Now that Eu had her sword, it was time for all of us to change clothes. In other words, the next stop was the public bath house. To do that, we had to cross the outer wall into the city proper. This meant another bell spent traversing the twisty streets and climbing ever upwards toward the upper town.

Of course, even though she was wearing a dress, Eu was now wearing her sword as well. We received a few strange looks and a few laughs. Her frame was small enough that the consensus seemed to be that she had a fake sword in order to imitate her father. Still, the sight of a girl in a dress with a sword was unusual enough for some to stop and stare.

When we finally reached the gate, the two guards there gave me a nod. Obviously, they recognized me as a squire of the Duke. In fact, the younger of the two rushed over to offer greetings. Since he was only a guard, of lesser status than a squire, he knelt down before speaking. “Deft! It is good to see you and your … household?”

He had stalled when he spotted Eu in a dress with her sword. I grabbed his focus back by calling his name. “Will! It’s been a while. How is your family?”

“Father is doing well. My brothers are busy training each day.”

His father served as a soldier and guard like him. Since sons usually followed their father’s profession, the fact that they were training hard was a good sign. “I see you’re serving as a gate guard now. You must be doing well yourself.”

“I’m glad I was chosen. I also get an extra day off each week.”

“Ahh…” I leaned in to whisper. “Were you offered a raise as well?”

He blushed. My question might be considered unfriendly, but I could tell what he was after. “I did. The extra coins are helpful. Perhaps next year, I’ll be looking to move out of the barracks and rent a residence.”

I gave him a pleased smile. He knew that he was a longshot candidate. Progress would reach her third hand of age in less than two years. Since she was the daughter of a squire, he was thinking about moving up. Likewise, as my eldest daughter, she’d receive twice the dowry of her sister Swift. I’d want Progress to marry someone of her own social class. But, you never know…

Naturally, the two had never spoken to each other. But, as we left, I could see his eyes meet hers across the distance. Good, good! They’d noticed each other. I sent a small smile to Constance, but she only pursed her lips. Apparently, she had her own thoughts on the matter.

Unfortunately for Will, he should be sending intermediaries to my wife, not talking to me. In fact, proper etiquette would have his mother as the messenger. On the other hand, he was doing his best to present himself in a good light.

In any case, we left him behind at the gate, and moved toward the bath house. Except for the castle and the great sanctuary, it was the largest structure in the upper city. Local legends said that it had been built even before the castle.

Since the town was situated on a river, the flow of water provided enough force for water mills to lift some of it to a higher elevation. However, moving enough water to satisfy the needs of a bath house would still have been prohibitive. Luckily, the town was famous for its hot springs - in fact, that’s where the town’s name Emberwell had supposedly come from.

A large stone building had been built over the site, surrounding the source of the spring on all sides and closing it in. The price to enter was a single tin star coin per person. In other words, even the lower classes could afford it if they tightened their belts. On the other hand, for a price, the business offered various additional amenities such as fresh towels, laundry services, and even scented soaps and oils.

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As we entered into the front archway, Grit and I split from the womenfolk and headed toward the men’s side of the building. The others went the opposite way, giggling among themselves in excitement. Though, when I glanced backwards, I noticed that they had to pull Eu along behind them. For some reason, she was reluctant, shaking her head back and forth.

There were two large bathing pools in the men’s section. The smaller one was the hot pool from the thermal vents. Steam covered that area, rising upwards into the air. The other pool was cooler water meant more for swimming, exercise, or just chatting. After all, the bath house was one of the social centers of the city. Regardless, one was required to wash themselves at the wooden benches before entering either pool.

The whole enclosure was surrounded by a barrier of rocks and boulders, open to the sky. The corresponding women’s bathing pools were separated by a high wall of heavy bricks. You could hear voices over the wall, but it was muted by the distance and the blockade.

Seeing one of my comrades in the cooling bath, also a free squire like myself, I hurriedly washed off at the bench and settled into the water nearby. His name was Brawn, and he matched his name with a large frame and bulging muscles. He was getting older, and I could see streaks of gray in his beard.

“Deft? Is that you? I heard you’d been sent out with a message to the outskirts.”

“Hey Brawn! That’s right. I just got back yesterday.”

“Good trip?”

“Of course not!”

He laughed along, “Hahaha! Glad to be back then?”

“No kidding! Is there any news?”

“Mmm… well… the Duke’s gone to Kingseat in conference with the other Dukes.”

“What? Oh no! I came into town to present my findings to him!”

“Suppose you’ll have to wait then! Hahaha!” He laughed some more and slapped me on the shoulder, which stung since my skin was bare.

“Any idea when he’ll get back?”

“Not a clue! Hahaha! You know how those trips go.”

I sighed. All my wife’s plans were falling apart.

“You could go present yourself to the Seneschal,” he suggested.

“I’d rather not. If I did that, he’d take all the credit when he relayed word to the Duke.”

“Ah? Credit?” Brawn peered over at me. “So… you found something important?”

“Mmm… maybe? It’s up to the Duke to decide.”

He slapped my shoulder again. “Hahaha! You’re so young. Full of dreams and wishful thinking!”

I could guess there was a red hand print on my back now. I tried to move a bit further to be out of his reach. “Well… I have my children to think of. Grit’s almost three hands old and not long after that we’ll be preparing a dowry for Progress.”

“Sure! Sure! I remember those days!”

“Your children are all off and married!”

“Yep! Course, I had it easy! Four sons. No dowries from me!”

I gave him an exasperated groan, but it was drowned out by an argument on the other side of the separating wall. I could hear several women shouting at each other. Unfortunately, I recognized my wife’s voice mixed in with them.

“What do you figure’s going on?” Brawn asked while cocking his ear.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“That sounds like your wife.”

“Surely not!” I tried to deflect his attention by splashing a bit of water around.

Of course by this point, I could also make out Eu’s high-pitched voice from the other side. “No no no! No water!”

“Hahahaha! Sounds like someone’s getting their first bath!” Brawn chuckled.

I didn’t respond, trying my best to keep an amused smile on my face.

“The water’s safe!” That was Progress’s voice. “We’re not going to drown you! But you need to wash your hair!”

“No water!”

What followed was the noise of a extended struggle followed by a large splash and a lot of burbling.

“Hahaha! I wonder who that was? One of your daughters?”

I’d given up pretending already. I could feel my face burning so I tilted my head back to stare at the clouds in the sky.