“Alright. Get showered and put this on. I have something planned for us tonight.” She tosses the dress onto my bed and gives me a look that tells me not to bother asking questions.
I don’t fight her. I know it’s a battle I won’t win and honestly whatever she has planned would be a welcomed distraction from everything going on in my head.
Once I no longer smell like a rotting corpse, I slip on the dress Amaya left for me. Based on the cream-colored lace, Iassume it must be from Nazrelia. Not sure how she got it, but she has a way about her that makes people want to do things for her. I swear she’s never met a stranger in her life. Everyone seems to instantly want to be friends with her and I can’t blame them. I’m probably the only person who really put up a fight and even then, I eventually gave in.
I take a quick look in the bathroom mirror, admiring the dress. I’ve spent so much time in training clothes lately, that I forgot what it feels like to wear something so feminine. The sleeves start just off my shoulders, hugging my arms until they slightly flare around the wrists. The silk corset is overlaid with lace intricately patterned with images of flowers. The three layers of skirt that fall around me are deceivingly weightless and sway with every move I make.
Most of the dresses I’ve worn have been elegant or something that resembled art. But this one is romantic. It’s a dress that has a story behind it. What that story is, I’m not sure, but I know it’s a beautiful one.
Amaya lets herself in and immediately goes to work on my hair. I watch as she pulls the top half back into a ponytail that she flips upside down so that it waterfalls into the rest of my hair. The two pieces she left in the front, frame my face and somehow, it’s the exact hairstyle to go with this dress.
“Wow, you look incredible!” She takes both of my hands in hers before letting one go to spin me around. The dress follows the movement effortlessly like it was made to be danced in.
“Right back at you!” I compliment, taking in her sleeveless, deep mauve dress with a high collar neckline that makes her appear even taller than she already is.
“Thank you,” she says with a curtsey. “Once we get to where we’re going, you’ll understand why I chose these dresses.”
“Will the others be meeting us?” I ask as we head out into the hall.
“Nope. Just us.”
“Well, it’s a date then.” I grab her hand and swing it between us as we walk.
Since I wasn’t sure where we were going, I decided to wear a pair of flats that I had gotten awhile back for the nights I didn’t want to go stumbling around in heels. By the time we reach the lowest level of the Heart, I’m thanking myself for it.
“Wow, I’ve never ventured down this far.”
Amaya turns back as she takes the lead down one of the illuminated halls lined with grey limestone. “It’s mostly just for the witches.”
“Oh.”
Hearing her say that shouldn’t hurt but it does. Not because I haven’t come to terms with the fact that I’m not a witch, but because I miss being a part of a group of people who share the same gift as me. Even if my time with the witches was just an illusion, it still felt right at the time. I haven’t had that sense of belonging since finding out I’m a phoenix and I miss it.
“We’re here!” Amaya startles me when she jumps around to face me. “You have to cover your eyes, though. No peeking.”
“Happy?” I ask, pointing to my tightly closed eyes.
“Perfect!”
She takes ahold of my right hand and carefully leads me into whatever room we stopped in front of. I expect her to tell me to open my eyes once we’re a few steps inside, but she just keeps walking. Occasionally, I feel us veer left and right, but she easily guides me through whatever maze we’ve walked into.
“Is that water I hear?”
“You’ll see, you’ll see.” She slows down a moment later. “Okay, you can open.”
I’m not sure what I had expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. Somehow, I can’t figure out how I went the whole way without noticing the floral scents. Every color of flower I could possibly imagine paint the room around us.
“Isn’t it pretty?” Amaya motions to the fountain in the middle that has a statue of the five elemental symbols spewing water from the top.
“It’s incredible,” I admit, spinning in a circle so I can take in the whole garden.
“The earth and water witches tend to it, mostly. It’s one of the ways they practice nurturing the earth. The magic above is meant to mimic the natural sky.”
“Like in the Heart.”
“Exactly!” she beams. “When it becomes night, like right now, the lamps automatically turn on. It’s pretty during the day, too, but something about the garden at night just feels transcendent.”
“Transcendent, huh?”
