Page 28 of Mushy Stuff
He says, “Aww, don’t be angry, kitten. I promise I will take good care of you. You will want for nothing.” He saunters toward me. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and then we can have a nice dinner and get to know each other.”
He snaps his fingers twice, and two Elven females quickly come over and bow before him. They are not quite as fantastical looking as him—he practically looks like a golden god—but they still look beautiful in an otherworldly way. They both have deep burnt orange skin and hair, and seem to emit an ethereal glow. It reminds me of something, but I can’t quite place it. I study them for a few moments. I notice the way the light shimmers off them. Suddenly it hits me what they remind me of.
When my mother was still alive, she always wore a pendant. It was a simple pendant with a stone set in silver, but the stone was beautiful. It was a dark orange and flashed like fire when the light hit it. I loved looking at it when I was little. I would sit in my mother’s lap and play withit while she told me the story of where it came from. I could turn it in different directions to catch the light and see the little flashes of fire within it. I was so mesmerized by the stone, that I missed most of what she said. I was never good at listening when I was a child, but I remember that it was my grandmother’s from before my grandmother was sent far away from her home to marry a wealthy man that she didn’t know. My mother inherited it when my grandmother died, and then my mother passed it on to me. I’ve always been too afraid to wear it. I was so afraid I would lose it, that I put it in a safe deposit box at the bank before I moved away from the city.
The Elven male snaps me out of my thoughts when he says, “Take this woman to her rooms, draw her a bath, and make her presentable for dinner.”
Then he turns and walks off. I’m left standing in the cart, glaring at the two females from the market. The two Elven servants walk over to the cart. One of them says, “Come, we will take you to bathe.”
I glare at them for a minute, too. I want to fight. I want to tell them no and to fuck off. But I suspect that will only draw attention from the one that wants me as his plaything. I think it will be in my best interest to play nice and not cause any problems until I can figure out a way to escape from here.
I jump down from the cart.
The one that spoke says, “Follow us.” Then they turn and start walking. I follow them through a doorway.
The two female Guardians, the ones that kidnapped me, stay behind in the garage or whatever you would call it.
The doorway that we go through leads straight into the most opulent foyer that I have ever seen. I gasp as we walk in. I feel like I have just walked into a palace. Maybe I have. This Elven is obviously wealthy and powerful, so he must have some sort of title. Everything is gilded in gold or covered in silk. I momentarily forget my situation and murmur, “Wow, look at this place.”
The two servants look at me, but don’t say anything.
We turn right out of the foyer and walk down a long corridor that is just as extravagant as the entryway. Along the corridor, there are golden statues of women in different poses. At the end, we turn right again and enter a luxurious suite.
Chapter 20
Thebedinthesuite is huge. It’s a four-poster bed with silk curtains. Just like the other rooms, everything is gilded gold or silk covered. There’s even a golden statue of a woman in here as well.
There is a bathroom off to the side, and in it is a gold clawfoot tub. There’s also a toilet; well, not really a toilet—it’s one of the old-style primitive kind that’s basically a hole in a seat. Considering I have been peeing in the woods for a few days, it seems luxurious.
As I take in everything in the room, one of the servants goes over to the wall beside the tub and lowers a panel in the wall. A golden pipe springs out and is aimed directly at the tub. The servant rings a small bell twice. I hear agurgling sound, and suddenly steamy water is running out of the pipe.
I gasp. “How?”
“There is a stream that runs under the estate,” one of the servants says. “Our Lord has a Water Guardian there that controls the water. He heats the water and sends it up the pipes when it’s needed for a bath.”
All I say is, “Oh.” I don’t really want to be friendly with these servants. I also feel pretty certain that the Water Guardian that heats the bath water isn’t doing this of his own free will. So I just watch as the tub fills up. The servants add different soaps and oils to the water, and a mountain of sweet-scented bubbles form in the tub.
One of the servants looks at me. “You can get undressed now and get in the tub.”
I take my filthy dress off. It’s still the one from that merchant’s tent, the one that got me into this mess. I’m standing there in my bra and panties, and the servants are looking at me expectantly. I can’t just take my bra off because I have the mushrooms tucked into it. I put on my shyest expression and ask them if I can have some privacy to relieve myself and get in the tub.
One of the servants says, “Yes, just call out when you are ready for us to come help you.” Then they go into thebedroom—I’m assuming to get a dress ready for me to wear to dinner with Lord asshole tonight.
What am I going to do?
I actually did need to pee really bad, so I use the toilet. There were two baskets beside the toilet. One had a fresh pile of folded linens in it, and the other was completely empty. After staring at it for a few minutes, I decide that the linens are for wiping and the empty basket is for the used ones.
There are large decorative vases around the bathroom. I hide my little bag of mushrooms in one of the vases, then I slip my bra and panties off and get into the tub.
Loudly I say, “You can come back.”
The two servants come back into the room and get to work trying to bathe me. It startles me at first and I try to do it myself, but they ignore my protests. They are determined to help clean and moisturize my hair and scrub every inch of my body. So eventually I give up fighting them and follow their instructions. I stand up when they tell me to and rinse off when they tell me to. Once I am thoroughly bathed, they tell me to stand and get out of the tub. Then they proceed to dry me off with a big fluffy towel.
Once I am dried off to their liking, I am allowed to wrap up in the towel, and we go into the bedroom. However,once we are in there, they take the towel from me. Then they rub different oils and perfumes all over my body.
Next, they dress me in what looks like a simple cotton nightgown or slip, but must be some sort of underwear for the dress they have laid out for me. They have me put on fancy-looking boots next. That is followed by a corset that makes me look amazing but feels awful. Then they top it all off with the most elaborate dress I have ever seen. My hair is swept up into a sophisticated-looking updo and adorned with elegant jewels. And then, they are done.
I stand in front of the mirror for a few minutes just staring at myself. This is easily the most beautiful I have ever looked, but I’m so miserable. I can see it written all over my face. I want out of this awful place. I want to be with Wold.
