KatSmithWrites

This chapter has been revised to reflect commentary/critique. Several legitimate concerns were brought up and it was easier to address them now rather than write lengthy explanations down the road.

Dinner was uncomfortable but delicious. Nobody really spoke - instead, everyone just focused on the food. However, Pallas decided that the cooks at the Inn could learn a thing or two from Vienne. Dinner consisted of a hearty meat stew with root vegetables, seasoned with local herbs. Apparently, everything came from the farm that Jerald and the boys worked at except the herbs which Laraline and Vienne had collected. Amelinne had bought the bread from the baker and brought it home. All in all, it was a delicious - if awkward - meal.

Laraline was still nursing her reddened cheek as she ate, shooting baleful glares toward her older sister. The boys devoured their food ravenously, paying no heed to the atmosphere of the dinner table while Jerald pretended to be especially interested in the texture of his bread. Vienne, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to eat her dinner while staring off into space. Amelinne, sitting next to Pallas, ate her dinner slowly, and was apparently a bit ashamed of how she had reacted to her sister's behavior and ate her food in sullen silence.

Pallas finished her food first. "That was a delicious meal, Vienne. Thank you. Where should I put my bowl?"

Vienne smiled warmly and replied, "Thank you, Pallas. Just leave the bowl there. Laraline will take care of the dishes when everyone is done." She stopped and turned a pointed gaze upon Laraline. "Won't she?"

"Yes, Mother," came Laraline's sulky reply.

It wasn't long before everyone had finished their meals and Laraline was collecting the dishes. The taller of the boys approached Pallas. "Hey, you look about my age. How come I haven't seen you around before?"

"I just arrived in town about two weeks ago. I've spent most of that time at the Church or at the Inn," Pallas replied guardedly.

The younger of the two boys, lying flat on his back between Reese and Mayla in front of the fireplace, piped up. "Really? Where were you before that? Did you come from Erimere?"

"Ah, no. I... uh... don't really have memories before I got here. Sister Berna found me on the river," Pallas said, hoping to change the subject.

"Well, that sounds like maybe some rough experiences you want to put behind you," Jerald interjected. "How about we talk about what happened earlier? Laraline, care to explain why you felt the need to be so rude to Pallas?"

Laraline paused in the middle of the room with a bucket full of dishes in her hands. She set it down by her feet and faced her father. "Honestly? It annoys me that she's so pretty but she's not taking care of herself. If I looked like her, I would be dressing way better. Doing more with my hair. Maybe wearing a bit of perfume." She turned to look at Pallas directly. "She's so pretty, but she's not doing anything with it. It's such a waste."

Pallas's face had gone crimson from the backhanded compliments mixed with the heavy criticism. She opened her mouth to speak, but Amelinne beat her to it. "Well, who are YOU to judge, Lara?" Amelinne said indignantly. "Up until a year ago, you were still wearing my hand-me-downs and kept your hair tied in pigtails!"

This time, it was Laraline's turn to go red. "Shut up, Ami! What do you know?" She quickly stooped to pick up the bucket of dishes and stalked out the door where the rain had subsided into a light mist, leaving the door standing wide open. Everyone stared after her, dumbfounded by the display. Amusingly, it was the youngest son who rose from the floor to close the door.

"I don't see what she's so salty about," he said. "If Pallas doesn't look as cute, it just means she has less competition for boys, right?"

Vienne burst out laughing at that. "I think," she said after her laughter had subsided somewhat, "that Lara was being nice in her own way. I believe she meant for Pallas to take better care of herself. She's just really bad with new people and tends to say things without thinking about them, first."

Amelinne fidgeted for a moment before nodding to herself and standing abruptly. "I'll be right back," she announced. "I'm going to help Lara with the dishes and talk to her a bit. I shouldn't have struck her, no matter how rude I thought she was being." She turned to face Pallas. "I won't be long. Why don't you play with the meylarns a bit while I'm gone? They really seem to like you!" With that, she headed out the door, closing it softly behind her. Pallas watched Amelinne disappear, then looked back at the rest of the family wide-eyed.

Vienne, sensing Pallas's anxiety, smiled and called out, "Mayla! Reese! Sing!"

