The Dance: Adelei

This piece some of you may already be familiar with, but I figured I would post it up anyway. It's from one of my more primary ideas were I ever to write anything extensively. I like it, just gives you an introduction to one of the characters and a small look at some of the lore and such in the world.

Series: The Dance
Segment: Adelei intro, later on

Stage: Rough

Times Through: 1 with some editing

The morning sun poured through the blown glass window of Adelei's quarters. Warm rays pierced the chilled winter air, lighting upon her elegant face as she lay under her fur bedding. With a grumble she stirred and opened her sky blue eyes. Yawning, she sat up and her blanket fell from her shoulders, leaving her nakedness only covered by her long, brilliant blonde hair that fell to the middle of her abdomen. Her full lips split as she smiled at the new day, revealing straight white teeth.

Smoothly she slipped from under her covers and stood on the cold stone floor, completely nude. Of average height, she was as slender as a rapier. Bumps raised all about her fair skin in the chilly air.

The room was large and elaborately adorned. Magnificent tapestries, portraying the history and feats of her family's reign in the Winter Kingdom hung about the stone walls. The white wolf's head in a deep blue field of the Mizael family crest, hung above the heavy wooden door across from her. Ornate furniture, all in matching white and blue, was all about; dressers, wardrobes, chairs, tables and couches. All fit for the only heir of Esdraelon.

Adelei drew in a long breath and closed her eyes. She reached out with her mind and touched the air around her. Instantly it responded with a familiar warmth and peace. She smiled, stretched out her arms, and gracefully pirouetted. The air followed her invitation to Dance and whipped around her with frightening ferocity in a miniature whirlwind. The tapestries and curtains all whipped and cracked in the violent tempest, as snow white feathers materialized in the air and coalesced about Adelei's body. The feathers gathered about her legs, waist, and torso, linking themselves together into a fabric. The wind died down and left her garbed in the blessing of the Wind Aeon.

The feathers from the great Eagle, Vashti, adorned her body as clothing. Though soft as snow, Vashti's feathers were as strong as chain mail. Flat-soled boots, stopping just short of her knees, guarded Adelei's legs. Feathery trunks sat snug about her hips, dropping to her mid thigh. A sleeveless tunic covered her torso, leaving her abdomen bare. The neckline was U-shaped, tracing just below her collar bones.

Flipping her hair over her back, she approached the large door to her quarters. A white hooded cloak hung from a hook next to it. The cloak was a soft white wool, with white fur along its edges, including the cowl. With an upward wave of Adelei's hand, wind billowed underneath the cloak and lifted it from its perch. It floated along the ceiling for a moment, then softly settled on the Wind Dancer's shoulders. She reached up and fasted the silver wolf-paw brooch and pulled the cowl over her head. The garment had been specially made for Adelei to match her Eagle Feather garb, the only place she could be seen without it was the training ring.

Invisible hands of air jerked open the door and she descended down a long, stone spiral staircase. The spiral was illuminated by sunlight shining through the frequent windows. Smoldering torches sat in brackets on the wall, likely extinguished by servants only moments before the princess' descent in herald of the morning. As she passed each window she glanced out at the monstrous castle of Wolfgard surrounding her, and the snowy forest beyond its massive walls. Adelei's quarters were in the top of the Maiden's Tower, at the heart of the castle. Ever since Damien Mizael conquered Esdraelon hundreds of years previously and erected Castle Wolfgard as his fortress, the Maiden's Tower and it's many rooms had been inhabited by the Mizael princesses. Now only Adelei's room was occupied.

Adelei had always longed for a mother to show her the ways of womanhood; but Lady Tonetta had died in childbirth and her father, Lord Tyron, was too grief stricken to remarry, leaving her the solitary heir of Esdraelon. So her father gave her to the noble ladies of the courts to teach her the ways of women. She spent her youth in magnificent gowns and tiaras, learning the courts, and entertaining suitors. As the Winter Kingdom's only heir, nobility came from near and far presenting her with potential husbands. But after her twentieth birthday, all of that changed.