Binary

Chapter Thirteen: Improvising

"That's just my administration office," said Lady Argus, "it's fairly boring, it's where I work on legislation and things like that."

"...And secret codes?"

Xora choked on her butter biscuit. She had almost forgotten what Neri was doing here.

Lady Argus shot him a coy smile.

"Maybe," she said. Then she held her finger up to her lips and winked and Neri giggled at her. Xora blinked in surprise and smiled as she realized Neri had just made Rain's job a lot easier.

They visited a few more rooms, finally stopping in a large sitting room near the top of the castle, just a short walk from the guest tower Neri and Xora would be staying in. The servants were already waiting with dessert, as if they ahd predicted this was where the tour would end.

"Well, my Lady," Neri said, after they had eaten, "it's such a lovely night, and you're a lovely hostess, but I think the desert air is drying out my Nasharian skin. You your luxurious bathhouse, would you mind if I helped myself?"

"Oh, not at all," said Lady Argus, "go right ahead. Do you remember the way?"

"Certainly," said Neri, "they're by that wonderful Madison painting in the west annex, right?"

Xora watched him go, and suddenly she realized she was alone with Argus. She tried to think of anything to say to the woman. Neri had made the longest most drawn-out conversations out of nothing, but Xora felt awkward.

***

Neri noted the wide-eyed stares that the few servants have him when they thought he wasn't looking. They had probably never even seen a Nashar before.

The baths were housed in their own separate wing. They consisted of large pools set into the ground and water pouring off rocks and feeding into them. Neri admired them for a moment, before undressing and sliding into the steamy water. He had only been half-lying about needing a bath. The Nashara in Cire preferred the rainy jungles for a reason. The arid desert air was drying Neri's skin out terribly, and he wasn't sure how long he could stay in a climate like this. The bath was an amazing relief.

He let himself bathe for a few minutes before he put his plan into action. He got out, picked up his clothes, and hid them behind the rock water fountain on the edge of the room that fed into the baths. He then hopped back into the water and after a few minutes called out for a servant.

"Yes?" asked a young man in a vest and an ascot, "what can I assist you with?"

"I was wondering when my clothes would be finished."

"Sir?"

"From being washed," said Neri, "someone came by earlier and took them, they said they were going to wash them, that was nearly an hour ago..."

The servant looked puzzled.

"Is that not something you do out here?" Neri asked. The servant tried to throw him a reassuring smile.

"I thought that seemed a bit fishy," muttered Neri, "could you bring me a towel and something to wear?"

"Of course, sir," said the servant, and he hurried off. When he came back, he had a towel and the pants and shirt to one of the waitstaff's uniforms.

"You've gotten the sizes all wrong," complained Neri, "just take me to where you keep these outfits and I'll find my right ones myself..."

He felt a little bad at the look of dismay that passed over the man's face.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir, right away sir," fretted the servant. The young man led Neri to a storage room full of wardrobes and chests that were packed with the outfits that the waiters and butlers throughout the castle were wearing. Neri nodded his approval and smiled at the servant.