| Lady Portia's Chambers within The Harem Castle |
 |
| Welcome |
| A young woman barely five-feet-tall stands at the large double doors that lead into the room. She seems shy and slightly awkward as she glances from side to side nervously. She fidgets, wringing her hands and occassionally snapping her fingers. She is dressed in a plain white gown with a simple gold-colored cloth sash tied about her waist. Her long dark hair is down, hanging loosely about her shoulders. A small braid from each temple is pulled back and tied to keep her hair from her face. As she sees you, she dips into a hasty curtsy. "I apologize for not noticing you there. I am Juliet, the Lady Portia's only handmaiden. Allow me to show you around whilst my mistress is away. "This front room is used as a sitting room, where my mistress takes her guests. As you will notice, the ceiling is high and vaulted. She likes to keep this room light, which is why she keeps candles all along the walls and dozens scattered on surfaces about the room. To my right is a large marble fireplace with two plump white sofas and an oversized chair around it, a small table setting between them all. In the corner nearby, you can see a small bar where my lady keeps her drinks. To my left is a large round dip in the floor. The many-colored cushions and pillows in there are quite comfortable." The maid blushes. "My lady sometimes allows me to lay there. "Also on the left, beyond the lounging area, my lady keeps most of her books on large white shelves. Her most precious are kept in her bedchamber, which you will see later, but the rest are kept here. She has a fondness for poetry and classics, as you can see, but she has a number of odd choices, as well, and many research manuals and encyclopedias." The young woman smiles faintly. "My lady enjoys learning." As you reach the other end of the room, you see two identical doors -- one on each side of a large square marble pillar with a kind-looking gargoyle poking halfway from the stone with a lopsided grin. Juliet notices your pause. "My lady like gargoyles, you see, but this room is meant to be light so she required a less severe image and came up with this. Isn't it lovely?" She smiles at you before leading you into the door on the right. "This room is my mistress' relaxation chamber. She rarely allows anyone within." Juliet turns to smile at you again. "You must truly be good friends for her to ask me to show you this room, as well." She walks into the room, dropping to one knee for a moment as if in prayer, before standing upright again to show you around the room. The walls are an off-white color, but there are scarves and curtains everywhere, softening the room and making it oddly peaceful and stimulating at the same time. "My lady reads her tarot cards there when she feels their call." She points to a darkwood table and two chairs set against one wall of the octagonal room. "She keeps her occult collection across the way from here on those darkwood shelves near the table, against the wall next to that. Her altar for prayer is another two walls over, made of the same darkwood and set in front of an open stained glass window. She often leaves it so, allowing the fresh air to enter the room. She says it brightens her spirits." The maid pauses a moment before addressing the extremely large darkwood wardrobe against the wall, near the doorway. She seems uncertain, but overcomes the feeling with a deep breath. She walks over to it. "Here is where my mistress keeps her...personal things." She opens one door halfway, revealing various leather cords and straps, metal chains, whips, a riding crop and various kinds of rope. The mirror on the inside of the door shows hints of the other items within -- a few leather outfits, as well as some scarflike garments, and a number of different other odd items. "I am not to go in here unless she gives me explicit instruction to do so." She closes the door and wipes her hands on her gown. "Shall we?" Juliet leaves the room and waits for you to exit before closing it up again. Once certain the door is well shut, she heads for the other door. She smiles slightly. "This is my lady's bedchamber." The room you enter is dominated by a large four-poster darkwood bed. The canopy is made of black and white silk curtains, and the bed is covered in matching sheets. "My mistress loves the contrast of white and black. Her down-filled comforter is not made of silk, but she uses a black silk cover for it. She enjoys many pillows of all different shapes and sizes. She tells me she would have other colors in the room, but she feels the stark feel is what she wants. Still, that didn't keep her from adding the few blood red throw pillows you see against her headboard. "To the left and right of the bed, there are darkwood bed stands. She keeps similar