So I pushed my toes down on the carpet. It was soft, but the fibers weren't long. I was pretty sure it was merely the thickness of it that created the softness. Yet with my feet wrapped the way they were, I couldn't quite feel as much as I'd hoped, so I gave up.
Hoping to make up for my lapse, I clasped my hands before me, ducked my head, and made my way to where the Wyvern was waiting. Yet as I got closer, the man merely stepped back, all but inviting me into the next room, and then he waved for me to look around again.
That second room was clearly for food preparation. There were cutting counters and a large preparation table. Pots and a stove were visible on one side. Seeing that made me slightly nervous, but the Wyvern simply opened a cabinet and found a glass. Grabbing a pitcher from the counter, he filled it, sniffed, wrinkled his nose, but handed it across. Once I took the weight of it, he reclaimed the pitcher and left through a door at the back.
Taking a careful sip, I realized it was water, but stale. I took another drink, then he returned. With a smile, Wyvern pulled the glass from my hand, poured it out onto something in the center of the table which looked like a plant, then carried both it and the now-empty pitcher to a depression in the counter.
Pushing at a lever made water flow from a spigot. No, a faucet! Maybe a crude one, but that was definitely what it was. Using that, he filled the glass first, and then set the now-empty pitcher under it. While the larger container filled, the man turned and offered me the glass proudly.
My next drink was better. The water was now cool and fresh. I guzzled the entire thing, only to have him refill it. I drank that as well, but when he made to fill it a third time, I waved him off. He nodded, turned off the water, then set both the glass and the full pitcher aside before motioning for me to follow him one more time.
Walking up a short hall, he opened the door to the third room, showing me a bed like I was used to, but much larger. When I stepped back nervously, he simply walked away, opening yet another door. This room was different, but I recognized it as toilet facilities. What caught my attention was a large stone basin in the corner. It was large enough for my entire body. Okay, it was even large enough for his, including his tail!
He saw my expression and nodded. Lightly touching my shoulders, he guided me past a set of stairs that went up, back to the first room, and then towards one of the leather chairs. After gesturing to it like he was inviting me to sit, he then walked out the front door before I could ease myself down. For the first time in nearly two days, I was completely alone. My body wanted nothing more than to drop into the chair and rest. My mind wanted to investigate.
My mind won.
Twenty-FiveAyla
Finally alone, I snooped without shame. Carefully placing my feet, I meandered through the spaces I'd been shown. Every room held a plant. Some had more than one. The kitchen was a smaller version of what we had at the compound, but there was no refrigeration. Food was stored in a cabinet, but it was all plants and powders. In the drawers were knives and common utensils, so now I at least had some idea of how to get a weapon. The shocking thing, though, was that they weren't secured out of my reach.
For a moment, I considered making my way up the stairs, but decided against it. The Wyvern hadn't taken me up there for a reason, and I wasn't brave enough to push. Maybe I wasn't allowed? Right now, my body ached enough I wasn't sure I could tolerate any punishment - especially not from a man as large as him!
So I kept my inspection to the level I was on. In the hall was a door he hadn't opened, so I did. Inside were what at first looked like sticks and feathers. When I saw blue feathers, I realized those were bows and arrows, so I shut the door quickly.
Those were men's things, and I didn't want him to know I'd seen. I certainly didn't want him to use them on me! Too many times, I'd pulled those blue arrows from hunters, and now to be so close to the cause of those injuries? I wasn't quite sure how that made me feel.
So I kept snooping. The toilet facilities were straightforward. Across the hall from that was a section of decorated wood placed against the base of the stairs. It had a little depression in it, so maybe it was a door? But what kind of room would fit under the stairs? Deciding it was merely decoration, I continued on.
Oddly, it was the bedroom that impressed me the most. Since the Wyvern wasn't here, I felt safe enough to actually go in. One entire wall was covered in shelves and filled with books! My eyes scanned the spines. Some were like those I'd known in the compound, made with hard covers and faded wraps, but most were different. Their bindings weren't as precise and their titles looked to be hand-painted. Pulling one out, I opened it, disgusted to find the words inside twisted and confusing. None of them were English. The letters were also a bit different. They were similar to what I knew, but a few - like A and W - were bent in strange ways, rounded instead of sharp.
But one at the top caught my eye. The title was boring, but it was in a language I could understand: The Flora and Fauna of Idaho. I had no idea where Idaho was, but it was better than staring at the walls. Moving back into the first room, I carried it with me, flipping to the first page. Few of the images looked like anything I'd seen on my walk here, but I managed to figure out that the strange animals they'd cooked the day before had been squirrels.
