Someone put their hand on her shoulder and then shook her. She opened her eyes to see Bralla looking down at her.

“Time to get up, lass,” Bralla said.

“Aye,” Anna replied.

She sat up and looked around the room to see her human and elf friends still unconscious in their beds while her new dwarven friends were up and about. After she drank a mug of the stone one’s own, all the dwarves wanted to drink and dance with her, so she’d been pulled away from her friends the moment the priestess had stopped watching. She hadn’t escaped from their clutches until the bell marking the end of the second shift rang, and the priestesses shooed everyone from the cathedral.

She’d met back up with everyone just outside of the cathedral grounds, and they’d walked, staggered was a better way of putting it, back to the inn together. The others had been so exhausted, and drunk, from their revelries they simply fell into their beds and passed out the moment they walked into the room. She, on the other hand, had gotten undressed and hung her clothing up so it didn’t get too wrinkled for use the next day.

She opened her pack, pulling out a large box, and opening it. It was filled with potions, each one in a small compartment of its own to keep them from rattling around and breaking. Most of them were hangover cure for obvious reasons, but she had a few of the powerful cure potions. She hoped she wouldn’t have to use them because of the rarity of ingredients and the complexity of the recipe itself.

That and the mess people make after they drink one.

“You lot look like shit,” Uthra said.

Anna looked up to see that the dwarves had woken everyone else up, though she wasn’t sure if she’d call what Lyreen was awake or not. She pulled the potions from their holders and brought them to each of her friends who gladly drank them down. After the usual sneezing, their eyes seemed to clear, and they thanked her.

“So, why are you naked?” Lyreen asked.

“I didn’t want to wrinkle my dress by sleeping in it,” Anna replied.

Lyreen looked down at her dress and frowned. Suddenly, she looked up at Anna.

“Can I borrow your cleaning ring?” she asked.

“Sure, but I don’t think it gets rid of wrinkles,” Anna replied.

“I sweated a lot, and I don’t want to smell when we go out today,” Lyreen said.

“Yeah, and you peed on yourself a little too,” Anna replied.

Elaine started to laugh, and Lyreen turned bright red.

“You could have kept that to yourself, you know!” she said.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Anna replied.

She went back to her bed and picked up her belt, opening the pouch that contained her magic rings, and fished out the cleaning ring. Lyreen was pulling off her dress when she walked back over, so she waited for her to finish getting undressed before she handed the elf the ring and then followed her over to the beam to watch.

Lyreen hung her dress up and then put the ring on and held it near the sleeve of her dress. She pulled the sleeve tight for some reason and then activated the ring. Anna watched as the sleeve was cleaned. Lyreen let go when she finished, and much to Anna’s surprise, the wrinkles were mostly gone.

“I didn’t know it could do that!” Anna said.

“I noticed that my dresses were less wrinkled after you cleaned them on the way here, so I figured that if I pulled the cloth tight, it might work even better,” Lyreen replied.

Anna pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly, and ending up with a face full of elf breast. She let go when she realized Lyreen was still covered in dried sweat, making a face.

“Gross,” she said.

“You’re the one that hugged me,” Lyreen replied.

“I know, but it’s still gross,” Anna said.

“Hey, can I borrow that after she’s done?” Elaine asked.

“Sure,” Anna replied.

Rose walked over and held hers out as well.

“I’ll do yours when they finish,” Anna replied.

“Would you mind cleaning mine as well, child?” Barika asked as she stripped down.

“Not at all,” Anna replied.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Better get some water to clean our asses with. No sense in putting clean clothes back on our filthy asses,” Bralla said.

The dwarves left the room, and Lyreen continued cleaning her dress. When she finished, Elaine started on hers, and then Anna cleaned Barika’s and Rose’s. She was finishing up Barika’s dress when the dwarves got back and handed her their dresses. She cleaned them up quickly and then joined the others at the massive basin the dwarves had carried into the room. She picked up a cloth, dipped it in the water, and started to wipe off her hands, face, neck, and finally her breasts.

“I thought you didn’t sweat, lass,” Uthra said.

“I don’t. I just spilled my drink on myself, and these things catch everything,” Anna replied.

“Aye, I bet they do,” Uthra replied.

After they got washed as best they could, they got dressed and left their room for the day. They wandered around the streets looking for something to eat that would help with the lingering effects of the hangover her friends were suffering from.

The smells of heavy foods filled the air, and she realized that of all the races, dwarves would know how to deal with a hangover the best, so pretty much anything being sold this morning would be perfect. She heard a sizzling sound and smelled something sweet.

She looked over to see a dwarf flipping a pancake on a large flat iron. Next to the pancakes were cuts of meat that looked suspiciously like bacon and a few large eggs. She looked over her shoulders at her friends. Each one was looking at the pancakes like a pack of starving wolves. Bralla put her hand on Anna’s shoulder and patted it a few times.

