Love Hurts ((ON HOLD))

Chapter XIV

Truly afraid she was going to get lost and not make it back to her room for Otho to bring her to dinner, Malisa decided for the time being to spend her time exploring her immediate surroundings, leaving the rest of the domain for another day.

As she expected, the door on the left side of the windows opened up to a bathing room large enough to house a pool that looked like it disappeared over the very edge into the clouds below. Already filled with water from an unseen source, it was warm and steaming and welcoming and Malisa promised it she would return once she finished exploring her new surroundings.

Across the room, on the opposite wall and through the other door was another room lined with windows, only this one was more of a lounge with a large chaise on one side of the room, a plush couch on the other, both looking out into the endless sky. The perfect room to read, or take her key, or just watch the clouds pass by. Hours could be spent there without realizing it...

Shaking her head she stepped out of the sitting room. The last thing she wanted to do was waste any time in the domain— she was there for a purpose, and would not let any immortal temptations distract her from her task. In a way, she was lucky that there was no one else there who could risk taking her time away from her focus— Otho was no more than a kind general, and Mero she would be happy to never spend time with again. Eros would most likely never give her the light of day except for this dinner, but she would figure out what it was she'd need to do to convince him to remove his curse from her life.

Thoughts of dinner reminded her that she had been going nonstop and still hadn't showered or changed since the day before. Returning to the main bedroom, the opened armoire greeted her on one side, the luxurious bathing pool on the other, and in the center, the welcoming bed, where the satchel her mother gave her now rested.

Sitting on the bed, she grabbed the satchel and shook it, spreading its contents onto the bed for inspection. She didn't know when her mother had packed it, but it looked like it had been prepared well in advance of their escape, as if just waiting for the right time to be taken to leave. Within was a travel cape specifically for rain, some dried meat rations, another bottle of wine, and some herbs and bandages for wound care, if needed. There was also a sheathed dagger as well as a stoppered vial of a dark red liquid she could not identify.

The items were simple but packed with purpose. She just wished she had the time to ask her mother about them before they separated. She replaced the items back into the satchel, not worried of anyone finding them, but also not going to take the chance of anyone taking them from her either. Looking around quickly for a decent hiding place, she decided she'd hide it at the bottom of the armoire beneath and behind the colorful silks, at least for the time being.

Those very same silks distracted her enough that she started removing each dress, one at a time, and laid them out on the bed and chairs around the room to get a better look at the vestment offerings provided for her. They were beautiful, and expensive, and knew that no mortal hands could have worked with such materials that looked as though they were made from the elements themselves. But she would not be able to run well in the if the moment came to it, with the layers of skirts on each, and that was a thought she shut in the back of her mind as she stuffed the dresses back into the closet, keeping out a soft pink garment for herself to change into once she was bathed.

The bath in question was as warm and welcoming as she had expected, the water scented with rose petals and tinted with pink bath salts to match the wispy clouds beyond the windows. Malisa hadn't realized how tired she was until the heat from the bath began to soothe her tense muscles and allow her to finally relax. After washing her golden brown hair with a similarly scented soap, she rested her head back against the edge of the tub and closed her eyes as she exhaled.