“Why were you so discourteous to him? He was just trying to help you.”

“He was trying to sell me bullshit I don’t need.”

“But he wasn’t being impolite. There was no need for you to treat him that way.”

“Whatever.”

Surelin huffed. “He was right about you. You’re rude. Boorish. Violent. Awful.”

Gideon stopped mid-step and turned around, casting an angry glare at her. She stopped as well, and glared back defiantly.

There was no trace of fear in her as they stood in the street and exchanged glares. A few pedestrians quietly flowed around them.

He glanced down at the sack in her arms, and he sounded irritated when he spoke.

“Don’t drop my money.”

He walked off before she could respond. She hurried after him, struggling to keep up.

The street they walked along wound lazily through the temple district. It was not half as wide as the thoroughfares, but it was unblemished and tidy, without a single paving stone broken or out of place. Potted palm trees lined the street on both sides at regular intervals, diffusing a generous amount of shade for pedestrians.

The temples they passed along the street had bulky right-angled geometry, and were painted in shades of brown and tan. They stood shoulder to shoulder, and were rarely less than two stories tall, giving the shaded half-street an oddly intimate feeling. Fountains and flowing water decorated the entrances to the temples, supplemented by more palms and other desert greenery arrayed in small, orderly gardens. The refreshing smell of water and plant life was strong and wafted through the street, winning out against the omnipresent smell of dust that hung over the rest of the city.

The temples displayed their names to the street on large, ostentatious plaques affixed above their entrances. There were fairly innocuous names like, 'The Adherents of the Most High', and, 'Communion of His Perfect Unity'. More often than not, the names were much more bizarre and gave only vague clues about the temple’s congregation, such as the 'Holy Revitalization Vanquishment', or, 'The Separate Ascent of Wholeness'.

The temple district was pleasant, but it was not large. Within ten minutes of walking, Gideon and Surelin entered an opulent but relatively small plaza, paved with ochre-colored marble tiles. There was a fountain in the center of the plaza, with a pearl-white marble statue of Kaan sitting cross-legged in the basin. Water was spewing from his gaping maw and pooling around his waist, and, as always, he had his right hand raised in the sign of universal knowledge.

A palace-like building, five stories tall, filled the west side of the plaza. Its brick and mortar façade gleamed in the sunlight even when viewed with sun goggles, dazzling passersby with its brilliant white walls and red-gold window frames. Elegantly detailed sculptures of naked men in repose adorned the hard edges that delineated each floor. By the entrance, two more naked sculptures rested casually against a brick sign post with a yellow-gold engraving which read: 'The North Oasis Inn'.

On the plaza’s east side, a miniature version of the city center’s forum swallowed and spat out well-to-do shoppers. The people who exited the forum trickled in twos and threes through the plaza in the direction of the street on the north side, undoubtedly headed towards their luxurious estates or wealthy apartments. The men wore long earth-color coats with loaf-shaped pads at the shoulders that made them seem wider, and the women wore form-fitting gowns in red tones, with silk frills at the elbows, shoulders, and neck line.

Before the tournament, Gideon would never have even considered lodging at a place like the North Oasis. All it took was one glance at the inn’s exterior to know that someone like him couldn’t afford it. However, his circumstances had become very different in the last couple of hours, and when he saw the inn he instantly felt set on it.

He shifted his sacks full of money from his tired left shoulder over to his right and headed for the inn’s entrance. There was an aggravated sigh behind him, and when he looked back at Surelin he saw that her forehead was drenched with sweat.

The double doors at the entrance were clear, spotless glass, and when Gideon opened them and stepped inside he was assaulted by a saccharine odor. The inn’s lobby was cavernous and eerie, with white marble pillars flanking the twenty foot walk between the entrance and the front desk. The floor and walls were also white marble; buffed to an immaculate shine.

The only areas of non-white in the lobby were the front desk and the grand staircase it stood by. Both were red-gold, mirroring the window frames on the inn’s exterior. Behind the lobby’s desk, a handsome Kenannite clerk stood, dressed in a magenta coat with gold buttons. He stared with wide-eyed alarm at Gideon and Surelin as they entered the lobby, and his eyes widened further as the pair approached him.

They stopped in front of his desk, and Gideon noticed that the clerk had makeup on his face. His lips were scarlet, and his cheeks were very rosy.

Both men were surprised into silence by the other, and after a few awkward seconds passed Gideon cleared his throat.

“I need a room.” He said evenly.

“Sir.” The clerk began. “The North Oasis is a formalwear establishment. We do not do business with people like… yourselves.”

Gideon looked down at himself. His leather armor and clothing were coated in a layer of brown dust, and speckled with drops of dried blood. Surelin’s tattered apparel was not much better off.

He swung the sacks of money off his shoulder and dropped them onto the lobby’s desk. The clerk began to protest loudly until Gideon untied the sack closest to him and grabbed a handful of denars from it. They clinked noisily as he dropped them onto the desk directly in front of the clerk.

