14 The Lady of Ashrya

Within minutes, four maids arrived, carrying between them, a large wooden tub and some bath towels. They placed the bathtub on the round rug at the center of the room and began filling the tub with water.

Then, they started a small fire in the small pot belly fireplace and heated a kettle of water, which they used to warm the water in the tub.

Once the water was warmed to their satisfaction, they poured scented soap from a small glass bottle into the water and threw in handfuls of flower petals.

Gradually, the room began to warm up. The scent of muguet and jasmine, along with the slight smoky smell of the fireplace, filled the air.

Then they came at her.

"What are you doing?" Mira held out her hand, as all four began advancing on her.

"We will help you remove your clothes, and then we will bathe you."

"No, no. There's no need for that." Mira shook her head. "I can bathe myself, thank you."

"But m'Lady, Prince Zander has commanded that we take care of you."

"I'm fine. I can bathe myself."

"But what about your hair, m'Lady?"

"I can wash my own hair."

"At least let us comb and fix it after your bath," they said, almost in tears.

"Fine. Give me a little time to bathe, and then you can come back in and fix my hair." Mira gave in, not wanting to give them a hard time. Then, she looked at Sofie in her hands. "I could use your help with something else though." She held out the little Shih Tzu. "This is Sofie. Can you take her and give her a bath for me?"

"Of course, m'Lady." Another maid piped in. She reached out and gathered Sofie into her arms, as if she'd handled animals all her life. "Please enjoy your bath," she said with a bit more cheer. "We will have new clothing ready for you by the time you are done." Then, they bowed and left.

Alone in the room, Mira quickly stripped off her muddy clothes and eased her sore body into the tub. The two-hour ride on the bogbull was a bit painful because she wasn't used to riding on an animal for such a long time. She stank of bog mud and sweaty animal hide. It was embarrassing to be so close to Zander and stink so badly.

She sank into the steaming water and closed her eyes. It felt so good to be able to get the muck off her face and body. Then, Mira poured more of the liquid soap into her hands and began washing the grit from her hair.

By the time she was done bathing, the water was literally black.

She gingerly got out of the tub and wrapped herself in the warm towels that they provided. Then she sat on the bed waiting for the maids to return.

It didn't take long before the four maids came back, carrying a bundle with them. While two of them removed the bath water and the tub, the other two got busy working on Mira. Much to her embarrassment, they took off all her towels and began anointing her body with aromatic oils.

Then, they dressed her in a long white sheath dress made of some type of silk material. Over that, they put on a thick warm white robe that was edged with some type of white fur, flecked with black spots.

One maid started on her hair. She rubbed more oil on her tresses and began combing it through. As she worked, she oohed and ahhed over how thick and long Mira's hair was, and as her fingers worked their magic, coils of braids began to appear.

"Prince Zander also provided these for you, m'Lady." From somewhere, they procured a box, filled with intricate silver hair pins and jewelry with gemstones of varying shades of blue, from pale aquamarines, to sky blue topaz, to deep dark sapphires.

Mira gasped at the beautiful array of jewelry inside the box. "Is this silver?"

They shook their heads. "No m'Lady. Silver tarnishes, so Prince Zander only uses platinum for all his jewelry."

"It's beautiful!" She breathed.

"It is exquisite, m'Lady," the maid answered with joy.

They began adorning her, from the top of her head, all the way to the little rings they placed on her toes. Then, they slipped on her feet, soft white shoes with thick black leather soles.

As they were putting on the finishing touches of red stain on her lips and powder on her skin, another maid came in with a cleaned and dried Sofie. Her long blonde hair had been brushed till it shone, and on top of her little doggie head, they had tied a white ribbon that was laced with a single blue topaz.

Sofie had been content, sitting in the maid's arm, but when she saw Mira, she struggled to be let down, and ran towards her mistress, ears perked and tail wagging.

"Oh how precious! The two of you match perfectly! The Prince is waiting downstairs to have breakfast with you. Are you ready, m'Lady?"

Mira smiled and picked Sofie up. "Let's go."

It seemed as if it was a long time ago that she last saw Zander, but in truth, it was only a little over an hour. In a place where she knew no one but him, Mira truly missed his presence. He was a known familiar face in a world where she knew nothing and no one.

As she made her way towards the stairs, Mira wondered where he had gone, and if she would be able to find him at the dining area, but there was no need to ponder. Zander was already waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.

As she turned the corner to descend the short staircase, he looked up at her with his silver blue eyes and his lips opened with a barely audible gasp. His eyes sparkled with a deep sense of recognition, and he slowly reached out his hand to receive her.

Mira almost licked her lips. Zander looked so delicious. He had bathed and changed, and his slate blue hair was tied back in a neat ponytail. His elegant, regal face was no longer tinged with that dark shadow of a beard that had begun to grow during the time he spent on Earth. Although he had changed into fresh clothing, it was still more of the same type of white robes that she'd seen him wear.

As Mira descended to the final step, he took her arm and led her to the dining room, where a half-dozen dwarves were waiting in a line, ready to serve them.

They seated Zander at the head of the table, and placed her at his right side. Then, they began bringing out platter after platter of food. Although there were only two of them, the feast on the table could easily feed twelve strong men.

Half of the food was vegetarian, and the other half had some sort of meat, fish, or poultry. Again, Mira noticed that Zander did not touch any of the meat dishes. To balance it out, and to save the veggies for him, Mira tried all the meat dishes. The roast duck was scrumptious, the meatballs on skewers were to die for, and the pork ribs were heavenly.

"Zander, are you a vegetarian?"

"Hmmm? Not usually, no."

"Then why do you not touch the meat dishes?"

Zander looked pained. "I am in the middle of what you would consider an energy cultivation path, whereby I must abstain from meat, among other things."

"Other things? Like what?"

He cleared his throat, his cheeks reddening. "Like male and female physical relations."

Mira made an O with her mouth and nodded. "Does that include touching?"

"What do you mean?" He glanced at her with suspicion.

"You know. Like this." Mira reached out with one finger and touched his hand.

He quickly withdrew from her touch, his face flushed even redder. "No, that's not what I mean." Then he looked at her. "Eat. We need to begin our journey to the capitol within the hour."

Mira bit her lip to stop the laughter from bubbling up. He was just too cute. "How long does this energy cultivation path last?"

"Two annual cycles."

"You mean you can't eat meat and have sex for two years???" Mira gasped.

"No!" He frowned. "I've already been on this path for an entire annual cycle. I only have one cycle left to endure." He swallowed, as if something unpleasant was stuck in his throat, and turned to her. "Mira...it's only for another year, and then…"

Mira picked up a fried chicken wing, "And then you can eat THIS!!!" She laughed and brandished it in front of his face.

He sighed. "Eat."