The meylarns suddenly rose to sit on their haunches and each began a sort of trilling howl. Reese's was a little bit lower in pitch and after a cacophonous moment, the two beasts settled into harmony. The boys, at first laughing at the noise, also raised their voices in howls - minus the trilling sound - to create a lovely chord. As the sound stopped, Jerald began singing without words. His throaty notes rose in volume from a speaking tone to more of a booming melody. The boys matched his melody with their respective singing voices. It reminded Pallas of nothing so much as the Gregorian Monk chants her mother had played for her when she was younger. The sound of the singing seemed to surround her in the small home, the acoustics almost tickling her ears and raising goosebumps on her skin. Then Vienne began singing a soprano counter-melody, a soulful lilting sound that made Pallas's breath catch in her throat.

As she listened, she felt as though she were wrapped in a blanket of music, the sound of the singing comforting her and filling her with warmth. The meylarns had long since fallen silent, listening with rapt attention to the music the family made. As the various parts began to fall silent, Jerald grinned widely. "It's been too long since the last time we sang! I just wish the girls had been able to join in. Laraline's got a great voice and Amelinne's not too bad, either."

"Do you... do that a lot?" Pallas asked hesitantly.

"What, the singing?" the older of the two boys responded. "We used to do it a couple times a week, but not as much, anymore. It's been, what, about a week and a half since the last time?"

Vienne tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment and said, "About that, yeah. With Ami and Lara both working out of the home, they're not around for after dinner singing as much, these days."

"But is that something a lot of families do?" Pallas was genuinely intrigued, as the most active group activity her family had ever participated in was playing Cards Against Humanity every other weekend. Her mom usually won.

"Not all families, but a lot do. Singing is one of the ways we express joy and happiness and thankfulness. They didn't do that where you're from?" Jerald asked.

"I have no memories of anything like that," Pallas stated candidly.

The younger of the two boys replied, "That's sad. Everyone should be able to enjoy singing!"

"I'm sorry, I never caught your names," Pallas admitted.

This brought a sheepish smile from the boys. Vienne put a hand to her cheek in surprise. "I never introduced you all, did I? Oh my goodness. Where are my manners? My older son is named Mickel and my younger son is named Kurtz. They're named after their grandfathers."

The boys bowed their heads at the mention of each of their names respectively. After the introduction, Mickel smiled and said, "And your name is Pallas? Do you have a family name?"

Pallas shook her head. She was about to reply negatively, but she felt a tingle in the back of her mind. A single word. "Tritonia." As before, Pallas was uncertain why she said it. If her memory served, this was another epithet for Athena, although this one was a little less understood. Something to do with Athena being born of the water or perhaps her relationship to Triton. Considering Pallas was "born" from river water, perhaps this wasn't such a bad family name after all.

Jerald seemed to like it. "Tritonia. Pallas Tritonia. It sound foreign, but pretty. It suits you."

The door opened, admitting both Laraline and Amelinne with a bucket of clean dishes. Pallas breathed a sigh of relief both because it would take the attention off her parentage and because the girls were smiling. That had to be a good sign.

Laraline passed the bucket to Amelinne, who walked it over toward the shelves on the far wall, and stopped in front of Pallas. "I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings with what I said before. I didn't mean to. I was just really upset that you weren't taking care of yourself the way a girl should." Laraline looked genuinely remorseful.

Pallas waved it off. "I'll be honest, I don't really know *how.* I can only imagine how frustrating that might be to anyone that was raised otherwise."

Vienne perked up at that, for some reason. "Jerald...?" she said, some unspoken question exchanged between her husband and herself.

Jerald smiled knowingly. "Be my guest. The boys and I will hold down the fort while you're out." He gave a look to the girls, who nodded and smiled.

Pallas looked between the two adults, uncertain what was going on but certain that it involved her. Before she could voice her concerns, however, she was swept up in Vienne's guidance out the door with Laraline and Amelinne in tow. After a few moments, Pallas realized that they were en route to a wide, squat building close to the river. She finally worked up the courage to ask, "Not to be rude, but what exactly is going on?"

To her surprise, it was Laraline that responded. "We're taking you to the bathhouse."

"This is probably going to be a really stupid question, but are the baths private?" Pallas asked hesitantly.