The clerk gawked at the pile of coins for a moment before he looked back to Gideon and stammered. “We aren’t- ah- that is to say, this isn’t-”

Gideon rolled his eyes and scooped another handful out of the sack and dropped it on top of the pile.

The clerk crossed his arms and brought his hand up to his chin as he stared at the money. After a short while, he looked back to Gideon.

“Will the second floor do?”

The second floor’s hallway was spacious, and just as overly white as the lobby. The doors to the rooms were spaced out evenly on both sides of the hallway, and were painted in red-gold, in line with the rest of the inn’s color scheme. Gideon’s room was down at the far end of the hallway, and when he put the key into the door’s lock it unlocked with a quiet but satisfying sound.

The room was unbelievably extravagant. It was airy, with stained-glass lanterns adorning the walls, and two bay windows which looked out over the plaza. The walls were painted in beige, and gold paneling tastefully adorned the room’s edges. The paneling branched out across the ceiling in random rectangular patterns, turning the ceiling into one large beige-gold mural.

The wool carpet was a comfortable-looking royal blue, with white wisps reaching out from the edges of the room towards its center. The wisps twisted and curled through the blue in semi-random patterns that were quite pleasing to the eye. A queen sized bed, also accented in beige and gold, was situated against the wall directly across from the front door, in between the windows. Four sets of beige pillows rested against the bed’s headboard in ascending order of size. Between the front door and the bed, two couches sat across from each other. Their cushions were white, and the upholstery covering their frames was gold.

There were two more doors in the room, one on the left wall, another on the right, which were closed, but Gideon expected they would open up into bathrooms.

He walked into the room towards the right side couch and dropped the sacks onto it. With that done, he looked around at the room with quiet amazement. He’d never seen such a fancy room before, and now it was his.

The room had a positive effect on Gideon’s mood, but it did nothing for Surelin. When she crossed the threshold, she dumped the sack in her arms to the floor with a loud, angry grunt. The coins inside the sack clinked very harshly when it collided with the floor.

Gideon was absolutely horrified. “Hey, damn it, don’t treat my money like that!”

He dashed to the sack, and bent down to grab it. As he stood back up with it, Surelin got in his face.

Her teeth were bared as she snarled at him. “Or what?”

He was instantly outraged and he locked eyes with her, slowly lifting himself up to his full height. Surelin was at least six inches shorter than him, and in such close proximity she had to lift her chin to maintain eye contact.

It was the third staredown he’d been in with her within the last hour, and he’d had enough. Extreme anger boiled in his chest as he stared into her eyes, and it showed on his face.

Surelin’s anger faded as they held unblinking eye contact. It felt like ages passed, but eventually she was the first to blink. There was trepidation on her face as she looked away from him with a heavy sigh.

Still angry, Gideon reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out the key to her collar. He held it out to her.

“Here. You’re free. Now get the fuck out of my room.”

She looked startled as her gaze flickered between the key and Gideon’s face.

“Take it!” He barked.

She flinched and took it from him.

He turned away from her and marched around the couch to the bed, dropping the sack beside the others along the way. When he reached the bed, he loosened his claymore’s strap and took the whole thing off, laying it down carefully by the pillows.

Her voice sounded shaky behind him. “No. No, this is a trick. You just want an excuse to hurt me. I won’t unlock the collar.”

He turned around to face her as he pulled at the slip knots that kept his armor tied around his shoulders. “It’s not a trick. I don’t like slavery, and I don’t want a slave.”

Her eyes were watering. “But you asked for me! You told them you wanted me as your boon!”

He shrugged and lifted his armor off over his head, tossing it onto the bed by the claymore. “So what? I lied.”

Her eyes widened as the realization began to set in. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You’re really freeing me.”

“Yeah, good luck, and all that shit. Have a nice life.”

“What-” She shook her head incredulously. “What do you mean? If you’re freeing me, then didn’t you come here to save me?”

Gideon just scoffed.

Surelin’s face reddened as she whirled towards the door. She flung it open and ran out into the hall, leaving Gideon’s sight.

“Finally,” he said aloud as he walked over to the door. He shut it, and set the lock.

The last source of stress had departed. A relieved sigh escaped from him, and he stretched his arms out to the sides. Gideon hadn’t taken all of his gear off in months, and he felt light as a feather without it, or the princess, weighing him down.

As he looked around at the room without any annoying distractions, he gradually realized that some part of him wasn’t satisfied. He didn’t know what exactly he’d expected, but he’d always imagined that the rich lived the way they did because it was objectively better than the other way. His way. The room was undeniably much more comfortable than any other he’d stayed in, but what was the point in such excessive comfort when a lesser amount would have been just as good?

It’s just some carpet, two couches, and a bed. Is this really what I wanted?

