Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Take it all downstairs in case someone else would like to enjoy the food—no need to be wasteful,” Jozay tells the man.
He bows in the entryway of the alcove where he stands next to rich tapestries framing our perch. “Of course, my queen.”
“So, did I hear something about pampering today?” I ask, curious as to what that will include as Bothaki gave me no hints.
Vabila leans over the table to toy with the embroidered edge of the purple cloak I found waiting for me this morning. “Perhaps. How keen are you on gifts?”
“Gifts?”
Who said anything about that, and better yet, why?
“Gifts,” Bo’s mother confirms before his sister can. “There are a lot of Mina waiting to meet you. Not all as sometimes things come up, but some who couldn’t arrive today have sent ahead messages and a token of their gratitude at having you join us. They’ve even decorated the bathing hall to spend the day with you and make it … Well, special.”
I blink, not quite sure how to take the news that it isn’t just my new family waiting to spend the day with me, but a whole world of women—or, as many as could come, apparently.
“Really?” I ask, disbelieving.
Softly, Vabila responds, “Really, Selina.”
“Being what we are—female—is a special thing,” Jozay murmurs the longer I stay silent on my cushion seat. “Life-givers. World-changers. The carers and healers. Mothers. These are the duties and sacrifices of females that males cannot understand. To be one of us, to do these things we do, is both remarkable and unique. You are no different.”
“I don’t think I’m quite like you, either,” I return.
For the obvious reasons.
Jozay smiles, unbothered. “But I am not any better than you and yours, my earthling daughter. Just because there are things that make us different. Inside, underneath, maybe we are the same in the ways that matter most.”
“Oh, and a trip to the skies!” Vabila shouts without warning, her excitement palpable as her mother and I laugh at the sudden outburst.
“What?” I ask.
Jozay gives me the answer I’m looking for. “After the Mina and a day well spent in the bathing hall, Vabila reminded me that we did promise to take you up to see the clouds. I may have managed to get my mate to work something out for us.”
Vabila bounces in her seat, and claps. “Yes, that. Oh, it’s going to be a beautiful day.”
“A perfect day,” Jozay agrees as her gaze turns on me. “Don’t be nervous.”
“I’m not.” Then, I admit, “Well, maybe just a little …”
How does one get used to being wanted? I hope to find the answer is simply with time. The matching smiles between Bo’s mother and sister tells me, without saying a single thing, that my thoughts are probably right.
Everything I love the most—Bo, most importantly—took a bit of time considering I lived what felt like an entire life before I met him. Twenty-five long years, in fact.
I give myself a little grace to settle with the strangeness I feel over being revered by Hallans the same way they do their Minas. I might have to do that every now and then—take a moment to accept things are not the same here.
Once again, they remind me that I’m definitely not on Earth anymore.
Vabila nails in the point when she leans towards me again and says, “It’s only females in this bathing hall. And boy-children, while they’re still young enough to feed at the breast. There isn’t a lot of clothing. Shawls or cloaks, but—not much else. Just as a forewarning.”
I appreciate it.
“Better to know ahead of time,” I agree.
It still didn’t entirely prepare me. Of course, once we reach the bathing hall in the middle of the castle, I learn quickly that once you see one naked body, you have probably seen them all. We barely pass the guards standing at attention, and averting their gaze as we enter the bathing hall before the first naked Hallan woman begins walking towards the steamy surface of the massive, crystal clear pool. She stops short at the sight of our arriving trio.
“She’s here!” the young Mina yells.
Every sound in the bathing hall stops but for the drips of water from somewhere I can’t tell, and a quiet giggle down the hall. My gaze is drawn up to the dome-shaped ceiling made of colorful glass and the yards and yards of pink and silver fabric they’ve strung back and forth over the pool like party streamers.
There are no balloons.
Nothing else that makes me think of a party, but it is beautiful. Warm. Inviting. And suddenly, there are dozens and dozens of Hallan ladies filling the massive stone entry of the bathing hall with its larger pillars jutting all the way up. Not unlike the one on the ship, the space is large enough to echo but the only real privacy is offered by the rooms off to the sides away from the square pool in the center.