Elemental Heir | ✔️

Chapter 10

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The washroom, I decided, was heaven. I washed my hair, twice, and scrubbed every inch of my skin until it was red and sore. I'd had to drain the tub and refill it twice to get rid of all the dirt and blood that had come off of my body. I didn't think I'd ever been so clean in my entire life.

I sighed happily as the vanilla and cinnamon scented soap filled my senses. I'd been soaking in the water for over an hour, now. My fingers and toes were like prunes, but I didn't care.

But as the minutes of blissful comfort bled away, I began to feel the weight of guilt take its place. Back home, this very moment, people were suffering. My father was suffering. I wondered if my father had eaten today. I wondered when the last time he'd been able to enjoy a hot bath was.

If someone in my village wanted to bathe, they'd have to spend a great deal of time walking to the river and then back home with bucket-fulls of water. Then, they'd have to boil the water over a fire. Then, transfer it into a wooden or metal tub.

Even after doing that for an hour, they'd hardly have enough bathing water to submerge themselves in. Bathing was a hassle where I was from, and our homemade soap didn't smell anything like this soap. Ours smelled of salt and lime.

A tear slid down my cheek as I pictured my father in our hut, alone and hungry. He was probably sick with worry for me. And here I was, soaking in a luxurious bath, while he had nothing. I angrily wiped the tears away. If only I could see him...

Feeling like a traitor, I pulled myself out of the bath, water sloshing over the sides and onto the floor, and drained the tub before hastily drying off with a fluffy towel. I studied the massive washroom a moment. I'd never seen a room so... white. So clean.

The floors were a pale wood, but the walls were made up of shiny, white tiles. The claw foot bathtub was also white, and made of porcelain. There was even a toilet and a wide, marble sink. All of the running water here amazed me. I didn't really understand how it worked, but I knew it had to do with something called plumbing. I'd heard of such a thing existing in wealthier cities, but had never seen it first hand.

How did they get it to work all the way up in the trees? Magic, of course. The word clanged around in my mind noisily and I mentally cringed. And then I fully became aware that this magnificent house was much larger inside than it had looked from the outside. When we'd first approached the house it looked like a shabby little hut. But inside... it was luxury. Magic... Would I ever get used to such things? It didn't seem likely.

I padded over to the sink and large, rectangular mirror that hung above it and swiped my hand across the clouded glass. I stared at the girl in the mirror. My lips trembled a bit at the sight of her gaunt cheeks and badly bruised face.