The Purple Emperor

CHAPTER FIFTY SIX

It was embarrassing, but very nice. The women brought him to a little room with a huge sunken tub filled with lovely foamy steaming scented water and insisted he have a bath. They didn't leave the room while he took his clothes off, although they did turn their backs and, as he slid beneath the foam, he wondered, hoped, was terrified they might actually help him. But all they actually did was take his smelly clothes away.

Henry lay in the tub and realised how exhausted he was. There was something in the water – some herbal additive maybe – that soaked the stress from his muscles. He noticed some of them were paining him, which wasn't surprising considering he'd been shrunk to the size of a butterfly and nearly been drowned in a sewer, but the pain gradually soaked away as well. He wiggled his toes and thought of Blue. Funny thing was, she'd been in a bath like this the first time he'd seen her. Attended by her hand-maidens. His bath was a lot more private, but he had hand-maidens too, of a sort. He wondered who they were.

He sank down quickly when one of them came in carrying towels with something colourful on top. They were very different, these women, different ages, different sizes, different looks, but they all walked the same way, really gracefully, and they all wore these amazing dresses – gowns, he supposed you'd call them

– absolutely amazing the way they… sort of… clung and moved. The women were very nice too. They'd all been very nice to him, although they didn't have much idea about privacy.

'Brought you fresh clothes,' the woman said, leaving the little pile at the edge of the tub. She smiled at him. 'Come through when you've finished. We might even manage something for you to eat.'

Henry watched her as she left, riveted by the last thing she'd said. A minute ago he'd been seriously contemplating resting his head against the side of the tub and letting himself drift off to sleep. Now he realised he was absolutely ravenous.

He climbed out of the tub and dried himself quickly. There must have been something in the water – or possibly sprinkled on the towels – because the exhaustion left him at once. The hunger stayed, though.

They hadn't brought back his clothes. They'd left a colourful silk outfit comprising matching blouse, britches and socks that looked as if they'd come off a gipsy. He scrabbled around for underwear, but there was none. Since it was the gipsy gear or nothing, he pulled on the britches, feeling most peculiar about the underwear, then the blouse. As he was reaching for the socks, he had a sudden surge of confidence.

It was a peculiar feeling for Henry, but it was very definite. The clothes were nothing like he usually woretoo brightly coloured and a bit girly – but somehow he felt really good in them. (He pulled on the right sock.) Macho and heroic. Well, sort of… (He pulled on the left sock.) He liked the way the material moved when he moved. Somehow he thought it made him look good. Well, better than the old BABE MAGNET anyway, although he fancied he might really be a bit of a babe magnet in this gear.

The boots were the strangest part of the whole outfit. They were dark brown, just short of knee-length, but made entirely of the same silk as his blouse and britches. Even the sole was no more than a few extra layers of silk to give a cushioning effect. They wouldn't last five minutes on stony ground, but he'd worry about that later. For the moment, they moulded to his feet and legs as comfortably as slippers.

He was still feeling good as he walked from the bathroom.

The women were waiting for him. With his newfound confidence, Henry smiled and said, T don't know your names, but I'd like to thank you.'

'My name is Peach Blossom,' the nearest woman said. She smiled back at Henry, without making any attempt to introduce the others. 'Thank us for what?'

They were putting food on a little table. Some of it looked unfamiliar, but all of it smelled delicious. T don't know – the bath.' And the food, he thought, except that they hadn't actually offered it to him yet. He remembered his manners and added belatedly, 'My name's Henry.'

'We know who you are.'

Henry didn't know what to say to that. What he did say eventually was, 'Who are you?'

'Silk Mistresses,' Peach Blossom said. 'We're Sisters of the Silk Guild.'

He was eating something called ordle which had a smoky flavour and was absolutely delicious. Without thinking, he said, 'Will you get in trouble for this?'

'Why should we get in trouble?' Peach Blossom asked quickly.

Uh-oh. He was sorry he'd said it now. There was no reason for them to know he'd just broken out of the palace dungeons or any of that. If he'd kept his mouth shut, he could have pretended he was just a casual visitor who'd got lost and strayed into somewhere he shouldn't. Maybe he could still convince them that was all he was. Except when he'd told her his name she'd said, We know who you are. How did she know who he was? But if she did know who he was, did she know it wasn't all that long since he'd been thrown into the dungeons?

Henry decided to feel his way around it. With luck he might not have to give himself away. 'The new Queen's not too happy with me,' he said as casually as he could. If he played it cool enough, he might find out subtly what they felt about the Queen before he had to commit himself.

'The new Queen's loony as a Border Redcap,' Peach Blossom said.