"Come along, then," she said, leading the way towards the inn. It had a placard outside that proclaimed it as the White Coaster, along with a painting of a bird. They entered to find a large common area, for the inn also doubled as a tavern. It was not as ornate as their lodgings in Draybourne, but it had a comfortable feel to it.

Natalia wandered off to find the innkeeper while Athgar looked around at the customers. It was easy to identify the sailors among the group, for their deeply tanned skin gave them away. The locals, on the other hand, were dressed in the sturdy clothing that marked them as woodsmen, and they tended to keep to their own kind, sharing drinks with friends, but the atmosphere here was pleasant and inviting.

His observations were interrupted by Natalia.

"I have the key," she said. "It's all taken care of."

"Don't we each get one?" he asked.

"I'm afraid there was only one room available," she explained. "I hope you don't mind."

"Are there two beds?" he asked.

"Only one," she explained, "but I thought you preferred to sleep on the floor?"

"I did say that, didn't I," he replied. "Let's go and see it, shall we?"

Making their way upstairs, Athgar paused at the top, looking out the window in the hallway only to spot a bathing pool below. It was a large wooden construction with a half dozen people in it, wearing naught but their underclothes. He turned away as he heard Natalia unlocking a door.

She stood in the doorway, examining the interior. "This looks reasonable enough," she said. "What do you think?"

Athgar moved up beside Natalia, peering into the room. He could feel her presence beside him, smell the faint scent of the perfume she insisted on wearing. He tried to ignore the distraction. "It looks quite nice," he said. "I assume you're going outside to bathe?"

"No," she stated, "I've arranged for them to bring a tub up here for me."

He looked at her in surprise, "Bring one up?"

"Well, I'm not going to bathe in the outdoor one like a commoner," she said.

"Why not?" he asked. "Everyone else does."

She blushed deeply. "I don't intend to bathe with my clothes on," she said.

He looked at her in stunned silence.

"Don't look at me like that," she responded, "it's perfectly normal."

"Normal is stripping down to your underclothes like regular people," he said.

"Well, I don't," she said. "I like to be clean, not bathed in other people's dirt, and I certainly don't want to bathe in front of strangers."

"So the innkeeper has to haul a big tub up here just for you?"

"He said they had one," she argued, "and it doubles as a laundry tub."

"It must weigh quite a bit," offered Athgar, "and then all those trips just to fill it with water."

"They don't have to fill it," she said.

"Oh? Does it fill itself?"