Soft candlelight illuminated the large vanity mirror as
Gwyneth removed dye from her skin with a mixture of milk and the juice of the
Nymig fruit. It would not be a good
thing for her journey tomorrow if her complexion looked like one of a peasant. A slight smile reached one corner of her
mouth as she thought about the irony of her situation, exchanging one disguise
for another, only to go to the same exact location. She paused her task and sighed, reaching for a
small framed portrait to the left of the mirror. She traced the outline of the
face and studied the hairstyle. It
should not be hard to recreate this disguise.
It would have been more difficult to come up with reasonable excuse to
politely decline the King’s request.
This would still allow her to be in place to gather the information she
needed, but it would be more difficult to remain anonymous.
Gwyneth set the portrait down as she turned to sound of
footsteps. She watched the thick curtain
that divided her quarters from this alcove be pushed aside slowly.
“Father,” Gwyneth said softly as she saw the man who had
adopted her as his own. His smile spread
across his face, but there was no sparkle in his silver blue eyes. She stood up as he came towards the vanity,
grabbing her small delicate hands in his large manicured ones.
“Gwyneth, I have missed you so much. I could not wait a
moment more to see your lovely face.”
“Father!” Gwyneth repeated as she threw arms around his
neck, burying her face in his robe as the tears began to fall. “Not as much as I’ve missed you.”
After a moment, her father cleared his throat, pushed her
back and wiped the tears from her gray eyes.
“It will not do if your eyes are red and puffy in the morning. You will need to present yourself well
tomorrow. I doubt anyone would believe
that your persona would cry.” Her father
scanned her face and saw the tell-tale signs of fatigue and felt regretful that
he required so much of his daughter. His
face softened as he opened his mouth to cancel the expedition, but quickly
clenched it again. He shook his head
abruptly to help push those thoughts away. This mission was too vital to let
sentiment dictate his actions.
Gwyneth lifted her had to remove the last few droplets and
stared questioningly at her father’s uncharacteristic, even though brief,
wavering. She did not fully comprehend
the danger she was about to face, but her father certainly did and regretted
that the fate of his faction’s hopes and dreams rested heavily upon her
success.
To cover up his moment of weakness, he brusquely commanded, “Remove that obscene
color from your hair and then sleep as much as you can. You have a tiresome journey ahead of you that
I once again cannot accompany you on.”
He patted her right shoulder.
“I’ll see you in morning, before your carriage leaves.” He turned quickly and left. Gwyneth was not offended. She realized that her father’s path had left
him with a lot of pain and loss, but he could not let his determination waver,
even for her.
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