Call to Arms (The Girl In The Arena Book 1) (10 page)

Reena knew right then that there was somebody listening and that Hector knew it even if she didn’t. “Yes,
it is. He told me his mother
he told me that his mother had it too.”

“A man should die in battle, or at least doing what they think is right.”

Reena said nothing else, she didn’t have to. They both knew that River had died because she had fed him and if she had not fed him he would still be alive, but she would be dead.

“I would like to go to Temple tomorrow.” That was a lie; Reena had never been to the Temple in her life. Her father had always taught her that the gods lived in the woods in the air and in people, not in some far-off distant utopia. Outlaws did not really have much access to temples.

“I will arrange to have you taken first to the baths and then into the temple.”

**

Reena stared around her at the walls of the bathhouse with absolute wonder and a little fear. She had never seen anything like it. She grew up bathing in the woods: in streams, lakes and the occasional small trickle of water from underground sources. She never seen the bathhouse and it was a little frightening.

The room she had been ushered into held a large square built into the floor; it was filled with steaming water, water that was a silky green color from the plants and oil that had been poured into it.

There were four woman standing around and all of them were looking at her as if she were a strange creature. “Have you never taken a bath before?”

“Of course I’ve been to the baths before. Just not in anything like this. Do  you have to be here with me?”

“Yes, this is our duty.”

The woman who had spoken was older and she didn’t look like she was about to take any nonsense either. Reena was a little afraid that if she didn’t actually get into the water herself they would simply pick her up and hurl her body into it. She stuck a toe into the water, testing it quite gingerly.

She yanked her toe back with a screech, “it’s too hot!”

“Says who?”

“Says me!” She glared at the woman who had spoken earlier. “I’ve never taken a bath with water that was heated.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I grew up in the woods.”

“Oh, it’s true then! Some people think that is something that the Governor just made up.” One of the other women elbowed her and gave her a glare that was designed to shut her up.

“Why would he make that up?”

Nobody answered that. Reena was beginning to understand how politics worked although she would’ve never been able to say that out loud. She did not know that she was learning it because she did know that such a thing actually existed.

Reena decided to simply take the plunge, literally. Anything was better than standing there naked while those women stared at her. She turned around and just jumped into the pool, her bottom scraping the floor when she landed. Her head broke the surface and she heaved out a breath, “I’m going to fry in here!”

“Close your eyes and just relax. Lean your head back and I’ll put this pillow below it.”

She did as she was told. The water did begin to cool some and she began to relax. Tense knots that she did not know were inside her skin and bones began to loosen and as they did she relaxed even further until she was almost limp.

“Th
is feels pretty good.” There was no answer and when she cracked open her eyes she saw that the women were gone. Was their job just to make sure she actually got in the water? Reena kicked her feet a little and let her fingers trail down into the smooth liquid. The scent coming from it was almost miraculously fresh especially after the smell of the city.

It reminded her of trees and spring blossoms, of leaves lying on the dense moss. Before she realized what was happening she had fallen asleep.

Once upon a time long ago there was only emptiness. And out of the emptiness came a great man, bringing with him a people that would become the rulers of the city so great and powerful that no others like it would ever rise again in the world. Aretula.

Or so they said, but there were those who did not believe that. There were those who questioned whether or not Aretula was in fact the greatest city in the world and it was the only one city within the world.

Many of the citizens of the city had become discontent; they were tired of the rule of the Governor and his decree that only those born of his line should ever rule the city. People began leaving the city, going to the woods. There they became known as outlaws and traitors. To live free was to risk the wrath of the Law. Many of those who ran away did not care about the law, and even there in the woods there was discontent. They began telling stories of a land beyond all lands, a place past the great desert — a place where people could decide for themselves which gods to worship and which Law to follow. It was said there in those lands that the great Barkley was not known as a hero, but rather a criminal.

There were some who even dared to say that Barkley had been forced to take his tribe and leave those lands, to cross the great desert and to seek shelter within the fallen city that would one day become Aretula.

Many thought that tale was a lie. Despite the past that the city had taken everyone knew that across the great desert was to risk certain death at every turn. Surely only a hero could have done so!

“But father, if there are lands beyond these woods, beyond the great desert, why are there no stories and songs of them?”

Liam looked down at his daughter. It was night and very dark. They had not been able to make fire today because the Culling was taking place, and building a fire was to risk being spotted by the keen eyes of the soldiers.

“At one time there was. Those songs were not allowed to be sung; it is said that when Barkley brought his tribe through the desert he told them that they must all forget everything that they knew in the other lands. That they would never return there and so that place was to be erased from the memory and heart.”

“Why would he want to forget it father?”

“I suppose there were two possible reasons for that Reena. If he really was a hero and there was nothing left of those lands it would hurt his heart to remember them. If he was indeed criminal and he had been ousted from those lands, he would want to erase the memory of that place from his people’s minds so that they would not miss it and wish to return and so that they would not betray him or themselves as criminals to anyone they met along the way.”

“Why is being a criminal so bad father? We’re Outlaws after all.”

“Yes, we are.” He ruffled her midnight-black hair with an affectionate hand. “These things are ancient Reena and are not for us to know. All we need to know is that we have chosen to live free. And that comes with a price, and sometimes the price is hard to pay.”

