The rooms Olivia led us to were just as good, or maybe even a little better, than the main-room downstairs had made me expect them. While a little narrow, they were light and gave a feeling of openness thanks to high ceilings and large windows. In addition to that, the rooms were immaculately clean, both by sight and smell.

Pleased with the room, I turned to Adra, curious about her hostility towards the Satyr earlier. But it was a conversation I wanted in the privacy of our group, without outside ears, including Olivia. While I considered her an interesting person, with quite a lot of valuable knowledge, I wasn’t certain about her. The bonds between us were a lot less than the bonds between the four of us, who were bound together by shared experiences.

Noticing a door at the side of our room, I stepped inside, looking into it. It turned out to be a quite modern-looking bathroom, making me realise that a civilisation that based their weaponry on steam-technology would need ways to transport heat and water across long distances. That was especially true for the dwarves, who produced steam at a central location and used pipe-systems to provide the high-pressure their weapons needed.

“Come, see, Adra. These dwarves have good bathing facilities, like their cousins in the Ashenforge Hold.” I called over, hoping that only Adra would approach, giving me a moment of privacy with her.

Luckily, my slightly simplistic idea worked, possibly because the bathroom was small enough to make more than two people a seriously tight fit.

“What is it?”Adra asked in a whisper, as soon as she was next to me. She obviously didn’t buy that I was excited about bathrooms, even if there was a part of me that looked forward to a long, comfortable shower with Sigmir, and knew I had something else in mind.

“What was that about, downstairs? With the Innkeeper?” I asked, speaking just as softly as she had.

“Later.” she simply replied, and took a slightly exaggerated look around the bathroom, before returning to the others.

I followed after her, noticing an amused look on Olivia’s face, while Sigmir simply raised an eyebrow, curiosity obvious on her face.

“The dwarves have marvelous facilities in that regard. There is something to say about the open baths of the Empire, they can make you feel wonderfully decadent, simply soaking for hours on end, talking to friends and enjoying the floating sensations but the dwarven showers are a wholly different sort of enjoyment. Especially after a long day on the road, there’s nothing better than standing under the hot spray, letting it wash off the dirt and sweat.” Olivia said, her eyes and voice a little distant.

“You know what?” she asked, before any of us could react to her soliloquy, “That is exactly what I’m going to do now, take a shower. Please, meet me downstairs at the seventh bell, I’ll ask Drorak to prepare a sumptuous dinner for us.” she continued on.

“That would be fine with us.” I told her, after getting nods from the others. Good food was always nice, especially when one didn’t have to consider the impact of over-indulging on the waistline.

“Great, see you later.” she waved, the amused expression she had earlier returning as she walked off.

With a wave to Rai, Adra moved into the room Sigmir and I had claimed, closing the door after we had all entered.

“You asked about earlier, with the innkeeper.” Adra stated, speaking quietly. “There is a certain racial animosity between our people, not enough to go to fight over, but when one like him insults me, I will return the favour.” she explained, her voice quite annoyed. I was rather amused at her behaviour, normally, she was calm, collected and confident, at times teasing me for my reckless research of magic or the repeated troubles I had caused with other people. But now, she sounded rather peevish, ready to give tit-for-tat to another, in a way that I wouldn’t expect from her. My amusement must have shown on my face, for Adra growled under her breath.

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“What, would you like to be called a knife-ear, or maybe some sort of slur for being with Sigmir?” Adra asked, looking angry. The idea of getting attacked that way was something I had experienced myself, luckily not for my mixed heritage but for the fact that I was female and enjoyed playing online-games. It was one of the reasons I had constantly used an animated avatar, never showing my face on camera.

“No, you are right.” I accepted, thinking back to the innkeeper's words, realising that he had warmly welcomed us all, but referred to Adra as a tree-hugger. I made a mental note to ask her about it, as it seemed a little random to be a racial slur.

“Don’t bother with him, what cares the strong oak, if a boar grinds against it? Or in this case, what cares the mighty dryad, if a goat bleats in her direction?” Rai asked, taking Adra’s hand and caressing it in a very gentle and rather intimate manner. Those small, yet incredibly sweet, instances of affection between the two of them always made me happy, that they were able to share a feeling similar to the feeling between Sigmir and myself. Strangely, I noticed that a cloud passed over Adra’s face for a moment, even if she banished it as fast as it had appeared.

“The young one speaks with wisdom, how unexpected.” Adra chuckled, while returning the affectionate gesture to Rai. “But I think our new friend is correct, why don’t we enjoy the local facilities, wash the road off our backs and simply relax until it is time for the feast?” she asked, getting nods from Sigmir and myself.

As Adra and Rai left our room, still hand in hand, I managed to hear Adra suggest to Rai that he could wash her back. While I hadn’t been aware just how far the physical aspect of their relationship had progressed, I could only smile at the two of them.

“It does sound like a good idea, doesn’t it?” Sigmir asked, her voice tinged with excitement. With a smile on my face, I decided that she was right, a shower was just what I needed, especially if there was a Sigmir to wash. Thinking back, the shower was easily large enough to give us plenty of space for everything one might get up to, or down to, if one was so inclined.

But, as I could see from her behaviour, she wasn’t in too much of a hurry, taking her time to pull off one piece of equipment at a time, making sure that the individual pieces were in good condition. While part of me wanted to drag her into the bath as quick as possible, the smile on her face made it clear she wasn’t in too much of a hurry but two could play that game.

Just as slowly as she did, I took out the tools I had crafted from Hard Ice over the months, carefully going over each of them, making sure that they were still in good condition. It was something I did most days, especially now that it was summer, but one could never be too cautious with the equipment that you used to keep yourself alive.

With my Frozen Shuttles floating in front of me, I decided that I was feeling a little warm and pulled off the dwarven-made tunic I was wearing, leaving me bare to the world, after a blue window made sure that that was what I wanted.

The summer-heat had dulled the blades of my shuttles quite a bit, requiring me to draw on my magic to restore them. While the runes necessary were simple, the better I worked now, the sharper the edges of my shuttles would be, giving me an advantage in possible fights down the line.

Closing my eyes, to focus better on my magic also meant that the connection between Sigmir and me stood out even stronger and what I felt made me tingle with anticipation. Not wanting to lose the game she had started, I pulled a little stronger on my Ice-Magic, the cold sensation helping to push back the desire flowing within me. It wouldn’t last long and I didn’t want it to.

A soft, animalistic growl was more than enough warning, allowing me to open my eyes to take in Sigmir in all her naked glory, just before her arms wrapped around me, pulling me in for a kiss.

Returning the kiss, I shut the connection between Lenore and me down as much as possible, knowing that she had no interest in our enjoyment.

“Have fun. Don’t break the shower or the bed.” was the last thing I heard over the connection, just as Sigmir bodily picked me up, carrying me to the bathroom. Hopefully, the dwarves had built their facilities sturdy or I wouldn’t promise anything.