Nillous had come up behind me. “You shouldn’t be out in the cold dressed like that.”
“No, it's fine. Ever since my body had some time to rest I actually stopped minding the cold so much.” ‘Well, it's more like everything feels cold, and I’m too embarrassed to cling to people all day, but it sounds cooler this way. Ha… Cooler…’
He let out another sigh as if he could hear the pun I made in my head. “That's not what I meant, It's not right for a lady to wander around in her nightgown.”
I looked down at the gown that was covering my body. It had been tailored to properly fit and covered me completely from my chest to below my knees. “This is… More modest than what I normally wear though…” ‘At least my stomach is covered.’
I lifted up one of the straps. ‘It’s not like it's thin either. It’s designed to keep me warm.’
He frowned as if wanting to admit I wasn’t wrong. “Well, I tried. Your parents can deal with you if they really care so much about it.”
“What?”
“Let's just say you might have picked up some bad habits, due to the way you were raised. Supposedly we are all supposed to start treating you like a proper lady now… But I don't think that will be possible, since you don't act like one.”
I started laughing at the thought of it. In my mind not even Mara acted like a so-called proper lady. She walked around in the same kind of training clothes I did, scowled so much I wasn’t sure she knew how to smile and certainly wasn’t delicate with her words.
“What’s a lady supposed to act like anyway?”
He lifted a hand to his chin. “I think you're supposed to just act like you’re better than everyone else and bow and stuff.”
‘H’es… joking… right?’ “Well… I am pretty great.”
He cleared his throat, suppressing his laugh as he covered his mouth with a fist. “Yes, that's perfect.”
We both laughed again before he let out a sigh. He walked closer, covering me with his cloak and kneeling down in the snow. “Well, we can still treat you well, even if we don't address you formally.”
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His cloak was warm from his body heat, and soft from the fur that was used to make it. Wearing it reminded me of Finlo, and the time he made the same gesture. Still, the only true warmth I felt vanished as he pulled his hands away after clasping it.
‘I really hope Father gets back soon so we can fix my gate…’
“Now then.” He continued. “Let's get you inside. From what I understand, your room should be ready for you now.”
‘Ready for what? Does this mean I’m moving back there?’ I felt a chill at the thought of having to try and sleep alone again before my manna gate was fixed. ‘Ugh… It sure would be great if I had a little sister… That wasn’t avoiding me for some weird reason…’
I sighed. ‘No, leeching off of her would just make me feel guilty anyway. With Mara, it’s different because she’s the one that insists on it.’
“You don’t want to?”
“It’s not that… Just forget it, let go.”
Leading the way, he walked to the door to the main house and opened it for me, escorting me inside. It felt wrong. As far as I was concerned I was a member of the gang.
I wouldn’t exactly say I was “One of the boys.” But I wasn’t treated differently because of my birth, that goes double for both me being weak, and me being a noble.
I was one of them. That was how the guards had always treated me. In that regard, it meant that I looked up to Nillous as my commanding officer the same way the others did.
Having him treat me like I was superior to him all of a sudden made him feel distant somehow. “I thought you said you weren't going to treat me any different?”
I saw his jaw clench as his eyes moved to the side, clearly uncertain of how to react.
‘I guess it would be selfish of me to tell him to just go back to normal.’ “You said my parents told you to start treating me like this right?”
He grumbled. “Yes, that's right. From now on you are the fourth highest authority in the domain.”
My eyes widened. “Fourth?”
He nodded, repeating after me. “Fourth, yes, that's right. In current standing, the order goes to your father, mother, master Airsidh, and then you.”
‘Bhaltair’s authority dropped to less than my own?’ I slowly regained my composure as we approached my old room. Trying to process everything I had just heard.
It felt like everything around me was changing so fast and somehow I wasn’t even aware of any of it.
As we approached my room the first thing that stood out immediately was the door. It was never in bad shape, but it certainly wasn't nice. It used to look like the door to an old cellar, or a janitor's closet, old, beat up, and missing paint.
The new door was the opposite. The handle was made from intricately carved wood with the top resembling that of a phoenix. The door itself was polished and stained, as well as reinforced with gold and silver powder embedded in the wood in whimsical designs.
It was all pretty but paled in comparison to the large Fire opal embedded in the center of the frame. The orange fiery glow it emitted swirled within the gemstone creating a magic feeling that gave off an aura of power. It was my family's symbol, the one I was never worthy of having.
“What the heck?” I couldn't believe what I was seeing, the image burning itself into my mind as I stared from across the hall.
“Is everything ok?”
I tried my best to snap out of it. “Sorry, it's fine, I just wasn't expecting it to be THIS different.”
He smiled and nodded. “Shall we go in then?”
As he opened the door my jaw dropped, my feet moving on their own as I walked inside.
The rickety floorboards had been replaced with new polished ones. The wood was stained, and solid underfoot. A large mat covered most of the floor, made from fibers that must have come from the giant bitterweed. My bed had gone from a ricked empty frame to a beautiful canopy bed with pink ribbons.
The walls were decorated in a similar fashion to that of the doors, and my dresser and closet were both filled with clothes.
“This can't be my room…” It wasn't that I minded getting an upgrade, more like it was too good to be true.