Daughter of Havenglade by H.C. Harrington

Author:H.C. Harrington [Harrington, H.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Havenglade Press

Chapter 8

A light knock on the door woke Laurena from her sound slumber. She struggled to gain her balance as she hopped out of bed. As soon as her feet hit the floor she ran for the door. She opened the heavy wooden door, but not without some effort.

A plain-looking woman with dark brown skin and long black hair greeted her from the threshold with a tender smile. “My lady, may I enter?” she asked. She stood patiently with her hands full of a number of black cloth bags.

Laurena rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly before covering her mouth in embarrassment. “Sorry, I just woke up. What’s your name?” she asked.

The woman stared back at her with a curious expression. As she entered she quietly gave her name. “I’m Malle,” she said.

Laurena plopped back down onto the bed. “Oh, well my name is Laurena. I’m from Havoli. Well, I used to live there, but now I live in Tor … I guess it’s kind of a long story, ma’am,” she said.

The woman pulled clothing out of the bags and hung them up on posts protruding from the wall. The clothing shined radiantly in the morning sunlight. Staring at a long opal-colored silk dress with thin and beautiful golden dragons stitched into the shoulders, Laurena opened her mouth and clapped her hands together.

“Wow. Do I get to wear that dress today? It’s so beautiful,” she said, and then rose from the bed and examined the garment up close, softly caressing the material, carefully like it was a bubble that could burst at any moment and be lost to her forever.

“You don’t get to wear it, you must wear it,” the woman said with a soft chuckle. A smile escaped from her lips and she pulled out a box and opened it. From the box she removed several smaller containers including some bottles.

Leaving the dress, Laurena moved toward the table where the objects were being laid out. “What are all these?” she asked.

“Make-up, child,” Malle said. “Have you not seen things like this before?”

Laurena thought hard for a moment and responded with a resounding, “No, I haven’t. What is make-up?”

“It’s something to help us improve our look.”

“Why would we want to change our look?”

“Different looks for different occasions, my dear. I’ll show you. Oh, but first you must go outside to wash your face. The water fountain is outside the entrance and to your right. Take this bucket and you can bring a little back to the room. But scrub your face well so you are nice and clean for the ceremony,” Malle said.

Laurena took the bucket from Malle’s outstretched hand and bounded for the door.

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