Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [23]
"He—" I began.
"I—" he said.
"No mind." Paying our words not the slightest heed, Aislinn tugged me across the threshold. "Come with me. I've things you can borrow."
"I'm fine," I managed.
She gave me a hurt look. "Ah, now! Would you begrudge me the pleasure?"
"Ahhh… no?"
"Right you are." Aislinn gave another smart tug on my hands. "Come along, then."
I went with her, casting a helpless glance over my shoulder. Cillian shrugged, equally helpless.
To my eyes, Aislinn's bedchamber was a small, cramped space. The moment she closed the door behind us, I felt stifled and confined. The room had one window and I hovered close to it, breathing fresh air in anxious gulps while she pulled gowns from a chest, holding them up and examining them.
"This ought to suit," she said of a gown of fine-combed green wool. "It will set off your eyes." She glanced up at me. "Are you all right?"
"Aye," I said weakly."'Tis my first time indoors."
Her eyes widened. "Ever?"
I eyed the closed door. "Aye."
Cillian's sister was a quick study. She followed my gaze and hurried to open the door. "Better?"
Something in my chest eased. "Thank you, yes."
"Right, then." She stood in the doorway with her back to me. "I'll stand sentry duty, shall I? You try on that gown."
The gown fit nicely, only a little loose. I smoothed it with both hands, feeling the fineness of the weave, and glanced down at myself to admire the way the fabric clung to my body. Aislinn turned around to regard me with approval.
"Let's do something with your hair, shall we?" Without waiting for my reply, she pointed at a chair. "Sit."
I sat.
When I was little, my mother would comb the tangles from my hair, but it was a painful process and we'd never had a brush. This felt good. I relaxed with pleasure as Aislinn ran the brush through my hair.
She laughed at my expression. "I've a cat that gets that very look when she's being petted."
"Mmm." I noticed that when she smiled, Aislinn had the same dimples that her brother did. I wondered what it would be like to kiss her. Mayhap the thought showed in my face, because she cleared her throat and put down the brush with alacrity, moving behind me.
"I'll just put it in a simple braid."
It didn't feel simple when it was done, braided and coiled and pinned into place. Aislinn picked up a silvery object and handed it to me.
"See how you like it," she said.
The object was a mirror.
I'd never seen a true reflection of my own face before. I studied it. With my hair coiled neatly, it was easy to see. There was the stamp of my mother's blood in the angle of my cheekbones, the shape of my chin. But it was all different, too. And I did have very green eyes.
"Do you like it?" Aislinn asked.
I touched my hair. "Oh, yes. It's lovely."
"Good." She busied herself with finding a pair of velvet slippers that matched the gown. They were narrow and pinched my toes, but I suffered it, reluctant to deny Cillian's sister the pleasure it gave her. Aislinn clapped her hands together. "Perfect!"
When we returned to the main hall, Cillian gaped at me. "Moirin?"
"One and the same," I agreed.
Unexpectedly, he offered me a courtly bow. "And the very picture of beauty thus adorned. Come, will you see the Academy?"
It was large enough to house over a dozen scholars. The students were just settling in to an early supper in the dining hall—young men and a few women, sons and daughters of nearby estates. I recognized several of the young men from the game in the field. While their regard was still avid and curious, this time it was more circumspect. It occurred to me, trying not to hobble in my too-tight slippers, that attire was another form of concealment.
Cillian showed me the library, the pride of the Academy. Running my fingers over the spines of countless volumes, peering at the enticing scrolls in their cubbyholes, I could almost imagine myself studying here. Then he showed me the quarters where the women lodged.
I shuddered.
It was a long, windowless room with a row of narrow beds in it. Just looking at it made me feel trapped and frantic.