Chapter 3 The Maid

I walked over to Y'gdrim and entered the dwelling before her. She closed the door behind her and lead the way to a washroom upstairs. At first sight of a bathtub, my next thought was, 'where is the toilet? I gotta go.'

"May I ask, where is your bathroom?"

She turned to me.

"This is it right here, can you not see that? It's just obvious, no?"

"My apologies. Where I'm from, the bath and the toilet are in the same room most of the time."

She gave me a strange look.

"The toy, what?"

Then it dawned on me. This is a different world. It's a miracle that we speak the same language. There must be many things that don't share the same name between the two worlds.

"I must apologize again If you find my description rude but, I need to relieve my body of pressure due to excess fluids."

She laughed a good laugh for a moment.

"That's quite the description to go pee. Our throne room is the door right next to you, opposite this bathroom."

I think I made myself look stupid, yet again.

"Oh, thank you."

I had been holding it in since we first got to the village. The bumpy road did not help. I finished my business and washed my hands. They were really dirty. Now that they are clean, they don't look like they belong to me anymore. I left the throne room to go back over to the bathroom. The tub was almost full and Y'gdrim was still in there by the tub and on her knees.

"Okay, go ahead and strip down."

I removed what was left of my shirt and undershirt.

"That second shirt, what is it made of? It looks stretchy and has such a vibrant blue color. Are you royalty?"

She gave me another seductive look, similar to before. She was defiantly beautiful with her long flowing red hair, fair complexion and bright red lipstick. I would be lying if I said nothing felt off.

I chose the route that could possibly disinterest her.

"No. Nothing like that. Middle class, if anything."

She didn't give a look of disappointment or disinterest but, I was satisfied with the fact that she didn't look more interested. She leaned back to sit on her feet.

"Now, your lower half."

She demanded. I removed my belt and pants. As I took my pants off, I remembered I had stuff in my pockets. Before I handed my pants over, I dug in my various pockets. I pulled out my car keys, wallet, earbuds and phone. My knife was gone, that pocket was entirely torn out. The keys were useless, as were the earbuds. They were smashed beyond repair. My phone managed to survive with the hard-cover case I had put on it.

My intuition was, that I should not reveal the capabilities of my phone to just anyone. Once she was gone, I could check the battery and turn it off. I was unsure what to do with the wallet. Would it be a hindrance or a boon in this world? Not the wallet itself but the contents. I decided to keep the wallet.

"Those are some strange things you have there."

Noted Y'gdrim.

"Where are you from?"

What should I say? An entire world that you don't know of?

"I'm... from a place far away from here. You prolly never heard of it. It's called California."

"Prolly?"

She noticed I let my more elegant speech go, in exchange for my slang.

"I appolo..."

"Stop apologizing. It's ok if you don't speak like us. To be honest, it sounded cute."

Not gonna lie, I think I blushed a little. A loud crack sounded off.

"By the gods! How did that happen?"

Mik shouted.

"What happened? Are you ok?"

Y'gdrim shouted out at him. She stood up with a bit of worry on her face. She seemed more human at that moment.

Human? I don't know if that would be a good analogy in this world.

"A crack in the fireplace sprouted out without warning. I will have to call someone to get it repaired as soon as possible."

Y'gdrim got back down on the ground. Knees first, then she sat on her feet again.

"How strange."

She mumbled. I was still standing there in my boxers, waiting for her to leave.

"What are you waiting for? Do you plan to get in the water with those undergarments on?"

She put on another unsettling face of joy.

"Are you shy? There is no need, I have seen many. I am sure, yours won't be unsightly in the least."

She started to crawl toward me on her hands. I stepped back and she stopped in her tracks.

"Do you, perhaps, not like me?"

This time she put on an obviously fake sad face.

"It's not that I dislike you, It's just..."

What do I say? Think fast.

"Ma'am?"

The short elf showed up in the doorway.

"I can take care of things here. The Master wishes to see you."

Y'gdrim gave her a very annoyed face. By far the most fitting face for her that I've seen. She stood up and walked past the small girl. Not before she could audibly utter the word, "Worm!" as she pushed past her. I managed to relax a bit. I suddenly realized that I am now standing before the smaller girl in my boxers.

"I can turn around so you can remove those."

