"So, what are the names," Jenn asked as Emily started walking with them.
"Huh?" Emily asked, sounding surprised.
"The names you said you'd give me," Jenn reminded her, a little surprised that she'd forgotten her excuse for talking with her in the first place.
"Oh, yeah. Those names. Well, there's Cassie and Lily who I don't know where they are. I don't even think the duchess knows who they got sold to or where they went from there."
Jenn nodded sympathetically. She understood the chaotic nature of being the one sold with no idea of where she'd end up next. Although, she figured that she'd purchased enough slaves from the slave auction that she'd be able to ask about some slaves. Although, she doubted that they kept track of them by name. Especially slaves who didn't speak the local language and had no way of sharing what their names were.
Nor would she be surprised if there were slave owners who chose to give slaves 'new' names that suited the owner's tastes.
"Well, we'll keep an eye out for slaves by those names," Jenn started to say when Emily interrupted her.
"Cassie has platinum blond hair and crystal blue eyes while Lily has red-brown hair and green eyes."
Jenn glanced at Emily who didn't shift her gaze from where she was heading. "Uh, why'd you tell me what they looked like? I could just as easily have said that Shirley or Rick had told me"
Emily looked at Jenn, as if she should be able to figure out the answer to that question on her own. Yet, she still answered, "Because that'll give you a clue as to what they look like in case you're not able to find them by name and it'll show that I was doing my best to help you out with Rick and Shirley both staying here with me now."
Jenn wished Emily didn't use a tone as if she was explaining that to a child. While she hadn't thought of that aspect just yet, she would likely have thought of it eventually. Which merely made Emily spelling it out for her in that way feel more demeaning. Though, she also couldn't help but wonder how she'd explain this development to Maelia. As she'd fully expected that Rick would be coming back with them, but one of the first things that the duchess had told them was that Shirley and Rick were going to stay with her at her castle for the time being.
"Well, thanks," Jenn said, doing her best to keep her annoyance out of her voice. After all, while it sounded rather demeaning, that didn't mean that Emily intended for it to come across that way.
"Just keep in mind that the duchess still doesn't know you're from another world. Unless you want to spill that to her, I'll keep your secret, but it does come with certain issues that we need to be wary of. Otherwise we could end up with a situation that you'd probably rather avoid in the first place," Emily whispered just loud enough for Jenn to hear.
"Does the duchess know where she had them sold?" Jenn asked, after a few minutes, when the front gates of the duchess' castle came into view.
Emily didn't respond right away, but instead just continued walking as if Jenn hadn't said anything. Though, as the gates were opened to let them leave, she said, "I don't know but I'll see what I can learn from the duchess herself. If you come with the Blue Rose's stand-in in the morning, I'll let you know then."
Jenn thought about it for a moment but shook her head. "I might not be up as early as she is. Though if you tell her that information, I'm sure she'll pass it along to me," Jenn said, hoping that she wasn't laying a trail of bread crumbs for Emily to figure out that she herself was the Blue Rose.
However, Emily merely nodded, not asking for any more details. "Alright, I'll let her know, but are you sure you can trust her? Won't the Blue Rose get on you for trying to use her funds to find slaves that won't benefit you?"
Jenn couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash over her. Not only didn't Emily suspect her, but she'd even made it clear without Jenn having to pry about what Emily's thoughts were.
"Well, she wasn't upset when I bought Shirley and she would have been a loss for any slave considering the condition she was in when I found her," Jenn answered, even as she got annoyed looks from the guards who were clearly wanting to close the gate. "But I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something when the time comes."
"You better," Emily said as the gate started to close.
Jenn couldn't think of what else to say and the gates closed before she had a chance to come up with anything, but she didn't worry about it. As she was more interested in heading to an inn, hoping there'd be room there, and getting some sleep. Though, she hoped that there'd be a room available for her and Saelea to sleep in, she knew that she should just expect to sleep in the common room with everyone else. After all, even if the inn had enough rooms to house all of them, Jenn seriously doubted that they'd have enough money to keep that kind of arrangement for the entire stay in this city.
As they made their way away from the duchess' castle, Saelea glanced back, as if she was trying to figure something out.
"Why were you so subservient to the duchess?"
Jenn couldn't help but smile at her stand-in. She probably had been more submissive than she should be, but at the same time, she couldn't see a way to keep the duchess from walking all over her without revealing that she is the Blue Rose. A fact that she was pretty sure would only create more problems than it would solve.
