Holy gods! This bathing area didn’t remotely compare to those at Malatise Manor. It looked like you could bathe twenty people in the bath of this size. It also had tons of chairs surrounding it. The constant warm water meant the entire area was steamy. We had already gotten down to just our towels. I almost wanted to jump in like it was a lake, but Lady Evelyn would surely give me a cold breath for that.

  She set a tray and bottles by the huge bathtub and then looked at me. “We wash before we get in.”

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “This is a communal bath and spa, built on a natural hot spring. We don’t wanna get it dirty for everyone else,” she added.

  “I’m just shocked to see no one else here,” Alyssa added.

  “Well, we wouldn’t enjoy our wine as much if others were here,” Lady Evelyn added. “Normally, someone of Lady Julia’s status would just use one of the private bathing rooms, but we’d not comfortably fit two, much less three people in those tubs. So I paid for the next three hours. In the future, we won’t even need to pay for such a privilege.”

  I couldn’t help but blush, but the steam hid that fact. Lady Evelyn had Alyssa help wash me. Not a normal duty for a knight, but one she should be prepared for as long as she was my knight. I knew better than to even offer to help wash them, so I got to enter the tub alone.

  Oh gods, the stress just melted away. It was so perfect. Not so hot to be uncomfortable, but it just soothed every part of my body. The tub was so deep as well. Even standing, the water reached my belly button. They had little places to sit that raised the water to my neck—just everything I wanted.

  “So, normally this place would be filled with people?” I asked.

  Lady Evelyn nodded. “Always. Some would even wait until the dead of night to try and get some time with it, less busy, but they would still find like five or six others.”

  “Oh! That is nice!” Alyssa said as she got in. “I have never been to a communal bath spring before. I am thankful, my Lady.”

  “You are very welcome, Alyssa,” I said.

  Lady Evelyn grabbed a bottle of wine, and it opened with a loud thud. “Lady Julia, in times you want to speak to your knights with honor. You should use her title, Dame. For William, it would be sir. Don’t overuse either, but it is something you should consider occasionally.”

  Dame. Hmm. Okay. “You are very welcome, Dame Alyssa,” I said.

  Alyssa blushed as Lady Evelyn handed her a glass. “You need not waste such honor on me.”

  “Kuhler Atem,” Lady Evelyn said as she blew on a glass. I shuddered thinking that cold was coming my way. She spun the yellowish drink before handing it to me. “Small sips.”

  Looking at Alyssa, it was apparently not advice she needed as she had already downed her entire glass. The smile on her face was intense. I took a whiff; it smelled nice if nothing else. Kind of reminded me of a flower, but I had been burned before. With a small sip, oh. That is nice. It has a bite to it, but not quite as bad as coffee. The only difference was that it left a burning sensation on my throat, despite it being cold.

  Lady Evelyn took a larger sip than I did, and Alyssa was already pouring herself a second glass. It only took one glare for her to switch to sips as well.

  “Goodness, it is three platinum grade wine, don’t wash it down like swill,” Lady Evelyn added as she brought over a tray with vegetables and offered us each some. There was a white sauce in the center.

  I dipped a carrot in the sauce. Oh my gods! It was delicious! Not only that, but it made the wine taste even better. I began taking slightly bigger sips. Life was good.

  For what felt like hours. We drank, ate, and just sat in the constantly warm water. My entire body felt warm inside and out. By the time I finished my third glass, the world almost felt like it was spinning. Lady Evelyn was just starting her third glass, and Alyssa had finished her sixth by then.

  “So, it appears to be broken,” Alyssa said as she showed that the bottle wasn’t pouring.

  “You said you wouldn’t go crazy,” Lady Evelyn said. “I’d ask how much you had, but I can see, given the empty bottle.”

  “I’m fine!” Alyssa said with a burp.

  I laughed. That was just so funny for some reason! My ribs almost hurt! Why was a burp funny?

  “You had half a bottle of wine. Can you even stand straight?” Lady Evelyn asked.

  Alyssa nodded, and they hopped out of the bath, water spilling over. She not only stood straight but also saluted. “I can fight perfectly fine, my Lady!”

  Seeing her salute naked was somehow even more funny. I had to sit back against the tub wall to keep my head above water as I kept laughing. But not to let that be the most amusing thing of the night. She began kicking and punching the air.

  “Enough! You have proven your point,” Lady Evelyn added.

  Alyssa jumped back in the tub, and Lady Evelyn just placed her hand on her forehead as she shook her head.

  “Your ring is so pretty! Is it a marriage gift, or a family thing? That is the wind sigil, right?” Alyssa said.

  Looking at my ring. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by sadness. I just began crying. What was wrong with me! Was I on the rag again? But I thought it wasn’t until later!

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  “What’d I do?” Alyssa asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t wanna be the stupid-”

  “Julia!” Lady Evelyn shouted.

  A chill ran up my spine. I looked at her and began crying again. I just hugged Alyssa. She squeezed me back.

  Oh. Oh no. “I don’t feel so good.”

  “Zuruhig,” she pointed her finger at me. “It is just a calming spell. That should help.”

  I yawned. I felt sleepy now. My stomach wasn’t churning as much, though. I let go of Alyssa and settled back against the wall. She joined, putting herself between Lady Evelyn and myself.

  “I value your contribution, Dame Alyssa.”

  She blushed again. “Lady Evelyn, can’t you tell us something? Like, is she a princess or something?”

  Lady Evelyn squinted. “You know, asking is disrespectful. I told you to wait until we are at the capital.”

  “I know! But like, even with orders, it's impossible not to think about it. Do you want William and I to come to bad conclusions?” she asked.