She walked in and closed the door behind her. She still faced the door after closing it. I removed my boxers and put them to the side. I carefully and slowly dipped into the tub. As I got in, I only then noticed that there were bubbles. How long has it been since I had a bubble bath? I was all the way under the bubble covering, except for my head.

"It's safe to turn around now."

She turned and immediately began gathering up my clothes. She picked up my boxers and blushed a little.

"I've never seen undergarments like these before. What are they called?"

"Those are called boxers."

She looked at me, then back at them. She sat down on the ground next to the tub.

"Boxers?"

I nodded my head.

"The Lethrohs, do they always treat you that badly? Are you their daughter?"

She looked puzzled.

"What do you mean? This is how its always been. And no, I'm just a slave. I serve them as a maid."

I sat up a bit in the tub.

"They slap you and call you names with contempt. That's how its always been? Horrible."

She had a painfully sad look on her face as she looked down.

"I am horrible. I'm sorry."

I pulled my hand out of the tub and gently grabbed her under the chin. I pulled her head up so that our eyes could meet.

"Not you. Them."

She had a look of intense surprise in her eyes. Like someone had just told her that she was worth more than nothing.

"I... I don't think that's ..."

I refused to let her finish a sentence that would allow her to degrade herself again.

"What is your name?"

"My name? Slaves aren't allowed names. It promotes self-worth and could lead to slaves who think they can escape."

She pulled up her right sleeve on her dress to reveal a circular tattoo.

"This is the mark of a slave. It can be covered while I am on the property of my Master. Outside, it must be visible at all times. If a slave is caught hiding the mark in public, they are executed on the spot."

"How did you become a slave in the first place? If you don't want to say, that's ok."

She shook her head.

"No, it's ok. My parents were in debt with my Master. My Master sold rare fabrics in the past. My father was a transporter of Master's goods. One day, my father had encountered bandits. He tricked them in order to get away from them. This cost him a lot of time. In order to get the fabrics to the trade district on time, my father took a risky route. He went across a narrow shelf in a large chasm with the cart and goods. The shelf gave way under the cart. My father managed to get off of the cart in time to survive but, the Master's goods were lost. This incurred a great debt on my family. I was the only payment my father could give. My mother hated him for it. She killed him and then herself in grief. That's what I was told. I was nineteen years old when it happened, I don't remember much."

She looked so sad when she finished her story. I regretted asking her. I pulled my other arm out of the tub to reach around her from both sides. I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. I didn't care if she got a little wet from the bath.

"I'm sorry. You deserve better."

She sobbed a little. I released my hold of her. I pulled her chin up one more time.

"If you would allow me, may I give you a name?"

She opened her eyes wide. They still had the hint of tears ready to drop.

"But, my Master... I'm not allowed to have..."

"I don't care about them. It can be between you and me. Just the two of us. Can I?"

She looked so unsure, but she gently nodded her head yes. I had one in mind already. A girl I had a crush on in grade school, her name was...

"Sophie."

Her unsure, sad look instantly disappeared. I could see ecstatic glee on her face. This time she pulled me in for a hug. More water spilled over than last time, from her pulling me close.

"Like we discussed, you should probably keep this between the two of us. Also, If you go out there too happy, you may cause suspicion."

She pulled away from me in a hurry.

"Right!"

She gave me a huge smile.

"I'll gather up your clothes and find new ones for you."

I put up a hand to stop her from leaving right away.

"One more request. The clothes, can you find something a bit more... plain? The stuff Mik is wearing is a bit too flashy for me."

"Yes!"

She stood straight up. I must have gone wide-eyed because, she asked me,

"What's wrong?"

I looked straight down into the bubbles of my bath to avert my gaze.

"The water... your clothes... see-through."

She looked down and covered up her chest with one arm. She then continued to gather my clothes with the free hand. If she blushed, I couldn't see it. She stopped at the door.

"I'll go change. I'll bring you a fresh towel when I come back."

She began to reach for the door with the hand that was covering her chest.

"Thank you, Sophie."

She looked back at me with tears in her eyes again. This time, they were happy tears.

Sophie was gone for about ten minutes, I would guess.

*Knock knock*

"Come in."

The door opened and Sophie entered with some fresh clothes and a clean white towel on top.

"I'll just leave this for you on the chair."

"Sophie, before you go again, can I ask you about something?"

