Marie was brought to a separate bathing room also a waterfall style bath where more of Noelle’s servants where waiting for her, they allowed her privacy by turning their backs while Marie undressed folding her pants neatly and dropping them to her right next to her boots, on top of the pile she dropped her brightly coloured bra and panties then carefully placed her rifle on the edge of the bath before quickly hiding her nudity as she sprang into the water sinking into the comfort of her bath. she made sure to keep her weapon within arm’s reach, opening one eye once in a while to look at her weapon, this was the perfect time for her to try and wrap her head around what had happened to them thus far on their current mission and just how she and Aisling would get back home, more importantly how they’d get out of Eiru alive and can this princess Noelle be trusted? There was so much to try and make sense of and even more to try and rationalize.
“Hello?”
a voice boomed Marie opened both her eyes with alarm reaching for her weapon and dropping to one knee in the waterfall aiming her weapon at the handsome man glaring at her while he stood hiding his modesty with a hanging towel draped over his forearm perfectly positioned to hide what would be his shame
“it seems you’re in my bath, can you tell me who you are?”
asked the man, his long silver hair and beard made him seem quite imposing and aged however he maintained a youthful look and impressive muscular body despite his aged silver hair and beard
“I uh, Noelle’s servants brought me, they said, I mean, I should go, yeah, I’ll go”
Marie stammered lowering her weapon about to leave the bath quickly remembering she too was in an undressed state, she dropped down into the water embarrassed blushing as bright and hard embodying the very definition of humiliation
“Noelle has brought you here, I see, then I shall leave you to your comfort, if you’ll excuse me for intruding, I’ll take my leave”
the handsome man announced leaving Marie to her shame
“oh, where are my manners, before I leave allow me to introduce myself, I am Prince Finn, I hope you will do me the honour of joining me at dinner tonight, my way of an apology”
with a graceful bow Finn left the bathing area to which Marie blew out a breath of disbelief as she put her rifle back on the baths edge and sank beneath the water blowing bubble with a massive sigh of relief.
Once their bathing was complete Marie was granted a robe by Noelle’s servants to cover herself then lead through the halls of castle grey, she felt like she was a major celebratory with her entourage around her, she couldn’t help but grin sheepishly not wanting anyone to notice she was pretending she was living the highlife, in her head she pretended she was been lead to wardrobe before she was to be on stage, maybe at Madison square garden or maybe Mayfield park wherever her gig was she would put on one hell of a performance. Aisling was giving a robe also but she wasn’t to be escorted by servants she was escorted by Noelle herself from the waterfall bath to the same room Marie was lead to. They were escorted to a large room with burgundy and gold dressings all around the room it was surely a room for royalty, now both Aisling and Marie were been treated like royalty. They stood in front of a wall like it was a grand prize, they looked at one another with uncertainty when Noelle’s servants pushed one of the designs on the wall and watched as it dropped down into the ground showing a walk-in wardrobe with gowns of all fabrics, colours and designs
“oh wow”
Marie puffed
“take your pick, our tailor is on call should you need any alterations”
Noelle instructed.
They were allowed to pick whatever gown they wanted, they walked into the wardrobe and saw gowns, shoes, jewellery and accessories they were well and truly in girly heaven. Marie ran her fingers along a deep purple gown with gold trim and an emerald under coat she loved it the moment her fingers touched the fabric, Aisling locked her eyes onto a brilliant white and silver dress with a silver circlet headdress, they were shocked that they could be giving such freedom by strangers and giving clothes that clearly cost a large fortune; never the less Aisling didn’t hesitate to drop her robe and slip into the brilliant white gown, Marie rushed to get into her gown also. Once they were dressed they stood at the full length mirrored wall, they looked at themselves and each other with brash smiles as they admired their new elegant clothes. Marie even did a little twirl in hers, it wasn’t long until Noelle’s servants came into the wardrobe and silently beckoned to Aisling and Marie insisting they follow them. They lead the ladies to the dining hall, the hall was grandeur itself with a dining table at its centre that spanned between twelve to fifteen feet in length with a strategically laid brilliant white clothes, embroidered with grey emblems where they would be seated, the hangings over the table and around the room were a blaze with candle light that light the large room perfectly, the walls though dull and grey were dressed with royal red hangings with the same grey emblems that were on the table cloths, the plates were laid out pristinely and the cutlery sparkled with a grand shine. Shortly after they were greeted by their hosts, Noelle arrived at the dining table wearing a glimmering silver bodice and a silk royal blue skirt with white lace and heels and the handsome man Marie had embarrassingly met was by Noelle’s side wearing a crisp royal blue and gold trim suit with a crushed snow-white shirt and perfectly shined black loafers, his bread was oiled, and his hair was tied back in several braids that tied into one long ponytail.
“Greetings”
the man announced with a bow to the two ladies
“my sister tells me you are Were Inc soldiers, fear not you are welcomed here, maybe over dinner you could regale us with your tale as to how you got lost in the black marsh?”
