Meanwhile, Miara had peeled off her own mud-coated dress (gods it was nice to be naked for a little bit, she usually wore clothes so as not to bother her visitors, but she was still a nymph and didn't like the feeling of cloth on her skin) the moment she was safely through the side passage concealed by the curtain.
Her room was small, a simple pallet laid out by a shrine to Nialle and a fire banked on the opposite wall. The underground stream that fed the spring forked a bit further into the stone, forming a second spring that peeked through the floor at the back of the room. It wasn't quite big enough to soak in, but it kept her from having to be one more person in line for the bigger spring.
Once she'd stirred the fire to life, she peeled the caked mud from her skin, then dipped a washcloth and began going over herself with it, clearing away the last of the dirt and encouraging some warmth to return to her chilled form. Her hair was a bit trickier, but she had practice bathing from the little bit of spring, and it was really just a matter of scooping water out and pouring it onto her head to loosen the mud, then combing it out.
It was over all too soon, almost. Miara slipped into a clean dress, picked up the dirty one to wash, and banked the fire, returning to the main cave. She filled a teapot from a jar of water and set it on the hearth, then filled a tub to soak her muddy clothes. Then, all there was to do was wait for Akuma...
Her room was small, a simple pallet laid out by a shrine to Nialle and a fire banked on the opposite wall. The underground stream that fed the spring forked a bit further into the stone, forming a second spring that peeked through the floor at the back of the room. It wasn't quite big enough to soak in, but it kept her from having to be one more person in line for the bigger spring.
Once she'd stirred the fire to life, she peeled the caked mud from her skin, then dipped a washcloth and began going over herself with it, clearing away the last of the dirt and encouraging some warmth to return to her chilled form. Her hair was a bit trickier, but she had practice bathing from the little bit of spring, and it was really just a matter of scooping water out and pouring it onto her head to loosen the mud, then combing it out.
It was over all too soon, almost. Miara slipped into a clean dress, picked up the dirty one to wash, and banked the fire, returning to the main cave. She filled a teapot from a jar of water and set it on the hearth, then filled a tub to soak her muddy clothes. Then, all there was to do was wait for Akuma...
