Beautiful Scar

Eleven

Scarlet let out a groaning relief as she dipped herself in a warm bath inside her chamber.

The warm scented water eased her aching and tired body from today’s event.

Oh, she had definitely grown spoiled from her stays in the castle. As she rose through the ranks, she had been given privileges and access to these fineries.

Well, a lot of people told her that she deserved it and that she should since she did not treat herself that often. She did not hesitate to concur with them.

And tonight, was the night she asked for the maidservants to prepare a warm and luxurious bath for her to diffuse a bit the strain of the day.

The bathing room inside her chamber was considered spacious for her, well it was designed by the order of His Majesty to build the room, almost the same size as his daughter’s. Including the chamber where she slept.

As she soaked herself, breathing in the fragrant aroma of the roasted flower seeds and fresh petals and their nectars and the combination of essential oils been put in the big tub, she dried her hand and grabbed a stack of papers bounded that she brought into the bath.

She continued flipping Lydia’s report.

She was reading through the findings and considerations she would need to take account to leave for the Rise Continent in a couple of weeks.

Then, there was also another matter with the rather, slightly, troublesome remaining suitors.

Ronald had been dealt with.

James, slightly.

Dylan, just a mere scare. That was not even her plan.

Zuber, Jackel…and Neville.

Those three seemed clean, but she knew they all had their self-interests or their homeland’s interests.

After the bath, Scarlet got dressed in her nightgown and brewed some hot tea. She poured the boiled water into a fine cup, already filled with dried tea leaves and elder flowers, and carried it with her as she climbed the staircase in her chamber, which connected to the rooftop.

As she stepped out onto the rooftop, wisp of cool night air hit her warm face.

From this view, she could see the castle ground below and the mountain horizon signifying the world beyond this kingdom, a world that used to be one of her homelands.

Her longing for that part of her, her Mother earth, still lingered but she had read with Sir Homes – that longing for a past that had lapsed and gratitude for the moment she was living, went hand in hand.

And with the peace of the night, as she reflected, it brought a sense of balance in mind. Her being felt at center.

There were a few years gap she could’ve never known. How her parents would’ve looked like, did they die or abandon her, she wouldn’t know. But honestly, though she would be curious, she found contentment with the people that God had blessed her afterwards. And there were many.

Another routine of hers when she climbed to the rooftop, was to honour and silently longed and prayed to her fallen men, her comrades in battles.

The night sky tonight was clear and blessed with many stars.

She often be reminded those voyages and travels that took herself and her men far and across horizons. And when nightfall came, she would teach her men of the constellations and talked just about anything. From their hopes when they returned to the Kingdom and dreams and their love interests, to tease and banter with them.

It was a way for her to bond and learn her members. For them to make it this far under her leadership were no easy feat. And for that, she was eternally grateful and at the same time, guilty. For while dying is a natural thing, she could not escape the feeling of the ‘what ifs’. 

She could’ve done this and that. But the outcome would remain. And the men knew what they were signing up for.

Sir Homes had warned her, as he noticed she tirelessly worked hard to be Captain.

“As you rise, dear Scarlet. You will grow lonely at the top. God had lent his power to you through the vessels of those many human companions you had forged but once you attained it, he will want you to return what was his, and eventually, with time, your soul will return to him. But when you borrow and return borrowed items, please take good care of them…and yourself”.

The first comrades that died, were the very first friends she made in the academy.

That was a blow indeed.

She did not wail when the funerals were held. But at night, she wept quietly, suppressing the waterfalls until she had a headache going to sleep.

As time passed, and death arose, she did not cry. But once in a few months when she was reflective like tonight, she would cry to release the longing.

For while she had returned her men to God, apparently the memory she made with them remained which constricted her heart, sometimes, up to the point she once sobbed, “Oh dear God, the room of my heart is growing crowded…please ease my sorrow”, in which she released the suppressed longing into streaming tears.

“Well, this is quite the view”

But apparently, her reflective session had to be postponed tonight. She turned and noticed Dylan was at the other corner of the rooftop.

Tch.

This is my rooftop.

This was also why she hated foreign dignitaries staying over the Kingdom’s castle. It opened rooms for some of them to discover their weak defenses.

