The sluice, once opened, let out almost directly into the baths, as Blackbarn had said. There were other channels for the water to vanish into the walls, presumably to be taken elsewhere, but Elaina would satisfy her curiosity about them another time. For now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

The baths looked as though they had once been some kind of watchtower or aviary built into a lower part of the mountain where the castle sat. She vaguely remembered structures like this connected to the rest of Willowridge through underground man-made chambers built down into the mountain. The baths were made in the Solacine style to match everything else, but they looked much newer and more modern. Belias, the former ritual master of the Abyssals, had been the decadent type, though. Hence, Elaina supposed the decor choice was just as much about that lifestyle as anything else.

The water let out into the baths as a decorative waterfall and began to fill the various pools quickly, each of which caught the slowly blooming light of the morning elegantly. The walls had large arched openings leading out onto a balcony overlooking a steep drop. She carefully crawled down the side of the waterfall with Resius on her back before she laid him out next to the pool in the uppermost chamber. Blackbarn crawled down slowly after her.

“Where you off to now?” Elaina asked, looking back over at him.

“Got to report in,” he said with a pained groan, “The next step was going to be to send someone in here to purify the water, but now that won’t be needed. I suppose then the main operations will begin.”

“Main operations?” Elaina repeated with a raised brow.

“Captain Steinbach will come in here with everything we’ve got. It’s a toss-up as to whether or not he’ll give the landgraf and her men a chance to vacate peacefully, but I’m fairly certain you won’t be given the opportunity.”

“Of course,” Elaina nodded, trying to keep herself from getting emotional, “Of course. Well, you could always stay with us? Not reporting back might slow the process long enough for us to get dug in and defend ourselves.”

Blackbarn stared back at her silently as he wrung out his wide-brimmed hat and placed it on his head. He’d gathered it and many of the things from his companions that hadn’t vanished in the spell before they’d left the cistern, “I can’t, I’m sorry. But if it’s worth anything, I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“A good word?” Elaina scoffed, “You think that’ll be worth anything to him?”

“No,” Blackbarn said flatly, “But it might be for the other men. Dieter was not well-liked, and he went off half-cocked, completely off-book. If people hear that the woman who killed him risked her life for us? For me?”

The wizard shrugged, “Then maybe you get that extra time you need through other means. Or maybe the Captain rethinks making a move at the risk of losing the support of his men. It means a lot to him.”

“Enough to not try and kill me?” Elaina asked curiously.

Blackbarn spread his hands, “Maybe. We’ll see.”

The swordmage nodded. It would have to be enough. She would deal with it however things worked out. Blackbarn reached into the satchel at his side and fished out a small leather-bound book with arcane writing on the spine, “Here,” he said, holding it out to her.

“What’s this?” Elaina asked, taking the book with one hand.

“Spellbook,” the wizard said, “Thought you might have a use for it. It belonged to one of the other guys in the squad. He’s gone now, and I already have one, so...” Blackbarn shrugged and motioned to her.

“You’re sure?” she asked, quickly paging through the small book. Every page was filled with writing on spells, procedures, rituals, and theory. It also appeared to have a few pages of parchment shoved into it that contained notes on things the original owner had observed or needed to know about Willowridge and the fiends dwelling within it. It looked like this had been the person responsible for the logistics and lore before they’d been slain.

The two said their goodbyes to one another, shook hands and parted as mostly friends. Elaina gave him a head start of a few minutes before she hefted Resius up onto her shoulders and carried him back to camp. The passage and stairs that led back inside the mountain eventually led to a corridor that let out into the bailey where the Vrocks had been. While she and Resius had been navigating the keep and nearly dying in the cistern, it looked as though the landgraf had advanced with her men in the night. Bodies littered the grounds, most of which were those of soldiers, but there were numerous Vrocks as well. Elaina’s heart sank at the grim sight, feeling as though somehow it had been her fault but knowing that there would have been little she could have done to change the outcome.

There were living soldiers picking their way through the remnants of the battlefield, picking up the corpses of their fallen and painstakingly removing them on bloody canvas.

“Medic!” she called out toward the nearest pair of soldiers, who took notice of her immediately and rushed over to take Resius from her. Both seemed surprised that he was still alive and rushed to get him to a tent set up for triage.

