SHADOW

A Bath in the Emperor's Garden

Emperor of Aru Ignis Ternus was a rare sight to behold, to Sha's knowledge. So he would not bother to greet a count's daughter at court. Some meager clerk came to greet her, and she remembered her parents.

She sighed. They had written her no letters all this time, never contacted her, never cared to see what was the matter with her. Besides her grandmother, who had long passed, nobody but Floriana cared to write to her.

And today was Floriana's wedding—a wedding Sha would not attend. Even so, Floriana must have heard about the princess's death, about the pursuit. She would understand, so Sha would need to write to her as soon as possible, to congratulate her friend on Floriana's wedding.

So sad—she wanted so badly to dance and party with her friend.

"Are you walking in the clouds again?" whispered Sonya in Sha's ear. "Pay attention. We are in new territory. You must act like a noble woman, or we will be given a room in the servants' quarters."

Sha sighed and straightened her back. She was a poor excuse for a noble woman. Her dress was plain, her hair arranged with God's grace and Sonya's skill. She was young and not bad to look at.

Even so, she could not ignore the sneers of the pompous women as they passed through a luxurious garden. All the women were dressed as finely as princesses on the other continent, with loads of jewelry, gold, pearls, and fabrics and sparkles Sha had never seen in her life.

She did not care for them now. Her sadness about Floriana's wedding was pressing on her, and the Count's abrupt departure weighed heavily on her thoughts. He had not even come with her to the palace. It was all new to her—he had simply left her behind.

He dumped me, she thought.

"He was cruel. Very cruel of him to discard me like this," she whispered.

"Oh, come on," Sonya replied. "Count Ambrosio is not the type to fawn over women. You are not stupid—you sensed that from the first glance. What did you think? That he would turn into Romeo after a few pats and kisses? We should hurry. The clerk disappeared around the corner, and this palace is a maze."

The clerk was prompt. He left them in a clean room in the farthest corner of the palace. The room was clean, the furniture decent— not opulent, but everything in this castle was precious. She bet that even the servants' quarters were nice in such a place.

The windows were huge, enormous. Sha wondered how they would cover them for privacy if the curtains were bolted to the walls with iron nails. Maybe they had no right to close these curtains. Maybe the Emperor was paranoid, and they had no right to close them to conspire, whispered Sonya.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Sha replied.

"Where is the bath here? There is no indoor bathtub, just a toilet," said Sonya, opening all the doors around them.

The clerk had just left without giving them any indication of when dinner was, when supper was, where the bathroom was—he had simply disappeared. It was a bit rude of him to leave like this.

Sha opened the huge windows and found herself looking into a private garden with a small pool of water. The pool was covered with multicolored tiles and filled with beautiful, clean water. There were mosaics of dolphins all around the edges.

"I think I found the bath, Sonya. It is just here in the garden."

"In the open? Are they crazy? I heard people in the Aru Empire bathe in common baths and have no modesty, walking naked in gardens and public baths—but for a lady to bathe outside like this is just preposterous. But... it is cool."

"The water is so warm, I would go in right now," Sha said. "The hedges are dense here, like a fence. I think I will have a go."

She began to remove her clothes. She looked around—there was no window with a vantage point toward the outdoor bath. It was a huge relief that this area of the castle had no windows on the second level facing the yard.

The water was a bit chilly at the beginning, but after a minute it was bliss—after long days spent in the stifling cabin without a bath, only washing herself with a cloth.