After the meeting the King of the Chaos-Shapers, any energy reserves that Jano had were spent. He was not used to meeting with kings and rulers and if anything, it reminded him of the Emperor. Even though Zabar seemed like a much different person, he couldn’t be sure. He had a deep distrust of authority, which wasn’t likely to be dispelled any time soon.
Luckily, this place was not like Qursa. The looming swirling darkness at the top of the settlement certainly gave off a disturbing impression but the King so far had acted as the polar opposite of Eradin. He had ordered servants to guide them to their temporary living quarters within the King’s own grounds, while they prepared more permanent accommodation.
The living quarters were nicely built but relatively sparsely decorated just as the rest of the Chaos settlement seemed to be. “Your bath is ready sir.” A young servant with a dark robe and ceremonial mask on guided him into a room with a giant onyx bath in the centre. The room smelled like a variety of spices which Jano couldn’t place.
The room was immediately warm, moist and hazy and his face flushed red. The servant guided him to the side of the dark stone where he was joined by another servant in similar garb. It was then, up close, when he realised that each mask was subtly different. The pattern was flowing and changing, white on a black background. Curious, he was about to ask them about it when they tugged at his clothing.
Instinctively, he pulled back. He couldn’t see their faces, but their body language suddenly froze, suggesting either confusion or embarrassment. He felt his face flush a deeper shade of red and was glad for the reduced lighting in the room.
“Sorry sir, but we are your attendants. These are our duties while you are in our lands.” The original servant explained. Or at least he thought it was the original one.
“No please, I beg your pardon. I simply haven’t had attendants before. I’m not really sure what to expect.” He said.
“No problem sir. We have been attendants for many years.”
“Okay. Then please just accept any weird movements as my immaturity in this…. Sort of thing.”
With that tacit arrangement in place, the attendants began to pull at his clothing once more. Within moments they had stripped him naked and guided him into the boiling hot water. He took a few deep breaths and relaxed further into the dark water. It looked impossibly deep due to the dark stone which encased it. The attendants gathered some lotions and handily pointed out what each did before mercifully leaving him alone.
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He sank into the water, luckily the darkness of the stone shrouded the inevitable dirt stream which would be leaving him from the weeks on the road. He tried to put the events of the city out of his mind; there was nothing he could do about it now and continuing to stress about it would only prolong his suffering. Dariea had told him he could get stronger and they would now be returning with an army, hopefully. She hadn’t specified how happy another army would be in fighting their battle for them.
He turned his attention to the stone bath. He reached out to the onyx with his spirit, tired and drained though it was. He could feel the dark strength of its essence. Sturdily built. It wasn’t from nearby, he could somehow tell. It echoed of a power from far away. He felt its essence stream through his spirit. He wouldn’t draw on it to do anything, he would likely accidentally break the bath and result in some unhappy hosts. However, he remembered Dariea’s words about channeling the essence through his spirit deliberately.
He pulled the essence of the onyx into his spirit. He was careful not to think of any runes which might dismantle the thing as well as being careful not to do anything instinctively. Quietening his mind was harder than he thought. Intense images of Qursa and Alsace flashed before him. He felt the essence begin to spiral uncontrolled throughout his spirit. He took a deep breath. Focus, he repeated the words in his mind as though it was a mantra. His mind finally fell silent, and he began to focus his will on pushing the essence through his spirit. A faint glow began to emanate within himself. At least, that’s all he could describe what was happening to him as. The essence began to flow in a faint imperfect circular pattern. He let the hot water continue to relax him. He stayed like that, in meditation, for a few minutes before he felt himself losing control once more. He released the essence back into the stone with careful guidance. He let out a deep breath and was surprised to find himself sweating profusely. Though it could have been simply due to the water, the exhaustion which lay upon him told him differently. Whatever training Dariea was planning, it best be intense, he thought.
He stretched out in the warm water and felt his muscles relax fully. Time passed. He couldn’t tell at what speed and frankly, he didn’t care. He was in the moment. He no longer focused on the stone. He felt the water and decided that at that moment, nothing else mattered.
“By the way, our King asked us to give you this.” One of the attendants returned holding a small black pendant on a long silver chain. He handed it to Jano, who took it with what could only be described as a confused expression on his brow.
“It will allow you into the treasure hall. In exchange for bringing warning of the activities in the Empire of Qursa, the King will allow you to choose a treasure from the Hall of Wonder.” Jano comprehended the attendant's words, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the pendant. Up close, it was strewn with small silver specks which looked like the stars in the sky on a clear evening. “Simply let us know when you wish to visit and we will guide you there.”
Jano nodded and thanked the attendant for the gift. “Many, many thanks for this gift. Please tell the King how appreciative I am. Jano thanked the attendants once more and it was clearly a little too much for their custom as the attendant grew slightly red and was visibly uncomfortable. They said nothing to correct Jano however and he was thankful.