Dryads of the Stars

Chapter 22 : The Owner

Fog was everywhere as they each entered their appointed spaces. They had put their clothes in their cabinets and covered themselves with towels in order to go into the water later. The men's bath was empty as it was unusual for someone to be there at that time of day. The same seemed to be true for the bath Zenith was in, but eventually through the thick fog a figure made its way towards her eyes. A woman with a silk lilac blindfold covering both her eyes, smoking a long tobacco pipe making the room even more foggy. Zenith made a disgusted expression as she entered the waters. The pollution of the air she breathed was not something she welcomed.

"In case you are wondering, it is allowed for people to smoke in here." The woman said. Her voice as silky as the fabric covering her eyes.
"Aren't you brind?" Zenith asked, not caring to be polite.
A laugh escaped the woman along with a cloud of smoke.
"I am, but that doesn't make me deaf. I can hear you and your thoughts from where I am as easily as I breathe."

The room kept accumulating fog mixed with smoke now making it hard for Zenith to see the woman or anything else afar from her nose for that matter. It felt as if all that smoke was not coming from one person alone. "What a chimney", she thought.
Another series of laughter echoed in the women's bath. Zenith frowned with annoyance while clicking her tongue to express her dissatisfaction. "What now?", she thought again.
"Girl, your thoughts are leaking out of your head like snot is running out of the nose of a child."
The woman kept laughing in between smokes, making Zenith sigh multiple times as if to make her understand her frustration. At some point she did stop.
"What is your name, funny girl?" The woman asked.
"I do not speak with strangers." Zenith tried to be as rejecting as possible but it eventually didn't work. 
"Then I shall introduce myself first. I am Ilaira, Ilaira Jenkins. And you?"
"It is none of your business." Zenith declares aggressively. 

The bath goes silent for a few seconds before the blowing of smoke and a familiar voice is heard, echoing through the walls. 
"Well Zenith darling, you do not have to be so cruel, especially with your fellow women. Don't you agree Ilaira dear?" The moment the voice is heard, the fog clears as if a gust of wind had entered the room changing the air with a fresher bunch. A third figure is revealed and it is none other than Ieria who is sitting across from Ilaira smoking a tobacco pipe herself. 
"But of course. If we don't support each other, then who will? Men?"
A laughter escapes both women who release a new cloud of smoke, choking Zenith once more. 
"Well I must agree and disagree my dear. Not all men are bad. I have met many who are only positives and no negatives, although I must admit they are rare to find." Ieria takes in another whiff of smoke and releases it slowly while tilting her head upwords.
"Well please introduce me because I simply do not seem to have a speck of your luck. I have only ever met negatives." Ilaira releases her breath full of smoke, her cloud meeting Ieria's midair. 
"One must settle for what fate brings their way I suppose. Or not." 
One smoke after the other, the room becomes foggy once more.
"Woman, I think you are high." Ilaira says while giggling.
"And you think you are not?" They beggin laughing together in sync while the room continues to fill with smoke.

"Excuse me?" Zenith interrupts them. "What are you doing here?" She says while looking at where Ieria was sitting before the smoke covered everything. "And what in the heavens are you smoking? Is it going to affect me as well?"

After a short moment of silence Ieria indulged Zenith with an answer.
"I am here for business, as for what we are smoking..." , a giggle left both the women, releasing another set of clouds. "...it is Red Sun."

The Red Sun or fully, the Red Sun of the Desert, was a flower that bloomed only in the heart of the desert, the largest oasis within the Golden Dragon. Its color bright red and its aroma intoxicating. A highly addictive and very expensive drag that ended lives, families and long time relationships after being discovered. It was smuggled many times outside of it and at the cost of many lives in an attempt to raise it in a less dangerous environment, but it always ended in failure. The only way to have it was to hunt for it and harvest it straight from the oasis. A place swarming with beasts and ferocious wildlife. The drug that came from the heart of the flower was usually mixed in a very small dosage along with tobacco and other fragrant substances. After a law was passed by the royal family to regulate the market and to raise the tax and price, it was sold to a sky high number, so it was legal as long as you could afford it. And not many could.