Chapter 3 Part 1

I look around, I’m in a dark room with a few people in very foreign clothes.  It’s dark and I can barely make it out but I think that color is red!

“You’re in Ruby’s Eye,” a motherly voice told me.  I look around the room to see where the voice is coming from.  As my eyes adjust to the dark room I start to see more clearly.  It’s definitely red. Wow. I’ve not seen so much red before. Sometimes when I hurt myself I bleed.  That’s supposed to be red but it’s really just another shade of grey. It’s nothing like this. The clothes they wear are long dresses with aprons trimmed with lace.  They have red hair up in a bun and wear long red gloves.

“Before you go to meet the gathering of fellow possible heirs we must dress you up to Ruby’s Eye standards,” another female voice tells me.  

“Urm, okay?  What should I do?”  I ask.

“Honey, just let us work our magic.”

Before I know it I’m being dragged to another room that’s equally as dark but a rack of red dresses gleam.  They look so interesting. They pull me past that room and into a bathroom where I am striped down. I am scared they’ll see my orange mark but no one paid any mind.  They probably couldn’t tell it’s not grey in this light. There is a large bath and one of the woman fills it up with hot water and fancy bubble liquid. The water is also red.  I assume it’s water anyway. That’s weird that it’s not grey. The tub foams up with sparkly pink bubbles and the woman throws in red petals that smell divine.

“What is that?”  I ask.

“Those are dried rose petals,” the attendant who is currently brushing my hair tells me.

“Rose,” I repeat to myself.  

“Please step into the bath.”  I get in and it feels fizzy and amazing.  The water at home is never as warm and much more opaque.  This water, while red, is clear. You are able to see through it.  That explains why Steve’s power worked on the water at home. It must be something in the water that doesn’t naturally belong in it.  I swish the water every which way until I see the women looking at me quite seriously. I bring my hand up out of the water and it glitters!  How interesting. One of the women grabs my hand and starts using a stick to file it down. Another woman does the same on the other hand. It tickles and I find it hard to keep my hands still.  The women tighten their grip. I lean my head back and a third woman, the one who was brushing my hair, takes a bottle and pours some of its gooey contents on her hand and then in my hair. She massages it through my scalp and it feels wonderful.  Once she has finished working it through my hair she takes a razor and glides it over my legs. That was so ticklish! My nails are done being filed and the two women filing leave the room. I close my eyes. The darkness and the pleasant smells relax me deeply.

I open my eyes and my hair is being rinsed off.  Once it’s thoroughly rinsed they take an opaque goo and run it down the ends of my hair.  Someone comes in the room holding big fluffy towels and a jar of something pink. She puts it down on a nearby table and unscrews the jar.  Coming over to me she takes the pink stuff and rubs it on my legs. It had crystals in it. Weird! She scrubs my legs with it.

I hadn’t noticed before because I was so amazed with the new experiences I was going through but the women were talking.  I’m not sure if it was to me or each other.

“This is so exciting,”

“You will love Ruby’s Eye,” silly stuff but sweet nonetheless.  I don’t really listen but I ask them what their names are.

“Elisabeth,” said the woman doing my hair,

“Maria,” the one scrubbing my legs says, and

“Victoria,” said the one mixing something on the table.  

Elisabeth takes the razor again and goes under my armpit.  I try my best not to squirm but I am very ticklish under there.  Despite my jiggling, Elisabeth does a wonderful job and keeps the razor smooth against my skin.  Maria finishes with my legs and goes to my arms.

Once I’m shaved and scrubbed I’m asked to stand up.  They take a tube and sprinkle me with warm water and the last of the fancy soaps and goo fall off.  I still have glitter on my skin which makes me smile. The women bring in a chair and pull me out of the tub.  I’m wrapped with the most fluffy soft towels I could conceive. They sit me on the chair and one of the women who left before comes back in with red paint.  She takes my hand and starts painting my nails with red. Victoria uses a gun shaped object that blows out hot air to dry my hair while brushing it down. My hair starts to puff out.  She takes a white mixture from the table and paints it through my hair until my hair is covered completely. She leaves my hair like that and starts rubbing creams on my body. They smell of rose and spices.  Maria takes my feet and files my toenails and paints them with the red that’s on my nails. Once my fingernails dry the fourth woman paints red flowers on my nails. They look incredibly realistic. I’m awed by her talent to make a beautiful flower of that size.  She puts my hand under a warm light. Victoria tells me to lean my head back and she sprays it down with water. I see myself in the mirror and even in the dim light I could tell my hair was much lighter colored. She uses the blow dryer again and this time she takes a red paint and moves it through my hair.  The nail artist coats my nails with a clear pink gloss and then leaves the room.

My arms and legs feel so soft.  Victoria starts rinsing my hair again and brushing and drying it.  Elisabeth starts using more mixtures on my face, gently washing it with several gels and creams.  She finds a powder similar to my face color and covers my face with it. She uses a cream in the same color to cover my marks on my body.

“Your skin looks glowing,” says Victoria.

