Free Steel Maiden by Kim Richardson Page A

corridors
and hallways until I was dizzy. We passed a few priests who smiled
at the women but glowered when they passed me. I glowered back.
Finally we arrived at a bath area where four large square baths
steamed with water so clean, it didn’t look real.
    “Take your clothes off,” ordered the head
concubine.
    Who was I to argue? At this point, I didn’t
care about undressing in front of these women. We were the only
ones in the bath area, so I felt even more at ease. My clothes were
stiff with sweat and grime, and I was dreadfully embarrassed at my
filth. The water looked divine. They didn’t have to tell me
twice.
    I peeled off my clothes and dropped into the
steaming bath. The hot water soothed my skin. I’d never been in a
bath this large, this glorious, and this hot. It was heaven.
    The concubines held me, rubbed my skin with
hard bristle brushes, and washed my hair.
    “Ouch! That hurt!” I yelled.
    The red-headed one tsked . “You are as
filthy as the wild children, miss. We will scrub you clean,
no matter how much you fuss.”
    She pursed her large red lips and began to
clean my fingernails with a hard brush. The women ignored my many
requests to be gentler and scrubbed me until my skin sparkled
red.
    As they fussed over me, I examined the
concubines more closely. One was blonde, one was a redhead, and the
other two were brunettes. The one rubbing a bar of soap along my
right arm had her hair piled on top of her head in braids. The
other concubines wore red ribbons braided into their long locks.
The girl who scrubbed my legs had tanned skin that stood out
sensually against her see-through yellow robe. They all seemed to
know what to do without communicating, and I wondered if they had
bathed prisoners often. Every now and again, I caught questioning
looks between them. They didn’t have to say anything, but I could
tell they were mystified about me. There was also a hardness in
their eyes that I couldn’t explain.
    I couldn’t suppress the feeling of dread
that shook me. I could easily have been one of them, a priest’s
love toy. Any of them could have been me .
    Once they were satisfied that I was clean
enough, they dried me with plush white towels that smelled of
lavender.
    “You’re very skinny. Do you know that
we can count your ribs?”
    The head concubine was watching me. The
scorn on her face had disappeared, and there was pity in her large
blue eyes.
    I was embarrassed. They had seen every inch of me, every imperfection. I wrapped my arms
around myself.
    “I don’t need your pity,” I said rather
harshly, but I felt like I was being judged, like they wanted to
make sure I knew that I didn’t belong with them. What did they know
about me? Did they ever starve?
    “There’s not much food in the Pit. We do our
best.” I glared at the blonde until she looked away, but not before
I saw the pink that stained her cheeks.
    “She is skinny, but you can’t hide the fact
that she’s beautiful,” said the redhead. A frown wrinkled her
silky, milky skin. Her emerald eyes widened.
    “Skin and bones and still stunning. How did
you manage to escape the priests looking like that ?”
    “Helen! Hold your tongue,” the blonde looked
over her shoulder. “We were told not to make conversation with
her.”
    “There’s no one here but us, Kayla.” Helen
shrugged and turned back to me
    “You’re tall and fit. You have the most
beautiful raven hair I’ve ever seen. It’s a little dry, but I’m
sure if you rubbed in a little oil and ate proper meals for
a month it would be glorious. You have cheekbones to die for, and
your dark almond-shaped eyes give you a real exotic look. You’re
really quite stunning.”
    Her face became serious. “Even as I child,
you would have been beautiful. They would have discovered you. How
is it that you’re a grown woman? How did they not find you?”
    I could see a flash of painful memory spread
across her delicate features.
    “Maybe she’s highborn?” said the