Celeste
The bath was an absolute gift from the Moon Goddess herself.
I lay in the hot water until my fingers pruned and my muscles turned to pudding. I scrubbed every trace of river and mud and blood out of my hair. The cuts on my back stung and closed. The bruises on my hip settled into a dull ache I could ignore.
When I stepped out I was a person again.
Someone, Darien presumably, had left me a dress. Pale pink. Soft fabric that hugged at the waist and flowed loose at the knees. I had not worn a dress in days. It felt strange and wonderful against skin that had been strapped into leather and linen. I twisted my drying hair into a low braid and studied myself in the polished bronze on the wall.
For the first time since I had left Aderian, I looked like the girl who had left Aderian.