“Thanks,” I say, grinning.  Even though I’m a little taken aback by how I got here I’m too excited to think about my issues at home.  In fact I hadn’t thought about my donkeys, Steve, my family, or even the Rainbow Sun since I had woken up.  I was too enchanted by the color red and the luxury of it all. I start to worry but I put it out of my mind, there isn’t anything I can do.

Victoria starts using a hot iron to straighten my hair, she then braids it tightly against my head.  She weaves in a rose and ties my hair together with a red ribbon. I’m lead out to the first room. On a red wooden table a dress, some shorts, pantyhose, socks, shoes, a corset, and a skirt frame were set out.  

“Am I wearing all of that?” I ask, horrified at the amount of clothes.

“Yes, you are being treated as high class and this is the fashion worn here.”  I nod, even though I don’t like it I know when I see officials trying to wear Popelian clothes it never looks right and it does bother me so I understand.

They take off my towel and hold out some underwear for me to step into.  It’s lacey, red, and small. I step into it and it’s surprisingly comfortable.  Afterwards Maria helps me into the pantyhose which are dark red. The are kinda itchy.

“Are these supposed to be so itchy?” I complain.

“Unfortunately but we have some powder that might help,” Maria told me.

“Yes, please, this will bother me all day otherwise.”  Maria motions for Elisabeth to grab a bottle of light red powder and they rub it on the tights.  After that they hold out some shorts.

“They’re called bloomers,” I was told.  They were poofy and had lace trim. After I got into them they gave me a tank top to put on.  It was silk, red, and shiny.

“This is a tricky part.  We are going to put on your corset and if you aren’t used to it you will feel weird for a while,” I am told.  They wrap it around me and it feels as if I’m wearing a plastic mold. They start to lace it up and it gets tighter.  Finally it is on and it is uncomfortably snug but it’s not too bad because of the tank. Elisabeth starts pulling over the skirt frame and has me get in it.  I feel like I’m wearing a hula hoop. The fourth woman whose name I learned was Anne (!) finished ironing a red dress. The bodice was embroidered with roses and the sleeves are huge puffy and velvet.  The skirt is a monster, it’s red and draped with a dark red velvet cover. I am carefully helped into the dress and I feel awkward about it. They put on my socks that go up to my knees and slip on my shoes.  The shoes are actually super comfortable so that’s nice. They take me back to the bathroom and puts on lacey red gloves, a red choker necklace, and drooping earrings. They also give me a red ring. It looked so lavish and over the top but it was pretty cool.

Elisabeth takes some makeup and does my eyes, my cheeks, and my lips.  She sprays my face with something to make it stay and tells me it’s complete.  Victoria sprays my hair and tells me it’s complete.

“One last thing,” Maria interjects.  “You must wear these contacts.” I groan.  That’s not going to be fun. She holds my eye open and sticks in the bright red contact lenses.  Surprisingly they didn’t affect my vision at all. They don’t even mess with the colors.

“Now you’re complete.”  Maria tells me and the four women bow before they leave.  I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do so I stand for a few minutes before I follow the path they took out.  I’m in a grand hallway that is still dim but I walk down to the brightest side. I walk outside and I’m take aback.

The architecture is beyond anything I’ve ever seen.  The buildings are huge and made of brick. They tower with turrets and roofs more complex than I thought possible.  The red was vibrant and bright. I look up and the sky is wavey with the Sun’s hair. Everything is so much brighter than in Popelia.  The roads are paved with brick designed in geometric patterns instead of the pure grey at home. There are red flowers, and red trees, and red doors, and red handrails.  I look back around me and the people were all dress just like me. The men wore puffy tunics or luxurious robes. An official comes over to me,

“Hello Anne, just wait out here while the rest of the nominees are getting ready.  Feel free to meet and greet while you wait.” He hurries off.

I look around, I see mostly girls but a few boys too.  I’m not sure why they are here if the heir is supposed to be female but I pay no mind.  Lots of the nominees are looking around in awe about their surroundings but some of them reminded me a lot of Sarah back home and were gossiping to each other.  There are about twenty girls and maybe five boys. I realized some of these people are from Ruby’s Eye originally and wouldn’t be gaping at the scenery. If I lived here I would never not be in awe of this world.  I look back at the people. I see a tall girl who was gossiping to her friends. She has a very strong cheekbone and a sharp jaw. I see a girl whose hair looks almost purple not red. Her face is young and she has huge muscles.  There is another girl next to her that keeps fiddling with her corset. On the other side I see a group of two guys flirting with a girl with flaming red hair and a well proportioned body. Near the wall I see a small girl with dark skin and very dark red hair.  She has huge eyes and a petite frame.

With almost an explosion a boy comes out of the building behind me.  The five boys already outside cheer and rush to give him brohugs and brobumps.  Tall gossiper stared at him with a small smile. I see why though, he’s gorgeous.  He has medium length red hair with curls and large red marks on his arm. A few girls come out some minutes later.

“Alright, that is everyone,” announced one of the officials that had traveled to Popelia.  “Follow me to the first night’s feast. We will be explaining the trials and any other information you may need.”

So, I follow him and I have a feeling this is going to be something I never could have dreamed of.