As I approached the counter the man eyed me suspiciously, probably wondering if I would dirty a bath up beyond repair. I had never been to a hot spring before so I wasn’t sure how it worked exactly.
“Um…I’m here for the hot springs.” I muttered lowly, causing the gawking man to roll his eyes.
“Fine,” he grumbled, “five pieces of silver.” I was in no mood to argue so passed over the coins. He had a small shop behind him offering a few nick-knacks. I eyed them closely before I saw something that could prove useful to me. I cleared my throat and noticed the mans glare.
“I’ll buy the small brown pouch there,” I said pointing. It was about as big as my fist and made of soft, supple leather. A long leather string was sewn about it so it could be worn around the neck. I wasn’t too sure what I would put in it but I assumed it might come in handy. The large burly man heaved a heavy sigh and turned away to reach for it, not about to detour a possible buyer, even a filthy young man such as myself.
“Will that be all?” he groaned, obviously annoyed by me.
“Um, actually, I’ll take that binding potion too.”
He turned away from me and took the small bottle down from the shelf. I passed over the coins and turned to leave.
“Go through that doorway over there to your left. Leave your clothes and belongings in the room there, the girls will wash them for you.” I nodded and turned toward the door.
I entered the stuffy room and sat my sword on a bench, dumping the money from the hidden pocket in my pants into the small brown pouch which I tucked into the blue wrappings of the swords scabbard. I dumped a bit of the binding potion on to everything before drinking the rest of the sour liquid. It was a cheap spell but it would protect my belongings for a few days, making them invisible to anyone except me. I smiled smugly and sat the bundle in a cubby.
Turning around I observed the steaming room. About twenty large copper vats were lined up along the center, and all but one were filled to the brim with boiling water. Girls stood around the vats stirring the clothes in the murky water using long wooden poles.
I sighed from the pleasure of the warmth as I entered a cubicle and stripped off my muddy clothes only then remembering I’d worn my best yesterday. At least they would hold up better for the journey ahead.
Wrapping a pure white towel around myself, I pushed my hair out of my eyes, remembering my father’s joke. A pudgy girl approached me and I took a few steps backward.
“Oh stop fussing, mister.” She grabbed my clothes from the floor before motioning for me to follow her. On our way out, she dumped my clothes in a boiling vat before pointing outside. “Take the third pool down. There’s only one other occupant there.” She reached up into a cabinet and brought down a dried bristly plant used for scrubbing and several different soaps. After eyeing my shaggy head, she passed me a pair of scissors and smiled as she pointed to my long bangs. I nodded before leaving the building and walking towards the clay domes outside.
There were eight different pools. The main spring underneath had been channeled to each of the clay basins. Really all they’d done was hollowed out eight holes and piled a shell of clay around each pool making them individually private. The first bath was empty of water and there were two girls scrubbing it out. The company guaranteed that the pools were cleaned every two hours and then filled back up with fresh hot water. Frankly I didn’t care how clean it was, only that it was warm.
I hurried to the third pool on the men’s side and stopped. A young man who looked to be about my own age sat at the other side of the pool. His brown hair was dark with water and his bony body was covered in the tattoos of a wizard. He was in the process of washing his shortly trimmed hair and looked up at my approach. His gaze flickered over me before he went back to his vigorous scrubbing and ignored me.
I slipped in and shivered from pleasure as the warmth surrounded me. I looked up at the brown haired wizard and found he was staring at me.
He cleared his throat. “You’re supposed to take the towel off first.”
I felt my face flush red and quickly peeled the now drenched towel off of my filthy body, submerging myself deeper into the water. There were different shelves carved into the clay wall and I scooted around until I found one which allowed only my neck and head to remain above water. I plunged under and made sure my hair was plenty wet before I broke off a chunk of unicorn soap and let it dissolve to pulp in the water then began a furious attack at my tangled black mop.
And so began the process of my cleansing. It took about an hour but I enjoyed it immensely. The wizard finished about the time I was halfway through scrubbing but he hung around anyway which annoyed me greatly for some reason.