items in both, though one side has a frosted glass oil lamp and the other has a black-colored oil lamp. She always has a book on at least one of the sides, and each drawer contains items specific for that table. Though similar, their coloring is different." Juliet glances from one side of the room to the other nervously, then hurries toward a black oriental screen on the far right of the room. "Over here is wear my lady changes. Just behind the screen is the entrance to her bathing chamber." She leads you into the stark bathroom. The tiling on the floor is black with white grout, and the lower half of the walls are the same. The rest of the walls and ceiling are white with black detailing in vaguely celtic shapes. To one side is a large, deep black bathtub with silver faucets. On the other side is a large counter, with a vanity and black silk covered darkwood stool nearer to the door, that has a white sink with similar black detailing as the walls and silver faucets to match the bathtub. Lady Portia's makeup and hairbrushes are clean and neatly placed on the vanity. The black toilet is on the far side of the counter, beneath silver shelves that hold black and white towels. "This is her bathroom. She spends a good deal of her time here during the average day. She has me brush her hair until it is smooth and shiny, and she enjoys bathing, though the bathtub does have a showerhead." It being so unobtrusive, you had not noticed the black-colored showerhead. Juliet leaves the room, heading back into the bedroom. She shows you the left side. "My lady keeps all of her garments and accessories in this closet." She pushes open the darkwood sliding doors that were hidden behind a black silk curtain she had pulled away using a white cord. "Inside, you can see her many gowns and slippers, as well as her many kinds of leather breeches in all colors and boots. Her blouses are kept on the other side of the closet, beside a jewelry case filled with mostly quartz and pearl jewelry, as well as some hematite -- my lady's favorite stone. My lady does own a few emerald pieces and some ruby ones, but she keeps them locked on the top shelf and does not wear them often. She says she finds the less precious stones more attractive, though they do not go with her more expensive gowns. She refuses to wear diamonds." The young maiden leads you from the closet and out into the main room, shutting her lady's bedchamber door behind her. She is not so careful with that door, you notice, and she glances nervously at you. Finally finding the courage to speak, she turns to face you. "The mistress has given me a small room of my own that adjoins this one, through a secret panel near the bookcases." She points at a seemingly blank piece of wall. She goes to it and presses her finger on an octagonal area on the wall surrounded by cracks, or so it appears. A door slides open as the piece of the wall pushes back. Inside, you see a simple room of white with scarves hanging along the walls and ceiling in shades and hues of brown and beige, making the room appear almost like a gypsy tent. Juliet smiles, motioning for you to enter. To one side is a small single bed with white linens and a brown quilt atop it. The pillow is also encased in white, but there are a few throw pillows in various shapes around it in brown and beige. She has a small bedside table with a single white oil lamp and a book, no drawers. There is a short dresser on the other side of the room with a large mirror on top. The room seems, overall, very cozy. Blushing, Juliet leads you from the room. "That is everything. My mistress will be glad you came to call, and I look forward to seeing you again. The Master has been very kind to her, allowing her so much space and a servant. I am grateful, too, for having been asked to stay here. I do cherish them both." Her eyes are downcast, but she is wringing her hands again. "My mistress has been very kind in giving me a place to live and sharing the Master with me." She is blushing ferociously now, but she glances up and behind you as the double doors open. She grins at the person she sees there. "Juliet, you did not warn me we had guests." The taller woman smiles slyly at her maid, her red lips curling tantalizingly. She wears a flowing black silk gown with a gold belt that goes into a V at her waist. Her large breasts are presented to their best advantage at the top of the low-cut gown. Her hair is darker than Juliet's, thicker. She also wears hers long, but hers is not pulled back in any way. It simply puffs out about her head and shoulders like a cloud of smoke. Around her neck is a pendant made of fire opal on a delicate gold chain. "I am Lady Portia." She nods in acknowledgement of you, but her smile remains. "Did you enjoy your tour?" |
|
|
| The dividers on this page were taken from |
 |