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“They are heating water for you,” Katrina said. “So you can have a bath. You look like you have not been bathed in a while. After, it will be time to eat, which will also do you good.”

“I wonder what happened to her clothes,” one of the ladies said. “Surely she had beautiful clothes once. Imagine the dress you’d wear with a necklace like that.”

“I know,” Katrina said. “You’d think she was a queen.” She picked up her instrument. “Shall we play?”

They all took up their instruments and sat prettily on the couches at the far end of the room.

The most strange and plaintive sounds moved through the air. Lenia’s head shot up, and she watched the group of women pulling bows across the small instruments resting on their shoulders. She could feel every note vibrating in her, as if it were being played on her own body.

There was a knock on the door. “Her bath is ready, Your Highness,” a servant said.

“Go,” said Katrina, gesturing to Lenia and then to the servant. “Be sure to put her in something that will show off the necklace.” She turned back to the ladies. “My mother will love her,” she said, and something in her tone put Lenia on edge.

“I know who will love her more,” another replied.

“Let’s hope so.”

Lenia heard the girls burst into giggles as the door clicked shut behind her. The servant led Lenia to a smaller room, where a large tub of steaming water was waiting, along with another female servant. At first Lenia just stared at the tub. She had never seen water before like this. Not seawater but dull water, without fish or salt or plants. Without even thinking, she backed away.

Gently, one of the servants removed Lenia’s jacket and shawl, and motioned for her to step in. “We are only bathing you,” the servant said. “Go on now.”

Lenia took a breath. She stretched out her leg and was so dazzled by the sight of her bare foot she almost lost her balance, and had to grab the side of the tub to steady herself. She laughed at how ridiculous she was, and laughed harder when she looked up at the servants’ confused faces.

Then she cleared her throat, steeled herself, and stepped in, submerging her foot in the bath. She was surprised at how warm it was, how lovely it felt. She wiggled her toes and moved her leg up and down. When the servant motioned to her, she stepped into the tub and sat in the water, letting it come up to her neck.

She was surprised by how much it soothed her. The muscles in her body loosened, blissfully, until her legs almost didn’t hurt. She leaned her head back. It was not at all like being in the ocean. It was something entirely new, not unlike the feel of the fabric the old woman had placed on her. This new skin felt so much. Even her aching mouth was soothed by the steam rising up.

The servants washed her hair and her skin, giving each other confused looks as the beautiful, mute stranger reveled in every sensation. They did not know what to make of her. The way she laughed as the water splashed and the sound echoed against the walls. As if she had never before bathed, never heard bathwater splashing.

After, the servants dried her off, rubbed oil into her skin, and dressed her in a long ruby red dress that laced up the back. They combed her hair and dried it—she had never felt her hair dry before, moving her palms over its silken texture, running her fingers through the strands—and wove white flowers through it. Lenia remained still the whole time, letting every new sensation pass over her. Every touch and tug of hair, every bit of fabric that fell or rubbed against her skin. After a while, she was able to contain herself, at least so that the servants did not think she was entirely mad. Perhaps only half mad, Lenia thought and smiled to herself.

When they were finished, they led her over to the heavy glass that stood in the corner of the room.

She was shocked to see her own face staring back. She thought immediately of the glass in her mother’s palace, and for a moment, a split second, her heart ached for home.

But as