Chapter 2 - Tending the Fields
"Your throat will probably be sore. I'll try to ask if they have any food and fresh water, perhaps even tea." Arisselia speaks quietly.
It takes another moment for Elli to get her bearings. They aren't in the same tent as earlier. There are a few more posts holding up the roof, and some kind of sheer fabric separates the large space into sections.
"Where are we now?" She croaks, sitting up and rubbing some feeling back into her wrists. They are still naked, but if her eyes can be trusted, the silver chains had been removed by one of those hooded guys a minute ago. Now Arisselia only has a thin band of silver around her throat. Elli feels at her own neck, fingertips rubbing against the metal.
"If I had to guess, we're in his tent now." The reluctant queen paces as she tests her own collar. "I'm not sure if you made the right choice."
Elli shrugs, tucking her knees up to her chest. "I was pretty sure I was dead, so..."
"Fair point. First time though?" The woman stands proud and tall, but her tone is kind despite everything. Elli simply nods. "Maybe we can get access to some soothing tea or willowbark then. I certainly wouldn't want that thing halfway down my throat, and I've had some well-hung lovers before."
The farmgirl blushes and hides her face in her knees. "I probably wasn't thinking about what it meant at the time, just how bad the alternatives were. I mean, I'd probably have a kid or two by now if mama hadn't died. Lord Bruschnel thought it'd be better if I stayed home to help Pa for a few more years instead of trying to find him a new wife he hadn't earned."
"Lord Bruschnel, of course." The older woman snorts, still standing alert as she watches the tent's entrance. "Well that explains something if you're a serf. You're conditioned to never question authority and have very little in the way of a future. Something like this must be a leap up the ladder for you."
Elli shivers from those harsh accusations.
"No, child...young lady...I'm not mad at you. I would have made the same choice in your position, I'm sure." A gentle hand reaches down to pat her head, and Elli hates how much comfort she got from it. "It won't be easy. We need more information, and you'll need to learn fast. Though..." Arisselia pauses in thought, "It seems they are looking specifically for those of us with magic talent. He wouldn't have tossed you to the mercy of lesser soldiers or killed you outright."
"But that one with the broken tusk said..."
"I think you're more valuable than you realize here." Arisselia shakes her head. "A whirlwind, he said?"
"Don't remember. Can't remember anything after the kitchen."
"If I'd only heard about that, I'd think you were an elemental only. But I suspect you have more potential. Pity that oaf of a lord of yours never sought to train it."
"Morvenn in town asked to train me once, but only got to talk to me for a day before I was needed back home." Elli looks up to catch a haunted look on the sorceress's face. "Why isn't she here? Or Sandra, the baker girl who'd trance up and tell other people's secrets until she learned how to control it better?"
"The hedgewitch is dead, as is your friend. I'm sorry." The new queen shakes her head before unhelpful tears can fall. "She wrote to me some time ago for assistance with something, and I was in Bridgefall to finally help with those. I have a ritual I do before bed every night. Scrying, if you know what that is. Last night, it... Something went wrong and instead he found me. We fought all night, but his magic is stronger than my own."
Arisselia stands in defeated silence while Elli stays awkwardly on the floor until the sounds of voices reach them.
A small army of the little monsters, like the two in her kitchen, enter with trays held between them or above their heads. They pass by the two women and head into the deeper recesses of the tent. Arisselia gestures with a nod of her head for the farmgirl to go spy on them. Other than moving out of her way in a practiced but aloof dance, the creatures ignore her as they set food and drink upon a few low wooden tables. One of them runs around fluffing up pillows and cushions.
Elli tiptoes back to the entry area to report. "Looks like there's super at least. I haven't eaten since supper last night."
"We wait. Just a few minutes. I don't like that we haven't been given clear instructions and I don't think either of us wishes to be punished for breaking some silly rules." The older woman points behind herself at another hidden area of the tent. "Two more went back there. I can't tell what for, though."
Elli nods and scrunches back down to wait. A short while later, a column of the impish beings exit from the tent without a word.
They don't have long to wait. The monster king strides in, towering above even the tall sorceress. Squatting low to hide her nudity, Elli only just makes it to his knees. He regards both of them briefly before snapping his fingers and demanding, "Come."
The monster king continues deeper into the tent, and they follow. He pauses in the larger space to remove what little armor he wears and places the pieces alongside their brethren on a wooden mannequin. His robe is still open, and with a shrug that garment falls to the rug floor to be ignored. Now as naked as the two women, a pale green mockery of marble perfection, he leads them to the next cloth-lined chamber.
A vat of steaming water awaits them. Elli had never seen a basin so large. Most of her family would bathe in the nearby river when it was warm enough, and use a wet cloth otherwise. Only babies and linens were washed in tubs, and never one so large.
The king eases himself into the hot water before motioning to his new queen. "You, bathe me. And you," he gestures at Elli like the afterthought she was, "watch and learn. This will be your duty soon."
While he gestured at a simple stool, she instead kneels on the floor to watch. It is hard to read the monster's expression, but he seems pleased by her subservience.
Arisselia takes her task seriously as she spreads warm water over the king's skin. She raises cupped hands over his head to wet the top of his scalp. She finds the soaps--true, scented soaps--set out on another stool by the bath, and proceeds to spread a lather over his chest, his arms, all the way down to his clawed fingers. He stands to allow her access to his waist and legs, but as her hands move lower, he catches them with his own.
