Just Another Day

"Good," Sigrid nodded. "Come."

Shanku was lead once more from the Quarters. This time, Sigrid took flight at the mouth of the cave and Shanku followed suit. Sigrid flew up above the Quarters and back off behind it. In a valley between one of the many ridges in the mountains was a pool of water set with stones and surrounded by a paved circle.

Sigrid removed her head scarf and her pinafore, unbraided her hair, and slipped into the water.

"Mmm..." she purred and propped her elbows on the edge of the pool. "Water's perfect."

"No need to be body shy," Sigrid laughed as she started to wash her hair. "No males in their right minds would dare spy on bathing damsels."

"Not dat I've seen some o' ya to be all dat modest in town," Shanku said.

"Strolling about is a different matter. It's not very engaging and your feathers are dry. A bath, however, renders your wings useless, and an uninvited guest can very easily be mistaken as a threat wanting to take advantage of your not being able to get away. We have many tales of assassins who would lurk at bathing springs to off a rival," Sigrid explained.

"Fair enough," Shanku nodded. She walked over to the pool and eyed it strangely. Was that steam coming up from the water? She got down on her stomach and reached for the water gingerly.

"How does this work? It's hot," Shanku asked.

"Under the ground where the dragons live is boiling rock that heats deep rivers, which flow up to the surface in hot springs such as this. We build a little shed such as over there," Sigrid gestured to a door in the nearby hillside, "and from there we let it flow into our dug baths as we wish through this channel here, and we also keep a separate tank of rainwater to flow in down that other channel should the water be too hot," Sigrid finished as she cleaned a foot.

"Dragons?" Shanku asked excitedly.

"Dragons," Sigrid nodded. She took her tail and began to wash her face with the tip. "Dragons. Dwarves. Giants. All are our allies."