Elaina left the bailey, going to the outer curtain and down the hill into the main camp. It was much quieter now, with many men who had occupied the tents likely dead on the battlefield with the vrocks or awaiting medical attention. Instead of reporting to the landgraf immediately, she went to her tent to find something more appropriate to wear, discarding the scarf onto her bedroll as she dressed. She knew that she still probably didn’t look her best but decided against giving it much more of her time before returning to Elsebeth’s tent.

The same guards posted at the tent the last time she’d been here were posted here again. Each recognized her and acknowledged her with a nod.

“Is she available?” Elaina asked. She was granted entry with a wordless nod from the guard on the right.

When Elaina stepped into the tent, the landgraf was sitting behind the desk, looking over reports as she dabbed at a wound on the side of her head. When she saw Elaina, she nearly jumped to her feet but caught herself just before doing so.

“Vida’s breath,” she gasped, “We thought you’d been killed. Where’s your partner?”

“Recovering,” Elaina answered, “Things got rough in the cistern. There was a sarglagon safeguarding it. So Resius powered up the ritual he had to purify the water and vaporized the damn thing. But the spell took a heavy toll on him.”

“Will he live?” Elsebeth asked as she set aside the rag she’d been dabbing her head with.

Elaina spread her hands, “I don’t know. But if we can call it a silver lining, the spell succeeded in purifying the water. The cistern has much more than I realized and feeds into some baths.”

“There are baths?” Elsebeth exhaled sharply.

“I was as surprised as you,” the swordmage admitted, “Evidently, one of the guys in charge had it added shortly after he took the place. It seemed nice enough, should accomplish what all this was for.”

“Incredible,” the landgraf remarked, “Well, I guess we’ll start sending men up there to get cleaned up, and we’ll begin making use of the purified water immediately.”

“We should move camp into the bailey as soon as we can, if not the keep itself,” Elaina suggested, “We’re going to be having company within the next few days.”

“The Orbonne Company?”

“Afraid so,” Elaina confirmed, “We had a few of their men with us in the cistern. Only one of them made it out when it was over, but he told me their captain would return once he’s reported in.”

“You just let him go?” Elsebeth scolded, “To report back to the rest of them? Why?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to kill him. I’ve seen a lot of people die,” Elaina’s voice cracked a little, “dealing with all of these fiends and the things they do has been incredibly difficult. The way they delight in tearing people apart, devouring them, ruining them....”

Elsebeth’s expression grew slightly softer around the eyes as Elaina’s voice trailed off, “You could have taken him prisoner.”

Elaina nodded in agreement, “I could have. But it just didn’t feel right after fighting alongside him. After saving each other’s asses.”

“And him? How is he repaying you for this friendship born in the trenches?” Elsebeth pressed coldly, “By reporting back to his captain and bringing the rest of them down on us?”

“Well,” Elaina replied with a forced level tone, “I think what’s more important is that he told me exactly what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and what the rough timetable was of all of them coming back.”

Elsebeth raised a brow, pressing her fingers together on the desk in front of her. She understood what Elaina was saying now. The goodwill she’d earned with the man had earned them intel they wouldn’t have otherwise. They would have had no idea of what was coming and when. The larger force could have shown up while they had still been in the process of interrogating him. After a bit of silent contemplation, Elsebeth nodded slowly, “Alright.”

“Alright?” Elaina repeated.

“Indeed, it seems as though your compassion has not done you wrong,” Elsebeth agreed, “What’s that saying about flies and honey?”

“Much more than with vinegar,” the swordmage smiled, “So you’re not angry?”

“Well, I’m not pleased,” Elsebeth admitted, “I’d prefer that if we’re working together, you did not make decisions of that magnitude unilaterally. You understand?”

Elaina relaxed and nodded emphatically, letting out a long, relieved breath. Elsebeth stood now that the matter had been resolved, “Then I’m not angry, no. Your heart was in the right place; frankly, it speaks highly of your character that going through battle has not soured your humanity.”

Elsebeth stepped around the desk and motioned for Elaina to follow her as she exited the tent. As soon as they were outside, the guards at the entrance snapped to attention with a stiff salute before returning to a slightly more relaxed state.

