Warmth and Safety

Chapter 1 Part 2

Being sure to move quietly and confidently down the hallway, Daniella twisted the key in her pocket. Since she had been a child, she had been chosen to protect Princess Marisola Arnette Grecia of Atlantis. She rarely walked the halls of the palace without her charge, and when she did, she was given explicit instructions on where she was to be. She always followed those instructions, until today.

Today was her last official day as Mari’s protector. Her charge, and friend, was destined to be sacrificed to the gods today. A wave of nausea and heart palpitations threatened Daniella’s bearing, but if she looked worried or suspicious, someone may stop her. Training her face into the neutral expression she often wore, she continued down the hallway.

While no one had told her what it might entail, in all the years she’d asked, she had always been nervous about the sacrifice. She twisted the key again.

This morning, palace attendants had come to collect Mari for preparations before the ceremony. Daniella’s only order of the day was to be present for the ceremony around noon. The rest of her morning consisted of her pacing around her room. That is until an opportunity had presented itself.

The hallway to the library was empty, thankfully. The library itself should be also. She muttered a quick charm under her breath and watched the lights on the security camera flicker twice as quickly as before. The cameras in this part of the palace were generally low priority, and if they lost signal, most people just waited for them to recover on their own. She glanced around her quickly, before opening the door with the key she had stolen from the head librarian.

The inside of the library was poorly lit, unlike the rest of the palace. The architecture of the palace allowed for natural light to illuminate every floor and for large, ornamental lighting to assist at nightfall. This would also be true for the library, save for the fact its large floor to ceiling windows had rows of bookshelves obstructing the light. When the librarians were in here, they often illuminated the room with sunshine charms, or on special holidays a younger librarian would cast a more complex enchantment, and bright wisps of colored smoke would follow readers to assist with their studies.

Today though, the library was empty, closed for the festivities to which most of the palace staff must have been preparing for. The shadows across the room made for dark columns along the far walls. No longer a bright place of knowledge, the bars across her face made her chest pound irritably.

She shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh. Surveying the empty room, she quickly found herself as alone as she had anticipated. Glancing at her watch she determined she should start looking for her prize. It might only be a quarter til 10, but she had no idea when the last sacrifice had happened, and so no idea what section of the archives might have the information she needed.

She made her way to that side of the library, hopeful her studies would prove she had been over-reacting all these years.

While the royal family had always been kind and gentle to both her and Mari, Daniella could not trust people in their position. People had been leaving the palace bit by bit since she had become a servant. The word on the mouth of most servants was that the royal family had weakened themselves past repair, while the counter argument had always been that the sacrifice would gain them enough favor to regain the graces of their people and senate.

Throughout her history studies, she’d found several families that had been willing to hurt their loved ones in exchange for power, and she couldn’t trust that even these kind people wouldn’t be willing to do so. At least, she wouldn’t bet her friend’s life on it.

The archives had a number of small desks at the windows of each row. She scanned the desks, hoping some librarian had left what she was looking for out in the open. No such luck. She hoped they had studied their parts well before this morning. She did not need someone to find her snooping around. She was fairly good with external spellcraft, but camouflage glamours had never been her strong suit.

During her training, Mari had been asked to come to the library and study the archives, and anything else the palace told her to. She complained most about the archives though, since the materials had always been dry.

Mari had always been easy to bore, which was one of the reasons she tended to fall into the unfortunate habit of gossiping. She had spoken less and less of her studies as she grew older, or more and more about things Daniella couldn’t bother to remember.

When they had been young children, they had spent everyday together, and each evening would be spent by Daniella helping Mari with memorizing what they’d gone over the previous day. After Daniella turned 13, she was required to do an additional self-defense class during their old cram time. By the time she was 16, she was taking half as many academic classes as Mari and hours more in combat and magic training.

Fat load of good it did. Her studies were specifically about protecting Mari, and now, despite keeping up with her training, her friend was no longer going to be under her protection. Her magic was impractical for daily use, and she doubted she would need the combat training once she left the palace today.

She kept glancing at the titles on the shelves, hoping to find anything about sacrifices, something at least to indicate that her friend would still be alive and well tomorrow. As her panic started to boil in her throat, she thought she heard something. She paused.

