A Royal Soak (Closed thread)

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It had been a long day for Acacia. She’d spent the morning out horseback riding along the private beach and then returned to lunch and an afternoon of working on a new canvas, and thus was covered in charcoal. Now seemed like as good a time as any for a bath, so Acacia gathered her things, changed into a clean, fluffy lavender robe, and headed to the royal bath house.



The large room was empty when she arrived, water trickling quietly from the stone dragons on the top tier. It fell past the stools, set up for bathers to rinse themselves, to grooves in the floor that led out of the castle. Acacia set her things on a dry shelf, taking off her robe and hanging it on a hook on the wall. She sat on an empty stool and wet her wash cloth, slowly working the dirt and charcoal from her skin and rinsing the ends of her hair.



Satisfied, the young baroness made her way to the main pool in the center of the room. The water was warm, deep and steamy. Carefully, Acacia sank herself into the bath, sighing audibly, the sound bouncing slightly off the marble. She rested her head back against the edge, closing her eyes and humming to herself quietly.

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Ansley sighed; her favorite dress was ruined; and she was covered in afternoon tea. Ansley made her way to the baths; more than uncomfortable as tea had been sticky since it had been mixed with honey. The servant had tripped; an accident she was sure. But the delicate white cloth she had been embroidering was ruined. That along was enough to dampen her mood. When she entered the first chamber before the bathing rooms, she stripped her dress and underthings and handed them off to a servant to go wash. After she slipped on a pink bathing robe and made her way to the baths. When she walked in she was pleasantly surprise to see Acacia already bathing.

”Good afternoon Acacia”

She made her way to another spout; hanging her own robe up and rinsing off the sticky tea that had covered her body. Once she was pleasantly cleaner she stepped over to the bathes and sunk into the pool. Letting out a happy sigh as she sunk to one of the stone benches.

”This is nice. So how are you liking life around the castle? These baths are definitely a lovely perk yes?”

She smiled at her friend; finding her here at the baths was the first good thing that happened that day. So far between the tea, her ruined embroidery, and having to have her dresses specially treated for stains she wasn’t having the best of days.

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Acacia sat up quickly, startled as she heard someone else enter the baths. She sighed in relief, smiling as Ansley appeared. "Good afternoon, Ansley. It's nice to see you here," she said, greeting her friend. Acacia averted her eyes politely as Ansley rinsed and made her way into the bath, waiting until her friend was settled to turn back.

She sat up a little on the bench, pulling her head from where she'd had it resting on the edge and yawning. "Pardon me. Yes, this is quite nice. We have nothing like this at home, as you are well aware. It's very relaxing," she answered, smiling and still thinking on how to answer the first question. "Life around the castle is...very different. I've been having trouble sleeping but other than that, it hasn't been too bad. There's a lot of inspiration for drawings, to be sure. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous with using these baths, at first," she said, chuckling a bit, then sighing. "I do find myself to be quite homesick, though. I'm not used to being around so many of higher nobility. I'm quite worried all the time of doing something out of place," she admitted.

"What about you? You've been here quite a bit longer than I, how do you like living here at the castle?" she asked, curious. She knew Ansley had been coming here on and off for years now, since her mother passed. Acacia considered herself lucky that both her parents were still living, even if they had sent her away, which she slightly resented them for at the moment.

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”Trouble sleeping? Perhaps we can pick up some tea that may help. I know it has to be quite a change for you.” Ansley nodded listening to Acacia and she explained she was home sick and how she worried she was doing something wrong. Ansley smiled softly; remember she had felt very much the same when she first arrived. ”I know the feeling; when I first came to court I felt as though I had two left feet. Perhaps we should find you a mentor? That or I’d be happy to help…Though I’m sure you will be fine. I think most eyes are on the newest Duchess. From chains to nobility; I heard that the woman didn’t even wear shoes when she first came to the castle!” Ansley giggled, she wasn’t sure how true that was but it was still something she heard.

When the subject turned to how she felt about being in the castle; her features brightened. ”Oh I love it; I get to hear the latest news and there’s always a party or dinner to go to. Ones never lacking for entertainment. I also get to see many of prospective matches; that and some of the guards here aren’t bad to look at either. After the bath perhaps we can go scope out some entertainment. I use to think Lady Melda’s guard was something…but he was so rude at the party… ” She sighed with a pout. That was one cute face off the list.

