The Dragon's Slave

Chapter 11

Sleep was a blessed thing, and this time, when Firestriker returned me to the confinement chamber and set a guard outside I hardly cared. I strode directly to the bed in the darkened room and fell upon it, grabbed one edge of the buttery silk coverlet and rolled myself into slumber.

I awoke to a harsh impatient knocking.

I must have slept, the decimated bed was proof, but my body encouraged me to ignore the noise and fade back into dream. Some wild imaginings of dragons and their unique body parts.

I opened my eyes surprised to find the room much brighter than when I had closed them. I angled my head upward and noticed, for the first time, rows of vents. These were square, unlike the ones in Tharisa's sitting room, and tiny, but their effect was the same.

The knocking repeated, and this time it was accompanied by a set of unhappy mutters.

Why wasn't my guard taking care of...whoever it was?

"Yes?" I called. My throat was dry and the word came out more croak. I cleared it and tried once more.

"Finally," a distinctly male voice echoed. "Lord Firestriker ordered us to bring you a bath, are you decent Lady Delegate?"

Lady Delegate.

I winced in shame, how far a charade from the truth.

"Yes, I am dressed," I called.

Immediately the doors opened and revealed the reason for the impatience. Four very large men carried a fat wooden tub. The way their muscles strained it must have weighed as much as a horse or two. They moved in without a word and plunked the tub in the corner of my room. Behind them a line of boys, youth nearly grown, carried buckets of steaming water.

I pulled the covers around myself as I sat.

The procession was fast and efficient and within a matter of minutes the tub was filled to the brim with steaming liquid. The last youth carried a bucket of petals, three towels and a bar of some yellow soap. He placed the towels and bar in a neat stack near the tub and then dumped the petals directly into the water. Then he was gone, and the door closed behind him.

No one had spoken, or asked if I wanted a bath. I did, but I wondered if a delegate would have more say in when.

Lady Delegate.

A young girls dream, to make it to the nobility. The city streets were mired in troubles, sometimes the only way to escape was to day dream. And now I played at it for real.

A sweet sugary perfume reached my nose, tempting me to the edge of the bed. I abandoned the coverlet altogether and padded across the stone toward the tub. It was a large beast of a thing, the rim nearly reached my waist. It was wide enough for two of me at least, and long enough I should be able to recline without bending my knees too far.

In short it looked delicious. I shed the shirt and pants I wore, chucking them in a heap close to the towels and stepped in.

My muscles cried in ecstasy when the heat reached them. The climbing and the running of the day before punished me with aching limbs and bruises. The bottoms of my feet stung, the many cuts and sores making their presence known.

I ignored them and lowered myself slowly until only my neck and head were above the waterline.

At first I worried that I might doze as I sat; slide beneath the waters and risk drowning. Instead a wary alertness grew within me, turning my thoughts from one to another.

Seduce Celcath, steal his orb and I earn my freedom.

Sounds simple.

Right.