Alec was awoken by a light nudge on his shoulder. “Showers open, I’ll have one of the-“ She was going to say slaves but held her tongue. “Servants fetch you clean clothes.” Alec looked at her groggily. Her hair had been singed near her shoulders; no doubt she would have to cut it. She wore a simple red nightgown made of silk. It wafted about her legs at mid thigh, her pale skin was scalded and scratched in some places, but otherwise she was rather unhurt.

The human stood shakily, one leg ached miserably, his arm now a white flare of pain. He slunk to the bathroom and half shut the door, too exhausted to click it into place. He undressed sorely before stepping into a hot stream of water. The pain that followed was horrible as the water washed dirt into wounds that covered his body before removing the filth from his body. He cleaned himself as quickly as he could and stepped out, finding a towel and drying himself as best he could with only his one good arm. He then wrapped it around himself and went back into her room, too tired to care about indecency.

Rose didn’t bat an eye when she saw him, she probably wouldn’t have even if he’d been completely naked, and the day had been too tiring for idiotic formalities. A young human girl-no older then 16-stood in the door way with clothes for the boy. Her face was flushed red, though it was hard to tell if it was because she’d never been in front of the princess before, or because of the human male. Rose spoke to the girl in a simple language of what sounded like clicks and whistles. The girl smiled sheepishly before handing the clothes to Alec and rushing out down the dark hall.

“What did you tell her?” Alec asked as he started to dress there in the middle of the room. The clothes were made of thin fabric, a t-shirt and shorts, and were a strange fit for him, loose in some places while tight in others.

Rose had been smiling after the girl when Alec’s voice made her turn. By now he was pulling on his shirt, nearly dressed. “Thank you for being so quick, I’m glad I have you here.” She said in a simple monotone. “Or at least that’s how it roughly translates. The humans here don’t speak English; we took them from your world long before the langue was invented.” She walked to her bed and removed the top blanket that was covered in coagulated anima blood, and then threw off the dirty pillow. She sat heavily on the side of the bed before toying with the singed ends of her hair.