Chapter 328: A Place to Rest

"It’s true, most people don’t see much point in coming here. But, de medicinal traditions of de Ancient Clan draw people from hundreds of leagues away," Jacques explained as he led them deeper into the forest city. "Some say dat de people of de Ancient Clan live so long because of dese traditions and dey say dey feel ten years younger when dey leave."

"I doubt Mistress Nyrielle would want to see me when I was a little girl," Ashlynn said with a laugh. "But this doesn’t sound very different than the noblewomen in the Kingdom of Gaal. In Blackwell City, people would come from inland to soak in the saltwater pools or treat themselves to salt scrubs that would be horrendously expensive anywhere else. It softens the skin and makes it glow."

"We don’t ever have skin dat glows," Jacques said, pointing to his own thick, scaly hide. "But it’s de same idea, Auntie. Here, it’s de mud soaks dat are magical for de body. Jus’ let old Jacques show you de way."

For a moment, Ashlynn wanted to tease Jacques that he wasn’t that much older than her, he was nearly the same age as her ex-husband but that would mean betraying Talauia’s confidence and so she bit her tongue and let her ’nephew’ put on an act as though he were a wise and experienced old man, guiding them around his former home like an eager tour guide.

The place that Jacques eventually guided them to was a large wooden hut with a grass roof that rustled softly in the cool summer breeze blowing over the glittering blue lake. The scent of fresh earth mingled with the aroma of freshly crushed herbs, rosemary, sage, and something sweeter that Ashlynn couldn’t quite identify. Wooden wind chimes hung by the entrance, their hollow tubes creating gentle, random melodies that somehow made the air feel cooler despite the summer heat.

Behind the hut, a fenced area stretched down to where waves lapped gently at the soft, sandy soil of the lakeshore. Steam rose from several wooden tubs partially sunken into the earth, and the rich smell of mineral-laden mud drifted up from carefully tended pools separated by screens made of woven grass.

"Would you look at dis," a bright and excited young woman said, her long tail swishing rapidly enough that Ashlynn was momentarily concerned she’d break the low table behind her. She wore a simple wrap dress of faded green cotton that left her midriff bare. The fabric looked soft and well-worn from countless washings. Despite, or perhaps because of its obvious age, the dress seemed perfectly suited to both the setting and its wearer, as natural as the grass roof above them or the packed earth beneath their feet.

For a moment, Ashlynn wondered if she should find a similar dress for herself, at least while they were in Crystal Lake City. The thought of wearing something so skimpy in public felt a little scandalous even after she had adjusted to wearing sleeveless tops and shorter skirts in the heat of the Briar, but it was a vacation after all...

"De Mother of Trees herself, and de Willow Witch," she said, her words pulling Ashlynn out of her thoughts as she bowed deeply.

The young woman’s scales caught the filtered sunlight as she moved, shimmering like dewdrops on morning leaves, and even though Jacques had claimed that the skin of the Ancient Clan never ’glowed’ the way a human’s would after being thoroughly scrubbed with salt, to Ashlynn’s eyes, this young woman’s scales seemed to be fresher and more... supple than the toughened, leathery hide that Jacques showed the world.

"You two are guests of de highest honor, even if you come here wit’ him," she added, gesturing awkwardly at Jacques.

"Auntie Ashlynn, ma petite, Heila," Jacques said, looking embarrassed. "Dis is ma little cousin Aledia. She’ll take good care of you both, non?" he said, raising a scaly brow at his excited cousin.

"Go, go away you lump of a man," Aledia said, placing two hands on Jacques’s shoulders and directly pushing him toward the door. In the presence of his cousin, the normally prickly aura that surrounded the Sandbox Witch melted completely and he seemed to let himself be easily overpowered. "Dis is a space for women, yeah? So you got’ no business being here."

"Dere’s a quiet little cafe down de road," Jacques said, giving Ashlynn a helpless glance as he let himself be pushed outside. "I’ll be waiting dere."

"Now," Aledia said once she’d shoved her older cousin out the door. "You jus’ let little Aledia take care of you for de rest of de day, yeah? Don’t worry ’bout anything but feeling good under our care."

"Before we start," Heila said, stepping forward to take care of things she felt were beneath Ashlynn’s station. "Could you explain to me what your services cost? You may be Jacques’ family but we don’t want to take advantage, so, whatever the going rate is, please just tell me directly."

In the end, the potions they’d managed to craft for bartering hadn’t been anything as exaggerated or extraordinary as what they would have made from the flesh and bones of a Giant Thornbacked Alligator, but they’d still secured a small collection of gold tails and a large handful of silver ones.

It would have been a fortune to someone like Ollie before he had left the Lothian kitchens. Even though the gold tails traded in this region were half the weight of the kingdom’s gold sovereigns, two gold tails would still be enough to purchase an entire acre of land to work as a free man and the small handful that Ashlynn and Heila had could support a common family in the Kingdom of Gaal for close to a decade.

Here, they felt that it was enough to treat themselves quite well in Crystal Lake City so long as they didn’t splurge on luxurious souvenirs. Today would be the first day of their ’vacation’ and while both women were eager to spend most of what they had earned as a reward for themselves, it wouldn’t do to run out of money in their first day or two by overindulging.

"Going rate?" Aledia said, blinking rapidly in confusion. "I can’t take a single white tail from you for dis," she said sounding mildly horrified at the notion. "No, when I bring you back and you soak in de waters and de mud, you’ll see. We gain so much more den we use jus’ from having a mother and child of the earth be here, taking money on top of it, that would jus’ be greedy, yeah?"

"I understand," Ashlynn said gently before Heila could press the point. She didn’t know what kind of effect the young woman was hoping for from having a pair of witches in her bath house, but even if there was no mystical effect of witches bathing here, being able to say that they had would surely be good for business. "We shouldn’t press things, Heila," she said gently. "I’m sure that Aledia has considered things well."

"In that case," Heila said, putting away her purse and turning to face the eager woman. "We’ll be in your care."