King of Hearts

31.

Val awakens in an awful state of pain. Everything hurts, from her head to her feet. Her head feels like someone has hammered it during her sleep. Her eyes feel heavy and thick as though hundreds of bees have stung them. She urgently needs to assure herself, that her face still looks alright. She tries to stand up, but her upper body is in total pain. Has she really gotten muscle ache from running? Maybe it is because her heart was almost exploding out of her chest yesterday. Val's body must be full of bruises, especially her legs. It's a miracle, she has no broken bones, or so she hopes. Her legs are pretty much immovable, she struggles just hovering to the side and her feet must still be swollen. Val sighs deeply to regain strength. 

How she wished this was over.

She slowly arises and puts on the burgundy dress she has bought the day before. The Gemstone of the Queen of Sighting gave her yesterday is safe inside of the dress's pocket, although Val doesn't remember to have put it in there.

She examines her view in the mirror and, god, does she look horrible. Even her porcelain cats judge her with a nasty look. There aren't too many bruises on her but the dark grey circles under her eyes are terrifying. She urgently needs a shower to wash away her exhaustion from the past days. The shop has a bathroom with a toilet and a sink, but no shower or bathtub. How do these people shower? She needs to ask Dánica.

Val makes her way to look for her friend, who once again is not in her bed. Val has never understood morning people.
Now that Val is moving, the pain is luckily fading away. As she arrives in the kitchen and sees that no one is here, Val decides to head into the shop.

Thankfully, she finds Dánica behind the counter writing something down. As Val is approaching her, Dánica's face shoots up. "Good morning, Val. How are you feeling?" she asks curving her eyebrows concerned. She's probably creeped out by Val's zombie-like look. Val smiles reassuringly, "I'm alright. Sleep really is the best medicine."
"That's what Garan always says," Dánica responds with a smile. 

Val is embarrassed to admit it, but she hasn't showered in four days. She has been either too busy or too tired and therefore didn't even get the chance to thoroughly wash herself. It disgusts her just thinking about it. Not wasting any time, she asks, "I noticed you have a bathroom but no shower or bathtub. How do you wash yourselves?" Dánica looks surprised. "Oh, I didn't even think about it. You might want to wash. You're right, we don't have a bathtub, only really wealthy families do. Common people like us go wash outside," she responds.
That's an unexpected answer. Garan is the best herbalist in the city and works for the royal family and yet, he can't afford a bathtub? Val doesn't question it, not wanting to come off as impudent.

"If that's the case, aren't there going to be other people too?" Val asks uncertainly. "To most people, it's not a big deal to show themselves naked. Although it is for me. That's why I discovered the perfect spot for taking long baths totally unbothered. Grab your things, we're going hiking," Dánica flashes a thrilled grin. "But what about the shop?" Val reminds her that no one is here to watch over the shop. If Garan is not hiding somewhere. "It's alright, Garan we'll be back very soon, the shop will only remain unattended for a few minutes. The customers will have to wait. Garan won't mind, you know him. Besides, on the way, we can look for these", Dánica sticks out the list she has finished writing. She has never heard of any of these plants, or maybe she just can't read her friend's calligraphy. "That way, we will make up for our sudden departure." Dánica's icy eyes sparkle in the bright sunlight and they turn a shimmery silver. Val can't wait to take a long bath.