Maledictus Terra Book 3: Vetitum Nemus Part 53
1 comment
Hello Readers!
It has been a while since I posted an update. I even missed last week as I was not prepared with my half of the story.
Be sure to read @zakludick's update as he is creating an alternative country and people to our current heroes.
So, without further ado, let's dive in!
Letulah took her time in the bath. It was sunk into the floor in the lower reaches of the castle. By some ingenious invention, the servant had brought a metal pipe into the room and filled the bath with steaming water. Several female servants had rushed around with various oils, some added to the water while others were meant for cleansing.
While she stared at the hot water starting to fill the bath, the servant doing the filling chuckled.
“Clever, isn’t it?”
“Magic?”
“Not at all. The prince is a smart lad. Several connected pipes lead to a cauldron that is kept boiling throughout the day. It is tipped and the water is guided to where it is needed. It flows easily as the cauldron is a floor above most baths. If the temperature is too hot, we can add cold water to watch what you prefer.”
Letulah shook her head in amazement and made a mental note to acknowledge the younger twin when she saw him later.
The servant felt the water and indicated that Letulah do the same. Together they determined the bath was at the perfect temperature and that the pipe could be removed. While Letulah was curious as to how the water stopped, the servant quickly left the room, leaving only the female servants to add the various oils and a set of clothes before they left the room too.
Letulah, having spent months on the road and not seen the inside of an inn in some time, had no hesitation as she stripped her clothing and dove into the near-scalding water. The sting was a welcome feeling on her skin. The bath was quite large and Letulah wondered what would happen with the water once she was done.
After pondering it for a few minutes, she determined that the servants would likely drain it by buckets and carry it out to the castle garden. There was no reason to waste this amount of water. Satisfied that she had answers to her question, she moved over to where the oils had been left and made a conscious decision to scrub the travel grime from her body with the clothes close by.
The oils confused her senses but for the first time in a long time, she felt safe enough to let her guard drop. At least partially. While her nose couldn’t pick up all the smells in the room, she could still hear and see very well. Well enough to know that someone had slipped into the room with the servants and hadn’t left.
Letulah weighed her options as to whether this was a peeping tom or not when the person made themselves known. A swish of a long robe was what gave them away initially, but soon, a purple-robed figure was standing on the opposite side of the bath where Letulah was lounging with her arms spread over the brickwork.
Letulah was well travelled, but she always got the Kai disciples mixed up. She stared at the woman for a few minutes before questioningly asking, “Spear maiden of Jidan Kai?”
The woman chuckled and shook her head, “No, ex-bright mage of Hiral Kai.”
“That’s right! They are purple, the spear maidens tend to wear white.”
The woman bowed and introduced herself.
“I am Noxus, advisor to the queen. I have been informed that you made a deal with a lich. Does it have a name?”
Letulah knew this was Mary’s way of trying to help but she didn’t need help, and she didn’t want the interference. She had to quell the beast within, knowing that Noxus was nothing more than a messenger and it was Mary who ordered this of her.
Taking a deep breath and then releasing it, Letulah looked the mage in the eye and said, “I know why you are here. Know that the deal with the lich is one I made willingly. It will bring no harm to this castle or its people. I do not want to discuss the deal, it’s not that I can’t.”
Noxus nodded her head and answered in turn, “This is what I believed but the queen thinks that you should be saved. I will lay her concerns to rest.”
"This is what you believed?”
“I may not to a disciple of Hiral Kai anymore, but I learned a lot. I know the difference between a deal and an agreement. I feel that you and this lich have an agreement, some sort of understanding. A service for a reward.”
Letulah was shocked that this mage had gleaned so much in just a few short minutes of meeting her.
“Ha, Mary surrounds herself with good people.”
“Which is why she would like you to return. I don’t know what happened between you and her husband in the past, but it would seem now that the obstacle has been removed, you have a chance to return.”
Letulah had been on the road for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to have a place to belong. She snorted and started rubbing oil into her hair to untangle the knots that were there. She didn’t take her eyes off the mage until she sunk below the surface of the water to remove the excess oil. By the time she surfaced, Noxus was gone.
“Damn mages.”
And now it's back to Zak!
Here is an explanation of Chain Stories and here is the current Chainstory Library
Mortis Custos
Sanguifex
Vetitum Nemus
The Reader List
If you would like to be tagged in every episode of Mortis Custos, leave us a comment and get added in, miss nothing!
The Watchlist:
@weone, @merenludick, @clairemobey, @therneau, @blitzzzz, @pravesho, @joetunex, @captainquack22, @irisworld, @braaiboy, @sketchygamerguy, @fuego-oscuro, @felt.buzz, @dibblers.dabs, @brittandjosie, @tamacvet, @alonicus, @joetunex, @stdd, @uop, @luizeba, @cryptoniusrex, @agreste, @itzchemaya, @darthsauron, @seki1
Comments