Part 4 |
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"You two may step off the coach now," a man said as they arrived. They stepped off, and the carriage door opened. "You two go around the back to the servants entrance. I will have some people to escort you to were you are to clean up," the queen said. "Yes, ma'am," Faren said and walked around the castle with Tessa. They stepped in the servants entrance, and were greeted by two women who led them off in different directions. When Tessa arrived, the woman with her opened the door and led Tessa in. Tessa gasped at the room. It was large, big, and elegantly decorated. "You will take your bath, then dress in this," the woman said handing Tessa a bag, and pointing to a dress, "be sure to scrub good. We don't want one speck of dirt left on your body." "Yes, ma'am." Once the woman left, Tessa undressed and stepped into the hot water. She first let her body adjust to the heat then she took out some of the soap from the bag and scrubbed hard. The filth washed away, leaving her skin red from the scrubbing. She poured some soap in her hair and scrubbed. Years of dirt and old hair came out and her matted hair became loose and free. She continued to scrub until she felt her hair was as clean as it could get. She scrubbed her body once more to make sure she was clean, then she grabbed a drying cloth and got out of the water. She toweled herself off, then looked at the water. It was dark and dirty with the filth she had just cleaned off. "I wonder if Faren's water will look the same. She passed by a mirror and saw herself. Her skin was pale and her hair was long and golden. "I have gold hair? This shall be a surprize for Faren," she said to herself. She walked over to the dress and put it on. The blue cloth was smooth and clean, and the dress nearly touched the ground. The woman walked back into the room to check up on Tessa. "My, my, my... aren't you the pretty thing? You came in muddy and short dark hair, and now you are clean with long gold hair. Quite the change, for the better. Now come sit down on this chair, so I can brush your hair," the woman said. Tessa walked over to the stool and sat down. The woman began to brush her hair. "So young one, what is your name?" "I am Tessa." "Ah, what a lovely name. You can call me Nana." "Nana?" "Yes, it's what everyone here calls me. So where do you usually stay?" "Oh, I work... or used to... in the kitchen." "I thought you and your friend looked familiar." "Yes. This is the most I've seen of the castle. I only have seen the kitchen, nothing more." "Well how do you like it?" "Oh, it's beautiful. I am so lucky to be able to be here, and to take that bath.... heaven." "How long has it been since you had a bath?" "Oh, a while. Even longer for a scrubbing." "Well now you have had both, and I'm done brushing your hair. That dress looks lovely on you, and it matches that necklace perfectly." "Thank you." "So where did you get that necklace?" "Oh, it's the only thing I have of my past. See I have no real mother or father, so this is all I have." "Ok, enough chat. Let's go wait for your friend." Tessa nodded. She and Nana walked out the door and down the chamber hallways. They walked back to where they had separated Tessa and Nana and saw Faren waiting. He too was cleaned and dressed up. He looked up and saw her, he immediatly bowed. "Your majesty." " Royalty would be wearing much fancier dresses, Faren. It's me, Tessa." Faren stood up and looked at her. "T... T... Tessa?" "Yes, you look different too you know." "Yes, but not as much as you. I thought you were one of the princesses." Tessa blushed. A man walked into the room. "Are you the two?" "Yes these are the two," Nana answered. "Follow me, their majesties await." Tessa and Faren followed the man. The king and queen were sitting at a large table. "You two shall be serving us tonight. Once you have served us our food, you will wait for our commands. Do you understand?" the king asked. "Yes your majesty." "Very good then. Our guests will be coming here shortly, so be ready." "Yes your majesty." |