The circular chamber near the top of this tower is familiar to Kin and Lilac, even though they've never set actual foot in it until now. It's not large, but spacious enough, the dim room lit by tall tapers, their flames wan, but at least smokeless and scentless. A four-poster bed dominates one side of the room, built from stout hardwood and shrouded in heavy velvet curtains. A wine-red rug softens the stone floor, and is edged with pieces of furniture… a dresser, some heavy chairs, end tables, writing desk, and a porcelain bathtub with a dressing screen that can be pulled around it, and a drain beneath cut into the stone floor. An old, dark painting of a Korvid lord looks sternly down from a high section of wall.

A Cervani maid leads the way into it, carrying kettles of water. "I will bring you more, my ladies," she says in a quiet voice, and indicates a small earthenware stove secluded at one side of the room. "You can heat it there, and wash up if it please you. Then I shall bring dresses suitable for you."

"Okay," says Lilac, who has been studying the room with great interest ever since she stepped inside. Aside to Umeko, she whispers without looking away from her inspection, "I'm so not used to being called "m'lady", it almost feels like cheating."

Umeko rolls her head and neck, dipping it low. "Thank you. You have been most kind," she murmurs to the Cervani. "I hope you do not find it difficult to fit me; I know my kind is not common in this place."

The Cervani performs a small curtsy, keeping her eyes down. "I am sure I will find something for milady's svelte physique. I shall bring my sewing kit also. Begging your leave, I will fetch more water."

"Of course. You may leave," Umeko says and ever so lightly touches the woman's forehead. She turns away from the Cervani and walks towards the stove. As she goes, she's already loosening the battered and drab attire she is currently wearing. She also says to Lilac, though a bit absently, "It is just a title. No different than bard."

"Usually we bards don't get so much formality, at least not in Sylvania. We're not very important people," the bardess explains. She wanders over to the painting and looks up at it, tilting her head. "It's eerie," she admits. "To think, we saw all this in a dream and now here it is, real. I had to come up and see this room half to be sure it was really here. Now that we know this is Dame Riesling's room, it seems pretty conclusive that Dame Riesling haunts my dreams."

"Or you are her reborn as a … somewhat human," Umeko points out. Her dirty clothing starts slipping down her body in an odd parody of a Naga shedding its skin … occasionally helped be a rippling body roll.

"That'd be weird, but I guess with all that's happened, it's not beyond reasoning. I'm just not sure how I'd handle having been a bird in another life – I guess the same way I handle everything else that's happened," says the human woman. She eyes the picture a moment more, then turns and walks towards Umeko. "Do you need help? Remember how I used to help with this, when I was your servant in the beginning?"

"No, I am fine for now … though you too should be shedding your clothing. We are both being fitted," Umeko comments and smiles over her shoulder. The Kiriga's brow then goes up, down, then pinches. She tilts her hips to the right, then left. "Does my tail look longer to you?" she inquires. "I don't think it does, but … well. With what both of us have been through, it is always good to make sure we are … stable."

"I'm not sure I've ever been stable," Lilac admits. She folds her hands behind her back and bends over to take a look at Umeko's tail. "Oh, and I'm not really comfortable stripping the way Naga do. I know, I know, I spend a lot of time naked as it is, but that's entirely because of circumstance! Shape-shifting is very hard on clothes. Though, maybe I can borrow one of Dame Riesling's nightgowns, that should be enough."

The Cervani maid soon returns with two others, a pair of Skeek that could be sisters, each carrying wooden buckets of water. Steam drifting off the surface seems to indicate the water's already hot, but a stoneware kettle shaped over a genuine copper bottom is brought as well, should hotter water need be added. While the Skeeks pour their burdens out into the tub, carefully avoiding looking at the new occupants while they do so, the doe says, "If the mistresses wish more water to heat, we can send more buckets up through the dumb waiter." She indicates a small wooden door set into the wall. "Please ring the glass bell, and we will send more up."

Umeko dips her head to the Cervani again. "Ah, thank you again. I am sure it will be fine," she tells them with a smile. To Lilac, she says, "For us, well. I suppose there is less visible on our bodies." And then … the Kiriga's head tilts and she asks outright, "Or … are you also embarrassed that you are now … showing?"

Lilac's ears shoot up, and she blushes faintly. "I, well, um … I don't know if I am, but, um, maybe that's part of it." She looks down at her tummy, then pokes it a little. "I really don't know."

"Strip down and I will check," Umeko offers as if it were the most common thing in the world. "What does it feel like? Does it … move?"

"Only sometimes. It's a little like having something wiggle in your belly, or maybe like a muscle spasm. The last time I felt it move was when I was saying good-bye to the Temple," answers the bardess. She turns and walks towards one of the dressers, beginning to search for a nightgown she can use. "Oh, and your tail looks fine to me, Ummy! But, maybe you should ask Xaaaaander."

The Skeeks hurry off with their emptied buckets, leaving the tub partially filled and steaming a little. With the buckets the Cervani brought, and the kettle placed on the top of the earthen oven, it's enough for a bath. "Ring for me when you are ready for the dresses, my ladies," says the maid, who soon disappears as well.

"I haven't felt entirely the same ever since the temple. Close … but slightly different," Umeko comments as she removes the remainder of her clothing. "And if you do not mind, I will use the tub first?"

Lilac looks up from digging through the old clothes and nods. "Oh! No, I don't mind at all. I'm kind of used to being perpetually dirty. Maybe it's my curse, but I don't mind dirt and grime that much. Plus, I can smell all of it, and it's much more interesting than being clean," she answers. She returns her attentions to the drawer, opening a lower one, and adding, "I've almost forgotten what it was like to change. It must be difficult for you."