…

The little human woman had stiffened up. Tannoh watched her from his perch on the loft. Originally, he had snuck into the library for some peace and quiet before the ceremony.

As the world outside had gotten worse, people’s fires had dimmed, making his job the ultimate pain in the ass. As the God of Love and Honesty, one of his major duties was to ensure humans met their matched flame, but as their hope died and their hearts worked into panic and worry, it had been harder to recognize whose flames were designed for who.

Below him, though, was an unmistakable flame. A flame that belonged to one of his poor nephews.

His nap had been interrupted by her heartrate. Panicky thing, really. He was betting she wasn’t supposed to be here. Despite her panic, she kept looking for something among the shelves. Stopping intermittently to listen for other intruders.

Pulling himself up from the chair he’d been laying in, he softened his step before creeping downstairs. Making sure she was present was probably going to be easy, but considering his wife’s meddling, actually getting his nephew and her alone would likely be a difficult task. Especially considering his nephews were supposed to be accepting a sacrifice today, and this girl unfortunately belonged to the reasonable one.

If he didn’t think he’d frighten the poor girl, he’d heave a sigh to mourn his now thoroughly damned freetime. Mortals who were matched to gods by fates tended to also be gods and goddesses born in the fates’ reign. f*****g up the life of a woman who was likely destined to be a fairly powerful goddess was always a bad idea.

…

Ignis watched his brother pacing around his apartment. Infero was quick to agitate. Ignis, despite being younger, was fairly calm, both as a result of his reign of over safety and warmth, and as a result of him choosing to live amongst humans many years ago. The drama of the gods had always been a bit much for him, and most of it was fabricated on purpose by gods keen on bringing in anyone who seemed at peace.

“I cannot believe we don’t get a say in this.” Infero repeated, knocking something off Ignis’s mantle as he did.

Ignis sighed, listening to whatever clay figure he’d just knocked down thud against the floor. While the fireplace may be fake and easy to repair, the figures on it had been made by his clients during therapy. He’d learned long ago to hide any clay that wasn’t shatter proof the moment his brother so much as might come over, but that didn’t mean that the figures wouldn’t get chipped or have their paint scrape off. Ignis moved to pick it up off the ground. A small dog, made by a young girl about ten years ago. The paint was fine, though faded.

Infero had already made it across the living room again though, continuing his tirade, “I mean we’re gods, and adult gods at that. Delora can’t tell us what to do!”

“Delora asked us to participate, and we both agreed, Infero.” Ignis gently set the dog beside an abstract figure made by the same young girl.

“Yeah, twenty-one years ago. This kid was a baby then! We shouldn’t have been asked about some baby.” His brother twisted himself around again, making his next rounds to knock someone else’s creation onto the floor.

“She’s not a baby anymore, she would be a young woman at this point. She might even be more mature than you.” Ignis poked at his brother, hoping to remind him to watch his behavior.

Infero glared at him, “She’s a mortal woman. Why are either of us involved in this?”

“Probably because we both already agreed to help our aunt with this.”

“You might be alright with, well,” His brother sneered and motioned to Ignis's apartment, “humble living, but I’m not. And what if this girl isn’t either? She might ask us to go live with her in her fancy palace, is that what you want?”

Ignoring the comment on his rather expensive apartment, Ignis sighed, “Infero, if she’s that spoiled don’t you think she would want to live in the palace of the gods, with dad?”

Infero scoffed, “Some mortal girl is not worth the palace of the gods. And I have my own wing there as well, you know. Maybe, if some of us weren’t so prissy, they could live in the same house as the rest of the family.”

“She’s not a girl, she’s a young lady. And forgive me, but isn’t calling it a house underselling it a bit?”

Infero rolled his eyes, “You’re just jealous you can’t afford anything more than some hovel apartment.”

Ignis crossed his arms over his chest, “Probably because I’m single-handedly responsible for footing your drinking problem. Or are you going to start asking dad for money again? Remember how that worked out last time?”

Infero rolled his eyes, “Having fun isn’t exactly a problem. If you ever did, you might understand that.”

Ignis crossed his arms over his chest,“We’re going to be late, you know?”

Infero let out an aggravated yell, “Why do we have to go?”

