Mary's Path

Outside there was a large room filled with chairs, benches and soft carpets. On one side of the room there was a huge open fireplace and on the other side there were windows that were so deeply sunken into the wall that the windowsills served as seating areas where there were pillows to sit on and admire the view.

The walls were painted in a beautiful red color with gold décor and thick tapestries evenly spaced along the walls. There were a lot of doors leading in and out of the room. Mary assumed that this was a kind of socializing space whereas the other doors lead to bedrooms.

On several of the benches there were people. Mary didn’t recognize them, but they apparently knew who she was because everyone was smiling at her. She felt a little confused and lost. But then she walked up to a window and crawled up among the pillows and looked out over the courtyard.

They were quite far up. The people down there were small. They rushed forward as if everyone had an important task to do. A dog ran across the yard and a young boy led a horse for a man. There was life and movement there.

Mary sat for a long time and looked at the people moving around. Her hand held the key she had around her neck and sometimes she cried quietly.

The days passed. Mary usually sat in her window and looked down at the castle courtyard. She was never alone, there were always people in the room. It felt safe and less lonely.

She soon got to know some of the people who traveled with the Lady. Like Leana and Mildy, the two white-clad women she had met in the carriage with the Lady. They could sit for hours and talk to her, brush her hair and comfort her when she was sad.

Mary learned that the Lady always traveled with two aari. An aari was a kind of priest Mary thought, though there were both male and female, which was strange.

But most of all the new people she got to know, she liked Kopa. Maybe with the exception for the Lady. Kopa was the Lady’s bodyguard, he was quiet and serious for the most part. But he could sit and play games with her for hours and sometimes he smiled.

Mary felt that he was not nearly as grim as he seemed to be. Since he didn’t talk much, Mary had time to think and ponder so she enjoyed his company. He seemed to enjoy hers as well and the evening often ended with Mary falling asleep in her window and Kopa carrying her into bed.

Mary still felt an acute pain every time she thought of her parents, but if she didn’t think about them, it didn’t hurt as much. There was always a knot in her stomach though. She wanted it to go away, but it was there without her realizing why.

One afternoon the Lady came walking with Mildy. Mary was no longer afraid or shy of the Lady, so she smiled when she saw her coming.

“Come Mary and we’ll see if your new clothes fit” said The Lady, reaching out to Mary. Mary jumped out of the window and took the Lady’s hand. It would be so exciting with new clothes.

She tried on one dress after another. There were clothes for everyday life and for parties in all kinds of colors and shapes. Mary felt the knot in her stomach unknot a little and she smiled up at the Lady.

“Thank you very much,” she said.

“You still have a dress to try on” said The Lady, smiling. Mildy held it out so Mary could see. Mary stared at the dress and felt the tears rise in her eyes, this time out of joy.

The dress was a small copy of the clothes that those in the Lady’s company always used. They differed from the clothes used in Dermes but Mary thought they were incredibly beautiful.

Now Mildy held out such a dress towards her, it was deep green and had wide long sleeves and around her neck and at the edge of the sleeves sat beautifully woven ribbons. Mary’s hand trembled as she stretched out to caress the fabric.

“Do you like it?” asked The Lady. Mary could only nod. “Then you’ll have to try it,” said The Lady. Mary jumped out of the dress she was wearing and soon she stood there in the green dress while Mildy put a wide belt in the same pattern as the woven bands around her waist. The lady brushed out her hair and braided it in a long braid.

“Now you look like one of us, anyone would say you were born in Salmisara,” the Lady said, smiling broadly. Mary was so proud that she grew several centimeters.

“Can I go show Kopa?” she asked, looking at the Lady. The lady laughed and nodded, but before Mary could reach the door, the Lady cried out.

“You forgot something.” Mary turned around and saw that the Lady was holding out a grey robe. Just the kind that everyone in the Lady’s entourage used except the Lady and the two aari. “You will always be a part of us,” said The Lady as she hung the robe on Mary’s shoulders. “Never forget that my friend. Sometimes we are far apart but the only thing that matters is that we are close here,” she said, putting her hand on Mary’s chest.

Mary nodded, she didn’t really understand but she thought it sounded beautiful. Then Mary turned around and rushed out into the lounge where she knew Kopa was there. The lady and Mildy followed her.

She ran straight up to Kopa and waited for him to turn around. He always seemed to know when she was around, so she didn’t say anything. He turned to her, and she saw his eyes open wide in amazement, then he smiled, and she could have sworn she saw a small tear in the corner of his eyes. Then he pulled retired behind his wall again and nodded with an approving gesture.

“It suits you,” he said. Mary understood him better than most and she knew it was a compliment as good as the highest praise. She laughed and gave him a hug. He quickly answered the hug and then told her she should change to something else. She nodded and went to put on one of the other dresses she had been given. Right now, she was happy, for a while her heart had forgotten her grief and she was just happy.

The next day, Mary sat in the window and looked out at the castle yard again. She saw a boy down there. She had seen him there before, he always seemed to have something to do. He brought buckets that he carried here and there, he ran by with bundles of what looked like twigs. Mary was curious about the boy, he reminded her of Erik.

She missed her friends, and she missed her parents, she thought, and leaned her forehead against the cold window. Winter had begun to turn into spring but Mary could see that the winds were still cold.

She hadn’t been outside since she arrived at the castle. Sometimes she wanted to go out and run around the streets like she always did before. But every time she thought she was going to do ask someone if she could go, she changed her mind.

The living room with the increasingly familiar people had become her safe place. She felt reluctance, almost fear, to leave it. Though there were people coming and going here all the time, she had gotten to know most of them, and she recognized everyone.

She knew they didn’t want her harm, she knew she was safe here. Kopa was never far away, and the Lady came to see her from time to time. She mostly sat in her window. As she sat there and leaned her forehead against the window, she saw a faint reflection in the corner of her eye.