Alis had never seen such a room before. It gave off a strange smell, which was pleasant and calming. As this was within the gift which Aggard had given, she wasn’t worried that the pleasant smell would lead to a trap, yet it still put her on edge.

But keeping such a large room pristine and gleaming white was beyond the effects of magic. Even if the surface of the floor, walls, and celling were that a hard glossy white material.

Strange artefacts and fabric dotted the room. None of them made sense to Alis. Only the large depression, which could only be a bath, made any sense to her. But even that was beyond a practical size, as it was way too large to be warmed effectively.

Near the edge of the depression, sat two strange silver mana tools.

Alis walked around the entire white room. Some of the cylindrical tubes with strange animal-like heads on top had strange black markings on them. Unsure of them, she left them alone. Instead, she decided to try touching something which should be safe: the fabric. Some fabric was so soft and clean it must’ve been a mana tool. One bit of fabric, hanging from a pole, was so rigid and strange feeling she couldn’t find anything to understand what it could’ve been made from.

Finally she got to the large depression.

Hoping that the mana tools were safe to use, she adjusted the levers on top. They rose effortlessly, gliding as smoothly and gracefully as she did over the battlefield. Water flowed out much faster than she expected. The water was lovely and warm.

As the water rose around her ankles, Klarric did something and bubbles appeared from near where the water was flowing into the bath.

She crouched down and started lifting the bubbles up out of the water. To her astonishment, they coated her hand. When she shook her hand to get them off, they floated away before popping. Alis did some more experiments, moving them from her hand to other parts of her body and her hair. She also tried blowing them off her hand, too.

By this time, the water had filled most of this bath.

The water was still comfortably warm and showed no signs of stopping flowing through those mana tools. Alis knew this was a divine gift but still none of this felt like it should really be happening.

Alis wanted to flee from this strange area and go into that large room, which seemed so much more comforting. But Klarric was sitting in the bath watching her with an intense gaze, one which made her want to be close to him. Unlike her, he seemed at ease in this room, so much so he had a sweet and carefree smile on his face as he watched her experimenting with the bubbles.

She felt her cheeks slightly warm.

On second thoughts, if Klarric thought it was safe then she would have to stay with him in this strange bath which bubbled. So she clung tight to him, feeling his manly body so close to her ungainly body. She hoped that by being with him, her unease about this room and this bath would die down.

After a long time, Klarric was not showing any signs of leaving. If anything, he seemed to relax even more than before. Still, Alis could not get over the uneasiness she had of being in the strange gleaming white room.

There was a click as the door opened.

So this was a trap.

Ready to trip once your guard had lowered.

Thankfully, the strangeness of the room, and her embarrassment of being naked next to Klarric, had kept Alis from falling under its spell. She spun round, ready to fight whatever foul beast had burst in.

Only it wasn’t a foul beast: it was worse than that. In walked a beautiful woman, one whom was everything that Alis was not. One whom Alis had sworn she had seen somewhere before, but wasn’t sure when, where, or even how. They had a wonderful coloured skin, and under her tight, form fitting sleeveless pale blue dress was a womanly body, one which Alis knew she could never have.

The curves were so unlike Alis’ gangly body she was jealous. Adding insult and fire to the jealousy, the arms and legs which were exposed were toned with a graceful musculature that Alis, with her stick-like arms and legs, could never have.

In fact, this woman’s perfect looks made Alis feel like she was nothing but a toddler in the presence of a sultry and feminine woman. Somehow she had kept Klarric in the face of Celameth. But now, Alis knew Klarric would leave her.

There was only one thing which Alis wasn’t sure where Klarric would favour this new woman over her, and that was the small pointed ears sticking out of the long, glossy brunette hair.

But she was sure he would overlook them because of that hair. Hair which was so long, smooth, and glossy that her short and ungainly head of fire was worthy of nothing but to be ashamed of.

‘Aggard,’ Klarric said in a tone of voice he had never used with Alis. Normally, he was so careful with how he spoke to her. There was an ease with which he spoke to Aggard that Alis longed Klarric would use. ‘You promised us you would leave us alone until we were ready.’

Aggard gave a womanly giggle. Something that Alis would never had expected to come out of a goddess. ‘Oh, I was just feeling jealous that your companion occupied so much of your time. I wanted to spend some time with you, you know.’

It was then that Alis realised she would lose Klarric to Aggard.

Aggard looked at Klarric, ‘be a dear, dear, can you please go get dressed. There’s some clothes I think you’ll like in your room. It’s the one next to mine. I want to have a little chat with your wife.’

Klarric sighed and climbed out of the bath. He walked over to the shelf where the soft fabrics were and pulled one bundle off. Holding it in his arms, he left the room, clicking the door closed behind him. Alis watched him go, doing her best to look at his wonderful naked body with its lean muscular build that had come from long training.

With the door closed, Aggard gracefully took off her dress. Her body was as perfect as Alis had feared it to be. She then climbed into the bath with a beautiful grace that she knew she would never have. Feeling overwhelmed, Alis edged away from Aggard.

Aggard sat down where Klarric had sat.

‘Come, please sit, there’s something I need to tell you.’

Alis didn’t move, couldn’t move. It took all the strength she had not to rush out of this strange room and out of this divine trap and back into the safety of the dungeon.

‘It’s something to do with Klarric.’ Aggard said, worry filling her voice.

There was nothing Alis could do but sit.