“What happened with the vrocks?” Elaina hesitated to ask, considering the severity of what she’d seen, but she needed to know what had happened while she and Resius were gone.

“We saw what looked like a storm up there, lightning everywhere,” as the landgraf explained, she made a sweeping motion with one hand up the mountain, “scorched everything up there. It even melted steel. So we sent some men up to investigate. Shortly after, one came back and told us they needed backup. Things escalated.”

“I saw. I’m sorry,” Elaina apologized.

“There’s nothing you could have done, Woodlock. You were carrying out your mission inside, and there’s no way you could have known.” Elsebeth glanced over at her, placing a hand briefly on her arm to reassure her. In the light of the early morning, the landgraf had a certain dreamlike quality to her again the way Elaina had first met her. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Um,” Elaina had to think about it for a moment but drew a blank, “I’m not sure. Yesterday, I think.”

Elsebeth waved her hand, “Then go, eat. Then get some rest. You’re no good to anyone if you’re too exhausted to fight. I’ll have the men start moving camp and start sending them down to those baths in shifts.”

Elaina’s first instinct was to argue, but when the smell of eggs and sausage finally found her, she didn’t have it in her. Her stomach was calling the shots now, and it demanded sausages. She gave a respectful bow before excusing herself, practically running down to the mess tent now that she’d caught the scent of breakfast.

Trevik had provided nothing short of a feast for the men returning from the battle, which they were already calling the Battle for the Bailey. Large tins had been filled with scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, fried potatoes, toast, and a small selection of fruits and nuts. Were Trevik not a knocker, Elaina would have been at a loss as to how he had provided such delicious food at such a scale. Knockers were known for excelling at their crafts, however, and this was the one that Trevik had chosen. So the swordmage grabbed a tray at one end of the line and ended up with a small mountain of food at the other. She went right to demolishing it at the nearest table with a free seat.

While she ate, she listened to what the soldiers were saying as they told stories of the harrowing night before. Herrog had been wounded by one of the vrocks but was expected to make a full recovery. The landgraf herself had fought, making an impressive showing for many of the men. Many marveled at the fact that she went into battle without donning armor of any kind, likely failing to realize that the landgraf was probably wearing a variety of magical items to bolster her defenses while she remained unencumbered. Judging by the number of rings that Elaina had seen on Elsebeth’s fingers, any one of them could have been the source of such protection, as could the shapely corset she wore that never seemed to show any wear and tear.

Kitch had also been wounded in the fight, but she had not relented on leaving the battlefield until it was done. The Kyrsahn had been committed to dying on the battlefield if that was what it took. The stories of her efficacy did nothing to capture what Elaina had seen in the battle on the bridge. As Elaina continued to stuff sausages in her mouth, the plump meat bursting with satisfyingly salty juices, the word began to spread of the success in the cistern.

“Thought I might find you here,” Royce said as she sat down next to Elaina with a tray of her own, “You should be getting checked out with Resius right now.”

Elaina shook her head as she swallowed a particularly large wad of scrambled egg, “I’m fine. We had a few healing potions with us, just not enough, it seems.”

Royce raised a thin brow, reached out with one hand, and prodded Elaina in the ribs. A sharp pain shot up her side, and she pulled away quickly, “Ow! What the hell?”

“Cracked ribs, probably,” Royce noted as she pulled a strip of bacon from her tray, “Healing potions are fine as a stopgap. They close wounds and keep you from bleeding out, and enough of them can do the job of a healer if you like the flavor, but you still need someone to take a look at you.”

“Later,” Elaina grunted, “the landgraf said breakfast, then sleep, and now that I’m doing the first half, I can’t wait for the second.”

“Right. Well then,” Royce took a bite of the crispy bacon, “First thing when you wake then. Agreed?”

Elaina nodded a little dismissively and motioned to the bacon, “I thought vishanti didn’t eat meat.”

“The religious ones don’t!” Royce scoffed, “poor bastards, going through life without eating bacon.”

“Ever?” Elaina asked, crunching into a piece of crispy, buttery toast.

“Well, I imagine some of them must sneak some,” the witch speculated, “a lot of hypocrisy with that bunch, you see. But vishanti aren’t strict vegetarians. They can eat some meat, but it’s usually reserved for special occasions. Even then, usually some fish or bird. No red meat or...whatever bacon is.”

