Chapter 23
Alex dipped a toe into the warm water of the bathing pool experimentally.
While the stew Therxian had left her with had satisfied her appetite, she was once again restless with boredom.
At least he built up the furnace dug into the side of the pool and showed her how to feed it.
The only downside was that it was still on the slightly cooler side of warm.
But it was warm enough to tempt her. Besides, having a good, long soak seemed like a good way to kill time.
It wasn’t like she had the opportunity to indulge in a luxurious bath every day.
All the same, she sucked in a breath between her teeth as she slowly sank one foot and then the other into the pool.
It was definitely a tad cold since the fire didn’t have enough strength to sufficiently warm it yet.
But not unbearably so. It was just uncomfortable enough to slowly force her muscles into a state of relaxation as she gradually lowered herself into the water.
By degrees she submerged her legs and then her hips and belly, and her torso was followed by her breasts.
Holy fuck. The cooler temperature took some getting used to, but she felt so fucking good.
Moaning quietly to herself, she sank to her neck so that the cool water lapped at her jaw and closed her eyes.
However primitive her surroundings, even with the slight chill to the water, it certainly beat the pitiful provisions made by Darvel Corporation within the colonies.
At least, not for people like her. Private baths were a luxury of upper officers and wealthy citizens who relocated to colonies to chase their various business ventures.
And civilians had simple, private bathing units made available to them that had often made Alex jealous of the small luxury.
All Corp provided for the non-gratas was cold showers that made the bathing pool seem warm and luxurious in comparison.
Everyone just filed in naked—men and women both—and quickly cleaned themselves in the stalls before exiting.
Any initial discomfort she felt during her first year under contract had been quickly abandoned.
As the non-gratas were nothing more than livestock to the government entities and affiliated corporations, of course none of them were treated like people.
She wiggled into a more comfortable position on the submerged stone bench and rested her head on the lip of the pool. This was the life. Her fellow non-gratas would be spitting with envy if they could see her now.
Alex closed her eyes, the tension in her body easing as the tiny current of flowing water gradually eased her muscles.
She murmured contently, soothed by the distant sound of running water that seemed to carry as a low rumbling song through the palace.
It was the best sort of ASMR. Like many non-gratas, she had grown to depend on ASMR to find a point where she was capable of relaxing despite the cramped conditions in which Darvel’s residential units existed.
Corp would probably have gone as far as piling them in multiples per dorm room if not for the fact that past experiences in the early years of space exploration and colonization had proved that doing so caused more problems than it solved.
So, instead, they were given a miniscule cubicle of space and a pair of headphones where one’s chosen ASMR environment could drown out the sound of activity on all sides of them.
This really wasn’t bad as far as listening choices went.
It was like a deep rhythmic melody of flowing water that created a subtle vibration that hummed through her.
It reminded her a little of deep ocean soundtracks, and yet the sound was slightly hollower; an aethereal hum versus the deep, moaning pulse of the oceanic flow.
Within that, however, a slightly abnormal sound intersected, which made her brows knit together in annoyance.
Keeping her eyes closed, she strained to listen.
There it was again. It was a faint sound of something large moving like a rudder cutting into the water, breaking and scattering the powerful rhythm of the current.
Her eyes slowly opened, and she scowled in confusion as she sat upright in the pool.
“What’s that?” she mumbled as she stood and climbed out of the pool.
Following the line of the wall, she listened intently, her head tipped toward the galthie-covered stones.
At that proximity, the light from the galthie was nearly blinding, but she squinted against it and turned her head away, so as to protect her eyes and so that her ear was directed right at the wall.
Her frown deepened. Why wasn’t the sound repeating?
If it was a natural blockage within the deep river, surely the sound would be more consistent.
Her fingers trailed through the growth as she placed one foot in front of the other and continued following the perimeter of the chamber.
Her foot paused mid-step as the sound repeated.
Lowering her foot back to the ground, she leaned it closer to the wall, her head crushing the galthie as she pressed her ear closer, listening.
There was the subtle sound of something surging and what sounded like a splash, as if something large rose from the current, breaking the waves, only to dive back down into it again.
Were the deep cavern rivers inhabited? And if so, how was she hearing it so clearly through the palace walls?
“What are you doing?”
Alex jumped at the unexpected sound of Therxian’s voice and whirled toward him in surprise, her heart leaping as it set to a pace of wildly thumping in her chest.
“You scared a year of life off me,” she complained. “I didn’t expect you to return so soon.”
