The water lapped softly against the sides of the ceramic tub, turning cloudy with every rough swipe of the hard sponge against her skin. Freya sat still, eyes fixed on the faint crack that ran along the tiled wall in front of her. It was easier to look at that than at the women moving around her , hands scrubbing, the sound drowned by their whispering voice . Talking about her as if she wasn't even there.
"She's not that bad for a human," one of them murmured. The sponge paused briefly before continuing, harder this time, as though she needed to scrub the humanness out of her.
"The king must have his reasons," another replied, her tone low but curiousity was laced in it with something that almost sounds like bitterness. "He has never taken one before."
Their words drifted above her head. Freya wanted to tell them that she could hear every single one of them and that she wasn't deaf, that she feel like pulling each one of them hair out and force feeding them with it. But her voice felt trapped somewhere in her throat, buried under layers of disbelief and exhaustion.
The water rippled when they poured another bowl over her head, the sound grounding in the quiet room. It was probably the only reason why she hadn't turn hysterical or broken down.
Drops ran down her face, along her collarbone, down to her hands resting limply on her knees. She hadn't even realized she was trembling until one of the women clicked her tongue in annoyance and held her still. " His Majesty would not appreciate you looking all scrubby and dirty. You should be grateful we're doing this".
Freya wanted to tell her so bad that the same ' his Majesty ' didnt seemed to care about the ' scrubby and dirty' when he bought her. Plus she had no interest trying to please that beastman or any beastman at all.
But she kept her mouth tightly shut. If she was going to escape from this place, it'll be better not to draw any attention. Though she doubt if that will be any help since her ' appearance ' was already an attention itself.
She had it all planned in her head. The beastman said he'd be leaving before dark and although she had no idea what the time was now, she knew it wasn't close to night yet due to the sun peeping through the small square window in the bathroom.
All she had to do was to somehow get these four chirpy women away from her after they've ' prepare' her to be in the presence of the mighty beastman.
She had no idea which creature he was or his status but from tge way they speak of him, it was obvious that he was someone of high esteem.
She didn't care about it though, after all she was going to be out of this place soon.
The women stepped back, giving her spacecto stand up from the back tube. Her pale white hair glistened as water drops slide down on her smooth skin, making it look like she had just got out of a sparkles shower.
She didn't fail to notice the women who had their mouth opened ajar and their eyes holding a look that was all too familiar to her. It was the look that Adrianne, the village chief daughter will give her each time before rolling her eyes and snorting at her. It was the look that all the village women except Anabelle will give her before clearing away from her path, refusing to associate with her.
A towel was carelessly tossed in her direction a d she caught it before it could fall.inti the murky water. She wrapped the thick but stale cloth around her body, relief flushing her as her naked body was finally shielded from those piercing eyes.
Her bare feet touched the cold ground of the bathroom and for a moment the chill that came from it comforted her.
None of the women said anything more but two of them left while the other two ushered her out of the room. If ushered could mean the brown haired one pushing her from the back and the more shrubby and petite woman pulling her from the front.
She wanted to tell them she could walk, and that they knew that very well because they are humans like her but again she chose to be quiet.
She was taken into a small dark square room that has just one single lantern illuminating the room a little. It wasn't even dark outside but the room barely got it's share of the sun due to how small the window was.
" Here". A stale material was tossed to herby the short stubby woman " Wear this one and wait till someone come fetch you". With that, both of them were out of the room almost immediately.
The door was slammed shut, followed by a click which signified that they locked it. It didn't fathom her though, she was a great door nipper and she had examined the shape of the lock before she was pushed into the room.
She mindlessly unzipped the black dress and stepped into it noting how it wrapped around her body from the top then loose free right from the waist area. It was exactly how she likes her dress and that was the first and only thing she admitted she liked since she got here.
Setting herself behind the door, she placed her ear on it to listen in on footsteps but after a while of doing that, she shrugged, deciding that the coast was clear...at least for now.
Her eyes scanned the room for anything she could use to nickpick at the door lock and immediately she caught sight of the small hair pin on the dresser, she almost squealed in delight. The gods must be on her side.
She quickly grabbed it and got to work.
Soon , the door clicked open with a tiny metallic sound that made her freeze. She held her breath, half expecting someone to rush in but breathed a sigh of relief when there was no sign of anybody.
She arched the door open a little, peering into the corridor. It was empty and quiet, just like how it was when she was led here. She eased the door wider and slipped out, careful not to make any sound.
If all goes well, she'll be out of here before anyone notice she's gone. She doubt they'll go out of their way to find just one human.
However, her heart thudded within her chest and she feared someone might fish her out with it. Her bare feet made no sound as she tiptoed on the gravel ground , her finger grazing the wall for balance.
At every turn, she'll pause first to check for anyone before dashing and making it to another hallway. It was endless. She avoided anywhere that had people voice and made sure no one could see her but the still air and the way the hairs on her back stood made her doubt if she was alone. It felt like someone was watching her.
Keep walking, keep walking. At least till I find a door or a large window to climb over.
She kept repeating that in her head. She was distracted and didn't realize when she turned into a corner without checking and her head bumped into a solid rock.
The force pushed her back and she fell, her ass hitting the cold floor. For a heartbeat, she didn't move and was too stunned to even breathe.
Then her head lifted hesitantly, eyes tracing the broad outline of the man before her. He stood tall above her, the faint light from the corridor glinting off his eyes—eyes that looked like molten gold .
Freya's breath caught, fear crawling up her spine as her mind went blank. Every thought of escape vanished as she realized out of a the people she could bump into while escaping....it had to be the beastman who bought her.