When Aaralon had finished cleaning himself Sumara had led him back to his room and left him without a further word, locking the door behind her Aaralon fell to the bed and wept once more, the tears glistening on his soft cheeks. When he had cried himself out he brought his tiny clenched fist up and opened his hand. There lying on his palm was the small glass vial that had contained the scent Sumara had used to cleanse his most intimate and tender flesh. The tiny bottle was his first small step towards casting the cantrip he needed in order to increase the magical ability of the body he now wore.
He had thought hard on this problem, most of the spells to achieve his aim were now beyond his meagre capabilities. Of those that required little power almost all needed ingredients that he could never hope to encounter in his present situation. One minor spell however held a possibility of success. A potion was needed and now he had a vessel in which to mix it, now all he needed were the ingredients; a pinch of horsehair, the tears of a virgin and a pearl of fine quality. Aaralon hid the glass vial, wedging it into a knothole on the underside of a set of drawers.
No sooner had he hidden his precious than the door was unlocked and the guard and a young woman came into the room.
"This is your lucky day milady," The guard said, chuckling at his own wit. "A ball is being held tonight and you have been cordially invited."
Behind his back the young woman pushed her bottom lip out with her tongue and crossed her eyes at the guard indicating that she thought he was an imbecile. Aaralon stifled a giggle and cast his eyes down afraid of getting the young woman in trouble. The guard looked round suspiciously, but far too slow to catch sight of the face the woman had been pulling. She now stood stony faced and feigning innocence, but once the guard had turned his attention back to Aaralon she winked and flashed a brief smile to him.
"Hurrumphh," the guard snorted. "Let's see if you're quite so amused when we have prepared you for the ball. Now strip off those clothes slut, you won't be needing those tonight. Mistress Sumara has a quite different ensemble picked out for you." |