Air Warrrior

Bathe House

I felt the warm sun on my face as I rolled over. I must have fallen asleep because I didn't hear Abby come back. I rubbed my eyes trying to focus my vision. I stretched my body, forcing myself to get up. I looked at the clock on the wall, 7:00am. It was still early; we didn't have to report for duty until 8:30am. Miss Ruth told us the bathe house for the maids and help were to the right of the kitchen just past the stables. I grabbed a towel and some soap and tip toed towards the door.

"Wh_where are yo_you are going?" I wrinkled my nose a little and turned around slowly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I was going to grab a quick shower before we had to report for duty." She quickly got to her feet.

"I'll come too; I am a mo_morning p_person." She smiled widely, causing her eyes to squish closed a little. I couldn't help but smile. She reminded me of Judith. She was only two years older than she was. I nodded in agreement, and she grabbed her towel and motioned towards the door. "After yo_you my la_lady." She curtsied and giggled as I walked past her. We headed towards the bathe house and a few ladies joined us as we walked.

"So, I was thin_thinking, we sh_should take tu_turns wa_washing clothes. I will do the fi_first round on Friday." She said with enthusiasm. I looked at her for a moment.

"I like that idea; I'll do my best to keep my uniform as clean as possible!" I laughed as I nudged her a little.

We arrived at the bathe house, it was a small building with a large tub of water in the middle with a few buckets on the ground and some cloths hanging on the side. I saw a few women pouring water over their bodies and scrubbing their faces. We waited for some of the older women to go. I quickly undressed trying to hide my body as much as possible. I was never one of those women that had confidence in themselves, I did my best to stay in the background, to blend in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Abby, strutting towards the tub of water with a confidence I could only dream of. "W_what?" She said as her face turned pink.

I smiled, "nothing, just don't ever lose that confidence Abby. You're a beautiful girl and the world can be an ugly place." I grabbed a bucket and shivered as the cool water hit my back. I reached for a cloth and rubbed my soap against it and then scrubbed my body. I rinsed myself and wrapped myself up in my warm towel. I waited for Abby to finish, and we head back to our room. As we were walking to our room, I saw a group of guys standing beside the kitchen door. I pulled my towel tightly as we approached them. I could feel their eyes on us.

*Whistle* "Damn, we got some new babes in the castle." One of them shouted towards us.

I grabbed Abbys hand and pulled her towards me. I whispered to her, "Ignore them Abs, keep your head down and just walk to our room. Understand?" She nodded as we quickened our walk. We kept our heads down and brushed past them. The taller man reached out and pulled my towel as the other one stuck his foot out causing me to fall to the ground. I groaned as my knee absorbed the impact.

"Sky!" Abby stopped and looked at me. I shook my head as she walked back towards me.

"Go Abigal, I'm fine." She hesitated and I shot her a look and she turned and headed towards our room, turning around to check on me one last time. I got to my feet slowly and pick my towel up off the dirty ground covering myself quickly and turned to leave. One of the men stepped infront of me caused me to stubble backwards.

"So, Sky is it? That's a pretty name." I could feel his hot breath on my cheek as he backed me into the wall. I swallowed as he bent down forcing me to look at him. He was maybe 30, judging by the small amount of grey hair trickled throughout his facial stubble. He had a gold tooth and his breath smelled of cigarettes. His eyes were cold, there were spots of yellow in the whites of his eyes and a slight glaze over his blue eyes. He made my skin crawl.

"The fun I could have with this one, Tito." He chuckled to his friend. He reached his hand around and grabbed my ass. Out of instinct I gave him a shove causing him to fumble backwards. "You little bitch!" He charged towards me and I squeezed my eyes shut as I braced myself for his fist.

"Is there a problem here?" I heard a loud voice echo throughout the hall. I opened my eyes and saw the bearded man that escorted me from my camp. His eyes were focused on me. The man I shoved spoke up.

"No we were_" He interrupted him.

"I was asking the lady."

I opened my mouth, but words were not coming out. Finally, I said, "n_no, I tripped, and they were just helping me up." I knew I would have caused more trouble telling him the truth. He stared at me a while longer and then nodded. I quickly hobbled to my room and closed the door, leaning against it out of breath as a tear rolled down my face.

"Sky! W_what ha_happened?!" Abby ran to me with worry in her eyes. I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes.

"It's okay Abs, I'm fine. Just a couple of men who think women are objects to be played with. If anyone and I mean ANYONE harasses you, you come to me. Got it?" I pushed myself off the door and gave her a firm look. She nodded as her eyes soften.

"Di_did they hurt y_you?" She motioned towards the blood running down my leg. I hadn't noticed until now. I gently wiped the blood away and saw the bruise already starting to form on my swollen knee.

"No, just a small cut. Nothing serious." I said as I looked up at her. "Although, I think maybe I should have the first laundry shift." I laughed as I showed her my towel. She smiled and her body relaxed a little. We got dressed in our grey dresses and put on our aprons and headed towards the barn. The armor was stored in the shed behind the horses. We walked in and looked around.

"Woah. That"s a_a lot of a_armor" she gasped as she twirled around the room.

"Don't worry, we divide it up into 5 sections. It isn't as bad as it seems! I'm Grace, I'm the lead lady of this group. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." She smiled as she shook both our hands. She was a tall lady, with gray hair and a button nose. She wore her hair in a tight bun, her face was soft and seemed friendly. We both nodded and she assigned us a section. She gave us a quick demo of how to clean the armor. "First you want to take your cloth, make it damp but not too wet and then rub some soap on the cloth and clean the armor. Dry it and then polish it with a small amount of oil. Place the clean gear over there when you are done."

We went to our stations and got to work. A few hours in a familiar voice broke the silence in the shed.

"Miss Grace, I need a word with one of your servants. Miss Skylar."