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“My towel?” I ask sweetly. If I think of the three of them as untried virgins, then perhaps I can gain control of the situation. Perhaps I won’t feel so lost if I have even the tiniest bit of power. As it is, I feel rudderless.
I can’t even pray to the gods for guidance. They’ve all been cast down except for the Spidae, and I’m serving them.
The god picks up my towel and hands it to me, a curious expression on his face. He watches intently as I wrap it around my torso and step out of the tub. I loosen my hair, letting it cascade over my damp shoulders, and then begin to dry my limbs off. I lift one foot onto the edge of the tub and smooth the towel over my leg, glancing back at the Spidae. He hasn’t moved from his spot, watching me with a fixed, burning gaze. “Do women ever come to this place?” I ask him.
“Rarely.” He continues to stare at my leg. “Most of the supplicants we receive are of the male persuasion.”
It makes sense. Women don’t have the freedoms that men do. A woman traveler alone is nothing more than a target, and it occurs to me that if I ever wanted to leave, I’d be that lone woman traveler. Hot panic flashes through me, and then subsides again. I can’t leave anyhow. I’m tied to them. Anchors endure unimaginable pain if separated from their aspect, and I have three aspects.
Even if I change my mind, I’m stranded here, so I have to make the best of it. I bite my lip, and then glance over at the man standing in my room. He seems to be fascinated with my bared limbs, and when he reaches out, I hold still. He only brushes a bead of water off my skin, though, and then rubs it between his fingers.
“Do gods bathe?” I ask, suddenly curious.
He shakes his head, a slight frown on his face. “Why would we?”
I shrug. “You have a tub here.”
“It seemed like a thing to have,” he comments. “I have seen them in mortal homes.”
Ah. I wonder how much of what is here—the tower, the rooms—is mimicry without understanding.I suppose that’s a question for another day. I towel my skin off and then pull my dress back on, tying the laces under the bosom to tighten everything back into place, and then slip my shoes on. “Sorry,” I say as I turn back to him, realizing I’ve just made a god wait on me. “It takes a little time to get dressed.”
He tilts his head. “You do not have to wear anything around us. No one is here to see.”
“But I like dresses.” I like the expensive fabrics, and the rustle of the clothing as it moves over my skin. I love pretty things, because I never had them as a child. “And I prefer walking around clothed. It feels too exposed to be naked.” I lift one foot and gesture at it. “And I need these for my feet to protect them. Your floors are hard and cold.”
He frowns down at the stone floors as if they suddenly offend him. “Do we need new ones?”
“Of course not.” Just hearing him suggest that makes me vaguely anxious. “I don’t want you to change anything for me. It’s not my place. I can easily wear shoes.” And I give him a sweet smile, sliding my hand into the crook of his arm. “Now, about that tour. You said you’d show me around my new home?”
The Spidae blinks, his gaze focused on my face as if he’s momentarily dazzled. Perhaps he’s not close to women very often, and I immediately wonder if I’ve made a mistake in grabbing his arm. He doesn’t think like other men.
But then he puts his hand over mine, trapping it upon his arm. “Follow after me.”
I hold onto his arm as he moves towards the wall, and when it’s clear he’s going to glide right on into the spiderwebs that cover everything, I squeeze my eyes shut and let him lead me. The webs brush gently over my skin as we walk forward, but I never feel the walls. When I open my eyes again, I’m inside what looks like a kitchen. There are far less cobwebs here, though everything is covered with a fine layer of dust. There’s a large wooden table in the center of the room, a massive hearth, and a variety of pots and pans, along with a sink for washing vegetables…if there were any vegetables around. I blink in surprise, because I didn’t realize there was a kitchen here. Our small party has been here for days and has eaten only what raw fruit and vegetables we could find in the pods, along with the occasional rabbit, cooked over Faith’s fireplace. “Oh,” I breathe. “This is unexpected.”
“Is it? Why?” The Spidae looks at me curiously.
“I didn’t think you would eat,” I confess.
“We do not.”
I gaze up at him, thoughtful. “Then why a kitchen?”
“For the same reason we have bathtubs and beds. Mortals require them, and it seemed like something to have.” He pauses and eyes me. “You need a kitchen, yes?”
My stomach growls again, and I nod. “If I’m to cook for myself, yes. Did you put this kitchen in for me?”
He shrugs.
Either he doesn’t want to answer, or he’s uncomfortable with what it is. Either way, I can take a hint. I release his arm and move through the kitchen, pulling open cabinets and the trap door that leads to a root cellar, looking at everything. It’s a fine, large kitchen, as nice as anything in a castle, and I’m rather pleased by the sight of it. There’s no foodstuffs, though. No cheese, no vegetables, no flour. The larder is completely bare, and I give a little sigh of disappointment. “Provided I ever find something to eat, this will come in handy. Thank you, my lord.”
I’m already thinking of ways to organize things, and the entire place needs a dusting. The hearth needs wood for a fire, and there’s a lot to be done. I haven’t worked inside a kitchen for years, but I do know the basics. It’s something to do, too, which I have to admit, I like the idea of. It’s better than just sitting in my room staring at a wall all day long.
But my room has no doors, I’m reminded. I’ll have to wait for one of the Spidae to bring me here. “You’ll retrieve me from my chamber so I can come here regularly?” I ask the god standing nearby. “If it’s too much trouble, perhaps I could settle a bed down here?”
“You will not,” he tells me. “I want you safe, where no one can touch you but us.”
Ah. I bite my lip, because the thought of being trapped in a windowless, doorless room for the rest of my days makes me die a little inside, but this is just a starting point, I remind myself. Just because it’s my reality now doesn’t mean it will be my reality always. So I put on a brilliant smile. “Whatever you say, my lord.”