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Whilst the two young baronesses chatted in the bath, a being watched them from the shadow. It was small, smaller than any sight would allow from the darkened position in the corner of the bath. This was an opportunity...one that had been waited for so very long. This bath house...recently constructed, it had a fresh link to the sewers below to drain the water. One easily navigated by one with his skills. It was little more than climbing the structure and shrinking down to the smallest of sizes to gain access.

There would only ever be one chance to strike: likely there would be some kind of ward or protection added next time. The slave markets would pay a king's ransom for such fair maidens, likely untainted by the touch of a man, at least prior to the sale. With that money, perhaps at long, long last a cure for this detestable state of being could be had. There were others before who would use said bath, but either something felt off or there was too much risk for the reward.

Not this time.

The fact they were nude was of no concern to the creature. All the better for the markets if anything. There was but one entrance, he would have to keep them from fleeing and to delay the approach of the guard. To be caught doing this deed would be a certain death. A skitter might faintly be heard as a shrunken movement might be detected for the faintest of moments, the batter of little feet that could easily be dismissed as a harmless mouse. Once next to the door, the work was begun as a magical bomb was placed, a fire and earth crystal fused together with an unstable spell that would detonate.

The creature would skitter back to its' original position before a wave of a claw later, the bomb would grow in size, likely quiet and not immediately to be observed from the two young ladies. Before detonating it with the spell, the creature would return to its normal size. A putrid, gagging smell would fill the air, followed by an explosion, causing rubble and poison to fill the air, most of the poison in the hallway.

At last the entity steps out of the shadows. It stood four feet tall, hunche over with brown matted fur, stained by green spots of sewage. Tattered rags cover the torso and waist of the beast, with bandages wrapped around the feet. The face was distorted, a long snout going down an angle, with a yellow, toothy grin. Wrapped around the creature's waist and along a diagonal of the torso sphereical structures were hung haphazardly. Long claws came from the hands, reaching for a jar hung at the side.

"Hello ladiessssssss you will be coming with meeeeeee"[/b] the rat man states, as a magic activates. White wind flows out at both Ansley and Acacia, as magic would begin to overtake them, shrinking their forms down whilst also gradually pulling them into the jar much like a vacuum.

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Acacia nodded, smiling warmly as Ansley spoke. "It's just such a new place to adjust to. I haven't tried tea yet, honestly. Perhaps we could go get some after," she agreed. She knew that certain brews could be put together using specific herbs to cause a certain desired affect but had never personally attempted to use tea as a problem solver for anything. Ansley continued, her sympathy for Acacia's situation much needed, causing the young baroness to smile and even laugh a bit at the mention of a duchess with no shoes. "No shoes, really? That's quite amusing. How did she come into her title then if she was in chains, as you say? Did she marry up?" Acacia asked, curious. The mention of a mentor made her a bit nervous and she shook her head. "No, I think i can manage just fine on my own. I'm slowly figuring it. I spend a lot of time observing other nobles," she said, and indeed she had been people watching in the gardens and the libraries.

She listened to Ansley answer her question about the castle, smiling as the other woman became quite animated. Acacia found herself quite glad that her friend liked it here. Perhaps she would come to as well. It certainly sounded busy enough and she did enjoy parties and fancy dinners. "That sounds wonderful! I'm very happy to hear that you've enjoyed being here. Perhaps there's hope for me yet, hm?' she said, smiling. The talk of perspective matches brought a faint flush to her cheeks. "That's the whole reason my parents sent me here, you know. They want me to hurry up and marry off so they can retire. I didn't much care for Lady Melda's guard either, not really my type, I think. Count Vladimir is quite intriguing though, no?" she said, her tone ranging from embarrassed to casual conversation rather quickly.

Acacia couldn't hear much of anything between her conversation with Ansley and the running water, so when the bombs went off, it caught her quite by surprised and she screamed, the sound echoing off the marble. Bits of marble and wood splinted and flew in various directions as the smoke and poison spread through the air. The young baroness started coughing, quickly reaching for her robe. There was a third awful smell beginning to fill the room and Acacia looked up to see the most hideous looking creature. It looked like a giant, mutated rat and it smelled so awful her eyes were beginning to water. She tried to scream again, the tainted air scratching her throat and dampening the sound to a low screech and a coughing fit.

