Page 14 of Taken to Nobu
Red surfaces in Kuaku’s face and looks wretched against her dark grey skin and the even darker walls behind her. It makes her whole forehead look like it’s bleeding. “I am no one’s hasheba,Kuana,” she sneers.
“You are,” Kuana says, a little less confidently this time. “And I am proud of my title.”
“You are weak. Youshouldbe proud of your title because it’s all you’ll ever amount to…”
“Hey!” The both turn to me, white on their faces, and it takes me to that second to realize the word was my own.And now I’m protectingher.“For comet’s sake, shut up. I just want to get this mud off me.”
“Of course, Xhea, apologies.” Kuana rushes ahead and pulls aside a heavy black curtain that I’d mistaken for a wall. Beyond it, the white in the air is thick — too thick to see the far wall through. It looks…well it looks like steam. But how can it be? I’ve seen steam before on very hot days and over boiling pots of water — there were pockets of steam floating above the mire — but I’ve never seen so much of it at once.
“Is that abath?” My mind blanks as I approach Kuana. She holds the curtain aside and a very small smile quirks on her face.
“Hexa, my Xhea. It is.”
I inhale deeply, moving towards the black basin nestled halfway into the room’s rocky floor — the steam’s provenance. “What’s that smell?” I hear myself say, speaking as if the voice is not my own.
“It contains healing and cleansing minerals, to help you ward away infection.”
“I can smell them.”
“I hope they are to your pleasure, my Xhea.”
“Yes,” I whisper, lost. And then because I forget to hate her for one singular moment, I whisper a vulnerable truth, “I’ve never had a bath before.”
Realizing what I’ve said, I glance up, embarrassed. White flashes again, only this time is followed by something darker, the color of cinnamon. She bows to me slightly, breaking my gaze. “Baths are an everyday occurrence here, my Xhea, you will have many. As many as you like and as often. We have no shortage of hot water…”
Her voice is killed by the bitchy one’s laughter. “That doesn’t surprise me. You’re a filthy species, covered in all that disgusting hair and sweat. I can still smell you through the mud. Unfortunately, I don’t think a bath will ever help you be rid of it…”
“Kuaku,” Kuana says again in a surprised tone. As if she can’t imagine anybody ever doing anything evil to anyone. As if the universe is truly a good place in her eyes. “You shouldn’t speak to the Xhea this way. Okkari would have you banished for it.”
“And who will tell him? You? You are a coward and this flimsy little wretch here is little more than an animal. Would he even believe her?”
I round on her and try to force some elasticity into my limbs, which are hot soup at this stage and little else. Her bug eyes widen as I advance and I can see my reflection in them.I look like a monster, like the animal she says I am. I falter, but only for the second it takes me to remember that she’s the enemy and I’m meant to fight her. Lifting my arms, they’re too weak to level a proper punch so I throw my whole torso forward instead. I smash my forehead into her mouth, butting her like a beast. She shrieks and stumbles back into the hall and I grin when the automatic door glides shut between us.
I turn to where Kuana cowers by the entrance, clutching the heavy hide curtain to her chest. After a few seconds, she says, “Are you alright, Xhea?”
“Don’t call me that,” I mutter.
I approach the massive black basin sitting in the center of the room, water rendered black inside of it. I twirl my fingers over the steam that coats it and my heart pounds harder when I lift one leg over the edge, and then the other. I sink in.Paradise…I close my eyes and give up for just a little while.
Time passes. I don’t know how much of it before a small voice finally disrupts the quiet. “Sorry, but what should I call you then? Va’Rakukanna?”
Heat that has nothing to do with the hot water enveloping me licks up my spine. “No. Call me human or nothing at all.”
“Human. You wish that I call youhuman?”
“Yes.” It’s a good reminder. Them. Us. We are not the sameeven if she does smile so tenderly it reminds me of Svera.
“I…alright.” She inhales, then exhales shakily. “Human, may I help you remove the mire from your hair?”
I think of my mother and what she would say to me now and wince. I almost say no. Almost. Instead I choke out, “Do what you have to.”
Alien fingers in my hair. Running diligently through my locks and over my scalp. Running water — hot water — through my muddied locks… And I don’t stop her.
It must be shock. It must be what keeps me from rebelling and killing her and finding my escape. It must be shock…
“I will need a stiffer comb to get through your hair, my Xh…I mean, human. Let me fetch one. I will be right back.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t even open my eyes. She doesn’t deserve it.No.She doesn’t deserve this, the way I’m treating her now.I flinch again and only when I hear the curtain rustle do I dare look up. The room bowls around me, all dark rock with those strange lights switching across its craggy surface. They pulse, making me wonder if they aren’talive. It’s frightening.It’s incredible.
