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COLLETTE AND GREISEN, they were a strange pair, but they were all I really had at the moment. I stood in the shower, letting the hot water run down the front of me, washing the stickiness of the blood that had run around me away. Hudson hadn’t even bothered to try and clean me up when he had finished. The water ran down my back, stinging as the soap seeped into the open tissue, but I didn’t care. I could feel the weight of the binding that had been laced through the rings in my back as it flexed. Looking down at my hair, I was suddenly confused, it was too dark in places. I rinsed off and stumbled out of the shower, wiping the condensation off the mirror. I stared at myself. Who was this looking back? My golden blonde hair was streaked from root to tip with black and purple chunks, and my amber eyes had taken on a more golden hue. A largely audible sob escaped my throat as I stared, not understanding what had happened to me. I was fine before the incident in the Hall. What did they do to me?
A knock came to the door and Collette’s voice followed.
“You okay in there, sweetie?”
“No, not really.” I grabbed a towel, wrapping it around me gingerly.
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah.” I choked.
“Are you in pain?” she asked softly. When Greisen wasn’t around, she seemed like a different person. Kinder, softer, I wasn’t sure why, but that was how it felt.
“What did they do to me?”
“You mean the binding? Well, that is not something I really understand. It’s High Magics. You would-”
“No, I mean, look at me. What did they do to me?”
“Oh... That. Yeah, not really sure, but it seems you did it to yourself actually. After King Oberon subdued you and you came back to your Human form, this is what you looked like.”
I tugged on the wet mess of hair with a heavy sigh.
“At least it’s pretty.” She assured me with a gentle pat to my shoulder. “Your clothes are right there in your suitcase by the door. I’ll be around if you need anything. Okay?”
I nodded, holding the towel to me tighter, feeling like it could save me from myself as she left me to contend with what I had to face in the mirror.