CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Helsinki
Iliana~
“You won’t need money,” Anna Lindorm assured her. “It’s our pleasure and our treat.”
“It is indeed,” Lexi confirmed. “You are no longer my vassal, Iliana. And Theo says you are entitled to be paid for all your years of service.”
“Paid?” Iliana squeaked.
“Paid,” said Anna firmly.
“Thank you,” Iliana returned, now completely confused. She didn’t quite belong to Jareth, and Lexi didn’t want her either. What would become of her?
The other dragonesses proceeded to explain to her how money worked. Iliana wanted to see these riches for herself, but all they could show her were numbers on their magic pages. She did not know how these small, glowing seeing-stones they called celfones could change so rapidly, or how rows of numbers could transform into the pretty shoes and prettier gowns they bought.
Her head spun with all the new words she was learning. Not breeches. Pants. Not gowns, dresses. Not under-breeches, panties. She did not want to wear breeches – leggings – all the time. Although they were warm, they did not seem feminine. Surely leggings were what men wore under their robes?
Panties, however, she thought a vast improvement on stockings alone. They kept the cold air out of her kunta admirably. Under their warm outdoor jackets, Anna and Lexi were both wearing leggings. They insisted they preferred the freedom of movement they permitted.
Iliana did not feel free. She was forced to move at the pace of human limbs that tired quickly. And when the dresses she tried on did not suit her, she was forced to remove them herself and try yet more. Conjuring clothes was far easier.
Lexi was sympathetic. “Dressing and undressing were the worst things for me too,” she whispered. “But you get used to it. And there are compensations.”
Iliana supposed she meant Sofie. She wished she had been allowed to remain behind with the infant. Holding her was so wonderful that she had momentarily forgotten all her troubles. But Anna and Lexi had laughed away that suggestion.
After they had accumulated a vast quantity of garments to tide her over until the ones ordered for her by Lexi were ready, they took her to a huge house for another meal. She had liked that. She was hungry again. Except that the room they were shown into was already occupied by many chattering strangers.
The food, however, made up for the crowd. Their courteous host greeted Anna and Lexi by name and brought them books with lists of things to eat. She couldn’t decide. Anna smiled and told him what to bring. They all ate the same delicious roast meat and vegetables. And drank the same hot and fragrant beverage. Anna and Lexi called it green tea, but it seemed more amber than green to her.
Their host was most welcoming but he did not stop to chat, nor did he dine with them. It was all very peculiar. These modern manners bewildered her.
“Spa time,” Lexi announced when their meal was over.
They piled into their marvelous conveyance again. The lim-o pulled them through the streets to yet another house. So the spa was a temple. At least it was full of white robed priestesses who escorted them from room to room. She was a little frightened when Anna and Lexi left her alone with one.
The priestess introduced herself as Nasa. Iliana was to remove all her clothes and lie down on a padded table. Nasa covered her with a sheet. Iliana was concerned that she would be cold, but the room was almost hot. Nasa oiled her all over until she felt limp and relaxed.
“It is time for your sauna,” Nasa said softly. Her words woke Iliana. She would have preferred to finish her nap, but she put on the white robe and slippers offered by Nasa and obediently followed the priestess.
Anna and Lexi were dressed the same way. Another priestess escorted all three of them to the sauna. Iliana knew about those. Even the barbarian Norsemen had had those. The priestess instructed them to stay only ten minutes, and not to raise the temperature above 110 degrees. Whatever that meant.
Inside there were smooth wooden benches to sit or lie on. Anna and Lexi loosened their robes and relaxed. “I saunaed every day when I was expecting,” Anna said. “But we will follow their guidelines.”
“Dragonesses don’t have problems with heat,” whispered Lexi. “Even when they’re pregnant.”
Iliana looked closely at Lexi. She seemed the same, but apparently she was going to have another child. She was so lucky. Well, if Jareth wanted more bed sport, Iliana was prepared to please him. It would be worth the discomfort to have a baby.
After the sauna they had cold showers which Iliana thought spoiled the whole experience. But then she was permitted to put her thick warm robe back on and sit in a magic chair. It reclined without permission and a priestess inspected her face.
“Such lovely skin,” she murmured. But she didn’t mean it for she rubbed more oil into Iliana’s face and dabbed something around her eyes. Once again Iliana fell asleep, once again she was not permitted to finish her nap.
Despite the priestess’ declaration that Iliana’s skin was lovely, when she looked in the mirror, her face had been entirely covered in gray muck. It did not seem an improvement. But Anna and Lexi looked the same, except that Anna’s face was green.
Another priestess led Iliana to a deep basin and washed her already wet hair. “You need a conditioner,” she announced. Whatever a conditioner was, it smelled wonderful. Sweet and spicy, sharp and mellow, all at once.
The priestess wrapped her head in a white turban and led her to yet another magic chair. “What did you have in mind?” she asked Iliana after she had combed out her hair.
“Another nap?” Iliana suggested. The priestess tittered.
“I think long layers around her face, and a shoulder length cut,” Lady Severn announced from the next chair. “She needs more body and something easy to manage.”
“Some highlights?” suggested the priestess.
“Let’s see what it looks like with a good cut before we play with the color,” said Anna.
Another body seemed like a good idea since this one was so inconvenient. But Iliana could not imagine what high lights might be or where she would put them. Yet apparently that was not what Anna meant for the priestess took out shears and snipped at sections of Iliana’s hair.
Her hair did look glossier and sleeker than before. But she could not believe that Jareth would prefer a gray-faced bride with short hair. She told Anna so.
“It gets washed off, and then we get some makeup.”
Make up? Had they been quarreling? She was now thoroughly confused. The gray paste was gently wiped off by yet another priestess. She clucked over Iliana’s eyebrows. They were too pale and narrow.
“Nonsense,” said Lexi. “They are fine. You can darken them just a tiny bit, but her features are too delicate for great heavy brows, no matter what the fashion is.”
The end result was better than Iliana had hoped for. She looked different, yet the same. Her cheeks were a deeper pink and her lips too. Or maybe they were just shinier like her hair. Her eyelashes were longer. Or they seemed so. They were stiff and a little spiky. Her eyes were still just the color of a pond on a cloudy day.
Lexi helped her put on her new clothes. Her hair got messed up by pulling her new gown over her head, but Lexi fluffed it with her fingers and it resumed its gleaming sleekness.
“Is it magic?” Iliana whispered.
“Not really. This is a really good cut. What do you think of mine?” Lexi shook her head.
It looked the same as before. Maybe a little bouncier. “It looks as it did before,” Iliana said truthfully.
Lexi chuckled. “It’s just a little shorter. So the curl springs more. Come on, it’s time to go home.”