433 Stranger with a Red Hairdo

The massage and sauna proceeded comfortably with the women talking about everything and anything that came to mind. Whether it was for the sake of the girls’ entertainment or whether she simply loved a stroll down memory lane was left a mystery.

Queen Martha had so many stories about the spa and her life in the city before being taken away by the king. Most of her favourite memories revolved around the time the king had come into her life and the time she helped her parents around the spa.

During the queen’s narrations, Honour came upon a sudden revelation. This place didn’t stop caring about people’s status from when it had been created. It hadn’t always been like that.

Rather, this changed when someone from within them had risen to the rank of a royal by a mere twist of fate. An ordinary wolf could become a delta. A delta could become an alpha or a royal. The conditions only needed to be right.

Looking down on any one werewolf could be the worst mistake anyone could make. That’s how this place had become what it was today.

Queen Martha’s story had become a tale that instilled humility into those that heard it. Anyone that disregarded the tale as a mere folk tale would be kicked out by the alphas that worked within the establishment.

The warmth and hospitality of the workers were almost unimaginable. It was no wonder the queen was so enthusiastic about coming to this place.

Because of the queen’s sudden ascension to the throne, the spa had also become popular, rapidly growing it into the fine facility it was today.

Getting accustomed to the queen’s treat, the girls managed to fully relax. It was far into the evening when the queen finally regained her elegant composure.

.....

Honour was sitting on one of the sofas in the waiting area of the salon poking at her phone when Queen Martha suddenly graced the room with her presence. Clad in an elegant azure flowing gown that lightly skimmed the ground.

“Mady, it’s time for your makeover. The king will start to worry if he doesn’t at least find that happening.”

'

“I think he would be furious if he does find it happening,” Honour sighed, “but don’t let me get in the way.”

“No, not really. He knows what I was coming here to do. He went with Beta Ryan to take care of where we’ll be staying and handle everything with the Arena staff. He should be here in a few minutes,” the queen quickly relayed the situation.

“That’s very little time for Madeline to get finished...”

The queen held up her hand for the girls to stop in their tracks, “Don’t worry. The king also has something to do here. It’s not like he’s coming to take us away right now. Mady!” The grey-eyed girl allowed the queen to usher her out.

Honour forced herself out of the sofa and followed the queen. Bree was not far behind, “What would the king have to do here? I haven’t seen any men.”

“He’s going to meet my mother. It would be disrespectful if I stopped by and Davin didn’t make some kind of appearance in front of his mother-in-law,” the queen smiled weakly.

“Ah. I... hadn’t thought much about it then,” to this, the queen did not reply.

Madeline was dragged to one of the black luxurious chairs in the salon and made to sit in front of a mirror. The dark-haired girl looked around in an attempt to get the tension building within her out of her system.

Noticing this, the woman who’d been assigned to work on the girl rubbed her shoulders, “Relax, beautiful. You’ll be unrecognisable before you know it. Just show me those eyes now.”

The woman wasn’t wrong when she called Madeline beautiful. The girl had a slightly round face with full cheeks that made her adorable, well at least, that’s what Honour thought of her. The dimples that formed when she smiled made Honour’s mind scream ‘unfair.’

Her grey eyes reflected more light than normal, giving them a beady appearance that could drown almost anyone that took notice of them.

If Madeline was to ever go completely still, she would take on the appearance of a grandiose work of art. Her skin was fairly pale and delicate.

Her antics though, combined with her clumsy habits and easygoing nature easily dulled all these qualities and in turn, made it harder for her to be noticed by anyone who found her odd.

Now that there was nothing to keep her distracted, she looked completely different, “Martha, this girl is beautiful.”

“I know... Just get it over with,” the queen sighed, “I don’t like it either but knowing your talents, I know you can change it all.”

“I know my abilities well, Martha. I’ve just never felt that they would be a curse until now,” the woman lamented, wrapping a dark towel around Madeline’s body, covering her whole torso and only leaving her neck exposed, “We’ll start with your hair. I think red should do...”

...........

Two hours later, the girls were seated once again in the Waiting area. Separated by a thin wall of cardboard... or was it wood. The place had been designed to look completely natural and perfumed to smell that way too. It was impossible to tell if what Honour was looking at was fake or not.

Had she not been a goddess obsessed with nature, she would have fallen for it entirely. In the end, she’d settled with being amazed at how well they replicated the feel of the outdoors in an indoor set-up.

‘You guys can come in now,’ Queen Martha’s voice spoke through the mind link.

The young goddess was slightly irritated for not being allowed to be present as the woman worked on changing Madeline’s looks. In Queen Martha’s opinion, the ‘magic’ was much more astonishing when one didn’t set through the whole process.

And in the next few seconds, she came to know just how right the woman was...

Honour froze at the sight of a stranger in the mirror. Her hair had been dyed strawberry and redesigned to make it fall upon her shoulders in waves. Closer to her eyes, the hair had been trimmed shorter than the rest and curled to hug her face lightly.

Her eyebrows were trimmed thinner than they’d recently been, giving them a sharper look. The make-up that had been applied completely robbed the girl’s face of the young childish innocence that Honour had grown accustomed to.

In place of Madeline’s adorable face was an image of someone much older with a more angular face. Madeline retained her beauty but in a different form. The Seeker was unrecognizable.

“Where is Mady?” Bree asked, looking around.

“Very funny, Bree,” the unfamiliar redhead rolled her eyes.

Bree gasped, “Seriously... No way. Honour, had you recognised her?”

Honour gave a nervous chuckle, “It’s the same chair and the same person attending to her. Who else do you know that has grey eyes.”

“That’s cheating, Honour,” Bree sighed.

Honour turned to the woman that had worked on her friend, “Your talent is a blessing and a curse, isn’t it?”

The woman that had been working on her sighed in disappointment, “It had to be done. I never thought I’d see the day when changing someone’s face would feel so wrong.”

“This is amazing,” Honour replied, “I was worried about having to hide her under a cloak, but with her looking like this, she can strip for all I care and no one would recognize her.”

Madeline gasped at the girl’s words, immediately blushing red. Expressions came naturally to Madeline. As natural as they should have been and it was all the confirmation Honour needed to know that it was indeed her friend that was seated before her, “Honour, why would you...”

“I was just kidding, Mady,” Honour finally reached the girl and gently placed her hands on her shoulders, staring her in the eyes through the mirror.

The last part of Madeline’s face that remained the same was staring right back at her. A pair of soft grey eyes stared back at Honour’s amber orbs through the mirror.

Madeline could almost see Honour’s intentions through her amber orbs.

Staring at Honour’s eyes long enough, Madeline was almost sure she could see a soft blue glow hiding deep within her iris. When she focused on that blue hue, it vanished instantly, like something that wasn’t there at all.

Maybe she was imagining things but Madeline found the colour more fitting for the goddess of the moon.

Honour found Madeline’s grey eyes peculiar as well. They were silver with a soft glow of them that turned them silver in the right lighting.

The fabled eyes of a Seeker. Madeline was the Seeker’s daughter and bore all those characteristics... Except for the fact that she hadn’t tapped into that power yet and seemed unwilling to do so. It wasn’t like anyone was forcing her either. If she could escape such a burden, Honour would be fine with it.

‘Time to deal with those eyes.’ Honour’s voice broke Madeline out of her short trance, “Just one last thing before you can walk freely. You sure you handle it?”