“You're cute, and quirky in a good way. A little dark maybe, but you're funny too.” Mara’s relentless assault continued, and a part of me wondered if she was just doing it to torture me.
I slowly sank deeper into the tub, wanting to disappear. “You can stop now.” ‘I doubt she means half of it anyway. She’s probably just worried because she saw me cry for the first time…’
“I admire how fearless you are, and how you're willing to take on any challenge and stare death in the eyes, only to crack a joke when it almost catches you.”
The cold in my body was completely gone, replaced with a burning heat in my cheeks from embarrassment. I couldn’t believe she was saying all those things. ‘She admires something about me? Until recently she didn't even care about me at all… Right?’
It was ridiculous. I knew that, but it was still getting a strong reaction out of me. “I said stop it…”
“I thought you said you liked compliments.”
“It’s embarrassing…” I mumbled.
She laughed. “Oh, that's what that face is? It’s cute. I bet the boys will be all over you when you show up at the academy.”
I let out an uncomfortable groan. ‘Yeah right. I can’t imagine that at all. Even if they were, it would just feel weird. I can’t think of anything more uncomfortable than getting hit on by a bunch of thirteen-year-olds… Wait… (When) I show up at the academy?’
“Just remember to not go too far before you get married ok. That’s a big–”
I stood up and physically covered her mouth with my hands. “Mara!” I yelled.
She stared at me for a moment, her eyes tracing my body “Wow, you’ve gotten bigger.”
Realising I was standing in front of her completely naked I quickly covered my chest and sank back down, even more embarrassed than before.
“I meant your height, but you're bigger there too.”
“Please stop talking…” I groaned blowing bubbles, imagining the steam from the hot water was actually coming from my face.
When I finally took another breath I started to get lightheaded from the heat.
Mara just laughed. “I guess if you get embarrassed this much I probably don’t have to worry about boys after all.”
“It’s not funny…” I pouted, reaching for the towel.
“Hold on a minute, let me wash your hair. Now that you are using magic it will be important to keep it clean.”
‘That has to be the biggest excuse I’ve ever heard…’ She pulled out a bottle of soap and I suddenly found myself in a difficult situation. Of course, after all the teasing, I did want to leave… But… It only took a moment for soap to win out over how embarrassed I was feeling.
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Finally, FINALLY, I was going to deep clean my hair.
I paused, my face sinking. “I’m starting to get dizzy though…” As disappointing as it was I knew it wouldn’t be good to stay in the bath any longer.
“Use your magic.”
“What?”
“Remember when your body was so cold that it froze over, like that, use your magic to lower your body temperature.”
‘There’s no way it's that easy is it?’
I focused on the feeling of ice and the cold nothingness I felt at that moment. Focusing on expelling the heat from my body back into the water and cooling down. I imagined the water around me heating up, my body cooling down, my heart rate slowing and the steam entering my lungs slowly chilling.
Before I knew it I felt fine again, and the hot water was just as warm as ever, melting me into a pile of mush, metaphorically speaking at least.
‘I guess that training really did help me control my magic.’
I dragged my palms down my face suddenly feeling exhausted, like my whole body was sore. ‘That's strange, I didn’t use much manna to do that. Why does it hurt?’
“When your magic went crazy and froze you solid you ended up burning most of your manna, I guess you're a bit sore now huh.”
‘She can tell just by watching me?’
Her hands gently began to rub through my scalp as she started to wash my hair like she said. “It might sound crazy but washing your hair will help, there are magic circuits in your hair, so when it gets dirty or tangled it makes it harder to flow smoothly and slows down recovery… At least, that’s what a friend of mine said one time. To be fair, it could have also just been an excuse to make sure we stopped and cleaned ourselves off at least once a day, she hated being dirty.”
“I guess that makes sense...” ‘Honestly, I don't care. I’m just happy to finally get my hair clean.”
It felt indescribably good. In the past, I had gotten all the knots and tangles out myself, with some help from Finlo as well, of course, the past couple of days had ruined that.
Instead of painful tugging though, she was able to clean my hair by just giving me a massage.
As her gentle fingers slowly worked through each strand, she began humming a peaceful melody. Had it been a bit slower, I would have probably fallen asleep.
Every muscle in my body relaxed and my breathing deepened, softening at the same time. Then, she began to sing.
*************************************************************************************************
“Who's to say the southern sky won't burn bright into the night,
Soaring flames of golden light filled with decay and awful freights.
Who's to say the western cliffs won't fall amidst our eastern bliss
crash down on us within a mist of freezing cold and frightful Kris
The eastern waters of the shore could raise and tarnish us once more,
flow from coast to coast again, and drown our lands that lie within.
Maybe even north we go to find some hope but there we know,
our father's lands were lost with time and linger with a haunting chime.
Who's to say what fate may bring, as echoes of the ancients sing?
Either way, we stand as stone, we fight our fears, protect our home,
And sing of cheer when we have won and sing of love when we are done.
For if not for you then who or why did I fight until I thought I’d die?”
*************************************************************************************************
To be honest, the song wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t that catchy, her pitch wasn’t perfect, the lyrics didn’t flow quite right, and folk music wasn’t exactly my favorite genre. I might have liked it more if I heard the rest of the song, but I couldn’t say…
None of that mattered though, for whatever reason, that moment, and in turn, that song became an irreplaceable memory.
She finished, and I moved my hands through my hair. Even wet I could feel how soft it was, almost like my hands were moving across silk threads. My scalp didn’t itch at all anymore, although it was a bit sore from her working on it for so long.
“Here, cover your head with this towel while it dries so you don't catch a cold.”
I let out a short laugh, almost wanting to just fall asleep right there. “Didn’t you hear? I’m immune to the cold.”
She slung it over my head herself, rubbing it in with one hand. “Knowing you you’ll still get sick somehow.”
The steam wafted through the air in front of my eyes as I moved the towel so that I could see, wanting to come up with a smart reply.
As I finally fixed the towel how I wanted it I saw her bright smile and my thoughts stopped. I moved my hands through my hair again, bringing it over my shoulder. ‘She really is acting like a mother now…’
I almost felt like a dress-up doll, my hair falling down to my hips, and finally being clean, wearing nice clothes. I even smelled nice, and while I never exactly smelled bad before, I certainly never smelled like flowers.
I felt so clean that it was almost uncomfortable. ‘It seems as the lows get lower, the highs increase in turn. I can’t believe it took me this long to finally get my hair a good cleaning.’ I weaved my hand through it one more time. ‘Of course… it had to be (after) I got a haircut from a demon.’