It seemed he did not notice Scarlet yet, as Dylan strode, taking in the horizon and the cool breeze.

He was surprised that the door was not locked, neither guarded to reach this rooftop. He was curious to explore, and maybe found something, worthy to be reported to his Mother, not that he was keen to let her know what was going on around here, especially when it was only reaching two nights stay here and he narrowly escaped being punished.

He rested his arms against the cool steel rail, admiring the night’s skyline.

He did not notice at the farther end of the roof that there was another presence eyeing like a prey.

Scarlet closed the report and put it aside, along with her tea. She walked slowly towards him, her bare feet did not render a sound.

“You shouldn’t be here”.

Dylan was caught off guard, his body jumped for a bit, “What the-” He managed to unsheathe his small blade, then to realize that it was Scarlet. His annoyance returned. “You. What do you want?”

With only the dim outdoor lights, Scarlet noted that his blade aim was rather on point. It was angled quite dangerously close to her neck.

But Scarlet used her bare right hand and twisted the blade off Dylan’s grasp.

“Hey!”

“Let me reiterate if you didn’t hear me the first time. This place is off-limits, Princeling”.

And in the dim light, Dylan noticed Scarlet’s profile. Without her uniform and only in her sleeveless nightdress, thin and flowing in the gentle night wind, he noticed the long scar that was visible from her right side of her face, trailing to the side of the neck and underneath the cloth that covered her chest, then to her right hand.

Shock was apparent in his eyes at the sight of her, but he quickly dismissed it, “And why is that?” he smirked, “I don’t see any guard nor a signage that forbids me from going up here”.

Scarlet cursed inwardly at her own carelessness for leaving the other passage unlocked, forgetting to lock the other night she and Fina stayed up together on the rooftop.

And then, the sloppy arrangement of guards or lack thereof. Sure, on days where the castle received no guest or held no event, the amount of guards posted around the castle were not many but with this amount of questionable men they hosted under the castle’s roof, would it kill to those in charged arranging where the guards were posted to properly do his job?

Did they assume the passage was nearby her chamber, she would guard it herself?

While it was flattering to a certain extent, she felt those Guard units had been slacking off lately.

“I’m the guardian here. This is my place”. Well, no one had ever occupied this rooftop except for Scarlet and Fina, until he came along, so by default, Scarlet was considered the guardian of this rooftop. But she’d liked to draw the line between a guardian and a guard.

“Then, you should do a better job at guarding it. Wearing that uniform makes it look like you want to seduce me, instead”, he taunted her further instead. “It could’ve worked if it wasn’t for that face of yours…”

Scarlet used her foot to pull his ankle, rendering him off balance and falling down on his back.

Quickly, Scarlet was on top of him and pointed the blade back at his chin.

“Be careful what you say around here, Princeling. Did tonight’s event not teach you anything?” her face was really close, and so was the blade.

A waft of the fragrance from Scarlet’s bath and the feeling of the pointed blade under his chin were blinding his sense.

“I did say you are all free to harm me, but do it properly, alright? Don’t cause trouble to the Princess or those around her”. Then, she stood up.

Dylan also followed suit but backed away.

“Pass the message to the rest of your friends, will you, Princeling”, Scarlet continued as she spruced herself up.

Dylan merely gulped as Scarlet’s back faced him. He made a turn to go back inside, when Scarlet called out, “Hold on there”.

“What now…” Dylan sighed from the shock but he was furthered silenced when Scarlet returned his blade.

“Don’t forget your blade”, and from where they stood, the light shone on the blade and revealed the remaining stains of blood from Scarlet’s grip just now, which Scarlet proceeded to wipe the blade using her dress and gave it to him.

He took it and dashed away.

Scarlet only grinned in amusement.

She went back to her corner, picked up the report and her tea, which had turned cold.

So much for admiring the night. She went down as well, back to her chamber.

As she settled on her messy desk, she merely glanced at her bloodied right palm, that felt nothing to her. The scar that remained there had numbed her sense and thickened her skin as a natural armor on its own. It made it easier to withstand torture but at the same time, it made her forget that the parts inside her right side were still not immune to pain and damage.

Then, there was also the poison accident and incident.

What a day indeed.

Then, she glanced at the bloodstains on her dress.

Oh darn, now she had to change and get her nightgown washed.