“But only the religious ones,” Elaina stated.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Royce said with a smirk as she nibbled on the rest of the bacon strip, “They’re all religious. Some believe it’s simply who we are, that there is no separation between who we are as a race and our faith. The idea is that without Sophitia, the goddess of the vishanti, we would not exist, so our unwavering devotion is owed to her.”

“But you don’t think that?” Elaina pressed, finishing her toast.

“No. Fuck no,” Royce laughed, “Not even a little bit. Vishanti are consumed with superstition. Some genuinely believe we’ll revert to a vampiric state like we were before Sophitia if we eat too much meat.”

“Huh,” Elaina frowned, finding it hard to believe that a few steaks would be enough to turn a person to vampirism. On the other hand, Elaina had seen a lot of things just in the last few days that would have been hard for her to believe had she not seen them with her own eyes. A capricious deity bestowing conditional salvation on an entire people through their diet wasn’t far-fetched when put into the proper context.

“They don’t like us fucking either,” Royce added with a smirk, “And I do love a good fuck.”

“Uhh, they uh,” Elaina cleared her throat briefly, a bit of food having almost gone down the wrong tube, “they don’t like sex?”

“Well,” Royce waffled a little, “Yes and no. It’s different based on what gender you are. If you’re a man, you’re expected to withhold your base urges to save them for a wife you intend to impregnate. Succumbing to those urges is taboo and viewed more or less as a sign of weakness or a fault in your character.”

“And the women?” Elaina’s mouth felt suddenly a little dry. Had she forgotten to get something to drink with her breakfast?

“We’re expected to wait as well, but there is a certain degree of leeway for us depending on our station and class.” Royce explained as she pushed some eggs around her plate, “Women are seen as the arbiters of intercourse because it’s in our nature to give life. Vishanti are all about that idea, by the way: what’s in your nature. It comes from communing with spirits and the like.”

Royce took a big bite of her eggs before continuing, “But women of the higher class get different considerations. If you’re a noble or, hell, a priestess, you’re allowed to fuck around a little more recreationally without people taking a dim view of it. That is provided, of course, you were discrete. The idea is that by shouldering these bigger responsibilities that take time and energy away from your inherent nature or whatever, you’re entitled to....”

“Compensation?” Elaina speculated.

Royce shrugged a little as she chewed, “I suppose? Sort of?”

“How does that work, though?” Elaina wondered, “The woman is allowed to do as she likes, but they punish the man for it?”

“Sometimes,” Royce admitted, “But more often than not, that’s when the girl-on-girl action happens.”

Elaina’s face turned a little red at how blunt the statement was, “O-oh?”

Royce’s smirk had a sort of devious quality to it all of a sudden, “Oh yeah, rampant lesbian sex. Noble women ravenously sucking on the breasts of maids in back rooms, priestesses desperately grinding their slick pussies on one another in the midnight hours, scholars eating each other out in their dormitories when they should be studying, you get the idea.”

The swordmage’s whole body felt poised to blush a deep red with how warm she suddenly felt. Her trousers had grown tight with the throbbing erection conjured up from seemingly nowhere. She pressed her legs a little closer together in the hopes that it would assist in keeping the hard-on out of sight.

“You’re not serious,” Elaina protested, “You’re messing with me, right?”

“Not at all,” Royce said, feigning innocence, “happens all the time. Of course, it’s more permissible for women of status and power, but any one of us could do it and be fine because it doesn’t present a risk of pregnancy.”

Elaina frowned, “Wouldn’t that go against your nature, then?”

“Hypocrisy, like I said,” Royce conceded, “but that doesn’t change what they do. I’d happily show you a little of what I know about it in my tent later.”

Elaina took a deep breath and looked down at her food tray again, now hungry for something else entirely. Her previous anxieties and fears about revealing herself seemed far less important now that Royce had presented her with yet another direct overture for intimacy.

“Think about it,” the witch said as she stood up with her tray, “I have to get back to work.”

Elaina’s gaze remained fixed on the tray of food for a moment longer before she turned to savor the sight of the witch’s ass as she walked away, only to see she was already gone. Her eyes darted around quickly, trying to catch sight of which direction she had gone in, but it was like the woman had disappeared.