"Well, I haven't changed any more … I just don't feel the same," Umeko explains as she gingerly steps into the tub and begins to lower herself into the steaming water. A small hissing sigh escapes through her lips as her backside settles against the bottom. "Ahh, nothing better than a warm bath to melt away troubles."

At length, Lilac pulls out a black nightgown which was clearly designed for a Korv woman. It has large openings on the side for wing-arms, ties for the feet to keep the gown from billowing if the wearer takes to the air, and is overall baggy to make room for feathery bulk. The human gives it a raised brow, bemused look. "Well. This will be interesting," she says with a hint of resignation. "I wonder if this is really borrowing? If I'm Dame Riesling, then these would be my clothes and um, I can't imagine this ever fitting me. Being a bird must be very odd."

Umeko rests her arms on the rim of the rub, then her chin upon those. Her head tilts a bit to the side as she regards Lilac. "Lilac?" she asks, "May I tell you something?"

Lilac's head peeks around the nightgown. "Yes, Ummy?" She then lays it aside and begins to undress, tossing her mud-encrusted clothes aside in a pile.

Umeko watches the human undress for a bit, then motions for her to come over. "Let me see something before I say," she says rather ominously.

"Erm, okay Ummy," Lilac agrees. She kicks off her last garment, then throws the gown over her head and tries to get it to fit as she walks. In the end, she ends up sticking both her wings and her hands through the sides, which helps hold the front to her chest due to the restraining effect. When reaches the tub, she sits down and begins tying the bands to her ankles. "What is it?"

Umeko reaches out of the tub and puts her hands on the small of Lilac's back, then the other right on her stomach. The touch is light, but noticeable. As her hands draws back, she comments, "You are a little more … pudgy than you used to be," she says. "I thought I was seeing things, but after feeling … well, you are thicker than when you used to sleep with me."

"Maybe it's because I've been eating all your food," the human woman says with a little grin. The grin falters a little seconds later, as she adds, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I didn't really believe it. Not really. But, well, here it is." She looks down at her belly, then rests a hand on Umeko's. "My poor baby, I wonder what world you'll face when you're born?"

"You are also showing, ah, slightly higher places as well. Xander, I am sure, will appreciate," Umeko adds, then pats the back of Lilac's hand. The Kiriga's head this disappears behind the tub rim as she goes down to submerge herself.

Lilac blinks at that, reaching down and cupping her breasts. "I have felt a bit heavier," she agrees. Shaking her head, she walks over to the edge of the bed and takes a seat. "You know, this gown is pretty comfortable for fitting so oddly. Maybe it's even more comfortable with feathers."

A small splash and Umeko's head comes back up, her white mane soaked and now flat against her back. She lightly shakes her head, shedding some of the water back into the tub. "Well made clothing is usually always comfortable, even when made for other species. The material makes all the difference."

"I'm not sure what this is, but it looks expensive. I hope Dame Riesling, if we're not the same person, isn't taking offense to me wearing it." Lilac adjusts the gown a little more, then flops back on the bed. "So, what should we do? My first idea was to come up here and look for connections, and hope maybe Dame Riesling will try and reach me somehow. After that, I was thinking of heading towards the Raveness's tower and trying to find some clues. I can see if the orb is still there, and if she wrote any diaries."

Umeko eases herself out of the tub. "I was going to try to learn what we can from Vandringar. Namely … how he survived Half Valley and what he knows of the orbs. After that, well, speak wit whom I can here to try and gather whatever information we can. The only thing I fear I offer now is being of noble birth," she explains. The Kiriga reaches over and picks up of the the towels left behind and begins drying herself.

"Vandringer seems to respect people who play the 'game' well; he may listen to you. The more I spoke with him, the more I got the impression he isn't full of malice so much as, um, a grand sense of challenge. I think he sees the world as one big game board, with life and death being just another move. He's scary in a indifferent, driven way. A bit like Hakuu." Lilac stands now that Umeko is out of the bath, walking towards the tub and loosening her borrowed nightgown, before stepping inside.

"It is all a game to him. It may turn into a teasing dance between us. Veiled offers, threats, who knows," Umeko agrees as she rapidly dries her mane. The Kiriga then sighs, adding, "And truth be told, part of me does feel sorry for Hakuu. Even after everything he did. Towards the end he did respect me. He said from his heart before he died that I was magnificent."

Lilac sinks into the water and exhales slowly, sounding pleased with the water despite what she said earlier. "I think he always respected you, in his own way. I just think his sense of art and other people's feelings and desires were in conflict, like he thought his art was more important than other people's happiness. Maybe in his way, he though he was giving you the greatest gift, even as he was accomplishing his greatest work of art. It's scary, thinking about the motivations of some of these men." She dips head head back, wetting her hair and slicking it back with a hand.

"I am going to call the maid back in. She can fit me while you dry off," Umeko tells Lilac and heads for the bell. Once there, she taps it lightly with her fingertip, causing it to ring clearly. "It is odd, but my mind wanders to the what-ifs sometimes. Perhaps if I had not ran, he would have been a good husband. Unlikely, I know, but the wonder is there."

"No, I don't think he'd have been the kind of husband you want, Ummy. I know you pretty well, I think, and he'd never be good to you. He'd try and control you, shape you, make you as much a vase as a person, because he respects art more than kindness, compassion, or freedom. I saw where the Handmaidens lived, you wouldn't have liked it," explains the bardess. She then nods, and says, "Go ahead!" The bardess glances at a small hourglass that had been trickling away, ticking off the seconds in this otherwise timeless place until dinner begins. "Oh! We'd better hurry up too -- dinner starts soon."