I had a bony arm stuck up in the air as I was examining a long scratch on my side, one I’d received while repairing fences a week ago, when the young wizard sank under the water save for his wide eyes and nose. It took a minute for me to realize he was starring at something behind me. I turned around and plunged my now cold arm back into the welcoming water as I let out a surprised squeak of indignation. Mrs. Baker stood there, hands on hips, looking huge since my eyes were at her feet level.
“Mrs. Baker!?” I gasped, embarrassed and angered at her sudden appearance.
“Oh, Zavier, it is you!”She kneeled down and I sank lower, glad the water remained a deep brown color making anything in the water invisible, more specifically; myself. “I’ve been searching around for you all morning!”
“What?!” I glared at her as my cheeks turned a bright red. “The ladies bath is on the other side-” I stammered.
“Oh, I know that, Zavier. You always were a silly one, coming up with such notions!” She patted my head making me choke on the dirty spring water. “Daldiana’s such a pretty girl, Zavier, it’s too bad for you that she’s your sister, seeing the way you two care about each other so.” My ears followed suit of my cheeks and blazed.
“Mrs. Baker! We’re siblings; of course we care about each other! Besides, what does this have to do with Dal?” I glared at her and glanced over at the wizard who’d returned to sitting on his shelf and staring peculiarly at me and Mrs. Baker.
“Oh. Well yesterday night she ran to me and told me you’d finally made a break for it. We all knew you would one day soon, but you took your dear time about it, my boy, if I do so say myself.” I glared at her and she continued. “Anyhow, she begged me to try and find you and give you a few things. Here they are.” She pulled a bundle out from under her cloak and I recognized it as an oiled traveling coat. She sat it down on the dry ground and reached back into her coat. She pulled out a few more things, setting each atop the cloak. It included a set of clothes, probably Iram’s, and a pair of boots.
“This,” she held up an envelope and tiny sack, “is from Daldiana.” I recognized Dal’s money pouch immediately.
“No, Mrs. Baker. Take the money back to Dal. I have enough of my own. Thanks.” She nodded, patted my head once more and then left as quickly as she’d come.
It was about an hour after Mrs. Baker had left that the same pudgy girl who’d taken my clothes earlier came over to our pool. The wizard and I still hadn’t exchanged any more words after the incident.
“Both your clothes are ready now.” She eyed my wet towel lying there and sighed as she picked it up. “I’ll bring you some clean towels.” I brushed my hair back from my eyes and at once remembered the scissors. I cleared my throat and glanced at the wizard.
“Um, hi. I’m Zavier.” I wiggled a few fingers at him in an attempted wave.
“I gathered that,” he said blandly and I mentally slapped myself. Mrs. Baker had made sure of introductions.
“Oh...yeah. Well… What’s yours?” I asked hesitantly knowing this wasn’t going too well.
“My what?” He gazed at me watching me burn in indignation.
“Your name,” I said through clenched teeth as I glared at him.
“Oh. Victor,” he mumbled, leaning his head back against the hard clay shelf.
“Well, Victor, would you mind trimming my hair for me?” I asked, knowing I would make a mess of it if I tried to do it myself. He shrugged and put a hand out for the scissors. I passed them to him and cringed as he slid through the water and grabbed my hair, quickly snipping it off. I hoped the guy had at least a little mercy and self preservation, praying he wouldn’t choose to get cocky and trash my hair. It was over in about five minutes. It was a little short for my liking but I had no right to complain.
The girl finally brought the towels and afterwards Victor led the way into the steaming room. I followed, carrying my bundle of things Mrs. Baker had left, dying to read the letter from Dal. I dressed quickly and grabbed my invisible bundle of sword and money. I looked across the room and saw Victor staring at me oddly as if he was looking through me.