Feeling anxious, he walked over to the door on the left side and opened it. Behind the door was a narrow room, with expensive looking mahogany dressers lining both walls. At the end of the room, three wall-sized mirrors were set up, and Gideon raised an eyebrow at his reflected image standing in the doorway. He currently had no use whatsoever for a closet, and he shut the door without any further investigation.

He crossed the room towards the other door, and discovered the bathroom. It was roomy and lavish, with white marble floor tiles inlaid with decorative autumn-colored leaves sprouting from vines. There was a comfortable looking cream-white couch set against the wall on his left, facing the large beige tub that was sitting in the center of the room. A toilet was on the opposite side of the room from the couch, and a thin divider stood by it, presumably to give whoever was on the toilet some privacy from anyone who happened to be lounging on the couch. White towels and bathrobes hung from silver hooks fastened to the wall on the far side of the room from Gideon, adjacent to a beige-gold vanity countertop with a shiny silver sink.

He felt perplexed at the presence of a couch in the bathroom, but it didn’t stop him from walking over to the tub and twisting the knob for hot water. Unlike every other place he’d ever lodged at, there was no need to wait around for the water to warm up.

He stripped out of his dirty clothing, laying it on the countertop by the sink, and when the tub was full he stepped into the water carefully. The temperature was perfect, and a long, relaxed sigh left him as he sat down in the water. He rested his head back against the tub’s lip.

At least the water is nice.

The hot water made his troubles seep out of him like sweat, and sleep came to him, unbidden, but welcome.

An abrupt cacophony of banging and shouting caused him to violently jolt awake. His hands gripped the sides of the tub as he scanned the bathroom with agitation for the source of the noise. It seemed to be coming from outside; in the hallway by his room, from the sound of it.

An infuriated growl left him as the racket in the hallway became even louder. He dipped his hand into the water. It was still warm. He hadn't slept for long.

Despite how much he wanted it to, the noise did not seem like it would leave without being confronted first. He dunked his head into the water and quickly scrubbed his face with his hands, giving it a very rough and incomplete cleaning before lifting himself out of the tub. He walked over and grabbed one of the towels hanging on the wall, drying himself off as he listened to the banging and shouting. There were three voices involved; one feminine, two masculine.

He threw on one of the bathrobes that hung by the towels. It was too small for him, especially around the chest. The discomfort increased his fury as he stormed out of the bathroom towards the front door.

Gideon forcefully flung it open. Surelin and the desk clerk were standing in the hallway, along with a pudgy Kennanite man wearing a uniform that was identical to the desk clerk’s. The desk clerk had his hand around Surelin’s forearm, and she was struggling to get out of his grip. All three turned their heads with surprise to look at Gideon when the door flew open.

The pudgy man had been the one banging on the door. Gideon got in his face and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“WHAAAT!?”

Pudgy cringed and backed several steps away from Gideon, squeezing his eyes shut as if they needed protection from the scream.

Gideon panted as he stared at Pudgy, waiting for him to recover his wits.

It took him a few seconds, but Pudgy managed to collect himself. “Sir! We, um-” He blinked several times. “We caught your slave trying to flee!”

“I keep telling you dullards,” Surelin shouted at him, “he just freed me! I’m no longer a slave!”

Pudgy began to swell with resentment as the shock wore off. “Well, I do apologize if I vexed you with the banging, sir, but as you can see it was a rather important matter that demanded your immediate attention! It’s not often that our establishment has had to deal with an unruly slave, and if you must know-”

Gideon tuned him out and looked over at Surelin. She looked miserable as she tried again and again to break free from the desk clerk’s grasp.

Gideon's eyes were drawn to where the desk clerk’s hand was locked around her forearm, and faint murmurs of panic began to clutch at his heart.

“-even from someone like you! We have ever desired to do our utmost best to serve our customers in a genteel fashion, and your slave has already done a tremendous amount of damage to that ambience! We have a reputation to uphold, and-”

“Sorry.” Gideon interrupted. “This is just a little game she and I play.”

Surelin stopped struggling, and the three of them looked at Gideon with total bewilderment.

“...A game?” Pudgy muttered.

“Yeah. I tell her to try and escape, and then I go hunt her down and bring her back. I was just taking a bath before I went out to find her.”

Surelin looked appalled. “Um.” Pudgy began. “Well… sir, I respectfully request that you keep any senseless game-playing within the confines of your room from now on!”

“Yeah, sure.”

Gideon locked eyes with Surelin, hoping that she understood his real intentions. He waved her over.

“Let go!” She raged at the desk clerk. He released her, and Gideon moved out of the way as she stomped into the room past him. She sat down on the empty couch with an irate sigh.

Pudgy and the desk clerk looked perfectly baffled as they continued to stare at Gideon. He didn’t know what else to say, and an awkward silence settled over them as they stared at each other.

“So... what? Is there anything else?” Gideon eventually asked.

“Um. No.” Pudgy said.

“...Great.”

Gideon backed up, and slammed the door shut on them.