Blood and Scales

Chapter 6 – The Cave

Aelia groaned as she saw that the vegetation around her was beginning to get brighter. Granted, she also felt like groaning because of the shoulder that had been digging into her stomach for the last hour.

“Quiet,” Ardera ordered.

“You need to put me down.” Aelia retorted.

“Even with my hiding the trail behind us, Grunna could still track us down. We can’t afford to stop.”

“I’m not saying we need to stop,” Aelia spat, “I’m saying I need to hide, the sun is coming out.”

“So?”

“So, if it touches me, I’ll die,” Aelia said incredulously, “then I can’t be your prisoner!”

“You’re hardly a prisoner,” Ardera snorted.

“These chains would say otherwise.” Aelia rattled the chains in her hands demonstratively.

“If I let you free, will you attack me?”

“Would you believe me if I said no?”

Ardera sighed.

“Look, I don’t know where to go to survive the day,” Aelia continued, “You can help me with that. Why would I attack the only person that can help me survive?”

“That’s a fair point,” Ardera said, pulling the key out of the pouch at her waist.

Aelia was still rubbing her sore wrists, which were nearly healed, when they arrived at the entrance to a large cave. It was well hidden with vines and tree branches covering the entrance. Aelia would have gone right past it without another look if Ardera hadn’t exposed the entrance.

“How did you know this was here,” Aelia wondered aloud.

“I used to come here when I was younger,” Ardera explained, “Hurry up and get inside.”

The beginning of the cave was nondescript and it continued down for about a hundred feet before it opened up into something incredible. In the center of the cavern was a beautiful pool of water filled by falling water coming from a hole near the ceiling. The gentle falling of the water filled the cavern with a pleasant background noise. This was all gently illuminated by faintly glowing crystals.

“Wow,” Aelia said breathlessly.

“It really is something, isn’t it,” Ardera grinned, “We should be well concealed here, and frankly I could use a bath.”

Heat rose in Aelia’s face at the thought of the well-muscled lizard in the bath.

“Um… okay. I’ll just keep watch over here.” Aelia stammered.

“Do you not also want to get clean?” Ardera asked, she was very confused by the sudden nervousness of the other woman.

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“Yeah,” Aelia laughed nervously, “but someone should stand guard right? I mean, in case someone stumbles on the cave?”

“I guess that makes sense, but I’d be able to sense anyone that comes close, so don’t worry about it,” Ardera explained, “You should come wash, especially the wounds around your wrists. You don’t want those getting infected.”

“Infected? But they’re already healed.”

“What? How could they…,” Ardera grabbed her hands and looked at what had been raw, bleeding wrist when she had freed them. The woman’s hands were soft and warm compared to the calloused roughness of her own scales. Her face flushed, and she let go of them.

“You should still get clean,” Ardera continued, “This cave masks your scent for now, but out there Grunna will be able to find you.”

Without further argument the two of them undressed, and entered the pool. Ardera couldn’t help but notice that the other woman turned around and faced the wall when she started pulling her tunic up over her head. She thought that was very strange, but dismissed it as another quirk of the beautiful woman.

When Aelia entered the pool the other woman was already in, and she did her best to avert her gaze, and kept her back to the woman as she washed away the mud and grime. The pool was surprisingly warm. After a few minutes soaking her aching muscles relaxed, and she felt a little more comfortable.

“I just realized, I never asked you your name,” Ardera said after a while.

“Oh, I’m Aelia, future Countess of Antipolis,” Aelia started, but stopped with a contemplative frown, “though I suppose since I’m running away that isn’t quite true anymore. Does that mean I’m Aelia the Wanderess now?”

“I like Aelia the Wanderess, it adds to your mystique,” Ardera said, getting closer. Aelia started getting more nervous, and looked over her shoulder at the Lizigoth woman. Her scaled skin was shimmering like gems in the light of the pool.

“Why does Grunna hate you so much?” Aelia blurted out like an idiot, and turned away from the other woman. She didn’t understand why she was so flustered right now.

“Gods,” Ardera stopped, sighed, and leaned her head back against the edge of the pool, “I don’t really know, but maybe because I’m a druid?”

“A druid?”

“Yeah. I’ve always been connected to the land,” Ardera explained, looking at the woman across from her, she couldn’t help but admire the woman’s delicate pale skin, And her hair, now free from dirt had become golden like reeds, “It’s difficult to explain but I can feel everything around me and to an extent manipulate it, like an extra limb, I guess.”

“So, he doesn’t like you because you’re stronger than him?” Aelia asked, thinking she understood.

“I mean, maybe? I’ve always been a little isolated from the others.” Ardera didn’t like to think about her time in the nursery, “But Grunna, he was always the oldest and strongest. Everyone looked up to him. Even I did to an extent. It was probably really hard for him when I was put in charge instead of him.”

“I’m sorry. That must be really rough.” Aelia tried to comb her fingers through her tangled wet hair.

“What about you?” Ardera said, “You said something about running from a marriage?”

“Ugh, yeah,” Aelia paused, “I don’t know what you know about us Vanardis.”

“Well, I just learned that you’re called Vanardis, for one thing.” Ardera chuckled.

“So not much then,” Aelia frowned, “We don’t have a lot of children. And most of them are born male. So the few women that are born? They are held up on a pedestal, but we also aren’t allowed much freedom. The priests hold everyone to a very restrictive code, and when we came to this world, they started being even more strict.”

“Oh,” Ardera said, “So you are being made to marry against your will?”

“Basically.”

“And you just want to be free?”

“I want to be able to make my own decisions about who I…,” Aelia paused blushing, “fall in love with.”

Ardera had a strange feeling in her chest. She wanted to help Aelia for some reason that was beyond her understanding. She felt like she didn’t want Aelia to leave her.

“You should come live in the village,” Ardera stated, hopeful that the woman would say yes.

“I-is that something I could do?” Aelia asked, not understanding why her heart fluttered at the thought.

“If you were to help me find the missing girl, I’m sure I could convince the elders to let you stay.” Ardera deeply hoped she actually could.

At that moment, when things were going so well, Grunna fell into the mouth of the cave, covered in shallow cuts, and bleeding horribly.