The Carnelian Way

12.2

The building was cool inside, insulated from the warmth of the day by the thick granite. The floor was a chessboard of grey and white marble polished to a shine and reflecting the green lights of the lanterns. Tapestries and oil paintings lined the walls, and vases of waxy-leafed flowers adorned sideboards and stands.

Anya escorted them to the end of a right-wing, to a common room decorated in shades of white and blue with lounge chairs and low tables surrounded by large cushions. Across one wall, rows and rows of books--a sight that made Rina's heart leap, and beyond that, windows looking out over a night garden. 

"Gods!" 

"Shh, Anat!" hissed Sara.

The ceiling hung high above them, and, as in the chapel in Amadore, it had been painted in blue and speckled with golden stars. Halfway to it, a balcony spanned the outer-rim of the room, accessible by two closed doors. 

Anya instructed them to leave their bags and ushered them through a small corridor that snaked off from the room. She indicated a first door that led to their quarters, and next, a door to the privy. The passage sloped down, the walls now carved rock. She continued until they reached a staircase which spiralled into the earth. They trailed her, the second initiate at the rear, and emerged into a misty bathhouse. Three natural pools dominated the space. Steam rolled off one and Rina detected the faint hint of eggs. Still water filled the other two, one a green-grey, the other clear as black ice. Blue and white tile outlined the pool, and a mosaic of nymphs lounging about a pond, entertaining men of various ages illustrated the wall.

"This is where you'll bathe daily," said Anya. With her chin, she pointed at shelves stacked with white towels. "Serving Mai means serving the divine, and this requires not only a clean spirit and mind but a clean body." 

Rina noticed the way Anya's delicate white hands, clasped before her, clenched a fraction and the tightness at the edge of her rosebud mouth. She doesn't want us here. Anya's lips trembled, then they stretched out into a serene smile with the smoothness of a rusty cog. 

A murmur came from the other chosen.

"Hot baths!"

"Are they? Yes, and they're oiling tables!"

"Thank Mai."

The red-haired acolyte, her curling hair now a halo of frizz, tapped the shoulders of the more excited women and showed them about, explaining how the servants would tend to them.

Sara approached Rina's side, and Rina realised she was the only member of the party who hadn't moved. "Why are they doing this?"

It was what Rina wondered, but she refused to water the seed of doubt within her. Not here. "We're his chosen." The words had as much weight as the sulphur-scented vapour snaking about their feet.

Sara scoffed and walked off to a nook of the cavern where she began picking up coloured vials.

Rina bent down to dip her hand in the water, finding it hot, almost scalding. As she did so, she stole glances around the room. The acolytes were each engaged with the Denese women, shoulders as stiff as their smiles. A few of the girls, Anat included, were stripping their robes and giggling.

Anat pranced on her long, deer-like limbs, and Rina stood to greet her. The woman was unphased by her nudity--and, not surprisingly, she looked like the goddess Peitha.

"You'll join us?" Her full lips parted in a smile, flashing her white teeth. Mischief danced in her almond eyes. "Just think of all the times we imagined this after plantings. I'm aching just remembering it." Anat's slender arm linked with Rina's. "Come on, Rina."

Rina stepped back, unlinking her arm. The thought of being naked in front of a room full of women made her pause. "I don't know if--"

A bell of laughter transported Rina to another time and place, where she and Anat had laughed and joked when the day's duties were light. "Don't be so modest." She leaned in, nose crinkling. "I'm sorry to be unkind to you again, but you stink!"

"Anat!" Rina slapped her playfully on the arm.

Anat lifted her hands. "It's the truth. Do you want to be caught around Mai stinking like someone who's slept in the pigpen?"

Her friend was right. Though unlikely, they were here to serve Mai. If the opportunity to beg Mai release her uncle arose, she needed to be presentable. She looked down at her old dress, pinching the frayed material between her fingers, then tilted her head to the side and sniffed at her armpit.

"Heck!"

Anat laughed again. "Swallow your modesty--it's wasted on the woman who entranced the captain of the ship."

"Anat, nothing."

Arched brows raised. "Don't take me for a fool, Rina. I might be green with envy, but I'm not stupid." She shrugged. "Like the Magisterium told us, change is coming. We might as well enjoy it."

Lithely as a deer, Anat tiptoed around the rim of the bath until she reached the steps. The water ate her form until only her head remained, strands of hair floating about her like snakes, twin currents rippling as her hands swayed back and forth through the water.

"It's amazing, Rina."

The thought of being clean, truly clean, was too good to refuse. She grinned. "Give me a minute."

Sara was still in the alcove, uncorking one of the bottles and sniffing the contents. Rina caught the scent of jasmine as she drew near her.

"Are you going to come?"

Sara placed a drop of the oil across the back of her wrist, replaced the vile and began to rub it into her skin, a faraway look in her eye. After a few moments, her eyes cleared. "I don't mean to say something is wrong. I just want to know why."

The memory of that girl, being dragged through the air. How the blood stained her chest. The way the very essence had been yanked from her soul and the sensation of falling hard. An ice spider scuttled down her spine. Realising Sara had a queer look on her face, Rina shook the thought away. She would raise this with the appropriate people--no need to bother Sara.

"So do I." She took Sara's hand in her own and squeezed it. "We will. When the time is ready, they will tell us. To wait is the least we can do for Mai."

Nodding, Sara gave a weak smile. "Fine." She let out a chuckle. "The Gods now I am ready to wash the stink of that ship from my body. Did I tell you, Mehdi--the self-important twat-- wouldn't empty his slops, given his new position--and the rest of the men followed. Then most of the women. I swear, the smell has sunk into my skin."

"The bastard."

They turned toward the baths. "Don't worry, Rina. I plan revenge."

Rina laughed. "Well, I hope you count me in it."

★☾●☽★

A/N: Thank you again for reading. I hope this wasn't too much of a filler chapter. I have been finding it hard to write lately: anxiety and anticipatory grief can freeze the mind. Hopefully, I'll be back on track soon. (Feel free to hit that star and help me get there!)

Wishing everyone health and safety, in particular those of you in the hard-hit areas. Don't forget, nothing lasts forever, and we will come out of this. 

Much love,

Jas