Finally he stripped off his tunic and opened up his wall locker. It took him two checks to determine that he had, precisely, zero civilian clothes.
“Herzer, you’re getting way too into this shit,” he muttered. Finally he pulled out an undress tunic and a field cloak and stomped out of the quarters.
He headed downtown in the general direction of Tarmac’s tavern, then took a left and, on an impulse, headed for the public baths. When he got near them he stopped and whistled. What had once been a rather small set of three wooden buildings was now a complex of at least half a dozen. And from the traffic going in and out half the town was there.
He headed up the front entrance and passed through one of several doors. There was a small antechamber, heated against the growing cold of fall, and he stripped off his cloak before passing through the second set.
The far room, which smelled of chlorine and was, frankly, overheated, had tables down either side with at least six people at each of them. He didn’t recognize any of them and he hoped that it was mutual. He stepped to the right where a teenage girl wearing a bathing suit nodded at him.
“Lord, you’re a big one,” she said with a smile. “I haven’t seen you before.”
“I haven’t been here in…” He had to stop and think for a moment. “Oh, at least two years. So I think you’ll have to walk me through the procedures.”
“Well, I have to stay here or I’d be happy to.” She grinned. “But it hasn’t changed much.” She dipped under the desk and came up with a bag marked with a complicated symbol and a wooden marker. “Take the bag, go through the doors. There are disrobing rooms in there and towels. Grab a towel, put all your stuff in the bag and give it to an attendant. They’ll seal it and you keep the marker.”
“What are all the buildings?”
“Well, there’s a shower room, please pee and take a shower before you climb in the baths,” she said with her first frown. “There’s one building for women-only baths, another for men; they’re marked. Then there’s the pool room, which is unisex. You can eat in there as well. And the fitness center.”
“Fitness center?” Herzer asked. “I’m getting a sinking feeling. Do people wear bathing suits in here?”
“Some do, some don’t,” the girl smiled. “And there are some for sale in the gift shop, which is right around the corner,” she added, pointing.
“I think I’ll stop there, first,” Herzer said.
He followed her directions and found a fully appointed gift shop. Not only were there bathing suits, there was a complete line of toiletries, soaps, shampoos, towels with the Raven’s Mill logo and even shirts and coffee mugs. He picked one of the latter up and grimaced. “Raven’s Mill, Home of the Blood Lords” was baked into the ceramic.
“Can I help you?” a cold female voice asked from behind him.
“Morgen!” he said, when he turned around. “I thought you’d run off to another town!”
Morgen Kirby was about a hundred and seventy centimeters of slim redhead. They had had a very brief relationship just after the Fall, before he had joined the Blood Lords. Very brief. Basically a half a day at the end of which they had a flaming argument. He couldn’t, off-hand, recall about what.
“I did,” she said, sighing. “I went to Resan.”
“Oh, shit,” was all Herzer could say. The town of Resan had been one of the first that Dionys McCanoc’s forces had hit and because the town elders had a policy of “strict nonviolence” his forces had gone through it like a hot knife through butter. And that reminded him what the argument had been about. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. How…” He paused, unsure how to go on.
“McCanoc attacked just before dawn. I was working for one of the established people in the town and had gone out to one of the farms for milk; Mistress Tabitha had to have fresh milk for breakfast every morning.”
“So you got out,” Herzer sighed.
“Not… entirely unscathed.” She frowned. “After that I went to Washan but after you and Edmund stopped McCanoc I decided the one place I wanted to be was back in Raven’s Mill. Even if I didn’t have my head screwed on straight, I could at least be somewhere where others did.” She paused and shrugged. “You were right. Shilan and Cruz and all the rest were right; this world can’t afford peaceful innocence. There are too many bad people in it. I always sort of expected you to turn up and gloat. But after a while I figured out you weren’t the gloating type.”
“No, I’m not,” Herzer said. “I’m the worrying type. I actually thought of you earlier today; I saw Crystal. She’s Edmund’s secretary.”
“You were right about that, too,” she snorted. “She was being snippy because I was with you. When I got back here I was a bit loopy and she tried to ‘comfort’ me. Big mistake. She found out how over ‘nonviolence’ I am.”
“Um…” Herzer scratched his chin and frowned. “I… well we get briefings about combat aftermath. You know, you really need to talk to a counselor…”
“I have been,” she smiled. “For damned near a year I’ve been going to the post-rape trauma groups. I’m actually bucking for a junior counseling spot and Mistress Daneh thinks I can make it.” She suddenly frowned again and looked at his prosthetic. “What the hell happened to you? Where’s your hand?”
“McCanoc,” Herzer said with a shrug, raising the prosthetic. “It’s okay, it’s got a little latch for holding my shield, takes all the trouble out of it. Better than a hand in some ways.”
“I didn’t know.” She frowned again, looking at the clamp and hook of glittering metal.
“And you work here?” Herzer said, changing the subject.
“And I work here.” She shrugged, still looking at the prosthetic with a troubled expression. “Three nights a week. And the sawmill during the day. So, were you looking for me, or…?”
“Actually, I was looking for a suit,” he admitted. “I haven’t been to the bathhouse in a year or two and it’s really changed.”
“Not as much as you might think.” She smiled. “Some people use them by the pools, but most don’t. And, frankly, I don’t think we have anything that will fit you.”
“Story of my life,” he grumbled.
“Well, you never were an off-the-rack kind of guy,” she said with a grin.
“I guess I’ll go brave the baths then,” he said. “I’ve been in Harzburg for a year and they’re… pretty uptight about body modesty. I guess some of it rubbed off.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get back into the evil ways of Raven’s Mill.” She grinned again.
“Well… see you later?”
“Maybe,” she said with a shrug. “I’m… not sure it would be a good thing to just pick up where we left off. I’m… over it but not that far.”
“Believe me, I understand,” Herzer said, frowning. “I’ve never had that particular experience, but I’ve seen the aftermath enough times. Take care of yourself, and… I’m here. Shoulder, bed, sword, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, dimples appearing on her cheeks. “Go have fun.”