Chapter Fourteen:
Alone in her chamber, Maa didn’t risk returning to her opulent bath. The memory of the worms erupting from her sanctuary ruined that simple pleasure for the foreseeable future.
Instead, she had one of the remaining servants fetch a tub of scalding hot water. For the moment, this would need to satisfy her need for cleanliness. She assumed the chances were slim a mass of magical insects would appear to interrupt her bath.
“This must be how the poor people bathe.” Not that she thought much about how the poor lived. The peasants had their place, just as she had hers. She assumed each had their own burdens to carry. In her mind, there was no debate over who had the worse living conditions. Maa might have plenty to eat and people to make her every whim come true, but she had
