23. Lina
Lina
M y breath is swept away as I look up at the water careening from the stone ceiling hundreds of feet high, falling down through the reddish stone into a massive basin below.
I would call it a lake, with how expansive the body of water is, but it is split into smaller sections by barriers of stone, creating lots of smaller pools.
Water rushes over some of the barriers, but others toward the edges are glassy calm.
Unlike the waterfall where the warriors fought over me, there are no skulls to mar its beauty. The mist rises through the massive cavern. And below, a dozen people splash in the water.
“It is warm,” Helena tells me. “Come see for yourself.”
We skip down a long set of stairs leading to the base level. With each step, the stairs grow warmer.
There are men and women and children in various areas. As we get closer, I realize the people in the water are not clothed. At all.
The massive pools could hold a thousand people altogether. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“You bathe… together?”
“Of course,” she says cheerfully. “Bathing is very social. Don’t worry, though, we have a strict code. No one will touch anyone else’s property.”
I wrinkle my nose at the thought of being someone’s property .
I look down at my feet, feeling warmth seeping from beneath them.
“And there is no intimacy here during the day. At night, the children are away, and that is more likely to occur, so if you are modest, you could just stay away at that time.” She leans in to whisper. “But between you and me, it’s kind of fun to watch.”
My mind spins but then settles on one uncomfortable thought. “Will I even have a choice?” I mutter, more to myself than her.
My Dread hasn’t shown interest in that yet, but… why else would he claim me?
She pauses, glancing over her shoulder at me. For a moment, I think she’s going to speak on it, but then she clamps her mouth closed and continues toward the waters.
We reach the bottom of the stairway and find a flat smooth stone that reaches all the way to the water’s edge. It is frothy at the edge where the current pushes and pulls onto the soft slope.
The roar and rush of the resulting waves is almost violent. Three young boys laugh and splash, diving in and out of the wavy waters near the center of the massive cavern.
Three women sit with the water up to their breast in a calmer pool, chatting and laughing casually.
I blink three times then force myself to look away—they’re naked, after all.
“If you would like space to yourself, there are areas you can use to remain separated. Come see.” She waves for me to follow her over the narrow stone that acts as a walkway circling the pools.
She removes her leather slippers and deposits them on a wooden shelf hung on the rocky overhang beside several other piles of sandals and clothing.
She holds her linen skirt with one hand and walks around the pool.
The mist grows thicker. A large man with a shaved head and corded muscles glances at us as we pass by. His shadowed expression sends a jolt of fear down my back.
I hasten to keep up with my guide.
A woman not unlike Helena pours water over the man’s scarred back and then rubs a bar of soap into his skin.
My heart rate picks up, but we pass them without incident, and finally, Helena stops. “Here is good. Would you like to bathe with me or alone?”
I look back at where the man and woman had been. I can no longer see them through the mist. “Together.” Because while I find it odd to bathe with a woman I do not know, it’s not odd enough to be alone in this place.
I could refuse the bath, but I am in desperate need of cleaning, and I suspect it’s something they’ll insist on. If bathing is social here, it may be my best opportunity to uncover much-needed information.
She grins as if my answer pleases her.
“Here.” She pulls a towel from her bag and hands it to me.
“You can use this to undress if you’d like.
Most women from the outlands prefer it. You can place it on the stones once you’ve waded far enough.
” She points to the stone that separates this pool from the next.
“Don’t worry if it gets a little wet. We have many. ”
The cloth is shockingly fluffy and soft. What is this even made of? I’ve never felt such material.
I carefully pull my stockings from my legs. The cloth is extremely thin but covers as much of my skin as possible, all underneath my long skirt and draped top.
I pull my arms from my sleeves and then wrap the towel around my body before I drop the dress to the floor.
Helena is already up to her waist in the water, completely nude. I follow her carefully, holding the towel around my body as if it is my last connection to life.
The water is not only warm, it’s hot.
“Are you trying to cook me alive?” I joke. My feet and ankles burn. The only time I’ve felt water like this was when my mother was cooking stew.
She chuckles. “Of course not! It’s not hot enough to harm you, but it does take a little getting use to. In the summer, we tend to venture out to the wild springs where it is icy cold.”