I turned and stared. A cloaked being was standing in the back doorway of the steaming room. The person expertly held a sword out in front of themselves, lifting the sword to point it directly at me. Instinctually, I grabbed at Valsephony’s invisible hilt. Who was this person? The person lowered their sword as they saw me grab at something. It lifted its left hand and motioned for me to follow.
I couldn’t do it; force myself to follow this unknown person. It waved me toward itself again, this time more urgently. The person stowed the sword away in its hidden sheath and showed the palms of both hands, showing they had nothing to use in harming me.
I looked behind me and was startled to see the wizard had come up behind me and stood by my shoulder. He nodded.
“Go on. I don’t think she will hurt you. I think she wants to tell you something,” Victor hissed in my ear, shoving me forward.
“Do you know her?” I asked hesitantly. Victor frowned and shook his head.
“No. But I think you do.” I stared at him a moment longer before moving towards the cloaked figure. She turned and led me outside.
The fall breeze caused the woman’s cloak to billow about her body and I wondered who this mysterious person could be. I followed her a short ways to the off skirts of town and down a dark alleyway. I became nervous as the air became damp and the space darker and darker. Finally the personage turned.
“Zavier, I’m glad I caught you before you left.” The woman pulled her hood off and I gasped. An old woman stood there, her wayward white hair tied back neatly in a ponytail. She looked nervous and I wondered what she could possibly be afraid of. Surely not me?
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I asked awkwardly, not understanding the reason for this mysterious appearance.
“Now is not the time for introductions. I had to tell you something.” She glanced around the darkened alley nervously, fearing eavesdroppers. “Boy, listen to me. There’s a prophecy about you. It’s well known, but not as a Prophecy itself, the balladists did a good job making sure of that. Anyhow, the time will soon come when you will doubt not only your friends but yourself. I believe you know a man by the name of Master Gordon?” She asked quietly.
“Sure, but what does he have to do with this, what-”
“Shh… he was not able to come to you as he had to attend to some unfinished business that came up unexpectedly. He thought he would be seeing you again so neglected to tell you some things when he saw you this morning. He wanted you to know: Doubt is the mother of fear, Zavier. It must be abolished and crushed before it is allowed to overcome a person. Understand?”
I nodded, even though I had no idea what the old woman was rambling on about.
“Why do you know it’s me?” I asked suspiciously. “This so-called prophecy?”
She shook her old head.
“I know more about you than you think, Zavier. The Master said to tell you that if you ever need advice and are around this area, come and see him . . . That is unless you choose to leave . . . Never mind.” She sighed as she turned her grey eyed gaze on me again. “The tides are turning, Zavier, much too quickly for anyone to prevent it. Anyone, that is, except you. Don’t worry. You’ll know what to do when the time comes. I’m sure of it.” She smiled then threw her heavy cloak hood back over her head. I opened my mouth but the dark form shook her head.
“I can’t say anymore than that. Oh, but, Zavier. . .If you ever need help and by chance you cannot find the Master...remember that bookshelf he showed you long ago. Eh?” Her deep gaze bored into mine a moment longer before she pulled her heavy hood down over them. And then she was gone, swiftly as a woman much younger than herself.
I was deeply confused as I trudged slowly back toward the bathhouse along the main street. Before I knew it I found myself standing outside the Tideway Hot Springs staring at the light grey sky. Victor was also there, looking at a sickly rose bush, but I knew he was waiting. I patted him on the back and motioned for him to follow. I was unnerved by the wizard’s odd attachment towards me but somehow felt drawn to him.
“Come on, I’ll buy lunch.” I saw a small hidden smile cross his face and he followed me. Thankfully he didn’t ask about the cloaked woman. I felt cleaner than I had ever felt before and I patted my head, it felt odd. Victor smiled at me and I realized that I had gained something that day; a haircut and a friend.
He refuses to come and stops His journey toward us. My heart drops as She leads me onward away from the town. She knows best though, so I go. Hoping He will follow us. So I leave a dream. Hoping that chance beyond chance. . .he will find it.
There's not much I can say to help you out, and I've pretty much already given you my advice. Anyway, I love your writing. 