“Keep it down, I do have neighbors. Get your stuff together and let’s go.”

…

Armed with exactly zero answers, Daniella was now being escorted down the hallway by a grumpy god. Tannoh’s appearance had nearly made her scream, but the god had merely held a cool expression of both curiosity and amusement the entire time she was recovering. All he had done was introduce himself, ask for her name, and tell her her presence was needed at the ceremony today, before pushing her out of the library by the small of her back.

At first, she had tried to think of a way to escape, but quickly thought better of it. From her memory, Tannoh was one of the many fire gods in the pantheon, and they tended to behave rather unpredictably when humans didn’t do as asked. Not to mention, the heat she felt permeating her body ramped up to a burning sensation when she had initially hesitated. She had no doubt if she tried to run, that sensation could probably intensify to subdue her rather quickly. Or kill her, but she didn’t want to think about that.

Instead she focused on the god saying she was needed at the ceremony.

She steadied her voice before mentioning, “The ceremony does not start for another two hours, sir.”

Tannoh grunted an affirmation, “You need to be in formal wear though. You will be present beside the sacrifice.”

“Why?” She felt his hand press further into her back, but there was no extra heat.

“You are the sacrifice’s guard, yes? We will need you for the next year. Having a familiar face in her new home will help her adjust.” His voice was relaxed, despite the extra pressure on her back.

“What happens in a year?”

“She will marry the brother who chooses her, and you can return to the palace for your compensation for your years of service. After that, you may do as you please.”

The confusion hit her first, immediately followed with relief and anger. She stopped moving and turned to face him, “I’m sorry, the palace has been keeping the information about this sacrifice so secret for all these years, and this is just an engagement party?”

Tannoh’s eyebrows raised, “You were unaware?” He shook his head, “Doesn’t matter. And, that’s no way to talk to one of the old gods, young lady.”

She swallowed, “Apologies, sir. I am just shocked by the good news.”

She continued walking down the path he had led her down. Grunting in affirmation again, he matched her pace, this time with no hand on her back. They walked in silence until they started approaching the palace center.

While before the hallways had been empty, the center was bustling with activity. Tannoh’s hand returned to her back as they approached. And as the god entered the room, activity stopped, and many turned towards him to bow their head. Others dropped to their knees, with their hands on their chests. Tannoh didn’t hesitate or acknowledge any of them, aside from saying something in the ancient tongue. Daniella, not understanding a word of ancient tongue, wondered what he had said to his followers, and what they had responded with in kind.

He turned her down another busy hallway, where she noticed another goddess. Whereas Tannoh had had to introduce himself, Delora most certainly did not. About once a year when they were younger, Delora had appeared in Mari and Daniella’s room to talk with Mari. It was not uncommon for the goddess, Matron of Witchcraft, Children, and Royalty, to appear before the royal family until adulthood. In fact, with Mari being the only exception in over a thousand years.

Delora tended to be present as a caregiver for most major events of their lives. Because she noted Mari as being the sacrifice, Delora was not nearly so present in her life. She was, however, very present in her younger brothers’ lives, often blessing them publicly, tending to them as children, and assisting them with their studies.

Delora noticed Daniella and her husband approaching, and her typical warm gaze faltered and turned into something unreadable.

Tannoh spoke to her in the ancient language again, and she glanced at Daniella and back at him.

Her voice was stern, “Daniella, where have you been? They needed to start working on your make-up and outfit at least an hour ago.”

Despite her tone, her gaze had returned to its familiar warmth, making the tone feel more maternal than she’d expected. Delora after all was a goddess, she expected to feel similarly to her behavior as Tannoh. Her disappointed, worried eyes paired with her familiarity evoked a very different feeling though.

Daniella couldn’t help but sheepishly hang her head, “I apologize, Delora, I failed to understand my role for the day.”

The goddess shook her head, “That’s just not like you.” She turned to acknowledge her husband again, “Leave her with me, Tannoh. I’ll make sure she’s ready.”

Daniella felt Tannoh’s presence disappear from behind her as Delora pulled her further forward. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Tannoh was already gone. Delora took the small of her back, and she was led into the room the goddess had been watching over.

