“Is that a bath room?” Colbie asked noticing a stone floor peeking from the open door that matched the coloring of the rest of the inn.
“According to the bell hop who escorted us to the rooms earlier, they have hot and cold running water for the tub and sink,” Evantus replied with a grin. “You even get a commode instead of a single shared restroom on each floor.”
Many towns and cities had adopted indoor plumbing over the centuries mostly thanks to the wizards who had long ago discovered ways to bring such amenities into civilized places like Hala. Unfortunately, there was still great cost to run and build such facilities so many inns used one or two restrooms per floor. Bath houses were mostly communal, while personal homes often had to warm their water for baths with a hearth’s fire.
To see such a room with a tub, sink and toilet in an individual room, and knowing that each room in the inn had one as well, the mages were impressed with the apparent wealth used on the Two Circles Inn. For Cheleya, it was a strange room indeed. While she knew of human outhouses and bathrooms, something like this was quite new.
Her curiosity led the dragoness to the far doorway and took in the view as Colbie and Tilana hurried to look in over her shoulders. A large tub and vanity occupied most of the room along with the toilet. All were colored a shiny black to stand out from the tan walls. While the vanity had a large mirror, a second full length mirror controlled most of the wall between the door and tub across from the fixtures.
Colbie shook her head and asked, “Can we afford this, Orlerin?”
Evan chuckled as their leader replied, “The ambassador told us to come here and I used his name. The clerk found us rooms at the sound of his name alone, so I assume they will send him the bill if we can’t.”
Full laughter made the younger mage slip back into the main room.
Tilana rolled her eyes at Orlerin, who simply shrugged with a little smirk on his lips. “Really, Orlerin, I think you know better.”
“The ambassador knows what we are and how much we make. I am sure that he sees it coming and will simply send the bill to headquarters to be reimbursed,” he added with a shrug.
While the mages discussed the maneuvering to get a room, Colbie watched as Cheleya moved to inspect the soap sitting on the sink. Sniffing at it with a content smile, the dragon girl replaced it again to play with the knobs to bring the water from the faucet. She ran her fingers under the flow of water and nodded. “Warm. I wonder how they heat it?” she questioned without truly expecting any answer to her musing.
Sitting on the side of the large tub, the girl noted a bottle and unscrewed the top to sniff at the liquid inside, “Your people seem to like flowered scents a lot.”
Colbie leaned against the mirrored wall looking at Cheleya and replied, “I don’t suppose your people use soap and shampoo, though I would think even dragons get dirty. You put a little of the liquid in your hair when it is wet and rub it through before rinsing it out again. I’m guessing that you’ve never washed your hair before.” Moving closer, the mage sniffed near the girl’s hair and noted in surprise, “You still smell clean and sweet like flowers, even after all that riding, so maybe you don’t even have to. After all that time crossing the prairie, we’re beginning to smell awful, but you’re fresh and look clean. You’re look isn’t an illusion, is it?”
Standing to look at herself in the mirror, Cheleya shook her head considering the image in the mirror. Unlike the mages who still had a little road dust on them, the girl had to admit that she looked surprisingly clean. Touching her cheeks, the image copied her movements and the petite blond shook her hair that appeared clean as well.
Colbie took a glove from her belt and licking one finger, the mage rubbed some dirt onto the wet spot. She then placed a line of the dirt on the girl’s cheek. The brown dirt stood out decidedly on her lightly tanned skin. “Well, I guess that you can get dirty after all,” the mage said with a smile as Cheleya grinned at the strange behavior.
The dragoness was slightly glad to see that she wasn’t a complete illusion, though the thought surprised her in a way. It was obvious that she wasn’t a che’ther hidden by a mere illusion, since a twenty foot dragon could hardly fit into the rooms and doorways of men. Her weight would have prevented her flight as well.
Rubbing at the dirt with her own hand, the dark stripe faded quickly though she could still see it.
“Well, I guess now even you need a hot bath,” Colbie chuckled as she leaned her arms on the girl to look over her shoulder. “You’ve probably never had one, so this should be a nice treat.”
Moving quickly to the doorway, the redheaded mage shooed the men towards the outer doorway. “All right, away with you two. We ladies need some time to pamper ourselves before dinner. I for one am tired of wearing half the prairie on my skin. My clothes are ready to stand up from wearing them so long.”
Evan nodded with a grin as he confirmed, “I hadn’t wanted to tell you, but you have become a bit rank.”
Wrinkling her nose at the younger man, Colbie pushed on his back forcing him from the room, “You are one to talk. You two might think of cleaning up in your room, so we can smell our food over your stench, Evantus.”
With the men dismissed, the women were left with only one question. “Ok, so who’s going first?” Colbie asked raising an eyebrow at the other women standing by the doorway.
Noticing that Cheleya looked unsure, the redhead sighed, “I guess Cheleya can go first. I just hope that there’s enough hot water for everyone.”
Tilana moved to sit on the bed nearest the bathroom and said, “We all know fire magic. I think that we can assume that won’t be an issue.”
Tapping herself on the head for forgetting the fact as she complained, Colbie added, “True, but I’d still rather be able to just enjoy the tub without any work.”