I file that thought away for future planning. Summer is months away, and I don’t intend to wait that long before I make my escape, but it is good to know just in case.
“But the fortress remains cool year-round, even when the sun is shining through the stones, so it is not necessary.”
I look up to where she points and find a spot of blue up in the ceiling. The sun is not shining directly through the gap, but I can see the sky. My heart aches at the tiniest glimpse of freedom.
I take in a long breath. The sun is not so far away, not as far as I’d feared. With my breath, I allow faith to fill my veins.
“When it rains, it falls right over there.” She points to a spot fifty feet away. “Only a small area. The children love it.”
I venture farther into the hot water and slowly have to lift the towel to keep it dry. Then, finally, once my hips are covered by the water, I find enough bravery to pull the towel away and face the vulnerability of air on my exposed breasts.
I wade the rest of the way to place my towel where she instructed.
Then, I slowly sink into water. She’s right that the heat seeps into my bones quickly and the discomfort fades away.
“How did you get so dirty?” She tsks but then chuckles.
“Being dragged here against your will does that to a person.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen. “I’m sorry if your experience was traumatic. What was your life like before?”
I sniff and lift a tiny pool of water in my palm. It slips back through my fingers. “It was hard. We were traveling south toward the free city of Braissid. I was almost taken by the—warriors, but we escaped and had to hide from them in a ditch.”
“You hid from the Drak?” She tilts her head.
“Well, them and the shadowscelp.”
She frowns but then her expression smooths out. “We have many travelers come to us from the outside. I have heard many terrible stories of what it is like in the outworld. Did you have food? A place to sleep?”
“Not much. Travel is indeed very hard.” I frown, looking down into the murky water. Something slithers by my feet.
“What was that?” I blurt out. Water splashes as I flinch away from the creature in the water.
Helena wipes droplets from her face and chuckles. “Just fish; they will not harm you.” Her smile is gentle, but my heart is racing once again. I do feel like a little dove in a viper’s nest. Every moment, I expect a strike.
It is its own form of torture.
“They keep the water clean. They may nibble on your toes if you’re still for long, but it does not cause any pain.”
Unconvinced, I watch the water for a while longer. I don’t see any moving tails or feel any bites.
“So, you were saved,” she says, watching me closely.
I shake my head from the distraction of the fish. “What?”
“Here, there is safety and plenty of food and this.” She splashes in the water. “There is no place like this anywhere else.”
“Saved,” I repeat the word, trying not to let too much emotion show. “I was stolen.”
“Stolen, yes. But taken to a better life!” She grins widely. She believes it. I look around this cavernous room.
The underground city is not what I had expected. It doesn’t feel like a city at all, really. But I am far from convinced this could be described as a better life.
Yes, there is comfort, but at what cost?
“Outside of here,” she explains, her voice taking on a lilt, almost as if she were about to begin a song, “Life is bad. Inside, life is good. You were protected from the harsh environments and monsters like your scelp. You are truly blessed to have been selected!”
What a simplistic world view.
“I hope I never have to leave our fortress,” she says absently.
“Were you raised here?” I ask. Because that is the only explanation as to why she’d think the only good in the world can be found here. Yes, the world is struggling, but even with that, there is hope, and most importantly, there is freedom.
“Yes. My mother was like you, a traveler. She was claimed by my father, a Nihilian Drak—a powerful leader,” she explains. “Their love is a grand tale. Maybe she will tell you some time.”
I swallow. Love?
“Did your mother have a family before… coming here?”
“Yes, she had a mother and father and brother. That is the sad part of the tale. They were lost to her.” She sighs, eyes faraway for only a moment before she gives me that same sweet smile.
“That is the part of the story you are in now. But there is much more to come, Drahkita, and it is all good. Just you wait. You’ll see what blessing you have been given to live in this place with us. It is a rare gift but very special.”
My throat is suddenly dry. Part of me does want to believe her—that I could live here with a community of people who are safe and well fed and have ridiculously warm water to bathe in daily.