"Yes... Master's... guest?"

"PSH, haha. What?"

I couldn't hold back my laughter. Suddenly a small earthquake hit. Nothing special to me since I lived in California before. But, Sophie looked terrified. She fell to the floor and held onto the side of the tub for dear life.

"What was that? Why are you not scared?"

Her voice was shaky.

"Oh, I'm used to those. It's called an earthquake. The ground shakes a little bit once in a while. Have you never felt one before?"

Sophie shook her head, no.

"It's over already. You can stand up."

I gave her one of my hands to help her steady herself as she stood.

"If that is all, I'll leave you to your bath."

My hand had been out of the bath for a while now. I was confident that I would not get her dress wet when I grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving just yet.

"Wait, please. First off, you can just call me, Lake. You don't need to call me Master's guest."

"Ok, Lake."

She smiled as she said my name.

"The question I wanted to ask, was bout the potion of Rage. Do you know much about it?"

She nodded.

"I do know some things about the potion. In the past, those who drank of it were said to cause catastrophes that changed the lives of entire races. Not for the better. All races feared anyone who drank of it. The last one to drink it was a human. He caused so much damage that Eyse lost over half the population."

I tilted my head to the side.

"Ice? Like frozen water?"

She then tilted her head in the other direction.

"The world, silly. Eyse is our world. Do you want to hear about the potion of Rage, or not?"

I gave her a sneaky smile to try and play it off as though I was teasing her.

"The difference between the other races and humans when they drink the potion is that the other races gain a limited time of power. The first to drink of it was an elf. We created it in the middle of a war and used its power to stop the war. But, the casualties were immense on both sides because the user of the potion could not tell a friend from a foe. He went on a rampage for a full day and night."

"I thought you only knew a little. Where did you hear all this stuff?"

She gave me a sly smile.

"Hehe. Before the Masters were stuck in the house, I would read Master's books when they were not around."

I gave a sly smile back.

"Sneaky, sneaky."

She put her finger up to her mouth.

"Shhhh. Anyway, no races have used the potion more than once. There were four times when the potion was used."

"So, the first was an elf? And, the fourth was the human, right?"

She nodded in agreement.

"The second was a troll. The elves make the potion and keep it at hand for emergencies. The trolls bartered their homeland for the one-time use of the potion. Their enemies were entirely wiped out in a single night. The race of wolven was no more, extinct. The third race was unknown. All the book said was that it was used for a third time. An entire continent is now a vast lifeless desert, thanks to the third user of the potion. The human user was different. When the human drank it, people were scared at first. That was only the beginning. The power didn't seem to subside. He kept destroying places one after another. He couldn't be stopped until..."

"Oh, I think I know this one! The Magecrafter, known as the Magician. He used up all available magic in the world, Eyse. He then banished the human that drank the potion, to another dimension."

She clapped her hands a few times in amusement.

"Yes, you got it!"

"So, what is the power granted by the potion of Rage? And why is it called that?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know what the power is, the books didn't say. I do know that it's called the potion of Rage because the power is activated when someone who drank the potion, gets mad or angry and go into a fit of rage. A rampage, I guess, would be accurate."

After hearing all of this, I now have a faint idea of the trouble I may be in. If I get angry, I may gain an un-controllable destructive power. I need to keep my anger in check.

"One final question, Sophie. The people who drink the potion, do they gain healing powers?"

She shook her head again.

"I don't think so, the books never specified, but those that drank it, never live long after using it. Why, are you planning to drink it? Do you have some revenge plot? Do you desire immortality?"

I think she was only half-teasing. There was an almost worried look in her eyes.

"Nothing of the sort. I just really haven't heard much about it, so I was curious. It's almost like, you are telling me a bedtime story in the bath before I go to bed."

I winked at her. She blushed and looked away.

"It's the middle of the day, silly."

I leaned back in the tub.

"I think I'll finish up in the tub pretty quick here."

Sophie was about to respond when the door swung open. Y'gdrim had a wide smile on her face while she gave me a wave of her fingers. Then, she scowled at Sophie.

"You! I've been looking for you. Why are you bothering our guest? Get out here now, you have work to do!"

I put my hand up to try and get Y'gdrim's attention. I wanted to tell her that she was no bother, but they were both out of the room before I could speak.

The door was left open.