The mage helped Cheleya lay out her towel and wash cloth. Feeling like she was helping a young child to figure out how to take a bath, Colbie retreated shortly hoping that an intelligent dragoness would have no real problems doing something as simple as bathing.
She quickly rooted through her pack laying the clothes she wanted to wear for dinner onto the bed before lying back on the comfortable bed.
As the sound of water running filled the room, Cheleya stripped off the clothing that she had warn all day. She had changed each day of the trip in the tent, so her clothes didn’t feel too dirty, but they had been trapped in the pack containing any smells and dirt that might occur over time from riding Dolly through the snow covered prairie.
Sniffing at her clothes, the dragoness noted a sweetness lingering on her blouse and pants. It had been commented on once that the amulets changed their holders in different ways. This was not a scent she had ever noted on a che’ther, but she found the scent enjoyable.
She hadn’t commented on her traveling companions’ odors to them, but her sensitive nose had been catching more and more of a pungent smell coming from all of them. Since they had noted it with distaste also, Cheleya realized that it wasn’t a smell that they enjoyed either. Humans always seemed to cover their bodies with scents to try and mask their true smell, though some seemed to not care and did little more than bathe occasionally to help the situation.
Shaking her head, the dragoness realized that there was still much about them that she did not understand. Things like protocol for bathing and putting on scents were among them.
Her head movement brought the girl’s eyes to her image in the full length mirror. Emerald green eyes stared strongly back from a lightly tanned face. Her skin was a little red from the biting of the cold winds that Cheleya could feel when she was outside, though they didn’t bother her like the others in her group. Unbound blond hair cascaded over her shoulders touching her small breasts in the image before her. She was smooth and clean looking even without having bathed, the girl noted, and wondered what was so odd about her body that the others had commented on so many days before.
Noting her smooth arms, Ch
eleya remembered seeing arm hair on the men and even in lighter amounts on the women when their winter gear didn’t cover their skin. She wondered why they had such inadequate fur, when creatures like crag dogs or even cattle were covered in more protective coats.
With a big sigh, the dragoness stopped the flow of water and stepped over the side of the tub letting her left leg feel the magically delivered bath water. Steam rose into the cool air, but neither temperature affected her bare flesh much at first. The heat of the water slowly engulfed her body as the girl settled into the bath. It felt good, though cold or hot had never really mattered to her. There was something soothing about the warm water and Cheleya let her body slide beneath the surface.
Water went up her nose surprising the dragoness. Spluttering and coughing, Cheleya quickly resurfaced. As she coughed, the girl missed hurrying footsteps on the stone tile. The door was cracked open to allow Colbie’s head to peek inside.
“Are you all right?”
The coughing fit continued as Cheleya tried to nod that she would be fine. It was simply one of the growing pains of getting used to her body in new and unfamiliar situations. The mage quickly moved to the tub and thumped the coughing girl’s back. Whether it truly helped or not, Cheleya’s coughing soon ended.
Colbie noted the steam cloying to the mirrors and even the tiles. “You must have the water extremely warm for so much steam,” she noted casually. Her fingers dipped into the hot water and the young woman looked envious. “Would you mind if I joined you? It feels so nice and I am so tired of feeling dirty. I can barely remember cleaning up in Televal anymore.”
With Cheleya’s head shake, the dragoness looked at the mage with a questioning look. “I don’t mind, but I thought that such things were inappropriate?”
Not even bothering to run into the other room to gather her clothes lying on the bed, Colbie pulled off her pants and shirt swiftly. Cheleya noted her under clothes. A securing bra across the woman’s chest was a new sight to her. She had seen them in Heleneva’s, but the other women had told her not to bother. As Colbie removed that piece, the dragoness noted that the mage had larger breasts than hers. Perhaps that was why she needed something that looked quite uncomfortable.
With the removal of the woman’s undergarments, Cheleya noted another difference between their bodies. “Ah, I see now,” the blond haired girl commented looking unabashedly at the mage, who blushed slightly as she moved closer to ease into the water.
“Hot, hot,” Colbie commented as she eased into the almost painfully hot water. It took a moment to get used to, but the heat felt great after all the cold of the long ride across the snowy plain and windy mountains, not mention the long winter in general.
A little redness in her skin from the heat blended into the blush of slight embarrassment from Cheleya’s looks. Relaxing as she sat facing the blond from the opposite side of the large tub, Colbie tried to answer the dragoness’s question.
“Women can be together naked in certain situations. Unless you are married, you aren’t supposed to be bare with a man though,” the mage replied, though she didn’t appear completely convinced by her own words. “Most women won’t take a bath together, but sometimes it happens and I have to say that I am glad that I didn’t wait. This feels great. I can’t believe that you like it so hot though.”
“Hot and cold don’t affect me as much as a normal human, I guess.”
The redhead nodded. She had already submerged holding her nose as she went under, Cheleya noted. Trying holding her nose, the dragoness dipped under the water feeling the warmth of the steaming water caress her face and head for a long moment before returning to the surface.
Colbie had the bottle of flower scented shampoo and was already working it through her long hair.