I rub my hands together, absently staring at the water covering my body. I could never forget the ritual I witnessed above or the battling inhuman men.
There is still much to fear.
I try not to argue with the girl. I don’t know her background, and I don’t see a point in trying to convince her that this is not the haven she seems to think. Has she not seen the sacrifices? The draken? Where are the dozens of others from the clearing last night?
Was their fate as pleasant as mine so far?
No matter how wonderful this place turns out to be—and I still have a wagon-sized pile of doubts—I am not free. Astella is out there. Astella, who would be considered a heretic here simply for the magic in her blood.
The young woman with bleeding arms, crying out as they split her throat, flashes through my mind, and I shake it away. They said she was blessed too.
The image is uncomfortable, but I realize I must never forget her.
Helena grips my upper arm, pulling me from my thoughts. “You are safe here. It will take time for you realize it.”
I force a smile because it would do no good to show her the depth of my doubt.
“You said we before,” she says. “Did you have family? I do not like it when they separate families, even though it cannot always be helped.”
“No family,” I answer. “They died years ago. I only had a friend.”
“This friend came here with you?”
“No,” I answer quickly. “She—she was lost to me,” I repeat her own words back, hoping she’ll not press the issue more.
I do not want anyone here to know about Astella.
Maybe it’s an irrational fear to think they’ll go hunting for the girl I care so deeply for, but my mind cannot let go of the worry.
“I see,” she says quietly, staring down at the rippling water between us.
She lets that stillness settle for several moments before she blinks and forces a smile. “Let’s work on clearing that muck from your lovely body, shall we? I bet there is a great beauty beneath it.”
Helena spends several minutes washing my skin with a blue bar of soap that smells of flowers and a cloth like a net that burns as she scrubs with surprising force. The water around us darkens with little clouds of dirt.
My heart aches, watching it float off and dissipate into the blue pool. I don’t know why I feel a connection to the muck that marred my skin. I shouldn’t. It’s good to be clean.
But I can’t help but feel like Astella is in that dirt. My home is there, being washed away, leaving me like them.
I am a stranger here. I don’t belong.
Soon though, Helena’s scrubbing softens. She instructs me to dip my whole body to rinse. I am in a whole new world of water, sounds muffled, my body wrapped in immense warmth.
When I return, Helena resumes cleaning my body, but this time with soft, soothing motions.
Between the steady sound of the falling cascade splashing into the pool, the smell of the soap, and the warmth of water, all energy seeps from my limbs, and my eyes begin to droop.
I jerk to attention when water splashes against my face.
“No sleeping, Drahkita Lina,” she chides.
I blink back the fear, realizing I am still in a safe place.
“I am tired,” I drawl. I did sleep for a few hours last night, but between the events of the last few days, I haven’t had nearly enough rest.
“Let’s wash your hair, then we will go for a walk to get your blood moving again.”
She dunks my head under the hot water, and the shock of it snaps my mind back to attention. She lathers the soap into my hair aggressively and hands me a cloth to wash my face while she works.
It’s strange to have someone caring for me in this way.
“You were born here,” I say.
“Mmhmm.”
“Is this your job? Your role? Being a caretaker of travelers?”
“You are no longer a traveler. You are now a Drahkita. I care for Drahkitas, yes.”
“And if you were born a boy?”
Her fingers pause their work, and I wish I could see her face. I glance over my shoulder, but I still cannot read her expression.
“I had three brothers,” she says quietly.
“Had?”
“I now have one. He is a Drak warrior. A rider.”
“And what happened to the other two?”
“One died during training when he was just fourteen years old. Another died during the drakai choosing. He was… not chosen.”
I frown. “They killed him for not being chosen?”
“The Drak’yn people did not kill him. The drakai did.”
I swallow, remembering my brief encounter with the reptilian beast before the Dread fought for the right to claim me.
I want to ask her more. About her brothers and their roles. About hers. But I also want honest answers about how she feels about it all, and I don’t suspect she will give that honesty yet, so I let the moment fade away.
“Go under the water, Drahkita. Rinse the oils from your body and hair then meet me on the shore. You are almost ready to complete your transformation so you can take your place in the Drak’yn Den!”