MoonLife (17 page)

They saw your new mark of the
q
ueen. In their eyes are you now the
Queen
, and bowing before you is the tradition. Get used to it
. Y
ou’re going to see a lot of that from now on.

“Guys you can get up
.
I
t’s just me.” I said to them gesturing for them to get off the floor.

“Yes
,
my Queen, but we are not honorable enough to stand in your presence.”

“Oh please, get up. It’s just me already. I am no different than I ever was and I expect you to treat me the same as you always have, even when I take the throne.”

Ludwik looked up at me. “You are returning to the
t
hrone. You will head the Magicals again? Is this known? May I make this known?”

Sebastian interjected. “She has just decided this
evening
that she will be taking the throne, but she will let it be known when she is ready to release that information. This is not our story to tell.” He smiled over at Sadie, happiness was in his eyes.

“Yes
,
I’m not ready to announce it just yet. Let’s get ready for the binding ceremony first, and guys…get up off the floor.” I said giving them my hand to help them up. They both refused
,
but jumped up. I hugged them both and then looked to Sebastian for what to do next.

“You
,
my
l
ove, ha
ve
to go get ready. I believe we have three Mandurago women to prepare you and get you dress
ed
.” In walked Keket, her sister Aman, a woman I hadn’t met yet
…
and Wendy following up behind them.

“Wendy
,
I had no idea you were a Mandurago
,
” I laughed
,
knowing there was something wrong here.

“Well
,
Sebastian thought since you had already broken the tradition of seeing the groom that it wouldn’t hurt if one mere human helped the Mandurago women get you ready. “

“You are more than a human
,
Wendy;
you are a
W
iccan healer, so still a
Magical
h
uman.” He said
,
smiling at her.

“Now you men are going to have to leave. We women have a lot to do and little time to do it.” Wendy said as she started shooing the men out of the room.

Sebastian grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. I looked up into his eyes and could feel how happy he was. “When I see you next, it will be at the altar.”

“I can’t believe the day is finally here. I can’t believe I will be yours soon.”

“Yes
,
my
l
ove, very soon.” I stood on my tip toes and kissed his lips. It was a sweet kiss, full of promise.

“Now get out of here. We need to get ready.” Sebastian released me, leaving the room and posting Dante and Dario outside to guard the entrance, as Ludwik left with
him
to get ready for the ceremony. He was best man tonight and had his role to play
,
Wendy did too, not like a normal wedding though.

The women took my hands and ushered me out the door of our rooms and down the hall into a different room. This room had gold inlay around the door and intricate carvings of a tree adorning the front, much like the large doors that we had viewed when entering the Sanctum.

“I haven’t been in this room yet
,
Wendy.” I whispered, suddenly feeling the need to keep my voice hushed.

“Yes
,
the women were telling me that the room is sacred. Only very few actually get to enter it.”

We walked through the gold doorway and came into the expansive room. It was a round room with a large dome
d
ceiling. Everything in the room was accented in gold. There were roses and stargazer lilies strewn all about
.
T
hey were in vases, hanging from the ceiling, on the counters and floors. The aroma was incredible. In the very middle of the room was a large built
-
in soaking tub, much like the ones I had read about in
R
oman times. To the right was a corridor off the room that looked as if it went into a dressing area. It was beautiful
.
T
he room appeared as if it was glowing with unseen lights.

“This is amazing. I have never been in a bathroom like this.”

“Oh
,
this is more than a bathroom, this is a place of worship. Today we worship you and get you ready for your journey
,” said
Keket “When binding with a Mandurago there are several traditions we must follow. A few may seem strange to you but just know that it is our way. We understand you may find a few odd so we will do our best to make you comfortable through the process.”

“I am Hera. I am honored to prepare you today.” She bowed as she introduced herself. Keket, Aman and Hera walked towards me, and began removing my clothing.

“Ah
,
guys
,
I can talk my own clothes off.” I said
,
backing away.

“Sadie
,
this is how they have been doing this for thousands of years. The Royals are not to lift a finger on their binding day. It would dishonor them if you undressed yourself
.” 
Wendy whispered to me quietly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just feel weird having you guys undress me.”

“We understand
,
but it is the way
,”
said Hera bowing again to me.

They proceeded to undress me and wrap me in a soft
,
gold linen robe. They then took me by my hands and led me to the back of the round room through
F
rench doors to a white room. In the room was nothing but a large sink on the wall and a large stone table with a huge leather pad on top.  It was beautiful and for stone
,
extremely comfortable. They placed me on my back and then Wendy gave me the awful news.

“Sadie
,
you love Sebastian right?” asked Wendy. I nodded because she knew I did. “You would do anything to be married to him?”

“Of course I would
,
Wendy.” Knowing it was going to be bad, I gave her the look that said just-cut-to-the-chase and she continued.

“Part of Mandurago ritual states that the
women
must remove all hair from their bodies to be pure for their mate before the ritual.” She watched me closely as I took this information in.