In the room, Mari was sitting surrounded by other women, busily fixing her make-up. Daniella recoiled at the realization that she would likely have to wear it as well. While she had never seen anything wrong with the practice on others, and had tried to wear it during less active parts of her upbringing, she found pretty quickly it did not suit her. Well, that was rather untrue, makeup suited just about anyone; however, she found the process of wearing it to be tedious.

When your job included a significant amount of physical work, you tended to sweat the stuff off anyway.

Mari leaned forward, apparently done with having her eyes detailed, and let out a delighted sound, “Nells, what are you doing here?” Her friend's eyes, now shaded a light blue and purple over the lids, were wide with surprise and joy. Some of the glitter seemed a bit unstable, dropping onto other parts of her face.

Delora, pushing Daniella a bit further into the room, stated simply, “She is your guard and needs to be prepared for the ceremony. I failed to notify someone of this it seems, so we will have to make do with what time we have to get her prepared.” Pushing Daniella a bit further forward, she pointed to a door before turning to one of the artists, “Do you know if she has a dress prepared?”

The young woman, Miranda if Daniella’s memory served her well, shook her head, “Probably not. I can grab her measurements while she undresses and deliver them to the tailor. When I get back I can do her makeup.”

Delora nodded, “Please grab her measurements, and I will deliver them. They will likely need to cast a speed spell on their machines for this, and I will need to be there to ensure all goes well.”

Miranda moved away from Mari, and guided Daniella into the bathroom. As Daniella undressed, Miranda collected her clothes off to the side, quickly noting where each piece of equipment was as she spoke.

“Unfortunately, you have curly hair. We don’t have anything to cover that, so try not to get it too wet. If you do, just go ahead and wash what you can of it, and I can actually treat it when I get back in.” Miranda glanced at her quickly, before grabbing a tailor’s tape from one of her pockets, “I think I can probably get most of it defined and up and maybe get the front to highlight your face a bit. Natural colors for you today so okay?”

Daniella’s voice felt small while replying, “Do we have to do a lot of makeup?”

Miranda pulled one of her arms forward, studying the tape, “I don’t think you need much. Just some concealer to hide some of the tiredness under your eyes, and maybe some lip gloss, eye shadow. It’s whatever you’d like really, I’m not under any particular order to do anything specific to you.” Miranda closed some of the distance between them to add in a hushed voice, “And I don’t particularly want any orders other than yours either. After all, you didn’t even know you were involved until just now.” Miranda pulled back, and kneeled to grab her measurements around her waist and hips. “I do specialize in creative makeup, but I understand that for some positions that’s just not feasible. As a guard, you would need something that’s pretty easy to reapply on your own.”

Daniella let out a sigh of relief. Miranda laughed from below her, and quickly picked herself off the floor. After giving her a quick push towards the shower, Miranda began scribbling things down on a piece of paper from her pocket.

Daniella quickly hopped in the shower, thankful to not have someone touching her. Under everyone’s watchful eye, she had felt suffocated. Her head was swimming with everything that just happened, everything it meant, and trying desperately to figure out what her role to play in everything was. The warm water rushing over her quieted some of that noise.

Quickly grabbing a curl defining shampoo, she worked it into her hair and rinsed. It smelled awful, and felt closer to conditioner than actual shampoo. Her hair felt oiler after the shampoo than before, leaving her feeling annoyed. Grabbing more soap, she quickly washed herself again, hoping to wash away the smell at least.

Pulling herself out of the shower, she looked for a towel in the cabinet Miranda had suggested. Drying herself off quickly, she started pressing her hair in the towel, trying to get as much of her hair dry as possible. A knock sounded from the door as she was finishing that task, and Miranda entered again.

The wince on the other woman’s face was not encouraging, but to her credit, she immediately shrugged and smiled, “The royal family all have stick straight hair, so most of what is available in here is for their benefit. Most of us servants don’t wash our hair here.”

Daniella nodded, “It looks like there’s a lot available.”

Miranda snorted, “Yeah, for fragrance. The shampoo tends to make my hair a little frizzy too.” She motioned to Daniella to sit on the far side of the bathroom with her, as she grabbed something out of a drawer. “I don’t enjoy using these, but we don’t have time for anything better, so let’s get that hair done, and I can lay on makeup quickly while we wait for your dress.”