Chapter 3
“Kyrin”
She looked up with wide eyes when Daemionis appeared beside her in the small room. She immediately jumped up from the floor and fell to her knees before him. He had visited her before but only when he needed her to do something for him.
“My Lord,” she whispered.
“How have you come to be in this dimension?” His voice was stern and sent fear into her. He stood over eight feet tall, and his scaly green skin was pulled tight over inhumanly large muscles. Towering horns stood out from his mutilated face, and blood appeared in the corner of his mouth when he spoke. He stepped toward her on hooved feet, though they made no noise against the wooden floor.
“I was running from the Shadowmere.”
“This dimension is like no other I’ve seen.”
She nodded. “Yes, my Lord.”
“You have accidentally stumbled into Paragoy Dimension.”
She gasped. “I have?”
“Yes, that’s quite an accomplishment.”
“I didn’t know.” The legendary Paragoy Dimension was rumored to be spared from hardships other dimensions were terrorized by. Shifters sought it and often died trying to find it. No one was sure if it was unreachable, if it was but a fable, or if those who reached it never returned.
“You are indebted to the king here?”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“I will be watching you.”
“What do you wish for me to do?”
“Learn about them.”
“Is that all?” she asked, and then looked up when he didn’t answer. She was alone in the dark room. The bed stood unused off to the side, and a single blanket was laid across the floor where she slept. It was dangerous to change clothing, so she slept in the dress she’d worn for the past week since her arrival. Various items of clothing were brought in for her, but she simply put them aside.
Kyrin stood up and pushed the curtains away from the window, so she could watch the sun rise. She saw servants begin to move about the castle grounds, so she walked over and opened the door to her room. Just outside was a large bucket of sudsy water and a clean towel. They hadn’t allowed her to work yet, claiming that she still needed to rest to heal from the wounds.
It was obvious that the time for rest was over, so she knelt down beside the bucket and wondered briefly why it was on wheels. Taking the hem of her dress in her hand, she dipped it into the warm water and began to scrub the floor. Once the spot was perfectly clean, she used the towel to dry it, and then she scooted back to start on a new section of floor.
Kyrin looked up when she heard footsteps, and one of the many servants appeared. The young maid looked at her oddly and then turned and walked out of the hallway. Only a few minutes later, more footsteps were heard, but she kept cleaning. The hallway was long, and she figured it would take the entire day to finish.
“We didn’t give you the bucket to clean the floors with,” Alric said, stopping beside her. He fought back a grin when he realized she was scrubbing the floor with her dress and drying with the towel.
She knelt up and frowned. “Then what is it for?”
“For you to bathe in.”
“Bathe?”
“Yes, to get clean.” He watched with anticipation to see how she would react to what would surely be another waste of water.
“That is what I’m doing… cleaning.”
“No, bathing is when you clean your body.”
She looked down at her dirty dress. “I don’t understand.”
Alric reached out and pulled the bucket easily into her room, so she stood up and followed him. He decided not to ask why she was sleeping on the floor, so he turned to her.
“There, you put this in your room, and you get in,” he explained.
“Into the water?” she asked, unsure if she understood.
“Yes”
“Is that part of my duty?”
He smiled. “Actually, yes it is.”
She nodded and then went to step into the large bucket.
“Wait,” he said, putting a hand out to stop her.
Kyrin looked up at him.
“You have to undress first. I will step out.”
“You want me to undress?”
“To bathe, yes.”
“Am I to be that kind of servant?” she asked, taking a step back.
He thought for a moment and then gasped. “No! I will leave, and you will be alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yes, you can even lock the door behind me.”
“But you have a key.”
“Well, yes, but I won’t use it. When you are done, please put on clean clothes. The tailor made you a tunic and pants.”
“Please tell me what you want,” she whispered, watching him.
“What do you mean?”
“You give me food, the same food you eat. I have water to drink, and a place to sleep that is warm. You’ve handed me clothing I can’t pay for and waste water for me. Doing so has added almost six months onto my sentence, yet you won’t stop.”
“Can you trust me that I’m not adding to your time, merely offering you the same comfort I offer every person?”
“Trust you?”
“Yes”
“No”
He studied her. “You trust no one, do you?”
“No”
Alric sighed. “I hate to order you, but you’re about to leave me no choice.”
She glanced at the water and then back to him.
“Fine. I order you to strip naked, get into the water, and clean. Then put on clean clothing and meet me out on the south lawn by the barracks.”
Without another word, he left the room, and she heard him use the key to lock the door behind him.
“What do I do, Daemionis?” she whispered. He very rarely answered when she asked him something, so she felt she had no choice but to do as she was told.