“WHAT?
!
Remove all the hair from my body? No way, not going to do it. I’m fine with my legs but not the rest of me. My eyebrows too?”

Wendy giggled. “You have to
,
Sadie
,
to go through with the ritual. It’s all body hair from the shoulders down, not hair on your head, so your eyelashes and eyebrows are safe…no going bald either.” She giggled again. “You have no choice if you want to do this.” She said knowing this was killing me.

Hera removed a silver vat from a warmer and I knew I was in trouble. She was preparing wax. Now, I have had my eyebrows done and even my legs done a time or two, but not my private area. I knew this was going to hurt something horrible. Every bit of hair?? Why??  I bit down on my lip and thought about Sebastian, contemplating how much I loved him and how much I wanted to be with him. I guess I could deal with a little hurting and some major embarrassment to marry him. I wondered to myself if he had to go through this
,
too
.

“Okay
,
fine, get it over with.” I closed my eyes and let them go to it. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought
at first
. They were remarkably gentle on my legs. It was weird to have my arms waxed. I have never been a very hairy person; you could barely see any hair on my arms
,
so waxing seemed really foreign to me. They even waxed my belly and my back! I don’t have hair on my back so I wasn’t even sure what they were waxing. When they did my private area that was awful. Talk about painful and embarrassing. Nothing like being spread open for the entire world to see. UGH! I was mighty glad when it was all done. They gave me a special glass of
R
oyal wine that they said they only open for these occasions. It was remarkably smooth and not like other red wines. Hera told me that it was the drink of the gods and I could understand why. It was delicious, and I was happy to see my glass refilled.
I suggested that next time they do this to someone they give them the wine first.

When the torture was over
,
they sat me up and wrapped me in the gold robe again, leading me back into the main room. Here, Keket had prepared a bath in the large soaking tub. It was easily ten feet long and 8 feet wide. It smelled of musk and flowers and other magical aromas. They unrobed me and Keket led me down the stairs into the bath, she too was coming into the large soaking tub holding my arm down the stairs. The tub was deep enough to walk into and the water came up to just a couple of inches below my shoulders. She guided me to a ledge on the side where she told me to sit. She then proceeded to pour oils into the bath and over my
shoulders. It was intensely erotic for a bath and I couldn’t help but wonder how fun it would be to have Sebastian in there with me.

Keket quickly went to work, washing my hair. It was heavenly, the fragrance and the massaging of my scalp relaxed me. She then began applying a thin layer of silky liquid soap to a muslin cloth. She rubbed it into my skin and began the process of cleaning my body to make me
“
pure
”,
as Keket put it. I was hoping we would just get all the wax out of my nooks and crannies. After the cleansing was done
,
I sat a bit, relaxing in the tub. It was so warm and inviting. The water felt so soothing on my skin after all the tugging of the waxing. Hera refilled my wine glass and I sipped it and reclined back against the edge of the bath.
This is the life
,
I thought,
just me and the tub
.

I closed my eyes and started to think about what was to come: the ceremony, our making love and then Turning. I had been trying not to think too heavily all this time about
the Turn
ing. I knew the waxing was like a stubbed toe compared to an airplane crash of
the Turn
. I wondered to myself if it honestly would hurt that horribly. Maybe it’s one of those things that you can just breathe through and get to the other side. Maybe it won’t hurt as much as everyone thinks? Maybe it will only last a little while and then it’ll be done, and we can get on with the honeymoon.

I was excited to go on our
h
oneymoon. Sebastian planned the whole thing
. W
e are going to his favorite place in the world
. I
t’s a castle in Ireland called
Dromoland
. We are staying two weeks there to let me rest after
the Turn
,
then on
to London and after that Brussels. I haven’t been to any of these places and I am so looking forward to exploring them for the first time with Sebastian.

“Sadie
,
honey
,
we need to get your dressed and
ready.
I
t’s getting late.” Wendy said softly
,
taking me away from my thoughts.

I opened my eyes and saw her smiling at me. I am so lucky to have Wendy here with me. “I’m ready
,
Wendy
.
I was just dreaming of my honeymoon.”

“You need to take lots of pictures and text them to me. I have always wanted to visit Ireland.” She said
.

“After all this settles down
,
we should all plan a trip together.  We could go to Dublin and play at the pubs.”

Keket started to walk down the stairs, to help guide me up and out of the tub. “Keket
,
you’re already dry
.
S
tay there
.
I’m coming out.”

“Miss
,
it is against our tradition to let you walk out alone.”

I hurried quickly and held my hand up to her. “Here
,
this way you can hold my hand from the side as I climb out. I’m not alone, and you’re not wet again.”

She smiled at me as I climbed out. Hera and Keket draped me in warm dry towels, while Aman wrapped my hair. They walked me out of the main area and down the open doorway to the dressing area. I had yet to be in this part of the chamber and it was impressive. Everything was crimson and gold. There were fainting couches and chairs all in deep crimson velvet. It was fantastically plush, like something out of a magazine.