Follow the servant

The servant led Mida through an arched doorway to one of several tiled rooms with a pool. Steam rose from the water and gentle sounds of splashing and quiet chatter could be heard as two women at the other end dangled their feet in the water and talked. They wore the same simple linen wraps as the other women in the bathing area and had their braided hair pinned up.

"Over here," the servant said. She led Mida to the side of the room where a stone bench was carved into the wall, a common feature of Rokasyan architecture. Several linen wraps where stacked neatly at one end, and the temple servant handed one to Mida. "You can wrap in this after." She touched some hair pins in a small jar. "These are to keep your hair out of the water."

The servant helped Mida disrobe and pin her hair, then folded up the clothes and set them neatly on the bench.

The near end of the pool had steps carved into it. The water warmed her feet as Mida stepped in. The surface tension grabbed and tickled at the thin hairs on her legs as she waded up to her thighs. She'd heard there was a hot spring under the temple and thought this must be how the water came to be so warm. Slowly, she waded all the way in. The water was only waist deep at its deepest point. She bent at the knees and hips, allowing herself to sink down to her neck.

"Mmmm..." Mida closed her eyes and relaxed. After a long moment, she splashed her face with some of the warm water and and opened her eyes. The two women at the edge of the pool were watching here, not unfriendly. She stood and waded slowly over to them. The water ran in rivulets between her breasts and her nipples hardened in the sudden cool of the air.

One of the women raised her hand in a friendly greeting. Her dark skin illuminated an ancestry on the southern continent. Mida gave a small wave back and said hello. "Are you being assumed as well?" the dark woman asked in a voice that held no hint of a foreign accent.

Mida nodded. "I just found out."

"Isn't the water nice?" the other one said. She had wide eyes and a wide mouth that seemed used to smiling. "I could stay in there all day if it didn't make me so wrinkly and hungry. I'm Disika, by the way."

"Midamarya. Mida," Mida said.

"Merit." There was a pause. "Do you think they're going to keep us here until the Assumption?"

None of them had an answer to that question. Mida sank back into the water and gently rubbed her skin to remove any lingering dirt. The warmth felt comforting after the chill of the air.

"We have scented oils," Merit said, "and the temple servants will bring us food if we ask."

"And at some point we'll have to put our feast clothes on," Disika added.

"The feast isn't for hours," Mida pointed out.

Merit shrugged. "I guess we could do most anything."