The boy prattled on about the history of Eridia, the best restaurants to go to and where to find the rarest imports. I felt bad since he was likely hoping for a tip. It was a winding trip through the city before we were back at the inn and I was a little impressed at how far I made it. How did he find me through all this? Without thinking I had voiced my thoughts because he answered.
“Well Miss, your hair.” When I gave him a confused look he continued, “It’s rare to see such golden hair so I just asked around.” He shrugged. I guess I had caught a lot of attention. Woops.
The inn was relatively close to the ocean squished in between two other shops. The whole building was wooden, and the first floor had a bar and several tables, half of which were filled with sailors and other such patrons.
“This way to the bath miss.” I liked this boy, he didn’t ask questions. Like how I managed to get myself in this state. Now that he had pointed it out, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that I was drawing peoples attention. They would watch the moment they thought I couldn’t see.
Past the bar, down the hall was several rooms on one end each painted with a simple picture of a bathtub. He opened the door indicating for me to enter.
“Thank you.” Inside was a solid metal tub, large enough to sit in with the water up to your chest. Beside it was a chair with a new dress and shoes neatly placed beneath it.
“The soaps over there, waters been kept warm for you. If you need anything please ring the bell miss and Betty, I mean the maid will come help.” He shut the door behind him. In this world nobles weren’t supposed to know the names of the people who served them.
The dress I was wearing must’ve been expensive, simply judging by the complicated process it took to take it off. At least there was a mirror here, though it was more like a really well polished metal strip. I looked emaciated. My ribs stuck out a little bit, and my hip bones were too defined. I needed muscle. My thighs were soft, so were my arms. Perfect for a young noble lady looking for a husband but that certainly wasn’t my plan.
Despite my morning jaunt the water was warm. I happily soaked in it before vigorously scrubbing off the first layer of skin. I even soaped my hair twice. If only there were conditioner, or at the very least a blow dryer.
“He has good taste at least.” The new dress was easier than my last one to put on and take off. It was a lovely cream blue colour that matched beautifully with my hair. The last one had many layers to the underskirt making it both heavy and wide. This one was more form fitting and easy to move in.
Not wanting to dampen my new dress I braided my hair to the side after checking if there were any marks on my neck to cover up. Vampire’s saliva could heal wounds and it seemed Eclis had at least taken care of the mess he had made of my neck. It was spotless.
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It was likely mid day by now and I had no intention of returning to the room. There was no way I was willing to face him after that so instead I made to leave the inn.
“Ahh, Miss.” The Innkeep was a burly man, dressed simply. He motioned to Betty and she disappeared down the hall. “Your husband instructed me to make sure you eat.” A blush flushed my face, but I resisted the urge to correct him. Likely Eclis made something up to the Inn Keep in order to hide his identity. Betty reappeared with a wooden bowl of stew in hand setting it at the bar. He motioned for me to take a seat. “It’s not up to the scruff of what you nobles typically like, but it’ll fill you up.” He spoke to me in a formal manner, and he had a kind smile.
“Thank you.” The stew was amazing, reminding me of the beef and barley stew’s we’d make at home. It was hard to ignore the glances of the patrons around me, so I quickly finished before ducking out. All you had to do to find the ocean was travel downhill. What was hard was trying to memorize the way back. I sort of have it down. Oh well.
In my effort to memorize landmarks I realized someone was following me. It was one of the patrons from the Inn. No way. This is like one of the most common tropes. I get jumped and the male lead’s supposed to come save me. Except… It’s daylight and Eclis likely hasn’t regained enough of his strength to go out during the day yet… Also I didn’t want to see him right now. Lets just stick to the busiest roads and avoid narrow unpopulated alleys. I continued my search for the waterfront unperturbed. Turns out this strategy doesn’t work in romance novels. My mugger grabbed my by the shoulder, throwing me into a dark narrow alley that seemed to pop up out of narrative convenience. Did no one see that? Apparently not because no one came to help me.
The man stank, he was big, brawny and wearing a wife beater. He leered at me and started spouting the typical stuff. “Eyy lass, you look like you’ve got too much change on ya. Lemme help ye with that.” He was talking down to me and swaggering towards me. It was easy enough to get back up in this dress at least. “Ey lass! Cat got ur tongue?” Even here they used that idiom. “No matter, you’ll still fetch a pretty price with that hair of yours.” I should cut it. In elementary school they paid for a program that taught young girls how to stand up for themselves when men proposition them. On the final day, they also taught self defence in case everything else failed. I never thought I’d get to use it. My heart was pounding but rather than being intimidated, I was HERE for it.
He seemed to notice I wasn’t acting how he expected and sneered at me. “Ahh does the kitten want to play.” He lunged at me and I at him. He seemed surprised that I didn’t jump back instead. Putting all the power into my leg, I pushed into a punch while he moved to grapple me. It landed right where I’d wanted it to. In the jugular.
His eyes bulged at the impact but he still grabbed both my arms pinning them to my side and bruising them in the process. It was still effective too. He was struggling to breath. His face twisted into a grimace, glaring at me. I used the next tactic I learned to break free. I kneed him in the balls, then, with my foot I kicked his knee stomping it all the way down his calf to his foot. It worked. His grip faltered and I manage to duck out of it dashing out of the alley behind him.
I mixed easily with the crowd keeping pace until I had reached the ocean. It was only here that I realized just how big I was smiling. My heart was pounding, but not because I was scared. That was thrilling. Really, truly thrilling. Perhaps I am crazy.