The Agrista (Between the Lines Book 1) (18 page)

  Please stand back.

  Marie warily took several steps back and watched the tub expectantly. She nearly jumped when the sides of platform retracted into the floor as the tub raised up and flipped over to reveal an identical underside. The sides of the platform rose and clicked into the tub, holding it in place as a high pressure water hose brushed across the muddy underside, rinsing it clean.

  Please place your hand on the screen to determine optimum water temperature.

  Marie positioned herself haphazardly in the tub, lazily draping her limbs over the cyan marble as she placed her hand flat on the screen. She collapsed onto the side of the tub, melting into the welcoming arc of soft gold. The warm water lapped her supple skin, imbuing her with an instant sense of calm. It truly was perfect.

  The wine she’d drank had been too weak to give her a buzz, but she’d drank just enough to feel drowsy. She began to drift off to sleep, causing her head to suddenly drop forward. The impact of her chin smashing into her collarbone roused her awake as she jerked her body upright with a sharp gasp.

  She wouldn’t be entering the dream world again anytime soon if she had anything to say about it. Marie assimilated herself with her surroundings as she took in
every
detail of the room. She wasn’t in Sopor. She was safe, for now.

Images from her nightmare came flooding back, overriding her senses and dissociating her from the present. Cailene’s victims’ anguished screams filled her head, drowning out the rational thoughts that cycled through her mind in a weak attempt to keep her grounded. Flashes of pain ripped the soothing words apart until they fell silent.

  Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the flames devouring Tajana’s body as if she were no more than sheer parchment. In a desperate attempt to purge the memory, she flung her eyes open and stared at her reflection in the water. She searched the hollow blue eyes for forgiveness, but there was none.

  A sweat broke out over Marie’s brow as the tepid water grew angry. It suddenly felt like liquid fire eating away at her flesh. With shaky hands, she plucked the cork from the second bottle of wine and hungrily guzzled it down in an attempt to drown her sorrows.

  Marie never used to drink for the same reason most people seemed to. Most people seemed to drink to numb themselves; to forget their inhibitions and don an emboldened personality so that they might escape their horribly drab reality, if not for just one night.

  How quickly one night could turn to several. Marie found her answer at the bottom of a bottle all too often these days, and always for the wrong reasons, as if there were any good ones.

  She silenced the fading vestige of her conscience, belligerently shoving it away as she threw her head back and hurled caution to the wind. She chugged the bottle as voraciously as a newborn at its mother’s teat. Her tongue didn’t stop moving until she heard the telltale pop of air, savoring the last drop of delicious red and shuddering from the bitter aftertaste.

  She wrapped a towel around herself and sat on the edge of the tub, shivering. She nearly toppled over when she caught sight of her unfamiliar reflection in the polished gold dresser.

  All rosy cheeked and bright eyed, her glistening ebony locks twisted over her pale complexion and suffused her skin with a subtle glow in contrast. She was beautiful. She had enough alcohol pumping through her veins and devouring her modesty to admit that to herself right now.

  “I guess I should wash these clothes for the billionth time,” Marie grumbled.

  She threw her black silk dress and well-worn undergarments into the remaining soapy water to let them soak. This galaxy was filled with magic and technology that was well beyond Earth’s, but it didn’t have anything as basic as mirrors and undergarments. The irony often made her grumble. If only she’d thought to pack a few things, or knew the right place to look.

  “At least I have time to let them dry for once,” Marie was determined to remain optimistic, so as not to spoil her shallow inebriation. She rinsed her clothes and wrung out the excess water, laying them flat over the windowsill to soak up the meager remnants of sunlight.

  She rummaged through the drawers of the golden dresser, admiring her hazy reflection in a rare moment of vanity. In the top drawer, wrapped in a thin sheet of cellophane was a thick wooden brush, a small bristled stick, and a soft tube of cinnamon paste sealed with wax.

  “Awesome!” It had been far too long since Marie had been able to properly brush her teeth or her hair. Her greasy, overworked fingers served as poor replacements.

  She spent hours brushing the thick knots from her hair and chipping away at the dull veneer of plaque that coated her once pearly whites. By the time she’d finished, the sun had melted into the horizon and a chill washed over the land, wafting in through the open window and tickling her bare skin.

  She jumped onto the bed and swaddled herself in the silk sheets. She briskly rubbed her palms over her arms in an attempt to smooth out the goose bumps with the warming friction.

  Sick and tired of being stuck in a state of dishabille and freezing her arse off, she clumsily stalked over to the window to retrieve her damp dress. She outstretched her arms and stumbled over the raised edge of the carpet, lurching forward as she lost her footing.

  The next moment seemed to happen in slow motion. The dress slipped over the edge and eddied to the ground as she slammed her hands down on the windowpane to stop herself from falling.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Marie repeatedly smashed her face into the wall. She had
nothing
else to wear. “Oh god. What am I going to do?”

  She grimaced as several potential solutions ran through her head, all of which were humiliating.
Just then, a scraggly man walked past her dress. Desperate, she decided to try to get his attention.

  “Excuse me! Sir?” Marie tried to conceal that fact that she was only wearing a towel. Merely calling out to a stranger from her hotel room window looked bad enough as it is. The man stopped dead in his tracks and gave her a puzzled look. “There’s a dress in the puddle by your feet. It’s mine. I left it in the window to dry, and it fell. Crazy, right?” she laughed uncomfortably. “Is there
any
chance you’d be willing to bring it up to me? It’s all I have,” her last words were a mistake, apparently. The man began sprinting down the street, cradling her dress and exuberating a loud, lecherous laugh that rang through the alleys and drew unwanted attention to her plight. “Great. Just freakin’ great! What am I supposed to do now?” she whimpered, trying not to panic. She desperately wished she was sober for all of this.