Finn asked Aisling gesturing to the table where Noelle was taking her seat directly across from Marie,
while Finn sat at the head of the table and Aisling sat to his right. Aisling boldly smiled and agreed to regale her hosts with their tale, it was only moments later when their meal began to arrive, the servants placed a rather large and succulent roast on the table followed by a plethora of vegetables and roast potatoes, the simple dinner had turned out to be a banquet, a feast fit for a king but there was no king to be seen only a prince and a princess.
“Thank you, for your kindness”
Marie said to Finn and Noelle
“you’re welcome, it’s been sometime since we’ve had guests within our castle walls and longer still since we had guests from Were Inc”
replied Finn
“if I may ask, what are Were Inc operatives doing in Eiru, I thought after the last effort your company made, they would have learned from their mistake?”
asked Finn as he poured wine into Marie’s glass.
Marie looked to Aisling in surprise then returned her leer to Finn replying to his question with a question
“can I ask, how did you know we’re with Were Inc?”
she asked through pursed lips
“your weapon is Were Inc issued and, it has Were Inc itched on the slide”
(the section of the gun that houses the barrel of the gun) Finn answered much to both Aisling and Marie’s relief.
“We’re no longer with Were Inc, they’ve abandoned us here once we completed our mission to restore power to the old facility, they used us, telling us we were going on a search and rescue mission”
explained Marie as she tightly gripped her wine glass and sipped plentifully to ease the tension as they spoke
“they did the same with the last team they sent here, the team that created project mortal I mean”
Noelle snarled as she drank merrily from her glass
“Captain Quis Podex told us what your council wanted to do with the mortal symbiotes”
Aisling replied to Noelle’s snarl
“they sent Quis Podex back to finish what he couldn’t do all those years ago”
chuckled Finn
“you see we are all that remains of a number of clans, dedicated to th
e protection of Eiru, once we were the largest and most powerful collection clans in all of Eiru, our numbers reached into the tens of thousands”
Noelle explained
“what happened?”
Marie asked leaning herself over the table to get closer to Noelle thrusting her fork into her dinner ready to take her first bite of whatever kind of meat it was.
“We were led to believe the ancient treaty had been broken and a war between clans was immanent, so our forces were spread tin across Eiru to maintain the peace, only to have our teams ambushed by those symbiotes!”
announced Finn with an unchanged expression of dulled emotion while he spoke, he just pulled his meal closer to him and began to feast
“if not for Michéal, our brother, who remained here where the bulk of the attack took place, both Finn and I would not be here today to tell the tale”
declared Noelle with a bright smile at the memory of her brother’s courage
“King Fionn, our father, when he died I lost all will to carry on. I just a waited death, after his death the council took power while we were giving support to the remaining teams, they saw Michéal banished for, well, Aisling; you know more than anyone why he was banished”
Finn giggled with a mournful sigh completing his side of the tale.
Aisling looked to Noelle completely puzzled, Aisling had not been to Eiru before nor she heard of it before been sent to the country by Were Inc, what did Finn mean? Aisling tried to form the words to ask what he meant but she suddenly found herself frightened by the answer she would get, she noticed the air was changing and Finn’s expressionless face was now worried and slightly cross, she didn’t want to anger their host, she was frightened enough of the creatures that hunted them; the vampires that abducted her and the goblins she had fought in the facility, she could not afford to make more enemies.
“What about Kian?”
asked Marie
“Kian, how do you know about Kian?”
Finn asked but didn’t allow her a chance to answer as he talked across her
“Kian was the traitor who helped Were Inc separate our numbers, with any luck he got his overdue punishment”
Finn declared his eyes burning in anger
“but we found a man with a robotic arm that helped us escape from the facility, the chamber he was sealed in said Kian on it”
Aisling frighteningly announced to the table unsure what to expect.
She hoped his anger would not be aimed at either her or Marie.
“Well now, that puts me in very high spirits indeed, coming morning I’ll find Kian and return the kindness he showed our family, then I’ll rend that traitor asunder, but tonight we drink, we feast and converse on more agreeable topics, tomorrow, tomorrow shall be a very good day indeed”
Finn announced overjoyed at the news that had been brought to his attention.
They did just that, they drank wine as it was water, they ate like wolves and talked a plenty. Aisling used the courage she found in the bottles of wine to ask the question she dared not ask earlier, while Finn and Marie danced as the servants played the harp and piano, they danced without a worry. Aisling quickly jumped into the seat next to Noelle bringing her glass of wine with her asking
“earlier Finn said I’d know all about your brother, Michéal’s punishment, what did he mean?”
asked Aisling
“you don’t know?”
Noelle gasped looking at her puzzled guest
“you two were lovers, you were his true love”
Noelle declared, Aisling’s jaw dropped
“it wasn’t an easy path to walk, you feared your feelings for him at first, but you were both so in love that, he broke the treaty to be with you, you went against Crown fall law to be with him”
Noelle spoke like she was rallying an army
“he fell in love with you completely, body, mind and soul, you can walk the length and breadth of Eiru; ask everyone you met, they’d all same the same thing”
Aisling listened to Noelle so intently she couldn’t hear the music or the laughter anymore it was just Noelle’s voice
“they would all say, the goddess Eiru herself couldn’t have created a more perfect couple then you and Michéal, for what my word is worth I never saw either of you as happy as when you were together” Noelle explained. Aisling and Noelle talked some more before all four retired to their sleeping chambers at a less than respectable hour.
