Take a bath

“I suppose I can stay awake long enough for a quick bath,” you say. “Will it take long to heat the water?”

“Mercy, the water is always hot,” Orro says, darting past you into the bathroom. “Allow me to get the tub filling and I will help you out of your clothes, Sir.”

“Oh, I know how to get undressed,” you say.

Orro gives you a disappointed look. “It is a handmaid’s duty to see to the needs of the lady--er, the person she serves. It is a source of pride and a great responsibility. The other handmaids will ridicule me if you don’t allow me to assist you.”

“Sorry, Orro,” you say. “This is all very strange to me. I’m just a poor farmer.”

“Not anymore, Sir,” Orro says with a small smile. “Mercy, you are the future of the kingdom.”

She leaves you to let that sink in. The future of the kingdom. You can almost feel the weight upon your shoulders. You don’t know much about being the Vessel—it is a responsibility you never thought you’d have—but you do know one thing: if you cannot produce a male heir, the kingdom will be torn apart by war.

You hear water running and move to the bathroom doorway, watching in awe as steaming water pours from a spigot into the tub. Back home, on the rare occasion when a bath was needed, it meant buckets of cold water pumped up from the well by hand, and carried to the wooden washtub where Mama also did the laundry. If you were lucky, a pot of hot water heated over the fire was added to take away the chill, but most of the time you had blue lips and chattering teeth by the time you were done.

Orro selects a bottle of fragrant oil from the tray and pours a few drops into the water, filling the room with the smell of strawberries and vanilla, then she turns to you and her cheeks turn pink as she takes the hem of your shirt in her hands.