He stared at her blankly in response as stood just inside the chamber’s entrance. His gavo slowly lifted in an expression of open curiosity as he regarded her. “I did not wish to leave you without the sustenance you require,” he replied, dipping his head toward the basket in his arms.
She glanced down at it and decided that she couldn’t be mad at him for basically creeping up on her without any kind of warning. He had not only returned, but he had also brought meat! And there was something in that basket that was very reminiscent of what bacon smelled like.
Oh, please let it taste like bacon! Alex couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed the flavor and delicious crunch of bacon in her mouth. She could forgive him for startling her if he was going to feed her something delicious. She shrugged and stepped away from the wall.
“I thought I heard something,” she replied as she made her way over to the stone table where Therxian set the basket.
Her mouth watered at the fragrant scent of roasted meat.
Although she had eaten what he had prepared for her a short time ago, just smelling the meat made her ready to eat again.
Her stomach grumbled impatiently as she watched him remove the covered platters and set them out.
“What sort of creatures live in the cavern rivers?”
He tipped his head for a moment as he considered her question. “The caverns are indeed inhabited by all manner of living things,” he said slowly. “Blind najlan accustomed to the utter darkness of their waters populate the water, as well as diktha and horudi.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “I have no idea what those are.”
Therxian paused briefly as a look of surprise flitted across his face. But then the moment was over. He chuckled with amusement as his gavo vibrated and snapped.
“It is difficult to explain these swimmers to you in words that you would understand. If I manage to catch one for your meal, then you will see.”
She hummed in agreement. That was acceptable enough.
His mouth tightened faintly as he removed another dish and uncovered it.
“Then there are the Uralial, but few dare to venture so close to the palace. Thern there is the rare Uralial merchant who is able to acquire a license to set up her shop within the shinara, but the routes to and from the shinara are heavily monitored. I would not expect to find any of them here.” He glanced at her sharply.
“Do you suspect you may have heard an Uralial?”
Alex frowned slightly at the question and shook her head.
Though she wasn’t crazy about the shinara’s restrictive policies, she doubted that any Uralial would be so careless as to venture close to the palace without proper permission.
That just sounded like potential suicide.
But she also couldn’t say with any certainty what she had heard one way or the other.
“Do you think they would—and for what reason?” she asked instead as she skewered a piece of meat and popped it into her mouth.
Therxian’s eyes followed her movement, and his gavo lifted with intrigue.
He seemed to recover his senses, however, when she flushed under his scrutiny.
His gavo flicked, almost with what seemed to be annoyance as he focused on the food spread between them.
Spearing his own bit of meat, he huffed with a derisive sound of amusement.
“It is unlikely. Though the waters around the deep palace served as a hub of commerce between our peoples, the Uralial were long driven away from here for reasons of security. None of them would be so foolish as to enter the waters around the shinara without permission. Not when the consequences are so grave.”
Alex quickly chewed the piece of meat in her mouth and swallowed. “Consequences? Like what?”
He met her eyes flatly, his mouth pinching slightly as he studied her. “Death,” he said at last. “A Seshanamitesh will ruthlessly hunt down an Uralial invading their waters for the pleasure of the council.”
“Geez, tough crowd,” she mumbled as she took another quick bite of meat. She glanced up Therxian curiously as also took some meat. “You are staying? Didn’t you say that you would be missed if you didn’t return? I honestly didn’t even expect you to return tonight.”
His glowing eyes focused on her, and for a moment she could breathe under the weight of his gaze studying her. Finally, his gaze shifted away, and he dipped his chin in the negative.
“You did not have meat,” he replied simply, as if that explained everything, and he met her gaze gravely.
“I will not lapse in my responsibilities to take care of you. I made sure that my presence was noted and ate several of the dishes before gathering the meat up to return. I merely had to hide the basket and wait until the servants returned to clear the table before making my way back to the lower tunnels. Now that it is done, no one will return to check on me until morning.”
She speared some more meat and mixed it with some sort of noodle that the Seshanamitesh appeared to favor. “You are staying, then?”
She didn’t know what exactly she expected, but it was the slow hiss as he replied, drawing out one word.
“Yes.”
An uneasy feeling settled over her, her mind wandering back to their conversation as they ate in companionable silence.
Although Therxian’s words were delivered as a simple statement, they sent a shiver through her.
If the Seshanamitesh would kill a native-born Uralial for intruding, what would they do to her?