. I don't see any risks – she will not dare to endanger her little sister. Oh, this love between siblings... how nice it must feel. But my own wonderful siblings never found it necessary to really show such things towards me. Still I know how strong it can bind people together, and this will ensure that she will behave."

"If you say so, my king," Ronan nodded, though he obviously did not feel comforted by Severus' explanations at all.

"Come on, take a seat, eat something with me, my old friend."

oOo

It felt odd to have somebody combing and washing her long, platinum blonde hair for her while she herself rubbed her skin off with a sponge, as Rolanda normally preferred to do things like that on her own. But still, it was pretty relaxed and she felt truly cared for in this moment, even though the women had been ordered to do all of this.

It was a relief to feel how all the dirt and also the odour of the dungeons were washed off her skin and out of her hair, and she felt a little bit more like herself – like Rolanda, and not like some prisoner that had been forced to sleep in hay.

She had the time to think about everything that had happened again, and one question was still gnawing on her like mad: What kind of purpose had it for the king to have her serving him night and day? After all, she was just a the daughter of a simple merchant, she did not have the best court manners and from the household experience she had gained during her life she knew that she would not make the best maid. She loved to oppose, to voice her thoughts and sometimes, she would even leave her work to watch the little boys playing knight with their wooden swords.

The king had to had some hidden intentions, that was clear, but she could not think of anything logical – he would not find her parents sooner when she worked for him...

Her skin was already wrinkled when the women gestured her to climb out of the tub, something Rolanda obeyed to only reluctantly – the water had been so comfortable, and they had provided her with a occasional bucket of hot water, preventing the water from cooling down too much.

The women were holding up a huge towel for her in which they wrapped her as soon as she had left the water. Shivering slightly in the cool air, Rolanda hurried to rub her skin dry on her own before she took a look at the clothes the women had been ordered to dress her in. Though, in comparison to her dirty and sweaty nightgown, everything clean and a little bit more covering would have been okay with her.

They dressed her in a white chemise and an actually pretty nice looking green dress with a cream coloured corsarge, which they were binding pretty tight, making her feel like she was being pressed through a tiny eye of a needle.

After drying her blonde hair off carefully and combing it again for what seemed like an eternity – Rolanda had forgotten how smooth it could feel when freshly washed – they braided her hair into a long, beautiful plait. As soon as they had finished, they plucked here and there, on her dress, on her hair, still not having said a word to Rolanda. One of the women left the room, obviously to summon Ronan again, and only now Rolanda catched a expression of compassion on the faces of the other two, scaring her a little bit off. Was the king such a tyrant that they were pitiying her for having to be with him all day? Actually, she was not very keen to find this out.

But still, she tried to think positive as she waited for Ronan to come back and introduce her to whatever her task would be in the future.

There was a short knock on the door and a servant entered, handing Rolanda a plate with two pieces of fresh, still warm bread and a little bit of cheese and ham, which she slung down hastily, having forgotten how hungry she was.