2.  Wimples & Braids

I was sitting in the corner of my new living quarters on the floor, hugging my knees. Shame still filled my face after what I’d just done in the bathing room. I’m sure I looked pretty lifeless at that point.

There had been one small saving grace, a bar of soap next to the bathing tub. I had not been completely forsaken! I’m sure it was meant for washing your body, but after finding a bucket of water off to the side (I made sure it was water first!), I washed the hell out of my hands. If it had been abrasive at all, I’m sure my skin would have been bleeding with how hard I scrubbed.

I don’t consider myself a germaphobe, but I still can’t help thinking of how disgusting it is. And not only that, but this will be my life from now on until I vanquish this darkness spreading over the land, or some bullshit like that. Or someone invented toilet paper...

The maids eventually came back, having appropriated some suitable clothing I assumed. They took one look at me and started making a huge fuss,

“My Lady?! Are you quite all right? Pray tell what has happened to you?”

I’m sure I was emanating some kind of miasma in my dark corner. With eyes half dead, and a soul nearly on its way to the next world, even I would have been worried about me, had I had the emotions to care at the moment.

“I’m fine. Just fine. I’ll be fine. It’s just wiping...wiping...just wiping…”

I was a little broken inside, and my voice came out very monotone, which just made the maids more confused. They had no idea what had happened to me, and even if I told them I knew they wouldn’t understand. And then the realization came to me. These ladies probably wiped the same way every day of their lives, though I doubt they washed their hands afterwards as I did. So that means whenever I touch someone’s hands, I’ll be touching— Augh I don’t even want to think about it!

“My Lady, if there’s anything I can do for you, may this Silian please be of use to you, Great Hero.”

She had knelt down to my level and grasped my hands in hers with earnest.

No! Stop! I just said I didn’t want to think about it anymore! Don’t touch me with your pee-stained hands!!

I jumped up immediately, which caused the maid, Silian, to release her hold.

“Thank you, I am feeling so much better now. Why don’t you show me what you brought in with you?”

I desperately feigned enthusiasm, which even I could tell was forced as it came out a little robotically, but I would have said anything at that point to get her hands off me. She and the other maids looked a bit confused, but Silian quickly regained herself and smiled and bowed towards me.

“I am most relieved, My Lady. I cannot imagine how scary it must be to suddenly be whisked away to another place, but please know I will be here for you, should you need me. For now, please come to the bed, we have laid out an assortment of gowns for you to choose from.”

She seemed to think I was disoriented or homesick, which was technically true I suppose, but her caring words touched me and a real smile finally graced my face. She smiled in reply. I then nodded to her request, and followed her to the four poster bed from my corner. As I did, I finally took in the clothes the maids were wearing. I had been so fascinated with the castle around me, I didn’t really look at anyone’s clothes after leaving the hall I was summoned in. I had been expecting something like a French maid costume, but it was surprisingly more… peasant-like? They seemed to wear a long dress with a tunic over the top, and had tabards around their waists, and a white cloth over their hair. There was no color coordination, other than the off-white colored tabards and head cloths, so these were likely just everyday attire. It made practical sense, as I had a feeling the castle didn’t provide uniforms, only the tabards.

The clothes laid out on the bed were much more what I expected from a medieval fantasy realm. There was an assortment of colors; reds, greens, and blues mostly, with one in gold. They were actually fascinating, and I couldn’t help but want to touch the fabric. Some were velvety soft, others silky smooth. They didn’t have any elaborate designs like the clothes the king wore, but I still found them very beautiful.

As my inner fashionista took over, all other thoughts were banished from my mind. They were all lovely dresses, but as for which would look good on me, that would take some scrutinizing. The waist of the dresses all seemed to be tailored the same, something between an a-line and high waist style, so the decision would come down to the color, neckline shape, sleeves, and the bliauds.

The reds were instantly out, they didn’t look good with my mildly tanned skin tone in any but the most sultry of circumstances. Although this climate was colder, I still couldn’t justify wearing a high-necked piece so soon after leaving my world’s blazing hot summer, so those were out. The gold, while nice, I almost felt was a bit too brazen in color, and I was in a modest mood, so that was rejected. After a time I had finally narrowed it down to two. The first was a blue dress with a bateau neckline and gold lining on the collar, and a strip of gold embroidery down the center. It’s design was finished off with a dark blue overcoat that buttoned at the waist and had long and wide sleeves. The second was a dark green dress with a square neckline, and white fur trim on the neck and bottom of the skirt, with sleeves that flared out just above the elbows.