Then the creature spoke and she looked at it in horror and surprise. She was being kidnapped? This couldn't possibly be happening in the castle! But a moment later the strange rat man was casting some kind of magic on them and she found herself shrinking and being sucked into a jar. It was itchy, her skin suddenly feeling too tight it shrunk first followed by her insides, leaving her feeling rather squished and breathless for a moment before the spell completed. Acacia stood in the jar, quickly putting on and tying together her robe before proceeding to bang on the glass, her protests barely a whisper.

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Ansley nodded agreeing that she would be up for getting tea later. ”I believe a fellow duchess lives here at the castle that might know just the blend; perhaps we can go introduce ourselves after.” She chuckled with Acacia at the thought of a duchess or anyone that matter not wearing shoes out in public. ”She supposedly was a fated woman who was associated with the woman who tried to kill our dear king. She turned herself in to; it was most strange….and slightly frightening. When she was brought in it was as if the gods were speaking from her…quite unsettling. I suspect her rise to duchess hood has at least something to do with that. That and the princess of Palico seemed to have taken a shining to her. The two seem to have gotten close.” She sighed if only it was that easy for the rest of them to become a duchess….her luck would lie in marriage. If she could find a duke to take her hand; well that would be just grand. ”I do admit I am slightly jealous of the woman; I guess it pays to have friends in high places.”

Ansley swirled a finger in the water; going over the list of nobles in her head. There was Duke Theodore, and the Count from Palico Vlad…however she would hate to have to travel to Palico. She heard it was awfully dull; and brutish. Duke Finn she had her sights on for a while; only he had been missing for ages. The head master at the arch was nobility; but she disliked magic so he was out. There was the King…but he seemed so distant; and as a lowely baroness it was unlikely she’d ever get the chance. Most of the counts and such of the court were old; she hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting any good looking ones. She hoped she wouldn’t have to settle for a Baron…everyone knew Barony in the courts eyes was just one step up from a commoner; and she was already so close to toeing that line with her heritage. It was her duty as the only child to rise in the ranks of nobility for her family. She knew Acacia was in a similar situation. Her green gaze looked up Acacia when she asked if there was hope for her. ”Oh of course; I have every confidence you will do splendidly.” She though a bit about Acacia’s comment about Vladimir ”He is handsome I give him that; and he throws splendid parties and he’s a Count. Do you fancy h….Did I just hear a mouse?”

She looked around trying to locate where the skittering came from; she disliked vermin…she’d hate to think any were in the bath. Ansley rose from the water reaching for her robe; listening for the skittering again….either way with her luck today it was probably a rat. Suddenly there was a loud blast and a wave of heat; Ansley’s high pitch scream muffled by falling rubble. Ansley coughed as she inhaled the gas; pulling the robe up to her mouth and nose to block the worse of it. Her eyes growing wide as she gazed upon a horrendous sight. Instead of screaming Ansley swung one foot up as hard as she could right into the beasts nether regions ”ACACIA RUN!” She went to run herself but she felt the itchy sensation of magic across her skin. The room began to grow…or did she begin to shrink… worse a wind begin to pull at her flinging her into an enclosed glass room. She blinked dazed sitting with her back against the glass and her robe pulled up to her chest. Having hit her head on the way in against the glass wall left her blinking spots out of her eyes…hers and Acacia’s situation not fully sinking in just yet.

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The bomb would obviously have drawn attention from practically every guard in the castle not under a strict post duty. The sounds of armored footsteps would ring across the halls, clamoring in front of the rubble. It would not take long before a mage would be summoned to assist the drove of soldiers already heaving rubble away.

When Ansley lunged forward and gave the rat man a swift kick to the balls, he gasped and howled in pain, unable to really try to dodge due to channeling both a shrinking spell and a suction spell. While it wouldn't be long before the spell took place and both Baronesses were in the jar. The rat raised it up to his eye level and scowled at Ansley.

"You will be given to the roughest buyer if I have anything to say about it."[/b] he hisses at the more aggressive noblewoman. He limped toward the pipe when the rubble blows away as guards poured into the room, swords drawn, archers with crossbows trained on the ratman. The ratman cackles, looking at them.

"Not so fast! One wrong move and your two pretty, little ladies will NOT be left alive." the rat taunts, holding the jar up with the flailing women inside. The guards would hesitate, which is enough time for the rat to let loose another bomb releasing a bright flash and poison gas. At this point, the ratman shrinks himself, the jar itself shrinking further to accommodate as he runs up the water pipe and into the below where the lines would descend into the sewers below.

