Princess Rea - Eajra - Day 1
I frowned at my vanity, nudging a perfume bottle over just a bit to the left. I backed away again and frowned at the display. I returned and moved it slightly to the right. A maid knocked on my door and peeked in. “Dinner is in a few minutes, Princess.”
“Rea, please,” I murmured out of habit and waved her out as I studied the vanity from a distance again. Five minutes were spent in an attempt to get the perfume bottles in perfect order. I tried to leave three times before that but couldn’t quite talk myself into ignoring the fact that the perfume bottles refused to be separated evenly. Eventually, I just took one of the bottles off the vanity and threw it away.
I hurried down the hall, worried that I would be late. With two guests, it just wasn’t acceptable. I slowed my pace a bit as Tim and Demitri came into view and gave Tim a smile as he turned to face me. He looked tense, not that that was anything new. "You okay?" When I didn’t get a verbal answer, I turned to Demitri with a cheery smile. "Hello, Demitri."
He returned my grin if a bit less enthusiastic. “Princess Rea.”
“Rea please,” I murmured and exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes. Finally, I turned to Tim, trying to ease fears I’d never understood. "Tim, it'll be okay. You've met him before, I think. He's the brother or King Megarus." I grimaced when he stumbled. Wrong thing to say. We were almost at the dining room when the drapes caught my eye. They were just a little… I stopped.
Tim hesitated, and I waved him on. “I’ll be right in,” I murmured and could barely restrain myself enough to wait for them to disappear behind the dining room door before I went over to the curtains. It was an easier fix than the perfume bottles. One of them just needed to be pushed to the left a bit, but apparently, the maids didn’t dust curtains because I drew my hand back with dust all along the palm.
I went cold, my hand tingling oddly. It was just dust, just dust… I could handle it, just wipe it... I tried to brush it over my skirt, but I couldn’t quite do it. If it got it on my skirt I would have to change entirely. As it was, I would have to go back to my rooms, call for hot water…
Guests.
My slowly spiraling mind came to halt and focused. I couldn’t be much later than I was. Reluctantly, I brushed my hands together. They both felt soiled when I stopped but looked fine. I forced my feet toward the dining room and opened the door, working a bright smile on my face.
"Princess Rea," Marius said, standing as I walked to my seat.
"Just Rea will do," I murmured automatically and flashed a smile at the rest of the people at the table. Sitting beside my mother, I started talking to Demitri and pretended to include Tim from time to time. The conversation shifted to world affairs, pulling Marius and Mother into the conversation. Though I had trained myself through the years to appear to be listening at all times, I made sure to actually listen to Marius. I didn’t always actually enjoy our guests, but he was what I would like to be. He held strings, pulled them at will, and got to sit back to watch the countries whirl around like tops. I grinned at the idea.
There was a lull in the conversation, so I asked Demitri about Talentra, glad to hear about a different place. I smiled at his description of the ocean as he glanced down and back at me.
When Demitri presented the cloak, I ooh’d and aah’d dutifully and excused myself. My hands still felt funny. Even though I was pretty sure it was all in my head, I wanted to scrub them in hot water until they were red.
I was halfway up the stairs when I noticed. My pinky was gone. Not connected to my hand. And my ring finger was quickly following.
Magic.
The word smoldered in my head, and an image of Ataia fluttered in my thoughts. I dashed up the stairs, hiding my hands in my skirts. I was fumbling with my door, finding it hard to open it when I couldn’t see my fingers which had all slowly disappeared.
“Rea?”
I stiffened, trying to keep my voice even. “Ah… Yes?”
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