The blue dress felt more regal, but the green dress more fun. My face was serious with deliberation weighing the pros and cons of each. In the end, the green dress won by a small margin, the two main factors being: no surcoat, and the fact that it was not embroidered left it open for all sorts of accessorizing possibilities.

Now it should be said, had I been able to do so, I would have preferred a cute halter-top empire-style dress with pretty sandal heels and all sorts of bling, but that was understandably several hundred years before its time. Of the accessories they did have, I chose a gold chain style belt with a myriad of danglies on it, a pair of large multi-jeweled earrings, a golden necklace with white and green stones in an intricate pattern, and several bracelets for both wrists. I might be in a medieval world, but I was determined to remain stylish.

Feeling proud of myself, half the maids took the other clothing away, and the remainder stayed on standby. Silian then asked,

“Would you like to remain in the undergarments you have on, or shall we provide you with a new set?”

Ah, that’s right, they still thought my summer attire was my underwear. Still feeling proud of my stylish ways, I decided to give them a look at real modern underwear.

“No thank you, I’ll wear what I have.”

And with that, the stripping began. Had there been any male maids I wouldn’t have felt so comfortable, but around other girls, it was just like being in a locker room. I had black low-rise bikini underwear with lace frills adorning top, and a black thin-strapped bra with see-through lace on the upper diagonal half of each cup. The breathable fabric of these particular undies was key to surviving the hot summer.

From the looks I was getting, I expected one of the maids to say something like ‘scandalous!’. They didn’t quite know what to make of my fashion trendy lingerie, but one of the shorter and older maids spoke first.

“‘ave ye been cursed, Lass?”

I was more surprised by the accent, resembling something Scottish, than the actual words themselves. The maids all took a step back at the mention of a ‘curse’. I, on the other hand, looked a little more quizzical, unsure of what prompted the curse remark.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Curse? I’m not quite sure I understand.”

Maybe if I had a tattoo I could understand the curse remark, but I had yet to adorn my body in ink, though I had been thinking about getting a tattoo in the near...or maybe it was far now...future.

“Yer covered wi’ the marks o’ the Black God!”

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t completely off track. I guess my underwear did hug my body close enough that people unfamiliar with such dainty things might think they were part of my body. I reached behind my back to unclasp my bra, then took it off so the ladies could see I was not actually cursed.

They ooo’ed and aaa’ed, and were particularly fascinated with the clasp mechanism. I could see they were curious about my panties as well, but while I was fine with exposing my breasts to other women, I preferred remaining modest where my nether regions were concerned.

After the hubbub died down, they urged me to get dressed so that I might explore more of the castle before the announcement and banquet. I hadn’t heard about a banquet before, and got a bit excited about getting to taste food from another world. I had no idea what to expect. However, thoughts of potentially delicious food were dashed when one of the maids mentioned helping me get dressed.

I was an independent young woman, and certainly capable of clothing myself, thank you very much. However, as they stepped back to let me get dressed, I realized I didn’t quite know where to begin. I obviously knew how to put on the green gown and accessories, but there were several undergarments that needed to be put on first, and I stood there stumped for a moment.

I looked back and forth between the maids, debating whether I should just wing it, or swallow my pride and ask for help. Considering they put me on the same level as a noble lady, it would likely look bad if I was arranged improperly. Not only that, they may blame the maids for mis-dressing me, even if I did dress myself. I bit my lip looking back at the maids one more time, and they were all smiles, just waiting to be asked for help.

I gave in and let them dress me, which they seemed very enthusiastic about. They chattered amongst themselves as they got me into some hose, bloomers, a long dress-like chemise, and several other pieces before finally putting the gown on. At the very least, this seemed to be before the era of corsets…thank God. The whole time I just focused on the clothes and how they went together, on the conversations about my smooth skin and hair, anything but thinking of the hands that were touching me. The hands that wiped themselves- No no! Not thinking about that! These are nice ladies, their hands don’t matter!

