Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
“I don’t understand,” I said.
Galiene sighed. “Years ago, I also came to the Garden late at night, without shoes and with only a handful of coins to my name. I, too, asked for a bath and a meal. And I thanked the servant who brought my dinner to me and helped me wash my hair.”
Oh. I knew some highlights of her backstory, but not this part. Her parents had run a prosperous inn in another city. The family was well-off and respected, and Galiene had grown up in pretty dresses and dainty shoes, learning how to keep the books and manage a thriving inn. The future looked bright until her father had witnessed something he shouldn’t have, and the entire family was slaughtered to keep them silent. Only fifteen-year-old Galiene survived. She bought a tattered cloak from a beggar and walked all the way to the capital with what little money she’d managed to grab, sleeping in the woods and eating whatever she could buy or scrounge. It took her almost three weeks. I had no idea she’d ended up at the Garden barefoot. Her pretty shoes must’ve fallen apart.
Galiene fixed me with her cold stare. “That night changed my life. Today the Divine tapped me on the shoulder to remind me of the kindness I had been shown.”
That’s right. Galiene was devout.
The dominant religion in Rellas and on most of the continent revolved around the Divine, a genderless, benevolent supreme being. If you were virtuous and good, the Divine would reward you with another life. If you were a horrible person, your soul would fall into the Void and be torn apart.
Their theological doctrine held that worshiping the Divine directly was impossible, since no human could comprehend the eternity of the Divine in its entirety. Instead, the faithful worshiped Aspects of the Divine, defined by their function: the Artisan, the Warrior, the Scholar, and so on. Galiene worshiped the Host, the Aspect of Hospitality, just like her parents and siblings had, and she was deeply committed to honoring her chosen Aspect. It was her last link to her murdered family.
“I will show you the same kindness,” Galiene said. “You may stay here for one night. In the morning, you will have your breakfast and then you will be on your way. The Host will know that I haven’t forgotten her blessing, and I’m still grateful. You will do well to remember that my gratitude has limits. Do not abuse my hospitality. Klemena will show you to your room once you dress.”
She turned and left the room. Klemena moved out of her way, bowed to me, and followed Galiene out.
I wouldn’t have to go out on the streets in the dark. I wouldn’t have to deal with human predators. I would sleep in a real bed and leave in the morning, in daylight.
The relief was so overwhelming, I would’ve collapsed if I wasn’t already sitting.
I would survive tonight.
CHAPTER 4
It took me another fifteen minutes to crawl out of the bath. I had tensed up when Galiene entered the room, and once she left and the tension drained out, fatigue mugged me. I was so tired. Getting out of the bath became a matter of life or death because if I stayed in any longer, I would’ve fallen asleep and probably drowned. I would likely come back to life, but I didn’t want to tempt fate.
Despite my earlier pledge to empty chamber pots, Kair Toren enjoyed advanced indoor plumbing, complete with ceramic toilets, sinks, terra-cotta pipes, and classic labyrinth-like sewers under the city. I discovered a toilet with a wooden seat behind the small door. And toilet paper. I had never been so grateful to find a little basket of toilet paper sheets folded like napkins in my whole life.
Butt napkins. The essence of luxury.
I remembered reading a giant discussion about toilet paper on the fan boards. For some reason, certain people had been very attached to the idea of chamber pots and corncobs. They claimed that anything more advanced would be unrealistic. Personally, it never bothered me. In our world, the Han had used toilet paper since the sixth century, and China mass-produced it by the 1300s. Rellas had advanced architecture, metallurgy, and magic, and it manufactured massive amounts of paper to power its bureaucracy. Toilet paper seemed like a surmountable challenge.
I got out of the bathroom, washed my hands at a sink in a small alcove, and looked through the stack of clothes Klemena had left. When a thin pair of panties slipped through my fingers, I almost cried in happiness.
In Rellas, like in many feudal societies, forms of address communicated how dangerous you were. Lord and lady meant landed nobility, many trained and well-armed fighters, and a solid chance of getting killed if things went badly. Sir and dame meant a knight, a highly skilled, professional soldier, also a high probability of injury and death. Terr and tress, on the other hand, were reserved for ordinary people, merchants, tradesmen, artisans, anyone without formal military rank or a noble title.