I was well into it before the Wyvern returned, smelling like woodsmoke. He paused at the doorway, making me hurry to put the book on the table. I wasn't even sure if he'd allow me to touch something so ancient. For all I knew, it could be very valuable, and women weren't supposed to read for entertainment. His eyes dropped to the book, his head tilted, then he shrugged.
For a moment, he disappeared into the food preparation area. When he came out, he was carrying a chair, but headed toward the room with the toilet facilities. Okay, that was strange.
For a moment, I heard him moving around, and then he returned, gesturing for me to follow. I debated telling him to go away, but I wasn't sure I could convey that through gestures and still get my meaning across. Instead, I obeyed, reminding myself I didn't need more punishment.
He led me to the toilet facilities, but this time, the stone basin was filling with water, and now there was a chair beside it. The Wyvern reached his hand under the faucet, made a face, then stepped back. Carefully, he clasped my shoulders and guided me over, right for that chair.
I sat.
That earned me another smile, and then he knelt before me. My heart began to hammer faster, confused and worried until he merely reached for my feet. Then he began to unwind the bandages the doctor had just put on them.
"Quit," I hissed, trying to pull my foot away.
He looked up, those orange eyes finding mine. One more time, he smiled, but he didn't stop unwinding the cloth covering my injured soles. Yet when I realized he was rolling the cloth the same way a healer would, I stopped trying to pull away.
First, he exposed one foot, then the other. The used fabric was stained with both blood and dirt, but he simply set it aside. Then he inspected the bottoms of my feet. Nodding and murmuring to himself, he finally let me go and stepped back, pushing himself back up in the process.
Carefully, I put my foot on the ground, testing to see if it would be sensitive or still numb. When I pushed, there was nothing, so definitely numb. Yet the sound of the Wyvern clearing his throat made me look up.
He pointed at the fabric lying on the counter. Unfurling one, he held it out. The piece was just a large rectangle, but I understood immediately what it was: a towel. Lifting another - still folded - he placed it beside the first. Then he reached for something else.
The fabric was almost the same, but this one was shaped like clothing. It had sleeves for the arms, and was long like a dress, but opened in the front. Strung through loops at the waist was a belt made from the same material.
While I watched, he pushed his arm into a sleeve, wrapped it around his own body, and then folded the flaps over his chest. Securing the belt held them in place. With a dip of his head, he watched me as if expecting some reaction.
When I nodded, he took the clothing off and laid it beside the towels. Giving me one last smile, he stepped back and turned to the door. When I looked away, checking on the level of water in the tub, he snapped his fingers and cleared his throat. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I looked back.
Giving me a pointed look, he flipped the latch, reached to the outer knob, and wiggled it, proving it wouldn't turn. With a smile, he flipped the switch back up and repeated the process. This time the outer knob turned easily. Ducking his head, he stepped out, pulling the door closed behind him.
He'd just shown me how to lock the door for privacy!
Under my breath, I whispered a prayer of thanks, got up, and flipped the switch to secure the door. Now that I was assured of true privacy, I stripped. First, I used the facilities! Next, I hobbled my way over to the tub.
The bath wasn't hot, but when I stepped into it, my skin still protested. Every single bite, scrape, and bump ached, and I had so many of them. The muscles beneath hurt too - but not my feet. Still, the water definitely helped. Never mind that I'd never been in a bath this large. I could stretch my legs out completely without hitting the other side!
I took my time. Nothing would fix my damaged skin, but washing away the dirt and sweat helped with the feeling of itching all over. So while the tub continued to fill, I scrubbed every inch of myself. The water around me turned murky, but I didn't even care. For these few minutes, I could finally relax without worrying about what came next.
There were no strange monsters to grumble at me with words I didn't understand. I didn't need to fret about acting improper. After all, I was with the Wyvern! The most dangerous of the Dragons had given me access to not just any bath, but probably the best one I'd ever had in my life.
Eventually, the waterline was near the top. Thankfully, figuring out how to work the washtub was easy enough. The water was controlled with the lever, just like the faucet in the food preparation room. I turned that off, then leaned back against the stone-like side and let my eyes close.
This was not at all what I'd expected from the stories the Elders had told us as children. They'd made it sound like the people aboveground were all horrible and vicious, ready to kill without remorse. Instead, these people seemed to be helping me - at least from the little bit I'd seen while walking here.
But what if I was wrong? What if the only reason the Wyvern wanted me clean was so he could use my body the way Mr. Cassidy had warned? Men weren't able to control themselves, we'd been taught, and the most dangerous of all the Dragons was clearly a man.