Several minutes later, once all the layers were finely arranged, I felt very mentally exhausted. It also didn’t help that all these clothes were heavier than the clothes I was used to wearing. Be it the middle ages or modern day, being fashionable is a lot of work.

“You look beautiful, My Lady.”

Silian complimented me, and the other maids agreed. They shared some gossip with me that they often had to dress some of the nobles in exquisite clothes that looked horrid on them. I should have known girls gossip exists in any age, and smiled at the familiarity. Then came an unexpected question,

“So do ye ‘appen ta be married by chonce, Lass?”

Married? Only stupid-in-love high school sweethearts were married at my age. I wasn’t even dating anyone at the moment, though my current ex had been begging to be taken back. And even though my Mom had married at 19, it was a different age back then, and she considered me too young to be married anyway.

...Well, thinking about it properly now, this was also a different age. So in their world, maybe I was of a generally married age. Frightening as that was, it also made me curious…

“I’m not married yet. Where I come from there’s not many people married at my age, they usually wait a couple more years. How young do girls marry here?”

The maids made that ‘o’ face like they just heard some juicy gossip. I suppose having information on another world’s marriage practices was pretty exciting...I mean, even I was curious about their world’s view on it. Silian was the one that answered.

“Girls of our class generally get married around 15 or 16. In the noble class, they tend to get married younger, since most have been betrothed since young, and many girls are married by age 14. Recently a 10-year old girl was married to her 23-year old fiance as her parents had passed, and they needed someone to run the estate.”

They must have seen my face grimace at the 13 year age gap. I mean, if they were 20 and 33, or 30 and 43 it’d be more understandable, but 10?! She hadn’t even had a chance to live her life yet and she’s already tied down! I didn’t even know this girl and my heart wept for her.

“Please don’t feel too bad for them, it is a common occurrence here, and need all too often outweighs personal opinions.”

It was as if she read my mind. From the looks on their face, it looked like they agreed that 10 was too young to marry as well. God, I hope that guy didn’t force her to consummate their marriage! If he did, I’d have to kick his ass, the pedophile!

While I was raging internally at the moral indecency, this raised another question.

“Why did you want to know if I was married?”

I mean, I didn’t have a ring on my finger or anything...or maybe that wasn’t a marriage custom here. For all I knew, they might have traded spoons at a marriage ceremony.

“I need’ ta know ‘ow to ‘doo yur ‘air, Lass.”

Hair? I had day-old hair going on, perfect for styling, but I could do it myself if I at least had a brush. I shared a look with the older woman with the heavy accent. My stare said ‘I don’t need help’, her stare replied ‘I’m gonna do it whether you like it or not’. I retorted with a shocked glance of ‘You wouldn’t dare’, and she won with a smirk the likes of which only a mother with experience disciplining children has, ‘just try me’.

I dropped my head in defeat, waving the white flag. I was supposed to be the hero of this world and I just lost a staring contest with a 40-something old biddy. This world was doomed.

I sat down for the ladies as they turned my messy-chic hairstyle into a lavish braid. I was informed that if I had been married, I would have been required to wear a wimple as it was unsightly for married ladies to openly display their hair for the world to see. Two of my attending maids, including the heavily-accented woman, wore the white marriage-identifying cloths on their heads, but it seemed the younger girls were still single. I would now be able to tell if a woman was married or not simply by looking at their head. You better look out now, ambiguous darkness, if you’re female, I can see if you’re married or not! ...Is about how useless my new perception skill was for my future heroics.

That said...it might actually come in handy at the banquet thingy tonight. Yes, yes, think positively. When the ladies were finally done, I was ushered to a large circular mirror to check out their handywork. Although it’s not a style I would have done for myself, I had to admit they’d done a fantastic job. It wasn’t just a simple braid, but several layers of braids going to back, then braided into a larger loose braid at the neck. All the while, bits of golden and white decorations were added into the braid, giving it flair and pizazz. These girls really understood my style.

I felt ready to take on the world, or at least the gentry, in my new social battle gear. The ladies, also quite pleased with themselves, were excited to now show me around the castle, and starting chittering up a storm. As they led me around here and there and everywhere, I only caught about half of what they said half the time, but it was so much fun I didn’t really care. And for the first time since I got whisked away to this crazy backwards world, I was finally enjoying myself.