"Well, if I'm not, then she could figure out that I'm the Blue Rose and reveal it to everyone, regardless of what I'd like," Jenn replied quietly, a little worried that what they were saying could be overheard despite the late hour. "So, I figure it's just easier to let her be the one in charge and assume I'm just a follower of the Blue Rose rather than the Blue Rose herself."
Saelea nodded, though it was clear that she didn't quite agree with Jenn's assessment. Not that Jenn felt like complaining about that point. She'd rather her stand-ins voice their dissent on topics that they disagreed with her about. As she didn't pick them to be mere puppets to echo whatever she said. Which is what she had a feeling they'd pretty much be if they didn't think that they could voice their own opinions to her if those opinions disagreed with what Jenn herself thought.
However, Saelea didn't say anything more as they continued on their way to find a place to sleep, which Jenn felt a little bit of relief from. As she was starting to feel rather tired herself and would like a place to just sleep.
Luckily, the first inn they stopped at had a room for them and had reasonable rates as far as Jenn could tell. Though, she was still a little uncertain about her ability to determine what really was 'reasonable' or not on this world. Nor did it help that no one else in her party were as confident about determining that as well.
Though, as Jenn and Saelea entered the room that would be theirs for the time being, Saelea asked softly, "Would you mind if I slept in your bed?"
Jenn was surprised at the request. There were two pallets of straw on the floor and while they were close by, it made Jenn wonder if there was some other reason behind Saelea's request. Especially since the look Jenn could see in her stand-in's eyes were much like her sister's eyes when she wanted to share Jenn's bed on nights when there was a thunderstorm.
"Alright," Jenn said, not having the heart to refuse. "Though, only if you have some clothing on."
Jenn figured she needed to lay down some ground rules as she recalled how frequently the people in this world slept without anything on. A habit that Jenn was starting to pick up on herself, though at this moment, it hardly felt like it was just about that. After all, if she slept with another girl in the same bed and didn't have any clothing on, she couldn't say if doing that wouldn't count as cheating. Something she was still determined to not do to Alex while she was away from her girlfriend.
"Okay," Saelea said quietly, making Jenn wonder what the reason behind this was.
Especially since Saelea was the last person Jenn would have thought would ask this of her. As Saelea had always seemed to Jenn as if she was able to stand on her own and would only bow to those she chose to, regardless of whatever circumstances she was in.
Though, as Jenn considered that point further, she had to acknowledge that Saelea might have been different when she was a slave, since she might have been had different experiences than Jenn had as a slave.
So, as Jenn settled down on the bed, she felt Saelea lay on the same bed behind her. While Jenn had expected for Saelea to just lay there, she was surprised when arms reached around her and pulled her into an embrace from behind. While she wasn't opposed to the contact, it at least made Jenn glad that she'd insisted on clothing being worn. As she could only imagine the effects on her body if both of them had been naked. Not that her body wasn't responding to the situation in a way that she found uncomfortable anyway, she just felt that it was muted enough that she could deal with it right then.
For Jenn, it was a while before she was able to go to sleep.
_
Embris felt the cool cloth on her body. She still felt weak, but the last she'd seen, the spots that had appeared earlier that day were gone. She wasn't sure what had happened during the time she'd been awake last, but she could see moonlight shining through the cracks in the building, almost making the room she was in seem like it was another world entirely from the one she'd entered through the gate to get to.
"You'll be alright," Cinder whispered to her, making Embris feel safe that it was her brother who was taking care of her.
Although, she couldn't help but wonder when he'd gotten so good at this. Especially since she knew he hadn't been one to wipe her forehead in the past. If anything, he'd have either tried dipping her head in the bucket or lightly pouring the water on her forehead instead.
Embirs closed her eyes as she allowed herself to enjoy the coolness the damp cloth wiping her forehead and face gave her. Though, it wasn't until it started to go lower that she started to realize she wasn't wearing anything under her blanket and it was her brother who was doing this.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Embris said, not sure this should continue. While she enjoyed the coolness of the damp cloth, she couldn't say that it would be proper for Cinder to do what she thought he was about to do.
"Is something wrong?"
Embris' mind raced as she tried to figure out how to articulate what the problem was. While she had felt drowsy when she'd been woken up by the damp cloth on her forehead, she now felt wide awake and ready to push Cinder away if he tried anything unbrotherly-like.
