Page 5 of Creatures of War

‘I’m being bathed. I’m just uncomfortable,’ I finally responded.

‘As in some stranger is touching your body?’ Landers asked, hardness in his words.

‘An older woman. She has to be like a hundred years old,’ I said.

They accepted my answer, going quiet. The older woman kept washing my body until she was happy with the results. Then, she pressed on my head, forcing me to my knees, so that the water came now to my chin. She worked her way through my hair, and I almost moaned in pleasure.

Her hands were magic with my locks.

The others seemed to enjoy it too; plus we were now low enough so others couldn’t see us naked. I used that time to look around, slowly realizing something as soap was washed from our hair. Everyone’s hair seemed to be white, as mine was when I was revealed. But the last time I actually paid attention to my hair, that wasn’t the case.

Right.

I reached up and grabbed a strand of my hair. A sharp smack hit the back of my hand before I had a chance to look, and I pulled my hand back against my chest.

“Remain still,” the old woman said.

“But my hair,” I whispered.

She didn’t respond right away, but then with wariness she asked, “What about it?”

“I want to see my hair color.”

Again she didn’t respond, just continued to rinse out my hair. I carefully reached up again, and when she didn’t hit my hand, I pulled a strand in front of my face so I could see it. My mouth popped open as the light revealed that no, my hair was no longer white. In fact, there were three different colors shining through. They were super pale, almost unnoticeable, but the colors were there.

“You are done,” the woman said, dropping something into the bucket with a loud clatter.

I turned to her. “Wait, my hair.”

The woman looked at the hair I held with a deep frown, shook her head, and climbed out of the pool. Before I really had a chance to say anything, she was long gone, leaving a trail of water on the floor.

I was left staring at my hair in confusion but also enjoying the look of the three colors together: red, green, and blue. I never thought the colors were good combinations together, but somehow with the paleness of my hair, the combination worked. Like if the light hit it just right, it was one color over the other, changing and more fluid. It was pretty.

Splashes around me pulled me from my thoughts. The others were getting out. I scrambled to do the same, putting on the clothes waiting for me just outside my little pool. It was a robe again, but the fabric was softer. Instead of white, I’d say it was more silvery.

I tried to get someone’s attention, but we were still doing that thing where we didn’t look at each other. One girl with long, curly hair met my eyes briefly but then she turned, pushing her hair off to the side. That brief moment of eye contact told me she was pissed but at what? Who? Me?

I didn’t even know who she was.

No one said anything, even as we were herded out from the room.

Chapter Four

I felt cleaner than I had in a very long time, even when I was back home. They scrubbed so hard at my body, that I felt raw, my skin sensitive. Thankfully, the silver robe they wrapped us in after the bath felt more like a soft, fluffy cloud.

We were shuffled into another room full of people dressed all the same. I looked around at the other girls and guys, noticing the diversity of the riders. I played with the fabric of my robe, trying to hide my nerves.

I didn’t like this.

Too much was going on without me understanding what might happen next. And this distance between my guys and me made me feel uncomfortable, like someone was yanking at my chest every few seconds.

I moved between people slowly, doing my best not to be noticed. A small stage at the front came into view, blocked off by some rope. There was nothing on it, but no one dared to approach it. I kind of wanted to hop up on it and dance just to see what would happen. Nothing good most likely, and Tanja probably would have yelled at me for doing the opposite of keeping my head down.

A door behind the stage opened, and Tanja came out in robes almost matching ours but with gold woven along its edges. Her hair cascaded down her back, nearly reaching her butt. She truly was beautiful. Two others in black robes stayed behind her, their hoods up, which hid their faces in darkness. They were bigger, a heaviness coming off them. If I stepped out of line, it felt like they’d be there to make sure I got back in it.

Tanja stopped in the middle of the stage, scanning the crowd slowly, and paused only briefly on me before finally speaking:

“Congratulations, riders. Today marks the start of your journey and your destination. Once you walk out of this room, you are officially students of Luxose, Fyre’s Training Academy. Here you will take extremely difficult classes meant to push your boundaries as you learn what being a rider is and what your duty entails. You will be trained relentlessly to ensure survivability as you go into battle against the Fae. You’ll face many uncomfortable situations within these walls, all of them meant to only better you as a rider.” Briefly her gaze landed on me again, as if that message was meant specifically for me. “Here, you will find your counterpart. We’ll do our best to match you with your dragon as early as possible so that you may begin your lessons as dragon and rider.”

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