“You still like the red that is in your hair?” Cheleya asked as the girl passed her the bottle. Her eyes were a little dubious as she held the container before her uncertainly.
“Pour just a little bit into your hand, then spread it to the other before running it through your hair. And yes, I kind of like the color. Brown can be so boring, that it is kind of a nice change of pace.” Watching Cheleya looking tentative, the mage pulled her legs beneath her to kneel in the tub. Even with the steam in the air, her skin began to pimple with the chill in the room.
She took the bottle from Cheleya as it was offered to her waiting hand. Pouring some shampoo onto her fingers and palms, the mage began to work it into the girl’s hair. The effort brought back memories of helping her little sister a lifetime ago. Training and the school for magic had been such a large part of her for so long that it seemed a distant memory.
Settling back into the water happily after feeling the cool air on her wet skin, Colbie added, “I just realized that you remind me of my little sister. My mother or I would wash her hair when she was little, even after she was perhaps a little old for it, but she always asked for the attention.
“You can let it sit for a bit while you use the soap and cloth to wash the rest of you, though I am not sure you really need it,” she changed topics as Colbie informed the dragoness who held a lock of soapy hair. “You still smell fresh and clean, unlike us regular humans who pretty much stink. I can assume you’ve noticed, but just been polite?”
Nodding with a polite smile, Cheleya replied, “My nose is still fairly sensitive like a che’ther’s, though I doubt it works quite so well now. I’ve always noticed your scents, though they’ve become more ripe as we’ve ridden south. Is that how your bodies work?”
Closing her eyes as she soaked for a little longer, Colbie nodded. “We need to bath regularly or you’ll find out just how ripe we can become,” she laughed at the answer. If Cheleya had been able to smell them from day one, then the dragoness must be reeling with their aroma by now.
As the dragoness began to work with soap and cloth, Colbie lifted her right leg to prop it on the side of the tub. Using a controlled fire spell, the mage removed the fine hair on her legs. It was winter, so it was probably not necessary, but if she was going to wind up in a dress then the woman refused to look like a barbarian.
“So I am odd, because I don’t have enough hair, but you remove your hair?” Cheleya questioned slightly surprised.
Sighing, Colbie nodded, “Women wearing dresses in civilized areas prefer clean legs. I know we were surprised that you were smooth like a young girl, even cleaner since I don’t even see small arm hairs, but, yeah, women use razors to remove hair where they want to be smooth. I guess you’re lucky that you don’t need to worry over such things.”
“You humans are weird,” the girl stated before plunging beneath the water to cleanse her face of the soap.
Nodding as she settled back into the water after finishing both legs, Colbie had to agree.
Chapter 18- Flight of Dragons
The forty foot high wall ran all the way to the edge of the cliffs of Hala where the easternmost tower stood twenty feet higher to survey land and water. With a light sea breeze bringing more of the cool winter air to the men guarding the tower, the soldiers and wizards of Southwall huddled beside a metal fire pit set in the middle of their parapets. Glass and stone protected more than a score of men inside the upper part of the tower, but the three men drawing the unfortunate top watch wondered at how anyone expected an attack from bandits or the Dark One as they tried to stay warm. Winter was supposed to be ending in a few weeks, but the cold of night said otherwise.
A drop of over a hundred feet down the sheer rock face added to the sixty feet of tower made few men wish to look at the waters of the North Sea or the jagged stones at the base of the cliff. Vertigo had affected many men and soldiers were warned to look straight out from the stone defense rather than down, as the past had leant caution to the unwary. It was much easier to look northward at the rolling hills of the prairies and the guards took turns viewing the white snow glistening under the first moon’s silver light.
Thoughts of an attack as the special tournament loomed a m
ere day away, were far off as the guards looked at the barren snow stretching as far as the eye could see. Still, the men did their duty and occasionally even glanced south across the plain towards the walled city. New formations sat near the city as special battle grounds for the wizards had been created north of Hala for the tournament. It was a slight oddity for men who had looked at the city and the blank plain for so many years during their times at the wall.
Shrouded by stealth spells, a trio of winged creatures dropped below the ridge of the cliff well north of the tower. The lead appeared slightly erratic in its flight, but the path remained straight as the three ducked past the North Wall without drawing an alarm. They flew onward following the cliff in the moonlight.
The three dipped lower gathering speed as they neared Hala and its wall of defenses. Rising from midway down the cliff, the winged creatures used their momentum to create an arc lifting swiftly up the cliff side and beyond to the outer white wall. There were towers here too and more guards, but the magically hidden forms used the shadows along the outer wall to slide up the stone crossing into the city.
Still winging their way deeper into Hala, the three descended to land in the darkness of an abandoned alleyway.
Cor’Dargan released the cloak of stealth followed by Elenek and Lystheir. The younger dragons looked to their leader with questions, but their loyalty was unmistaken. Fa’Dargan’zer was nearly a legend amongst the younger wizards and mages of the che’ther. A master of stone magic, Dargan had left the life to pursue farming, but not in the way a human would try to create a farm or ranch. He had changed the way Mar’kal lived by creating life giving land to grow crops that flourished under his care and those who worked with him.
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 23
