I was confided to the care of my chamber lady; luckily, she happened to be Selina.
The girl came just at the moment the transformation was over, and Zarya was holding Kaleb in her arms. The moment was awkward as if a little maid came in in the middle of threesome sexual process, though we were just standing and awkwardly looking at each other. Marigold was the first to speak:
“Do you have any questions?” she mumbled reluctantly, squeezing Kaleb, for his beady eyes seemed to pop.
“No, thank you. I’m full with information and performance.”
She bid me goodnight and hastily left the room, leaving the doors wide open, like a whirlwind. Somewhere in the corridor I heard the rat’s squeak.
Selina tried to defuse tensions, while she was leading me to my chamber, but I was not into speaking or reacting to her chaffing and tweeting. When we came at last, the room was lit by melting hues of bluish light. The French window stood wide open, and I could see stars and the rim of Aella above.
Selina asked me, whether I was ready to be undressed. That was too much:
“Don’t you have any other responsibilities? School? Homework?”
She tossed her head with laugh, “I’m your chamber lady; that’s my work! Now let me help you with this blue pants...”
“Selina,” I tried to distract her from that ungrateful action, “why are mages so embarrassed to show their animal transformation in front of others?”
The maid was a little bit confused, as if somebody asked her about the most obvious but delicate thing. And she tapped her little finger against her lips to prepare the best explanation like a parent who was going to tell the child about “bees” and “flowers”:
“Transformation, well... when a mage transfers,” she was to choosing her next words. “Mages show their transformations to each other only when they are married,” replied the girl, happy enough with the choice of her words.
“But why?” I was genuinely surprised. The transformation I saw was not immodest in the least. I expected everything: from painful bone braking noises or heart-rending screams to an amazing light show with special effects where he undresses himself and does some strange poses; on the contrary, it was full of... magic. That was the best word I could use to describe his shifting; magic that evoked some sacred sensations and delectation in me.
***
He looked at me gingerly and somewhat irresolute. Zarya was breathing loudly and watching attentively the embroidery of one of the wall tapestry. Having found no support from marigold, he clenched his fists and… exploded into million bitsy particles that glowed like tiny fireflies that were so beloved by anime cartoonists. I gasped in amusement watching them eddying around and coming together but that time in a rat form, good old rat. I noticed that he and the rat had resembling ears, delicately jugging and funny.
***
“I’m not sure, Mage Avis. Bird Spirits didn’t bestow upon me such a gift as magic,” Selina went on. She didn’t seem to be upset about it. “But my brother told me when one shift, it is like unbare your soul and become as vulnerable as never before. That’s why they do it privately or reveal their souls to significant ones. Oh, Mage Avis, it’s one of the most romantic things a brave mage or warlock can do! Or a beautiful noble birdwoman who secretly escapes from her strict parents to see her beloved villager. And when they are alone,” she said under her breath, “he confesses her that he’s not a poor villager but a valiant warlock in disguise and then they shift and...”
I was listening to her with my mouth open.
Oh. My. Globe. All right. Fine. I could imagine Kaleb be mad at me, but why Zarya was so pissed? Is he her boyfriend? Why didn’t they warn me about it? They must have! I hope I didn’t spoil anything in their relationship. Anyways, it’s not my problem, for my problems started when they appeared!
“...I read a lot about it in love novels I found in the library,” she confided her secret to me, blushing innocently.
Having found that nobody would let her undress me and wrap in a duvet like a baby, Selina came to the window to draw the curtains.
“Leave them open,” I sad tiredly. “I want to watch Aella,” the planet was a comfort view for my eyes.
“You’d better go to Mage Zarya’s room,” she proposed naively. “There is the best view on Aella from her window.”
I immediately have a silly image in my head where we both were standing close to each other her dark olive hand in mine; we were silently watching endless fields covered with mist, while huge Aella was glowing through thin clouds above us.
I was not completely sure whether it was one of my memories (like, probably, a dream about merigold in yellow dress) or my weak fantasies.
“I’m tired and want to be left alone. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Have a good night, Mage Avis! If you need anything, just use the sphere to call me. I put it in the drawer of your bedside table; the bathroom door is behind the folding-screen,“ she pointed at the far end of the room. “I’ve already drawn the bath,” she added before leaving.
When my chamber lady closed the door behind her, I immediately went there. I folded the screen like closing an accordion, opened a secret door, and saw a peculiar place.
Thank their Sky Spirits they had canalization for toilet, in a castle at least, for I found only a nice wooden booth (with a classic carved heart on the door and a hole in the floor inside) when walking alone in the village.
I was like in a small stone grotto; there were not any lamps or floating flickers; the light was softly coming as if out of nowhere in particular. The bath was made of the same grey stone and had a roundish form. The artesian green water with floating blue petals was still hot and pleasant. All the time I was there, its temperature didn’t change, so I let myself soak for a while.
I found no shampoos, soaps or towels (maybe, they are hidden, and I should say some abracadabra to see them?). I was sure Selina didn’t do it on purpose. The girl was a mild summer breeze: she was at that gentle period of her life when you are not a teen yet, though not a child anymore. A naïve young creature who fondly believes in friends forever, true love, sweet romance, and all that bosh I have, unfortunately, overgrown. Selina couldn’t not understand, knowing the memory loss issue, that her Mage Avis is incapable of magic. She accepted my strange behavior with no doubts, considering it as a rule. In the morning she was protecting my chastity, being sure only a husband can watch me walking around in underpants.
“I don’t believe they all follow the purity rules,” I comforted myself. “I’m sure he did it million times in front of birdwomen or whoever. And Zarya, Zarya might be exhausted or simply angry at my previous behavior. If I were she, I definitely would!”
The day was officially over. As I found no towel, I used my top to dry myself and threw it on the balcony banister:
You are inevitably losing your clothes, dear. First, your hoodie (left in the field), then your T-shirt (looks like a duster in a provincial school). What’s next? I hope they won’t force me to wear those uncomfortable dresses…
***
I’m on my bed in a gorgeous nightgown somebody (I hope Selina) put it on me last night. I was wondering why they have such a warm duvet (taking into consideration the burning sun), but now, covered in a cold material, I feel chilled. The midday drowsiness disappeared, and I am remembering each and every word uttered by my new neighbours:
I was born to the family of battle mages (both parents died during the War when I was an infant). My parents’ friends brought me up in their castle. Like most noble damsels, I had magic powers, consequently, was accepted to the Birdhouse Academy. I studied with my “sister” (my foster parents’ daughter); Kaleb and Zarya I met only there. When we had graduated from the Academy, we worked, as all mages, fulfilling orders of either villagers or aristocrats. Mages could be hired on a longer period of time thus stay at one place or travel from one castle land to another, nevertheless, paying taxes for Birdhouse which in turn guaranteed protection and different kinds of support from human resources to spellbooks and potions. My sister Tia died tragically because of some experimental spells when we were in our final year of study. Four of us were supposed to be a team after graduation (mages seldom worked alone, especially, the young ones), but only three of us were left. Later we had an order from Crown Prince to take the Hare castle, for their owner was getting out of hand and did some evil stuff. It was our first real order, and I proved myself well. As a reward I was given the Hare castle and Hare Rivulets’s lands. Three of us happily lived there for six years when I unexpectedly disappeared two years ago. All indications were that I was lost or killed by sentinels in one of the Mirrors. Tia’s parents tried to find me, but got lost there too.
That was all story of Avis’s life. And it felt like a poorly made up fantasy, not a tragedy of one person.
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