All sleeping chambers in castle grey were of great size and overly indulgent with their comfort, Finn would sleep in his own quarters, a proud warrior’s quarters, weaponry hung everywhere around the room, the bed was facing the room door in case of intrudes, the room was vibrant in colour with reds satin bed sheets and many shades of orange painted onto the walls; anyone else would find it very difficult to sleep in this room but to Finn it was perfect. Marie was to sleep in the guest quarters, made with a lesser level of comfort then Finn or Noelle’s chambers but it was still far more comfortable then what she used to. Cottons and stains dressed the bed that reached almost twice Marie in length, the large windows scattered moonlight through the room like stars on the room floor, the arc of her balcony was positioned to catch the waking sun, she smiled when she looked around thinking that she would gladly make this room her home. Noelle would sleep in her own quarters not un-similar to Finn’s, say for the colour scheme; her chambers were adorned with soothing blues and purples. While there were a sufficient number of rooms to suit a football team, Noelle insisted that Aisling sleep in Michéal’s quarters, since she had been so interested in talking about the Prince at dinner
“you’ll sleep here”
Noelle told Aisling opening the room door,
Aisling stepped inside and quickly looked around, disappointment with her sleeping arrangement, she couldn’t see why Noelle thought this room was so special
“you’ll find after a good night sleep you might just wake up a different person or and old one”
Noelle explained closing the door behind Aisling.
Chapter 6: Missing You Now
Aisling stood at the closed door looking all around her, the sleeping chambers were simple, she mused to herself that they hadn’t been touched since his absence, the room consisted of only a closet a bed an open balcony and a table next to the bed with an empty photo frame on it; she wondered if Marie had a similar room? Aisling took her time strolling around the room, the back of her dress was dragging on the cold damp stone floor, what she couldn’t see was, with each step she took the room behind her altered itself to a more vibrant more luxurious more fitting sleeping chambers for a prince. She opened the closet to see it held one single uniform, it looked like it was a military or a law enforcement uniform of some kind, it was snow white with a bright green trim and a silver belt and buckle that had an onyx insert of a wolves head, she timidly grinned and thought it would look good on him whoever he was, as she ran her fingers along the uniform it struck her like a slight flash, a glimpse of a memory, she vaguely recalled seeing the uniform before or at least the colour scheme of it, but she couldn’t see the man wearing it, she closed the closet door and went straight for the balcony for some fresh air and to take a moment to compose herself and ask herself ‘what are you doing?’ from the balcony she could see the vast majority of Eiru, it was the landscape she had seen all too often in her dreams.
The landscape for reasons she couldn’t or didn’t want to understand, made her to feel safe, for the first time since she stood foot in Eiru, all the worry all the anxiety and the constant danger was just, gone, it was replaced with a new sense of comfort, she turned away from the amazing view looking back into the room, now she could now see room had changed where she had walked, it was now emerald and pure white just like the uniform in the closet! Aisling was astonished; this form of magic must have been why Noelle wanted Aisling to stay in this once bleak forlorn room? Aisling took a firm grip of her dress pulling it up above her ankles then slipped off her he
els and jumped from one rug to another feeling the fabric between her toes smiling like a child in the playground. That was until she saw the photo frame again, she let go of her dress and reached out picking up the frame, the dust was as thick as it could’ve been; she ran her thumb across the glass cleaning away enough dust to see if there was a picture in the frame. The picture was blank for a moment but just like the rest of the room it reacted to her touch and a picture began to form, it formed a picture of her and a man, the man was tall and rather muscular with a pencil beard, short spiked deep brown hair wearing the uniform that hung in the closet, with brown/green eyes. Aisling cleaned off the remaining dust to see the picture was of her and Michéal, they were standing by a lake with fireflies hovering all around them, they were looking at each other lovingly; she couldn’t help herself, she smiled from ear to ear while she looked at the picture but she suddenly became light headed and dizzy, she reluctantly placed the photo back onto the table and took a few steps away, she was able to keep herself together long enough to get undressed, she thought maybe it was the corset that was the problem, she slipped her arms out of her dresses shoulder straps and slide the dress down to her waist before she twisted her corset around her body and undid the laces and lay it on the table next to the picture frame quickly taking a few deep breaths, she turned around and sat on the bed and took a couple more deep breaths and one more look around to focus her eyes by picking something far away from her to zero in on and bring it into focus. She chose the handle on the closet door, as her eyes came into focus she could see just how much the room had altered, even the bed she sat on was a great deal larger and more comfortable then it first looked.
She picked up the photo frame hugging it tightly against her chest, so many thoughts ran through her mind as she laid her head down to rest with a warm feeling in her heart and thoughts of Eiru of home and of Michéal it wasn’t long before she was sound asleep dreaming like she never had before; It felt so real to her like she was reliving a memory not simply playing out a dream.
Were Inc Uncaged Page 6
