Alexia
I looked up at the great gates of Zaïm's castle and felt all my muscles stiffen, the realization dawning on me as I was forced through the gates, still bound by my hands, that I would soon see King Octavian.
I was desperate, terrified.
"Get her ready," said Carlos, and I looked at him in fright as he handed me into the hands of an unknown woman.
"Prepare her? " I asked frightened, but there was no answer. She led me through dark corridors and stopped in what looked like a small room, that ordinary and precarious place reminded me of my life in Torrem:
"What are you waiting for? Take off your clothes"
"Now?"
"No, tomorrow. Of course it's now, miss!" She left muttering something low, I looked at the clothes I was wearing and started to take them off slowly, her turn came from the next room "Come here girl"
I walked towards the door and saw what looked like a bathroom, a small basin of water, a drain and a toilet, the walls full of slime and dirt, not even a sink.
I felt the cold water hit my skin, chilling me to the bone. I shivered at the cold and wrapped my arms even tighter around my body.
"Here" She handed me the soap "Do you know how to scrub yourself or do you want me to scrub you? "
"No, I can do that" I said, quickly grabbing the soap. I hated that the water was so cold, but at the same time I couldn't stop thinking that I was finally having a shower.
She left me alone in the bathroom and I started to wash my head and scrub my body, removing all the impurities I had acquired on the trip, loving the smell of cleanliness coming off my skin.
When I'd finished, I took the towel from the corner that I thought was for me and dried myself off, leaving the bathroom with my hair still dripping.
"Don't get the floor wet, young lady," the woman complained, throwing me another towel. I quickly put it over my head, still listening to her complain.
"I don't want to bother you"
"And you're going to be naked?" she asked, and I kept quiet "You need to look presentable for the king"
She threw me a dress.
"Come on, I still need to fix my hair"
I looked around and then realized that I had to change right there. I started to put on the dress, which didn't have a corset, it was simple and comfortable, reminding me of the ones I used to wear in Torrem.
I felt her touch my head and turned to look at her abruptly, she was holding a comb, looking at me suspiciously.
"Calm down girl, it's just a comb"
"I thought she was going to protest, but she handed me the comb and walked away.
"I want to see if you really know how to comb hair," she said, looking at me.
"But I'm a maid, not a noblewoman" I replied "I can probably do hairstyles as good as you could do on me or better"
She nodded.
"And this fear? Is it also a servant's fear or did the girls do something to you?"
"No, they didn't do anything," I said, understanding what she meant.
"I figured, General Carlos wouldn't let them do it" she said, sitting down as she watched me "Why are you going to be presented to the king if you're just an ordinary maid? What's so special about you? " Her tone was not that of a simple question, but there was disdain in the background.
I put the comb down, my hair had already been completely untangled and I was about to do a hairstyle with the weapons I had, but nothing. Just a braid, my own hair to tie into a formal, elegant bun, my hair was big enough to be used for the finishing touches, but while I was talking to the woman in her forties the door was opened, it was Carlos.
"General Carlos" she said excitedly.
I looked him up and down, I didn't know he was a general.
"Is she ready? " he asked as he entered, he also looked me up and down, I crossed my arms uncomfortably and closed my eyes.
"I'm not, I think it'll take me a hundred years"
"Very funny of you, now let's go, the king already knows you've arrived" He put his hand on my back and I moved away from his touch and walked forward.
We stopped in front of a large door, I looked at the glass and details on it and then the doors opened, revealing the throne room that I wasn't prepared to enter.
As if Charles knew that my feet were going to get stuck there, he put his hands on my back again, this time not so gently, and pushed me forward, one foot behind the other, his eyes on us like those of King Octavian, who was sitting on the throne he had taken over just a few months before after the death of his father, who had had a heart attack in the middle of a party.
I stopped in front of him at a distance of twenty meters and Charles bowed, he glanced at me and then pulled me to bow too, a smile broke out on the king's face at this.
I fixed my posture and looked at the king in front of me.
"King Octavian, I've just returned from an expedition and found more than gold on the banks of the river," Charles began to say.
Gold, so that's what they were doing near the borders, an expedition to see if there really was gold.
It was an expedition where diggers would be taken together, so I knew that the motives were probably something else that couldn't be said out loud in the throne room, the king of Zaïm must have had many secrets like every king.
"This is Alexia, we found her by the river at around three in the morning and she was with a dragon," Carlos continued, bringing me out of my thoughts.
King Charles leaned forward a little and said:
"With a dragon, are you sure?"
"I'm sure of what I saw"
"It's impossible!" shouted one of the nobles in the room.
"We'll see about that," said the king, looking me up and down, "Alexia, where are you from?"
"From Torrem"
"You're a long way from home, why did they find you on the border of Olimper and Zaim?"
I kept quiet, my chest began to rise and fall rapidly, I looked at him.
"Are you bonded to a dragon?"
I looked around, no sound came from the nobles who seemed to be waiting as long as the king for an answer. I knew that if I said no, I'd be useless, I needed to lie to stay alive.
I looked at him.
"Yes, I'm on."
He nodded, still seemed to be analyzing me, but then he clapped his hands and smiled.
"How incredible, a woman who was bonded to a dragon! I see Zaim is going to make history again."
Applause broke out, I looked at Carlos worriedly and then at the king, who said again:
"Why is she wearing these simple clothes? Fill her with ornaments and give her a room next to mine, she'll be my special guest!"