"You're right. That was a stupid question," Laraline responded. "You'll see when we get there." Amelinne glared sternly at her sister, but said nothing.

They arrived in short order and Pallas noted that the building was divided into men's and women's sides, denoted by crude pictograms of trousers and a dress painted directly on the building. Vienne, Amelinne, and Laraline ushered Pallas toward the side of the building marked by a dress and Pallas began to have a moral quandary. I really should not be bathing with other women. Sure, I have a woman's body, but I'm pretty much a teenage boy in my brain, aren't I? I mean, even if I'm not a boy, I still have an attraction to women. I guess I'm a lesbian? Shit. Shit. Shit. I really should NOT be seeing other women naked. What do I do?

The interior of the bathhouse consisted of benches with folded towels on them around the perimeter surrounding six large wooden tubs arranged into two rows of three. Each tub had been filled with steamy hot water. There were channels in the floor between the tubs that all ran toward a central drain and a large wrought iron chandelier with a circle of candles provided light to the room. No other bathers were present, but two female attendants dressed in linen underclothes with their hair tied back under scarves were waiting at either side of the entrance. The room was pleasantly warm against the relative chill of the misty air outside and Pallas found herself relaxing despite the situation.

Vienne handed a small handful of coins to the attendant on the right who tucked them away into a pouch at her waist. "Oh, paying for four today, Vienne?" the attendant asked curiously. "Who is this lovely young lady you've brought with you?"

"This is Pallas. She's our guest for the night! This is her first time at the bathhouse, so I decided it would be good to come here with her in case she had any questions or needed any help!" Vienne replied happily.

The attendant looked at Pallas curiously, but left it at that. "Well, you know where everything is. Let me know if you need anything. We just refilled the tubs so they should be nice and hot!"

The group moved toward the two tubs at the far end of the room and began undressing. Pallas positioned herself facing the wall with the rest of the group at her back as she undid the buttons on her dress. After folding her dress and laying it on the bench, she began to remove her undergarment when she felt a tickle at the back of her neck. She unconsciously looked over her shoulder only to immediately jerk her face back to the wall, a furious blush tinting her cheeks and ears. It had only been a brief peek, but she had seen more of Amelinne than she felt was proper.

"What are you doing, silly? I was just going to let your hair down so we could wash it!" Amelinne cheerily chastised. "Stay still!"

Pallas's face froze and she began focusing on a mental mantra. Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts.

Amelinne proceeded to untie Pallas's hair and finger-comb through it to loosen it up. The feeling of her fingers working along Pallas's scalp was immensely soothing and Pallas found herself grinning stupidly as she relaxed further. It was then that the taller girl grabbed Pallas by the shoulders and spun her about so they were facing each other.

Pallas closed her eyes tightly and put her hands up defensively in front of her face, saying "I didn't see anything, I swear!"

Vienne and Amelinne laughed as though this were some big joke, but Laraline eyed Pallas curiously. Amelinne gently pulled Pallas's arms down and looked her carefully in the eyes. "Pallas, it's fine. We're all women, here," she said with an earnest smile. "Now come on, we share tubs to leave as many as possible open for other people." With that, she pulled Pallas by the hands toward the tub and stepped in. Pallas did the same, desperately trying to look anywhere else as she was guided into the water. "Why are you so nervous?" Amelinne inquired.

"I've never bathed with anyone else," Pallas said in a shaky voice. "I'm not used to seeing... other people..."

"Surely you must at least be used to seeing your own body?" Vienne offered helpfully. "Just try to remember that everyone here is the same as you."

"I will... try to keep that in mind," Pallas replied.

So it was that the women proceeded to bathe. There were rough cloths provided with two types of bar soap - one for the body and one for the hair. Pallas understood how to wash her body just fine, but the hair was an issue. Amelinne showed Pallas how to use the rag to scrub up a rich lather of the shampoo bar to work through the hair and massage the scalp. After rinsing her body and hair, Pallas and the others simply sat in the tub to soak for a while, the fragrance of the soaps mingling in a heady floral sweetness. Finally it was time to get out and dry off. Amelinne showed Pallas how to work most of the water out of her hair with the towel without twisting or scrubbing to prevent it from frizzing or breaking before Vienne tied Pallas's hair into a bun.

