Serev's Story

Chapter 12

"Burn this one too!" Called out Rek.

Vic waited for the two warriors to clear out of the way and then blasted fire down the sewer tunnel, searing everything in sight. If the creature were hiding down there, he'd be a torch. But they really had no idea if he was, or in any of the tunnels they had spent the afternoon incinerating. It was productive, she hoped, but there was no way to tell if it would work.

And she was exhausted, all the spellcasting was taking a toll.

Rek handed her a water bottle. "Here, drink up, you need it. You look like you're ready to collapse."

"I am!" she complained. "I'm ready for a nap!"

"I think we should wrap this up then," suggested Serev. "We don't want you this tired if we run into the creature."

"Can I suggest a bath before we get some food?" Rek said, sniffing the air. The smell of burnt sewage wasn't at all pleasant, and she was sure that it would cling to them for hours.

"That might be for the best, I'm not too sure I could eat with this smell hovering about," Vic agreed.

"I do like those baths," agreed Serev. "I'd never been in a room with a bath of its own before!"

"Ahh, that is right, your suite has a nice bath," Vic remembered. "But tonight, we're taking you to the royal family baths. You deserve it after this."

"There are others? And they're better?" Serev asked, her interest piqued.

"Oh yeah!" Rek said as they climbed up the ladder to the street. "They're even better than the palace food!"

"I find that hard to believe!" Serev said, astounded, "I've had to double my exercise to keep from gaining too much weight they make such good food."

The prospect of being clean had them walking quickly back to the citadel gates, and they were waved inside by several guards who recognized Vic. Rek led the way down into the lower levels of the palace and towards the bath. Their timing was good, they met Tebbin leaving the baths as they arrived.

"Ladies!" he bowed, then backed away as their stench hit his nose. "By all means, avail yourselves of the baths! Quickly!" he laughed.

"We plan to, brother dear!" Vic smiled back as she led the ladies into the steam.

Serev was amazed at the royal baths. They were a twisting maze of over a dozen chambers, each filled with bubbling pools of water and steam that both relaxed you and gave you a lot of privacy. She had followed Rek and Vic through the little pathways worn down over the years towards pools hidden in the back.

"We don't want to stink up all the baths in the front where my parents tend to go, they'd be upset if they came down soon after us!" she giggled.

"I don't care which bath we use I just want to get out of these clothes!" exclaimed Rek.

"I can smell myself even more now," agreed Serev. It was true, the smell down in the sewers had been overpowering, so she had assumed that most of what she was smelling was from the refuse around them. Now, anything she smelled was the three of them, and it was downright embarrassing. Meeting Vic's brother as they were coming into the baths had been mortifying, and she hoped that she would be forgotten by him well before she ever saw him again.

"This should work," announced Vic as they came to a smaller pool surrounded with bowls of soaps and towels. She and Rek immediately started peeling off their clothes, forming a pile that was as noxious as the tunnels.