Page 8 of Heavenly Bodies
Elara put down her sponge. ‘Then you and I know very different tales.’
Merissa shrugged, blushing again. ‘Perhaps I spoke out of turn.’
Elara resumed her scrubbing. ‘No. It sounds just like Helios to vilify the Dark and glorify the murderer who was stupid enough to try and tame a wild beast.’
Merissa said nothing more, nodding meekly as she tidied around the bathroom.
An ache had settled deep in Elara’s stomach the moment she had brought up Sofia.
‘I’ll let you relax,’ Merissa said. ‘Call if you need me, I’ll be in the bedroom.’
‘Thank you,’ Elara replied, her mind elsewhere. As soon as the door closed, she submerged herself under the water, allowing it to fill her ears, to wash over her thoughts. Being near water normally calmed her but try as she might, she couldn’t erase the unwanted and terrible thoughts beginning to creep in. The ones that asked what had happened to Sofia, to the rest of her court—to the kingdom she so loved, even if she’d only ever seen it mostly through the panes of window glass.
A buzzing started in her ears, her hands beginning to tingle as familiar panic gripped her. She tried to breathe and choked in a mouthful of cool water.
She came up spluttering and coughing, her sopping hair blinding her.
‘Elara? Is everything all right?’ she heard Merissa call.
‘Fine,’ Elara got out.
She gripped the warm tiles of the pool’s lip, trying to ground herself as her thrumming heart slowed.
‘You will not survive a night here if you allow your emotions to drown you like this,’ she hissed to herself. She brought to mind her box—the one that Sofia had taught her years ago to create. It was obsidian black, its glossy surface reflecting Elara’s haunted face. There was so much already sealed within there, but as she opened it, she didn’t look at a single memory or emotion. Instead she imagined each feeling and image, all her panic and pain, being laid into the blackbox. Then she resolutely locked it, and shoved it down within her.
When she walked back into the bedroom, wrapped in a fluffy towel, the water on her skin already drying in the heat, Merissa was stood by a dressing table, an enormous oval mirror in the centre of it.
Elara took the hint, and sat gingerly on the stool.
‘The king stressed to me that you had to blend into the kingdom as much as possible,’ Merissa said, as she set about combing Elara’s hair. ‘To those who have already seen you before, my magick won’t work. But to most of the kingdom, who have never set eyes on the Queen of Asteria—’
Elara jerked, facing Merissa. ‘What did you just call me?’
‘The—the Queen,’ she stammered back.
Elara swallowed. ‘Thank you.’
She turned around, Merissa resuming her brushing. ‘To most of the kingdom, the magick will hold. They will see a Helion citizen, if you are ever glimpsed around the palace.’
A rosy glow stretched from her fingertips, heating Elara’s scalp. The blue tint of midnight hair, so long it skimmed her hips, warmed as rich golden hues began to streak through it. She looked in shock to Merissa.
‘You’re a glamourer?’
Merissa nodded, and Elara looked at her features once more.
‘You’re not from Helios.’
She shook her head. ‘I’m Aphrodean.’
It set Elara more at ease, as the glamourer continued to cast the rose-coloured charm over Elara’s features. In the mirror, her eyes deepened to a dark brown, her skin began toglow a little in the way all Helions—the worshippers of the Light—did. There was a brilliance about her, that hadn’t been there before. She looked almost unrecognizable.
‘This is what others will see,’ Merissa said. ‘But this—’ She clicked her fingers, and the mirror rippled, to reveal Elara exactly as she had been—her silver eyes shining back at her, hair blue-black, skin dulling a little in pallor. ‘This is what you and I, and those who have already seen you, will see.’
Elara nodded, grateful that at least she recognized her own reflection.
Merissa gave an encouraging smile, before walking towards a large wardrobe. Sheer garments were pulled out and held in front of Elara. ‘You’ll be wearing Helion attire, of course.’
Elara’s eyes widened. In Asteria, with its chilled climate, the fashion had always been somewhat modest, with little skin exposed, if ever. Yet here, due to the Light’s bounty, the clothes were barely more than a suggestion. Merissa had selected a loose silk skirt that pooled to the ground, and Elara’s eyes bulged as Merissa brought a top into view. Off the shoulders, the blouse bunched, with short cuffs to leave her arms bare. The blouse was white to match the skirt, embroidered with small gold flowers all over it. But what alarmed Elara as Merissa forced it over her was its length. It was cropped, leaving her midriff exposed.