  “Please!” I added. “I need someone to talk to! I’m going crazy!” I tried to mimic the kind of face the family dog, Roger, would give when he wanted extra food.

  “Fine,” Lady Evelyn said. “But you won’t share this with anyone. Not even William. I will tell him later. Lady Julia is a princess, and we are planning to enroll her in Anlage’s Royal Academy. As you can no doubt tell, she is struggling with her studies. The king doesn’t want people to learn of the deficiency of her homeland. You will keep that secret, or you will be committing treason.”

  Alyssa put a finger over her lips. “Secret is safe! But oh my gosh! I am protecting a real-life princess! It makes sense! No wonder the king would send the Platinum Lady!”

  I blushed. I knew Lady Evelyn lied, but seeing Alyssa be so excited made me feel special, even if I wasn’t as special as a princess. I think. Maybe I was! Or close! Or wait, at Stechen, she said I was a duchess? So now they knew she lied at least once! Why was that so funny!

  “Studying sucks!” I said. “I will be happy when I am done with my reading lessons.”

  “You are still learning how to read?” Alyssa asked.

  I nodded. She should understand. She came from a small village, like I did.

  “Like the story of Melissa, the Fire Maiden Elf! I read that so many times! I practically wore it out before I turned ten!”

  “Huh?” I asked. She could read before she was ten? “But you came from a small village? I thought you wouldn’t know how to read?”

  She just blinked. “Trent is a crafting village. I learned to read by my sixth birthday. You have to be able to read at least a little to become a knight. William struggled way more with reading than I did. He is from a big city, but his father was a carpenter, so he didn’t learn to read until the academy. We met back in those days. Between you and me, he is so salty that I got a better knight ranking than he did!”

  Aaa! I wanted to cry again. I thought she’d understand me! “Why does the story of Melissa remind you of me?”

  Lady Evelyn finished the last of her wine as she looked at us. “There are many variations of the story of Melissa of Fire. Honestly, we have no way to verify she even existed at this point, but the core premise of the story is that a Royal Elven baby was kidnapped. The kidnappers were slain, but the baby was lost. Melissa was raised among humans. Only for her lineage to be discovered after she began her pilgrimage.”

  “In my book, she was kidnapped by a dragon!” Alyssa shouted as she squeezed me. “Plus, you have to admit, she has striking similarities to our Lady Julia, right?”

  “Not really,” Lady Evelyn added. “For one, Melissa was discovered as the Fire Maiden, not as a princess. Her connection to the Royal Family came later. Lady Julia’s circumstances are much different. Not to mention, in different versions of the tale of Melissa, she is captured by orcs, or dwarves, or even humans. A story so long ago that we can’t even state how many thousands of years ago, with such inconsistencies. It is more of a fairytale than anything.”

  “Buzz kill!” Alyssa said. “We have magic and creatures that can breathe fire! And I hear that at the top of the world are angels that hear our prayers! Aren’t we living in a fairytale?”

  “We are not,” she replied. “Fairy tales are stories for children. In a fairytale, the hero or maiden always wins.”

  “But the heroes and maidens are real!” Alyssa said as she splashed.

  “And yet we don’t get storybooks of the ones that died and failed. Yes, some storybooks are based on real maidens. But the truth of a storybook is not the truth of reality.”

  I felt a bit cold despite the warm water. Failing? Dying? Baroness Elise was the first to mention that, but the way Lady Evelyn said it made it somehow more visceral. I could feel her eyes on me and braced myself for a pinch, a reminder to keep my face steady.

  “We should give the boys a chance to use the room. Alyssa, get dressed and wait for us to follow.”

  Alyssa gave a salute and hopped out of the tub. Once alone, I couldn’t help but hug Lady Evelyn.

  “I’m scared,” I said.

  “Stille Verursachen,” she replied. I remember this sensation. It is a silence spell. So I expected she was going to tell me something important. “It's okay, Julia.”

  “But you said maidens die. I… what if-”

  She softly pat my head. “I gathered stories about you from Hatula. Your father remembers one story particularly fondly. You clubbing a viper.”

  My cheeks flushed. “Yes, yes, I know. He loves that story. What of it?”

  “Most girls from most backgrounds, well, besides dwarves, would not do something so easily. Julia, the Wind Maiden. We will do everything we can to make your story one that history wants to record.”

  I squeezed her tightly. “Oh. Can I ask you about my card now?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “What is with the bleese thing after Julia? And why doesn’t my card say born in Hatula?”

  She burst out laughing. “So close. Well, don’t worry about the bleese part. The king wants to explain that. So, the thing I wrote is an expression that can mean a few things, like people who join wind temples or orphans. In your case, it is for protection. In the future, you are likely to make enemies. Do you really want them to find out about where you are from? Why do you think we haven’t sent mail to Hatula? But to the Baron.”

  I felt dumb. “I thought that was just how letters work.”

  She rubbed my head some more. “Hatula will be in danger if you tell people where you are from before your adventure ends. You can’t tell Alyssa or anyone else. Not until you have saved the world.”

  “You will stay with me, right?” I asked.

  “My Lady, I am old. Do not ask me to make such unreasonable promises. That said, I have no intention of leaving you until you are ready to stand on your own. So in that, you may have faith in me.”

  “My Platinum Angel,” I said as my grip loosened. I felt very sleepy all of a sudden. Looking up, I saw a smile on her face.

  “You may call me by whatever nickname you prefer.”

  The silence spell ended, and I got dressed. It was a hassle even with Alyssa and Lady Evelyn helping me, and all so that we could walk from the bathing area to our rooms. But once there, I got changed into my night gown, and I fell asleep, possibly even before my head hit the bed.