“Ya did it again, lass,” she said.

They ate huge stacks of pancakes slathered in butter and covered in sweet thick syrup, a pile of crispy bacon-like meat, and a few large eggs. Once finished, all of them stood there for a moment, rubbing their now overfull bellies and sighing with satisfaction. After they digested for a few minutes, they walked away. After a few blocks, she smelled flowers of all things when a woman opened a door nearby.

“How do you lasses feel about a massage?” Gilira asked, looking at the same building Anna was.

“I’ve never had one before,” Anna said.

“Really?” Lyreen asked.

“Yeah. I’ve rubbed all your backs, but no one has ever rubbed mine,” Anna replied.

Her friends looked sheepish, and Gilira put her arm across Anna’s shoulders.

“Time we got that changed then, lass,” she said as she guided Anna to the building.

The scent of flowers was strong. When they walked into the building, dwarven women crowded the main room, sitting on benches and chatting with each other. Most had wet hair and a slight sheen of oil on their skin.

Gilira didn’t let her go until they reached a small counter near the back wall. There was a sign that had prices for their various services. Most of the things listed were parts of the body like the neck, shoulders, back, and well, the whole thing. The last one on the list puzzled her though it simply said full service.

What’s more than your whole body?

“It’s this lass’s first time, so take care of her, alright?” Gilira said, patting her on the shoulder and handing the woman behind the counter enough for the full service.

Guess I’m going to find out.

“Are you sure that’s safe? I mean, you know what happens when she…” Elaine said, causing the dwarves to stare at her.

“Get yer mind of the gutter, lass,” Gilira snapped.

“Er, sorry,” Elaine replied.

“Come on, lass. We’ll take care of you,” a dwarf said as she gestured for Anna to follow.

They left the main room and walked into the back. There was a bath on the other side of the doorway, but instead of getting washed, she was led down a hallway next to the bath and passed several rooms that had curtains instead of doors.

The dwarf pulled the curtain back on one of the rooms and motioned for her to go inside. She walked into the room. There was a single person bath in the back along with a shower. A long stone table covered in a thick blanket was off to the right. The dwarf walked into the room behind her and headed for the bath.

“Never had a human in here before. How hot do you want the water, lass?” the dwarf asked.

Better just tell her how hot normal humans need it. I don’t want her to cook someone if she does get a human later.

“Cooler than a dwarf but still steaming some,” Anna replied.

“Aye, go get washed up, lass. I’ll get this filled,” the dwarf said.

Anna nodded and got undressed, putting her clothing on a rack and hanging her dress from the side. She went over to the shower and turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up before getting under the powerful steam like her friends did.

She started to wash her hair with the appropriate bar of soap, making sure to get all of it, which was quite a task, when the smell of flowers filled the room. She looked over at the bath and watched the dwarf pouring bottles of oil into the running water.

“What’s that for?” she asked.

“Smells good and makes your skin softer,” the dwarf replied.

Sure it does.

She finished washing up and turned off the water. The dwarf gestured for her to get in the bath, so she walked over and stepped into the slightly steaming water.

“How is it?” the dwarf asked.

How the fuck am I supposed to know?!

“It’s fine,” she replied, sinking into the water which came up to the base of her neck.

The dwarf went over to the table and started to line bottles and tins up on a table next to her. She stretched a few times, rubbing her hands and fingers to loosen them up, before walking back over to Anna and taking a towel hanging from a hook near the bath.

“Ready when you are, lass,” she said.

Soaking did nothing for her, so she got out of the bath, and the dwarf wrapped her in the towel and rubbed her dry before putting her hair up in it like her friends did when they got washed. The dwarf gestured for her to lay down on the table, so she did, and she watched the dwarf as she picked up one of the bottles and poured it on her back. It was warm and felt like thick oil.

The dwarf started to rub it into her back. Once she finished, she moved her hands to the back of Anna’s neck and started to massage there. She worked them for a moment before moving on to her shoulders and her upper back.

“Do you stretch often, lass?” the dwarf asked.

“I do,” Anna lied.

“I can tell. You’re not tense at all,” the dwarf said.

Once she finished Anna’s back, she had her roll over and then started on her front. It didn’t take as long to massage her front, and when she finished, Anna sat up. The dwarf took the towel off her head and started to rub some hair grease into her scalp. She brushed her hair, and then when she finished, Anna got dressed and was led back to the main room. She looked for her friends and spotted Bralla, Gilira, and Uthra sitting on a bench. She went to sit next to them. The dwarves smiled at her when she sat down.

“What’d you think?” Bralla asked.

“I smell nice now,” Anna replied.

“Should have known a massage wouldn’t do much for you,” Gilira said sighing.

“Yeah,” Anna replied.