51
Michaela recoiled at the stench of death.
But Astolpho and Jara were not dead yet. And so for her own sake, to be free of the reek of disease she could still smell despite her double mask, Michaela cleaned them both.
She carried up a bucket of water from the stream. The water was cold, but neither Astolpho nor Jara seemed to notice. Michaela ripped away strips from the lower portion of the tunic Jara had given her and used it for rags to wipe their bodies.
It did not shock her to see Astolpho unclothed. She had seen men’s bodies before.
She worked as quickly as she could. The smell was overpowering. She cleaned Astolpho without any tenderness or affection, simply to rid his skin of as much waste as possible.
She emptied the bucket on a patch of dirt some distance from the tents, t
