Maji Born

18 - A Wealth of Distractions

The throbbing in Lavinia's temple woke her from her slumber. She had been dreaming, an array of screeching and whirring noises, she had smelt something burning too.

Sitting up she rubbed her forehead with one hand, she used her other to prop herself up against the mattress. She slid her feet from below the silk sheets. Silk sheets? Was she back at home? No. That wasn't it...

She sat still for a few minutes trying to jog her memory. A load groan from a few feet away caused her to rebuild pieces of her situation.

"Eirian? Is that you?" Lavinia inquired. She recognized the pitch of her voice but wasn't completely confident in her assessment.

"Yes, it's me."

There was a shuffling and the sounds on the bed beside her, squealing lightly as it rubbed against the floor.

"Never... Again..." Eirian said through gritted teeth.

"How long have we been sleeping?" Lavinia asked, rising to her feet timidly. Her bare toes met the marble floor, and she recoiled, it was freezing.

"It's dusk so I would guess about three hours," a deep voice said from the far end of the room. Devarak.

"I'll let our hosts know you've both woken. They've offered a bath to both of you, I've already had mine. After there will be some food."

"Thanks, Dev," Eirian said, and there was a strange, slightly awkward pause, which Lavinia spent listening to her companion's loud heartbeats. Sometimes she wondered what she was missing. Glances, body language? It all went right over her head.

"You're welcome. I'll tell the maids that you're awake." Devarak said, turning and hastily out of the room and back downstairs. He's footfall was rushed and clunky as he took the steps two at a time. Lavinia smirked and turned to face away from Eirian to hide her expression.

"A bath," Eirian said contemplatively. "You know, I've only ever had sponge baths. We didn't have a tub."

Lavinia didn't know how to respond, she had grown up having daily baths. She chose to stay quiet. After a few moments of silence, there was the sound of a maid approaching and Lavinia turned once more to track the noise.

"Missus' if you would follow me, I have two tubs set with water for your pleasure. Our lady has also provided several garments for supper."

Eirian stood and made her way from the room and Lavinia followed, carefully listening for the other girl's footfalls and tracking their movement. After a moment Eirian paused and gathered Lavinia's hand in hers, guiding her forward into the waiting bathing room. The intoxicating scent of fresh lavender greeted them and a warmth Lavinia recognized as steam from the waiting tubs. She let out a relaxed sigh. This was familiar. Immediately she began to feel her stress dissipating.

"How lovely," Lavinia murmured. She loved Lavender, unlike many others smells she didn't find that it assaulted her senses, it was soft and soothing. She could hear Eirian's excited breathing beside her.

"Please miss if you would follow me," the maid said, gently guiding Lavinia to a tub at the other side of the room. She felt the maid guiding her nightgown up over her head and then the prickling chill of the air.

"Please be careful miss. The water may be hot."

Lavinia found the edge of the tub and dipped her hand in, testing the temperature. Pleasure immediately ran up her spine. Taking care not to slip, Lavinia drapped her legs over the side and slide into the tub, submerging as far as was safe.

She ran her fingers along her coarse skin and felt the dirt and sweat flaking off. It was exhilarating, being clean again, warm again, feeling at home.