"Should you be doing this to your sister?" Embris asked when she couldn't think of anything better to say.
"Would you rather Amelia do this? She's the one who showed me how to give… uh, I think they're called 'bird baths'."
Embris blinked. She wans't sure what a 'bird bath' was, but she still felt that her brother shouldn't be the one giving it to her. It felt like it was crossing at least one of the taboos the church had issued. Though, part of her relaxed when it sunk in that this was something that Amelia had taught him to do and he was likely doing it personally because he wanted to care for his family. Embris couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't woken up when she did. Such as either sleeping through the 'bird bath' entirely or even waking up in the middle of it.
Shaking the thoughts out of her head, Embirs focused on the point that Cinder had made about if she wanted Amelia to do that. Which seemed like it was something that would feel better for her. If nothing else, it wouldn't be her brother touching her in a way that felt wrong for a brother to touch his sister.
"Yeah, I think I'd rather Amelia do this… uh, 'bird bath' was it?"
"I'll go get her," Cinder said, not answering Embris' question.
While she felt a little annoyed by that fact, she couldn't help but wonder if Cinder had gone from being her brother to becoming a professional… whatever it was called that Amelia was clearly training him to be. She was sure that she'd been told what it was before she'd come down with the spotted plague, or at least had the effects noticeable for her.
Embris took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She wasn't sure if she would have imagined this happening in the first place, but she was at least glad that it pretty much started when Amelia was there with her friends. Otherwise she wasn't sure what would have happened to her. She knew that Nymis and Rephis would be alright, since they'd already had the spotted plague and it was well known that no one would catch it again after having caught it the first time. No one knew the reason, just that it worked out that way.
Then before she opened her eyes, she felt the cloth again touch her neck, startling her. "Cinder, I told you not to do that," she complained, opening her eyes to see Amelia there.
Embris blinked, trying to figure out when Cinder left and Amelia had arrived. She was certain she hadn't fallen asleep, yet that was the only explanation she could think of as to how the switch had been made. Especially when Amelia's smirk at her confusion at seeing Amelia instead of Cinder made it clear that she hadn't taken any offense at Embris' complaint.
"How long was I out for?" she asked, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Don't worry, Cinder came to get me right away. So, maybe five minutes at the most?"
Embris sighed, though didn't complain as the cloth moved lower on her body, occasionally leaving as the cloth started to dry out only to return a moment later fully damp again, the trickling water creating an almost melodic noise that soothed Embris as she let Amelia wash her body.
Somehow it hardly felt like she was being treated as an invalid, which was what Embris had always thought she'd feel like if she ever found herself in this position. Instead, it was almost like she was being pampered. Embris wasn't sure how to describe it fully, just that it was like she was a noble who was being bathed by a servant instead of a sick soldier who was being taken care of by someone else.
Then before Embris knew it, the cloth didn't return. "All done," Amelia said as she got up from beside Embris' bed.
Embris couldn't help but feel a sense of loss from the moment ending and feeling like it had been taken away from her. While she wanted the moment back, she couldn't help but feel that it was lost entirely right then. In a way that she knew she wouldn't be able to get back, no matter what she did about it.
Then as she heard Amelia start to get up, she felt a surge of panic. She didn't want to be left alone right then, but she couldn't help but feel that there wasn't anything she could do to prevent that right then. Especially since she was certain that Amelia had others that she needed to attend to right then. Which made her coming personally to give her a 'bird bath' instead of her brother doing it already feel like an imposition on Amelia's time.
"Is there something else you needed?" Amelia asked, her words cutting through the haze the panic had brought to her mind.
"I just don't want to be left alone for now," Embris said, hoping she didn't sound as weak as she felt the words made her sound.
"Well, I have other things I need to do, but if you'd like, I'm sure I can find someone who would love to keep you company and has been worrying about how you're doing."
Embris couldn't help but feel the confusion return, replacing the panic as if it was as easily changeable as a tunic. Something she couldn't say that she'd felt before.
Then suddenly she felt a weight pounce on her. The giggling sound emanating from that 'weight' letting her know that it was Nymis.
"We wanted to talk with you earlier, but you were asleep and Amelia said that we should let you sleep then. That we'd be able to talk with you when you woke up," Feon said, surprising Embris. Which also came with a surge of guilt as she couldn't say that she'd thought of Feon since she'd been going in and out of it from the plague.