x
As she followed Crystal into the bathing house, Lidea was stunned by the array of colors that overwhelmed her senses. In stark contrast to the faded colors that dominated the city, the inside of the bathhouse was covered completely by colorful tiles. None of them seemed to be the exact same, leading Lidea to think that they had to be handmade. Or magic made, maybe.
It almost made her feel dizzy and she averted her eyes to the pool that dominated the center of the room. A steady stream of fresh water came from a pipe in the wall and Lidea assumed that a similar pipe removed water from it towards the river below, causing a constant gentle flow within the bathe itself. She had seen a similar setup before in her childhood home, although it had been far smaller in scale.
Crystal stepped up to the pool and lowered herself to touch the water, wrinkling her nose in disapproval. Standing up again, she looked at Lidea as she seemed to consider something.
“I forgot that our local heater hasn’t woken up yet. I would have loved to let you relax and soak, but I fear that this will have to be a quick rinse.”
Lidea furrowed her brow at the strange way in which she had remarked on the heating system but paid it no further mind as she assumed it to be a strange translation of her foreign tongue.
“I will be all right, Crystal.”
“You say that, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if you would get a cold, because I let you wash yourself in cold water.”
She found her concerns endearing but wasn’t too worried. Lidea had washed herself in natural streams plenty of times and knew her body wouldn’t get sick from a quick dip. In any way, the thought of warm water near her skin revolted her. The heat of the flames still too fresh a memory.
Crystal seemed to debate herself but finally conceded as she started to roll up her pants and sleeves. As more of her skin was revealed, Lidea could see more of the crystals dotted around her legs and arms. She wondered if they ever bothered the woman. Lidea could only imagine how uncomfortable it would be to lie on them. But then again, maybe she was used to it.
While she was thinking, Crystal had moved to kneel next to a mortar and pestle that Lidea hadn’t noticed before. She assumed it had already been here as she didn’t think it would have fitted in the bag that the healer had brought with her. Lidea looked on with fascination as she pulled a bundle of herbs from her bag and tossed them into the mortar. As she commenced grinding them, the air was filled with a subtle hint of lavender.
“Are you making a kind of soap?”
She gently lowered herself down to sit next to the healer, glad to give her body some rest. It was frustrating how much stamina she seemed to have lost.
“A scented oil to be exact.”
Lidea couldn’t help raising her eyebrows. The last time she heard the word ‘scented oil’ was when her sister had bought a whole range of them for her birthday. Claiming that they made her skin feel as soft as a feather and that her flame at the time would notice it. Lidea was sure that he would as well, as her sister had put so much of the stuff on that you could smell her coming from across the house.
“Don’t you have bars of soap here?”
Crystal stopped what she was doing to look at Lidea, or more specifically at her hair. Shaking her head, she grabbed a bottle of oil out of her bag and started adding it slowly to her mixture.
“Soap will get the dirt out but will dry out the knots even more. To save that hair of yours, we will need oil and lots of it.”
Lidea hadn’t thought of her hair since she had been imprisoned. She tried to run her fingers through it and frowned as she didn’t manage to penetrate the dense mats that had formed through the weeks. A tinge of sadness filled her at how damaged it was, but she waved that emotionally driven response away for a more pragmatic one. Hair grows. There was no reason for her to be upset.
“Let’s just cut it.”
Crystal gave her no response as she finished her grinding and stood up. She turned to offer Lidea a hand to do the same.
“No reason for such drastic decisions. Let’s focus on getting you clean for now.”
Lidea was taken aback by the relief that flew through her at those words. Evidently, she cared more for her hair than she had been willing to admit to herself. Still, the emotion made her feel pathetic.
It was just hair.
She hesitated before accepting the healer’s hand. Afraid that the much shorter woman would fall by trying to help her up, while also not willing to offend her by not accepting her help. Although her concern turned out to be a moot point as the woman pulled her up with such force that she almost lost her footing and stumbled into the pool. The shock at her strength must have been shown on her face as Crystal shot her a knowing smile.
I forgot, she isn’t human.
“As I said, it is best that we do this fast as I rather not have you catch a cold. Just throw your clothes on the floor, I got you something clean to wear for now.”
Lidea nodded and waited for the woman to leave before she could start to undress. Only to see that Crystal wasn’t planning on going anywhere.
“I can wash myself.”
The two women stared each other in the eyes until finally, it was Crystal who looked away first.
“Are you sure? I will stay right outside of the door if there is anything you just have to yell.”
Lidea couldn’t help rolling her eyes before waving away her concerns.
“I am sure. I won’t take long, no need to fret.”
Although unconvinced, Crystal started to unpack the clothing and a bar of soap which she put on the ledge next to the pool.