Do you think forgetting the tales and songs in that old land was Barclay’s price?”

“It could’ve been, yes.”

“Father, when do you know if the price is too high?”

“The price is too high when other people must pay it for you. Never forget that Reena, when other people must pay the price for what you have done then the price is far too high.”

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to wakefulness. Her eyes popped open and she screamed, a long and hoarse scream that felt like it was ripping out the walls of her throat. That scream went on and on; once started, it seemed impossible to stop.

It did stop though, eventually. Nemia stared down at her, her eyes slightly amused as she asked, “do you feel better now?”

Reena said, “What are you doing here?”

“This bathhouse is attached to the Temple of Isis. All who go to the Temple must bathe first, did they tell you?”

“Yes, they told me but I didn’t realize that it was part of the Temple.”

“Well it is. You were dreaming, most people who come here do. Did your dream tell you anything important?”

“No, why would it have?” She did not want to share her dream with this girl. She didn’t know why, but she felt like something was going on and she couldn’t understand what it was.

“It’s just a question. Are you ready for the next part of your bath?”

“The next part of my bath?” She knew she sounded like she was mocking Nemia so she added, “Forgive me. I’ve never been in a bath house before.”

“That’s not surprising. The last I heard Outlaws didn’t exactly build them all over the woods.”

“You don’t have to be so mean.”

“I’m not being mean, I’m trying to make you laugh.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you look like you need it and that’s part of what we do here at the Temple, we give people what they need.”

“What I need is a magic weapon that will keep me alive through all the battles that I have to face down to free my father.”

Nemia didn’t answer that instead she said, “The next section of the bath is in the other room. Here let me hold the towel so you can get out.”

She did hold the towel for her, which turned out to be a large rectangular piece of cloth so soft and so fluffy that Reena wanted to curl up inside of it and go to sleep. Instead she followed Nemia to the other room where yet another pool awaited her, this one round.

Reena expected the water to be hot so she plunged in and when she came up, sputtering and gasping it was to see Nemia grinning at her. “This water is freezing!”

“Yes, it balances out the hot water from your first plunge. It’s good for the skin.”

“At this point I don’t think I care about my skin, I just want out of here.”

“You only have to stay in it for a few minutes, just long enough to cool your blood back down and wake back up.”

Although Reena grumbled, the cold water actually felt good on her fevered skin and she was almost sorry when she was told she had to get out. Next she was taken into a small chamber, also tiled in the same fantastical marble and gold as the rest of the bathrooms, but this one did not have a pool in it. Instead a small bed in the shape of a long cable sat in a direct center of the room.

Nemia directed her to get up on the table and lie down. Reena was exhausted by then, but it was a better kind of exhaustion she had felt a long time. Her skin was tingling and felt sleek and smooth, and she smelled fresh instead of like old blood and sweat.

Nemia moved around in front of her and took her wet hair into her hands, massaging something into it so that it lathered up. When it was filled with the sweet-smelling lather, she poured a bucket of cold water over Reena’s hair.

Once Reena’s hair was washed, the other women came in and began to rub flower- scented oils into her body. The well was heavy and thick, almost unpleasant and Reena was about to protest when one of the women took up what looked like the broken edge of a shell and began scraping it along her body.

“Ouch!” Reena glared at the shell and her hands. “Are you trying to rip my skin off?”

“No, we are cleansing your body. If you do not believe me, merely look at the line along the edge.”

Reena did and then she wished she hadn’t. A dark discoloration ran along the wavy edge of the shell. Was she really that dirty? She did take a bath every chance she got!

When the back side of her body was finished, they flipped her over and did the same to her front. Embarrassment made her squirm and close her eyes tightly; she had never had anybody touch her in this manner before, and she was terribly afraid that they would think she was unclean.

Nemia took those fears away by saying, “There, we’re all finished now. This isn’t just about cleaning your body, this is about cleaning away all the cares and worries that the world puts on you. Most people don’t even know they’re carrying those things around although I believe you do.”

“Am I the dirtiest human being you have ever seen?”

“No, not at all.” Nemia gave her a brisk pat as she said, “I have brought a robe for you to wear while you meet with your company.”

Reena blinked. “What company?”

“What happens here in the Temple is sacred, nobody may spy upon you. There is a room that even if somebody wanted to spy upon you they would be unable to hear you or to see you. It locks only from the inside and sounds refuse to carry beyond its boundaries. It’s a very old room, and it was brought here from the arena years ago.”

“I don’t think I want anything to do with anything that was in the arena.”

Nemia pointed out, “We have both been in the arena.”

There was no way to argue that one, so Reena merely followed the other girl to soundproof chamber where Nemia paused and said, “Thank you for saving my life. But I’m not the only person you need to save. I know you won’t understand it, but we knew you were coming, the priestesses here the Temple I mean. I’m not a priestess yet, although I’m working on it.”

Reena asked, “What are you talking about?”

Nemia leaned very close to her ear and whispered, “Go into the chamber with an open mind and listen with an open heart. You are already an Outlaw.”

Reena entered the room and the door swung shut behind her, making her jump. Praxis! She caught her breath. What was he doing there? He was dressed in a plain black robe bound by a silver-colored rope, sandals and his hair was uncovered.