“Look,” Pearl pointed while rubbing her back with her other hand where I had smacked her, “there’s only one door.” She reached and pulled a key from the lone door where four golden doors should have been. Another key appeared in its place. Pearl repeated this three more times, and held all four of our keys before she shut and locked the door.
Still clinging to Ezra as my heartbeat gradually slowed, I surveyed our surroundings, trying to understand. There was only one door, but all four of us were in the same room. One room. Tilting my head, I rested it against Ezra’s hard chest as my eyes darted. Realization gradually dawning, I murmured, “Antonio gave us one room. For all of us. Spelled on the outside to appear like four separate rooms.”
Jack rubbed his chin. “And one bed.”
Ezra’s body began vibrating against mine as he chuckled softly. “A fucking giant bed.” His laughter deepened. “Unbelievable.”
“Huh,” I mumbled. That was pretty much all I could manage.
The living quarter was extensive; it was a suite more than a bedroom.
We currently stood in a living room of sorts, which included a smorgasbord of furniture from our different factions. A black leather couch, a golden imperial chair, a brown leather love seat, an enormous blue beanbag, and a glass coffee table in the center. Under that furniture was a black, red and black, blue, and gold long-haired rug so the cave’s black floor wouldn’t be harshly cold. Along the left side of the wall were a variety of books aligned on the rows of black wooden bookshelves, and golden sparks were on the wall to the right for lighting.
The room was structurally shaped like an upside down ‘L’, and the sleeping area was at the far end. A bed that was at least the size of two king-size beds was located there, its huge black wooden headboard rising halfway to the tall ceiling. Impressively, said ceiling was spelled identically to the main ceiling of King Cave to reflect the sky outside, the shimmering stars and moon shining down on us.
“I can’t believe he did this,” Pearl whispered, her golden eyes roaming.
“Me either,” I murmured, extracting myself from Ezra. I crept deeper into the room, wanting to see what was behind the wall. Peeking to the right, I cocked my head, seeing four dressers placed against the wall opposite the mammoth bed and next to four gold doors. There was also a full-length mirror with an elaborate trim of gold, and two other gold doors on the far wall; I could see from here one led to a bathroom, so the other probably led to a linen closet.
The four of us stared at the four gold doors. Our names were written above them.
“Closets.” Pearl nodded. “I bet that’s it.”
Stepping forward, I yanked ‘my’ door open. Blinked. Stared at the clothes inside the walk-in closet, a thin golden spell bathing its walls. “You’re right, but it’s all the clothes I had at home.” With a cautious stride past the golden doorframe, though the spell was not malicious, I yanked a t-shirt off its hanger and waggled it outside the doorway. “I just washed this and hung it up last night.” Swiftly glancing at each item, deciding all of my keepsakes and necessities were here, I tossed my shirt aside and strolled out, naturally kicking my door shut.
Jack threw open his door. “Damn.” He sighed heavily, waving an agitated arm inside his closet. “I only have half a wardrobe. I hadn’t done my laundry yet.”
Pearl snickered, but she pointed to the mirror. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
Ezra exited his closet, appearing pleased with its contents. “What is it?”
I blinked. “A mirror.”
Pearl laughed hard, shaking her head. “No. It’s an enchanted mirror to supply whatever clothing we can imagine. They’re expensive and rare; only a few top Mages are able to perform the spell.” She walked in front of it, staring at her reflection. “I’m tired, so I’ll pick something for bed.” Her gaze roamed over her reflection while she wore a thoughtful expression.
Nothing happened. “Maybe it’s broken.”
She shook her head. “I’m just deciding on a color.”
Ezra grunted, his voice dry. “Gold?”
Her sigh was heavy. “Fine.”
Standing next to our ginormous bed, I stared in astonishment as a golden nightgown, ankle-length with slits in the legs and spaghetti straps, shimmered to life over her reflection. The clothes Pearl was currently wearing ruined the effect, since you could see her t-shirt under the gown, but it was beautiful nonetheless. After tilting her head to the side, evaluating it, she nodded and the gown materialized to reality against the front of the mirror and hung there.
Pearl lifted it away and tossed it to me, probably since I seemed the most impressed by the magical mirror. My jaw was hanging, I knew, but it was marvellous. It was any woman’s dream mirror, that was for damn sure. The material was soft, satin against my fingertips, and it felt like water as I let it slip through them to the black fur bedding when reality intruded with a glance from Ezra.
He cleared his throat, and then motioned toward the bed. “Jack, Pearl…Lily and I have something to tell you both. You’ll want to sit for this.”