During the whole thing, Pallas found herself feeling less and less conscious of the nudity. As long as she kept her eyes on the faces of her companions, it wasn't an issue. Although she noted with some small satisfaction that despite the fact that Laraline was taller, her own bust was a little bigger. All things considered, it was a strange thing of which to be proud, she realized.

The walk back to the Tirtha house was brisk and chilly as the early evening mist clung to their bodies. Vienne lead the way with Amelinne and Pallas just behind, Laraline trailing in the back. The cool air felt nice against Pallas's body after the hot and steamy bath. The floral scent of her hair was incredibly relaxing and she found herself in a bit of a daze as she was walking.

At one point, Laraline tapped Pallas on the shoulder and whispered into her ear, "That's how you do it. You better keep it up, or I'll drag you back there, myself."

Pallas blushed, but said nothing as she nodded affirmatively.

Once inside, Jerald smiled and said loudly, "There's my lovely ladies! All nice and clean! I suppose the boys and I should take a turn, as well. What do you say, boys?"

Mickel nodded sullenly but Kurtz was apparently offended. "I don't need a bath! I can just take a quick dip in the river and I'll be fine! It's more fun to swim and try to catch things, anyway."

Vienne put her hands on her hips. "Kurtz, you need some soap to scrub all that dirt and muck off you. If you want to do that in the river, I have no qualms, but you're not just going to play! You're going to get clean!"

Kurtz deflated, his mother's admonishment apparently taking the wind from his sails. "Okay, Mom..."

Soon, Jerald, Mickel, and Kurtz were on their way to the bathhouse, leaving the women to their own devices. It was growing late, the last of the sun's light dipping over the treeline to the west, splashing the clouds in the sky with brilliant hues of orange, red, and purple. The unfamiliar stars of another world began to peek from the darkest of blues on the opposite horizon.

The Tirthas women busied themselves with end of day tasks such as feeding the meylarns and putting away the dishes from the day. They each took a turn behind the curtained area near the master bed to change into nightclothes except for Pallas who didn't actually own any and typically slept in her underclothes - a fact she mentioned aloud.

"Here," Laraline said as she thrust her arms toward Pallas. "You can wear this; it's become too small for me." In her hands was a simple white nightgown. "You can't sleep in your clothes and we can't have you in your underclothes around Father and the boys."

"Thank you, Lara!" Pallas said graciously.

Amelinne pouted and mumbled, "I'd lend you one of mine, but they'd be far too large." Laraline raised her eyebrow quizzically at her sister but simply shook her head.

It wasn't long before the men had returned and everyone began climbing into their respective beds. Jerald and Vienne took the master, of course, while Laraline, Mickel, and Kurtz made their way to the bunks on the opposite wall. Amelinne climbed into the larger full bed in the near alcove and Pallas proceeded toward the remaining empty bunk when she was stopped by Ameline.

"Nope, that one's for Mayla and Reese. You're with me," she said with a grin, scooching over to one side of her bed to make room for Pallas. Sure enough, the meylarns had already jumped into the remaining bunk, leaving Pallas no other choice. Amelinne pulled Pallas into the bed, tossing one side of the quilt playfully over the smaller girl's head. "Don't worry, I don't bite!"

Lara snorted and muttered, "She says that, but half the reason she has that huge bed is because she tosses and turns and fights the bedding. Good luck, Pallas!"

Pallas turned away from Amelinne as she lay down, pulling the quilt up to her chest. Her mind was muddled with thoughts of her past, memories of sharing a bed with Natalie when she was much younger. It felt like another lifetime ago.

"Now, now, girls. It's time for bed! Let's get some rest. We have a full day, tomorrow!" Vienne called from across the house.

Despite her nervousness at being in the same bad as Amelinne, Pallas discovered she was quite exhausted. She found herself rolling over to face Amelinne, who was lying on her back with her hands folded on her chest and her eyes closed. It was calming. Peaceful. Relaxing. Pallas listened to the sound of breathing all around, with occasional low snores from Jerald. The flickers of orange light from the fireplace highlighted the features of Amelinne's face. It was the face of her friend. Her first real friend in this new world. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. Her final thought before drifting off to sleep was, Maybe I can make it here, after all.