I learned that evil thrived within strict labels and suffocating roles.
There was a rumble in the ground, like a train was thundering along a track nearby. The rock in front of Durom shifted, straight lines cracking in the unblemished stone until there was a doorway that was sliding to the side, opening. A messy pile of clothing tumbled out around Durom's hooves, like an overstuffed closet had been opened only to flood the unlucky person with a cascade of fabric. There were so many variations of clothing. There were trousers and shirts of different styles, a few skirts and dresses as well. The clothing was a solid mix that didn't limit itself to any form of expression, color, or style.
There were so many options.
"Grati-" Durom started to say, but something flew out of the dark closet, smacking him in the forehead with a loud thwack. He caught it before it fell to the floor, and it unravelled in his hand, dropping down in a long rectangular strip of previously folded up squares of foil material.
"What is this?" Durom said, the foil catching the light as he turned to show it to me. "Why did the Dungeon give me this?"
I let out a startled laugh as I recognized what he held in his hand.
"They're a mundane tool for preventing conception and the transfer of some diseases," I said. "If there is a penis involved in the intimate relationship, this gets put on it before it gets stuck anywhere."
"Diseases?" Durom said, scratching the base of his horns. "Why not use a disease healing spell?"
"We don't have magic in the mundane," I reminded him. "It's a magical desert there."
Durom held up the long strip of individually wrapped rubbers. "Would you prefer to use these than the Order spell forpreventing pregnancy? The Orcs also have a tincture that works for a month at a time, which would be a better choice. If you decide to run to trigger my rut, I will have difficulty using such a tool as this. It isn't fair to put the responsibility on you, but the reality is that I will not be this functional."
"There is a spell for that?" I asked, feeling suddenly angry. There hadn't been even the whiff of a mention of such a spell in any of the classes or school books. I already knew why, and that knowledge was tinder on the flames of my fury. "Those bastards!"
A book flew out of the closet, slamming into the ground with a flutter of paper as it slid across the floor to stop near my feet. I picked it up, flipping through the pages. It was a comprehensive Order spellbook, much more direct and streamlined than the schoolbooks I had been given for my classes. Instead of pages that blathered on about the importance of Order, this one just had spells, their specific purpose, and how to cast them.
Delight mixed with my anger.
This is what I had come to this realm for!
Only to be handed it by the sentient Dungeon I’d been taught to fear instead of the school that promised me a future filled with magic.
"Thank you," I said, looking up at the closet, feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude. The one place that was supposed to be evil was the place that was providing everything I needed to not only be safe, but also be happy. Learning magic was everything I always wanted, and the small dribbles that the school had fed me couldn't quench my unrelenting thirst for knowledge.
The Dungeon didn't respond.
I went over to the clothing and began to sort through it, looking for things I might want to wear. Durom went back to the fire. I began selecting clothing, settling on two sets of sturdytrousers and voluminous shirts that would cover my body, as well as multiple undergarments and undershirts that I could change out more frequently while travelling. It was how I felt comfortable, and even though there was a shift in what I wanted to explore, I wasn't quite ready to step out of the box that had hidden me for so long.
"Take as many as you want," Durom said. "I will carry what you cannot."
I added a few more outfits to my collection.
When I was done, I took the rest of the clothes and put them back in the closet. It closed up, vanishing back into the rock with a soft rumble of sound. I took my new clothes to the washroom. There was a hot shower with soap, as well as a bowl filled with sticks that I recognized as chewing sticks. They were from a type of tree that, when you chewed on the stick, exposed the fibrous bristles that could be used to clean the teeth.
After I was cleaned up and changed, exhaustion found me and carried me to the soft bed that Durom had made up. I didn't question when he stretched out on the floor to sleep. Part of me wanted to invite him to sleep in the bed with me. The thought of being able to wrap myself up in his strong arms appealed to me, but that part of me didn't win.
But it was a thought to explore for another day.
Chapter
Eight
Durom
My lanky mate travelled with me.
I was pleased she chose to be with me. For me, there had never been a question of whether I would follow where she went. The only question had been whether she would turn, bare her teeth, and tell me to leave. If she had, I would have. Mate scent or no mate scent, I would not force my shadow over someone who did not want it. I knew my courtship attempts had been heavy-handed. Restrained for a Minotaur, yes. But to a Mundane female who had survived years inside the Order Academy's marble rules and rigid hierarchies, I had flirted like a brick through glass.
Sudden, loud, and invasive.
Her walking beside me gave me the chance to mend the fracture she hadn't yet expressed.