The ratman begins to run through the darkness, flickering torches the only light for the human girls. Their nostrils would be filled with putrid smells of many sorts. Bricks would line the area immediately under the castle, but it gives way to more natural caverns winding in many directions the further away the swift footsteps take them.

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Acacia quickly forgot about their conversation as the events around the girls unfolded. Ansley's reaction was a bit surprising but neither it not the guards that arrived could save them. The ratman's words filled her with dread as his intentions became clear. They were being kidnapped to be sold as slaves. She couldn't focus on that though as it became clear that Ansley was injured. Acacia knelt next to her friend inside the tiny bottle. She checked to make sure the other woman wasn't bleeding, noticing that she looked a bit dazed. "Ansley, are you alright?" she asked, knowing full well that the answer to that was ultimately no. "Our current situation aside, that is," she added.

The young baroness shrieked a bit when their bottle, and themselves, shrunk further as the ratman made his escape into the sewers. She covered her mouth with her robe sleeve as the smells became almost unbearable. "Oh my word, this is awful. Ansley, what are we going to do? He wants to sell us! Nobody knows where we are, how are we going to be rescued?" Acacia panicked. She was really starting to regret having come to the castle, though this was obviously not a normal occurrence. She sat flat on the bottom of the jar, next to Ansley, and began to cry silently. She stared out of the jar, watching the shadows created by the few torches they passed and keeping her face covered with her sleeve. Eventually the young baroness passed out from the fumes, the motion of the jar throwing her body flat on the bottom of the glass.

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Ansley held a hand to her head; which was now throbbing. Looking up defiantly at the rat creature; she held her chin up high even as the lowlife insulted her. She was a noble; she would not let this low life goad her into cowering. Even if her situation seemed rather bleak. Her attention was pulled to her dear friend Acacia when she questioned her health. It was unfortunate that at least one of them didn’t get away. ”I just hit my head; I think I’ll be alright.” She looked around the tiny glass bottle. Surely there was a way to get out. ”This is why I hate magic.” Really forcing such a situation on defenseless magic folk. Sure there were charms and items you could buy to protect yourself. She suppose mages could fight mages; but they were all a untrustworthy lot…as much as she disliked them it would seem she would need a mages help to get out of this mess. Ansley began to gather her with; her eyes widening as her current state or lack of clothes became apparent. She jumped up to her feet ”Oh my word! I’m making a pressed ham.” Despite their current situation Ansley was still mortified to be seen naked by a; well if you could call it a man. She quickly shrugged on her pink robe and tied it tight around her waist. Her cheeks burning red with indignity.

Ansley looked out of the bottle; it would seem the cavalry was there. Perhaps they would be rescued from this dreadful fate sooner then she had dared to hope. But what if they couldn’t see that this rat had two of them in a tiny bottle…..if they shot and hit the bottle or it fell….Ansley’s face paled. They would fall to their deaths; or if that didn’t kill them, the shards of glass or a foot would. Suddenly the rat man did them a favor; Ansley braced herself against the glass as the rat held them up and shook the bottle. At the very least calling attention to them, thank goodness she had thought to put her robe back on.

Their hopeful rescue ended shortly after that as once more the sickening feeling of magic wrapping around them formed again. As they shrunk more so did their hopes of a rescue; Ansley frowned as she turned around her back against the glass. Slowly she sat back down and placed her chin her hand; a pout on her full pink lips. As the smells reached her nose she scrunched it up in disgust; quickly covering her nose with the sleeves of her pink robe. Ansley looked over at Acacia who was in a panic; something she very much felt like falling into. However her father always told her that’s what ultimately got you killed in a situation like this. She could fall into hysterics all she liked after they were safe….and or ultimately sold. ”The rat man showed the guards we were in here; so there is knowledge of our capture. He’s going to get chased and our families will be notified once the identity of who is missing is found. My father was in the guard for years before he got his baron title. I have every faith that he’ll come looking for us. So hope is not lost. Even if we are sold I’m sure we can be purchased back; we are noble after all.” She was listing these reasoning’s to calm Acacia down as much as herself. ”The slave market is located in Kanto; we’d have to be taken there to be sold. That’s a long way off.” Ansley patted Acacias back; trying to comfort the crying woman. But she too was slowly getting overwhelmed by the gasses.