Golden Dawn

|Chapter 8 ~ An Altered Reflection In Glass|

I felt my face warm. Julîus wasn't just embarrassing me, but playing  with what was left of my pride.

I glared up at him, heat building in my cheeks. He made me so angry I wanted to yell his head off. But I knew better. Julîus could probably kill me in the blink of an eye and was also very aware of it. I thus did what I was told to and quickly stood up, making my way out of the suite as fast as I could. I yearned to escape the horrid male.

Outside, Quîncîn awaited me with a sour expression on his face. "Come." He grumbled and led me into a similar structure to that of Julîus'. A few winged creatures stared at us as I was led to my new quarters and I tried to ignore the feeling of unease that started to weave its way into my heart.

I knew the essence of their expressions and didn't like the look in their eyes. I wasn't an enemy.

The inside of the suite was spacious and comfortable. Fur blankets buried the entire floor in soft pelts. The material felt wonderful to my aching feet and I immediately started to relax into the comfortable feeling. Quîncîn, aware that I wasn't able to do anything stupid, walked out and left me alone in the room. After inspecting the place, I spotted a silver bath and immediately walked towards it, bitterly remembering what Julîus instructed me to do.

My irritation strangely forgotten, I looked at it the bath in curiosity. The tub looked like any normal human tub, except for the nonexistence of buttons or levers to release water. I suddenly felt very frustrated and looked around the bath for anything that could maybe help me figure out how it worked.

I just want to fill this damn tub!  I thought angrily after minutes of tirelessly searching around the bath like an idiot. 

Suddenly - as if out of thin air - abnormally clear blue water filled the tub. That  I did not expect. Somehow I could fill baths without physically doing anything and that creeped me out much more than I would've liked. I stared down at the water for a long while, thoughts in a disarray inside my head.

When I was tired of thinking of an explanation for the strange phenomenon, I stripped and climbed into the bath. The cool water caressed my dirty skin in a soft blanket. I never felt as relaxed.

After I washed and dried, I explored the room further and found a heap of clothes. The wardrobe consisted of satin robes, neatly folded and placed in a small heap on a wooden chest. I slipped into the clothing and inspected myself. Soft lilac coloured robes mostly covered my upper body, but left my bare legs and arms exposed. A golden waistband stretched around my middle to keep the attire together and the cold metal kissed my skin. The clothing was more revealing than anything I had ever worn and suddenly made me very self-conscious. Grateful to wear something other then rugged shirts however, quickly helped me overcome my embarrassment.

I continued to look around the room and found a golden glass object, perched atop a small ornamented box. I lifted the glass to my face, grimly reminding myself when I last looked into a mirror. I stared at my reflection.

The small object almost fell out of my shaking fingers. The woman in the smooth glass was certainly not me.

A beautiful face shaped by a strong jawline, green feline eyes that reminded me of pure emerald and elegantly shaped red lips stared back at me. Long curly auburn hair hung down the side of the alien woman's face and shone in an almost unnaturally healthy glow. I touched her rosy cheek with trembling fingers. I couldn't accept who I was looking at.

The woman that stared back at me didn't look entirely human... she was something more beautiful and far more foreign than anything I could ever have pictured. Something utterly unrecognizable.