  “Excuse me, Miss?” a vendor from across the street approached the building. “If you want, I could sell you a dress and bring it up to you,” the man pointed to a nearby selection of one-size-fits-all dresses.

  “Really? That would be amazing! Please, any dress will do! I’m in room number five. Thank you so, so much!”

  A few minutes later, Marie heard a soft knock on the door. She wrapped a bed sheet around herself and opened the door a crack. She slid her arm through the narrow space and blindly groped for the dress.

  “Payment first, please,” the man took a step back.

  “I don’t actually have money
on
me…” The man heaved an exasperated sigh and began walking away before she could finish. “No, no, no! Stop, please! I
can
pay you! Hear me out! Please!” He turned and gave her an irritated look. “I have a friend downstairs in the pub.
He
has money. If you give me the dress, I can go downstairs and find him.”

  “Are you trying to steal from me, Miss? You’re not very sly.”

  “Of course not! I can give you something for collateral! Will that work?” Marie let the door swing open to show that she wasn’t lying. Her makeshift linen toga seemed to convince him.

  “Collateral first, and I go with you downstairs,” the man held out his hand expectantly.

  “You drive a hard bargain,” she scowled. “Fine! Take my shoes. I can’t go anywhere without them anyway,” she sighed.

  The vendor watched Marie very closely as she crossed the room. When he noticed the royal seal peeking through her bag as she rifled through her things, he immediately dropped to his knees and began sobbing into the tapestry.

 
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more awkward
, Marie cautiously took a step back.

  “Please, Miss! Spare me! Gouge my eyes! Cut my tongue out, if you must! But please, spare my life! I have a family! My dear children would be lost without their Papa!” The man tried to kiss her feet, but she jerked her foot away, involuntarily pushing him back and bolstering his fear.

  “Why would I do any of those things?” she shrieked.

  “Wow.” Raeph appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

  “It just continues to get worse. Lovely,” Marie said as she buried her face in the sheet.

  “Granted, you in a towel leaves much to be desired, but to actually bring a man to tears? Color me impressed.” Raeph whistled. “Care to explain?”

  “I came upstairs to sell the Miss a dress. I did not know she was a royal!” the vendor stammered.

  “Great Lucidus! We’re
trying
to keep a low profile, Marie!”

  “I didn’t tell him anything!”

  “It’s true, Sirs. She did not identify herself as such, which is why I was so confused. Not that I blame the wonderful Miss, of course. It’s entirely my fault! I noticed the royal crest, n-not that I was snooping! I assure you, Miss, it was an accident. Please, I have a family,” the vendor rambled.

  “What’s your name?” The man flinched when Raeph gently touched his shoulder.

  “Noki, Sirs,” he bowed, uncertain if Raeph was a royal as well.

  “You’re not in trouble, Noki. Besides, I think seeing her half-naked is punishment enough,” Raeph nudged the poor, frazzled vender, making him jump. “How much does the dress cost?” Raeph removed the coin purse from his belt.

  “Normally, five pieces. But is free for royals, of course!” Noki bowed before Marie for the umpteenth time, making this the most uncomfortable exchange of her life.

  “Nonsense! All the more reason for her to pay,” Raeph joked as he dropped fifteen coins into Noki’s shaking hands.

  “You gave me too much, Sirs.”

  “The extra ten pieces are for your discretion. We don’t need it circulating around town that someone of her caliber is staying in the area. However, if you do find that you have loose lips, I’ll have no trouble hunting you down and cutting them off of your face,” Raeph threatened with a sinister grin.

  “Noki is as silent as the grave, Sirs, and has no desire to be in one! Thank you!” Noki handed Raeph the dress and scampered off with one last bow.

  “How do you get yourself into these messes?” Marie ignored Raeph’s hearty laugh and held her hand out for the dress, which had the fashion appeal of a potato sack. “I bet you’re eager to get out of that bed sheet,” he teased playfully, holding the dress just out of her reach.

  “I beg your pardon!” Alex charged into the room. He was livid. “What in Lucidus’ name is going on here?” Blue and silver flames danced around his pupils, trapped within the confines of his irises like caged beasts.

  “It’s a long story,” Marie buried her face in her hands. Who else was going to join this exhibit where she was the main piece on display?

  “You’re not going to believe me, but it’s not what it looks like,” Raeph sighed.

  “What it looks like,
to me
, is that you failed to protect her, just as I had anticipated!”

  “What?” Raeph growled. “
She
got herself into this mess! I was just trying to help!”

  “Then explain to me why I saw some pervert running down the street with
this
!” Alex held up Marie’s muddied dress.

  “I’ll be more than happy to supervise her while she’s taking a bath, if that’s what you want,” Raeph smirked.

  “You should be burned blind for seeing someone of her status in such a compromising position, and castigated for your blasphemous implications!” Alex shoved Raeph.

  “I’ve seen her half-naked twice now. That pretty much did the trick,” Raeph returned Alex’s shove with a gentle nudge.

  Marie felt inclined to stop the two of them before their squabbling turned into a fist fight, though she didn’t mind if Alex got a punch in after Raeph’s merciless teasing. Knowing it would escalate far beyond that, she decided to intervene.

  “Stop fighting!” Marie threw her arms up in the air, and all hell broke loose.

  Marie’s towel – loosely knotted and tucked into her armpit – slid several inches down her torso before she managed to clinch it closed at her waist. Raeph and Alex’s attention was immediately drawn to her bare breasts, now at full attention due to the chill that hung thick in the air.

  The room fell uncomfortably silent, but Raeph’s perverse rumination was deafening; blaringly obvious by the slump of his shoulders and the glaze of his eyes. Without thinking, Alex slapped his hands over Marie’s breasts to protect her from the soldier’s wild imagination, forgetting his own altogether.