“All right, I will leave everything here. Just leave your hair for now, I will help you with it afterward. Again, if there is anything at all, just call, and don’t stay too long in the water!”
Lidea had a hard time suppressing a grin over the unnecessary fussing of the woman in front of her.
“I get it.”
The woman looked her in the eye as if to ensure herself that Lidea had understood before she exited the room. Alone at last, Lidea started to undress. Happy, to get rid of the clothes that she had worn since her imprisonment. It surprised her that Crystal had not removed them when she was unconscious, but she assumed that the healer had her reasons.
She sat down on the edge of the pool, dipping her legs into the water before sliding the rest of her body in. The cold rushed through her and although it made her skin pebble and was far from pleasant, it felt far more soothing than if it had been warm. As if its freshness was able to erase all that had happened to her through the last months or even years.
Not doubting that Crystal would come back in if she did not finish swiftly enough, Lidea grabbed the soap and started scrubbing herself. Soon the water had turned a pale brown as she got rid of most of the filth. She pulled her hair forwards over her shoulder and frowned at the big clump of matting that her braid had turned into. Unsure if she could wet the bandage around her eye, she opted to rinse as much of her hair as possible without having to submerse herself.
She finished no second too soon, as her skin was starting to turn numb. Pulling herself out of the water, she hurried to dry herself. Rubbing the warmth back into her limbs as her teeth were rattling. She then turned her attention to the clothing that Crystal had left. A men’s brown leather trousers were accompanied by a pale yellow doublet that astounded Lidea with its softness. Although both items lacked any decoration, she could still recognize that they were of high quality and must have cost a fortune. She wondered where the healer had gotten them from, as they were for sure not hers and seemed to be a bit different from the style popular among the knights of Lynoës.
“Everything all right in there?”
Crystal’s voice sounded right as she had finished dressing. Laying one of the towels around her shoulders to protect the precious item from the dirty and sodden hair.
“Yes, I’m done. The clothes are great, thank you.”
The healer came in and looked critically at her outfit.
“As expected it is a bit big on you, but it will have to do for now. I will ask Warchief to get you something new soon. Remind me to measure you when we get back to the infirmary.”
Lidea felt deeply uncomfortable with the idea of them giving her even more. They had already saved her life and she was staying here for free. She couldn’t ask any more of them as she had nothing to repay them with. Unless they did all this to try and convince her of going along with their plan.
“This is plenty. Thank you, but I don’t need more.”
Crystal snorted as she repacked her bags and then picked up the mortar with oil.
“You really do need more. I’m not about to let you run around camp in a man’s ill-fitting hand-me-down. Also, how long do you think your current outfit will stay clean for, you need at least four outfits to be comfortable.”
Lidea considered if she should mention how she had been wearing mostly men’s clothing since her teens. Finding them to not only fit better but also be more flexible and suitable to her lifestyle. Even when she found woman’s clothing made for working outside they seldom fit her tall frame.
Deciding against antagonizing the healer, she hoped that honesty would make Crystal understand her position.
“It isn’t that I don’t understand your point. It just doesn’t sit well with me as I have nothing to repay you or Warchief with.”
Lidea could see a flash of understanding in the woman’s eyes which caused her to turn serious.
“Never feel indebted to us, Lidea. It was never our intention to force your hand. If I can be blunt with you, I would rather that you choose to leave. Even if it isn’t in our best interest, it is yours to stop fighting. Find a peaceful place and built yourself a life worth living. Away from violence and death.
We might have to fight, but you are not like us. Anyway, we aren’t that barbaric that we would send a young girl on her way with nothing.”
Her words sounded sincere and Lidea felt touched and a bit guilty about how she kept looking for ill intentions from the healer. However, she couldn’t help but snort at Crystal calling her a ‘young girl’ despite them being around the same age.
“In that case, I will gladly accept your offer. Although I insist that the clothes are whatever you have at hand. I have a talent for destroying them, so there is no reason for you to go and spend so much money for me.”
“You are so stubborn! They will be new, just accept it. Come now, so I can try and detangle that bird’s nest of yours. The men will start training soon, so I thought that you might want to watch.”
The idea of watching them train piqued Lidea’s interest and she nodded, while still chuckling at the healer’s frustrated outburst. She came to the startling realization that she enjoyed annoying the healer as much as Warchief and Crystal had seemed to enjoy infuriating her.
Oh no, it is contagious.
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFEDwp1KuG
Author's note
So, chapter names will probably be a mess for a while. I did not fancy having a chapter consist of 4 parts and would like to limit it to two, but my orginal chapter lengths are over 8000 words and I am not posting two 4000 word chapters.
Oh well, at some point I will figure it out ;) See you next friday!
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