Jahrra groaned and fell back onto the bed. Why did Jaax have to make everything so difficult? And why didn’t he just tell her all this yesterday afternoon before he’d left for some business meeting last night? So I couldn’t tell him no, Jahrra told herself bitterly. If she refused to follow along now it would make Neira look bad since the housemaid would consider it her specific duty to follow through with Jaax’s orders.
Grumbling, Jahrra got dressed and decided to make use of the morning. She spent most of the day as she had planned: riding Phrym along the horse trails in the wooded areas just outside Lidien’s walls. By the time she and her semequin had their fill of the fine winter weather she returned him to his stable and began her walk back home, noting that the sun was low in the western sky.
Neira was waiting for her when she walked through the door.
“Oh, thank goodness!” she chirped, taking Jahrra by the shoulders and directing her up the stairs. “I was worried you might have decided to disobey your guardian.”
Jahrra tried not to be irritated at the assumption. After all, she hadn’t fought with Jaax in weeks, if not months, but tonight just might bring out the old rebel in her once again. She had tried all afternoon not to be annoyed at the whole situation. Jaax hadn’t ordered her to do anything in such a long time that she had thought the arrogant side of him had finally been appeased.
They breached the top of the stairs and turned down the hallway and headed towards the washroom. Upon entering, Jahrra noticed that the copper tub was already half full of steaming water. Despite her reluctance at the idea of getting ready, Jahrra was eager for a bath.
Neira left to attend to house chores while Jahrra relaxed in the hot, soapy water. Halfway through her bath she heard the approach of a small party and the quiet chatter of voices.
Wrapping a towel around herself, Jahrra crept into the hallway and peered out one of the open windows facing the patio. She caught a glimpse of her guardian standing in front of the house, nodding his head at what looked like a group of elvin and Resai men. Jahrra thought the diplomats sounded urgent, as if they were pleading with Jaax about one thing or another. They rocked on their feet nervously, their long cloaks sweeping over the crushed gravel of the drive, several of them wringing their hands with imploring looks in their eyes. Jahrra wondered what they wanted.
“I cannot spare any more time for this issue tonight, gentlemen.” Jaax’s voice rose enough for Jahrra to hear him. “I have important plans this evening and I cannot cancel them for any reason. Perhaps we can meet in the morning?”
Jahrra caught a glimpse of a weak nod from who she assumed was the group’s spokesperson.
“Don’t worry,” Jaax reassured the group, “your concern is valid and you have good reason for it, but I assure you nothing will come of it during the night. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am already late for my next appointment.”
The men ducked their heads in gratitude and then gathered themselves together, walking back down the lane in quiet discussion. Jahrra returned to the wash room and tried to relax back into her bath, but the urgency of the men’s muffled voices worried her. Was there really a problem? Or did everyone consider their problem to be of utmost importance and in need of the earliest remedy? Jahrra popped one of the bath bubbles and told herself that if there truly was an emergency, Jaax would take care of it as he always did. The issue, whatever it was, must not be all that imperative.
Finally, the water grew too tepid to enjoy. Checking to make sure she was entirely clean, Jahrra stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself in her towel once again as she headed to her own room down the hall. Her damp feet left footprints on the pale stone floor as she moved quietly to her bed. Using one hand to secure the towel, she reached out and fingered the shimmery dress that Neira had laid out for her. She didn’t know why she liked this garment so much when before she had hated dresses with a passion. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting older, she mused. Or maybe I know that I can still wear my other clothes and not just dresses.
The sound of the door swinging open startled her. She quickly stood rigid, wheeling around to find Neira holding two more boxes. The woman grinned broadly and stepped forward.
“The rest of your birthday present,” she said gently.
Jahrra blinked in surprise. This was all supposed to be for her birthday? Then she remembered the conversation she’d heard from the window. Jaax had told the men below that he had an important meeting that could not be cancelled tonight. Jahrra was certain it would include her, hadn’t Neira said so earlier? Was Jaax trying to make up for whatever he was going to drag her to tonight by buying her gifts? Jahrra suddenly felt ill. She didn’t like that conclusion; it meant that whatever business Jaax had tonight would be excruciatingly tedious.
Sighing, she slumped on the bed next to her beautiful dress, clutching the towel closely. Neira came forward with the boxes, setting them on her desk instead.
“Why so forlorn?” Neira asked, taking a seat next to Jahrra.
“I thought I’d met everyone of importance already. I hate being taken before dignitaries and clan elders and the like and flaunted like some all-powerful weapon,” she admitted.
True, she hadn’t actually been flaunted in quite some time, but Jaax’s requirement that she attend Coalition meetings, always to observe and never to participate, fell well under the category of acting as a show piece and nothing more.
Neira put an arm around Jahrra’s shoulder. “How do you know that is where you are going tonight?”
“I just do,” Jahrra replied, not wanting to admit she had overheard Jaax with the men below.
“Well, cheer up!” Neira said, hugging Jahrra’s shoulders with her arm. “At least we can enjoy getting ready! By the way,” she mused, taking a lock of Jahrra’s wet hair in her fingers, “when was the last time you trimmed your hair?”
Jahrra abided Neira’s primping and allowed her to take a few inches off of her hair. It had grown long and ragged and she hadn’t cut it since they left Oescienne several months ago.
As Neira hummed and snipped happily, Jahrra looked at herself in the tall mirror. Before coming to Lidien, she had only seen her reflection in a reflecting glass at Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s mansion in Kiniahn Kroi. That had been eight years ago, and the person looking back at her now was very different from the child she’d seen then.
Her eyes were still the same shade of gray-blue but her face had changed from that of a young child to that of a young woman. The sadness she often felt for her parents and Hroombra was still present in the slight shadows around her eyes, yet there was a bit of joy there as well. She liked Lidien and her new friends here very much and it had helped to improve her spirits.
“There, all finished!” Neira piped, startling Jahrra back to the present. “Now, let’s get your hair dry and presentable.”
Neira had lit a fire in Jahrra’s room while she bathed. It was a good thing too; the cold winter temperatures had seeped through the stone walls and settled into the floor. Neira ordered Jahrra to sit in front of the fire to let her hair dry. She obeyed without a fuss, grabbing a book to read while her hair dried. A half hour later, the housemaid was helping her into the dress. It slipped on easily and felt cool and comfortable despite all the fabric.
When all the primping and fussing was over, Neira directed her to stand in front of the mirror. Jahrra was surprised at the person standing before her in the reflection. She looked older than eighteen years, almost like a different person, almost like royalty. Jahrra laughed inwardly. What a ridiculous notion, she thought.