And so they made their way through the city again, but to a different part of Constantinople, and an upscale one at that. The alleys they strolled through gave way to the occasional sign of greenery, and then Tina could spot walled gardens through wrought iron gates.

Apparently, Devon had at least found them a place to stay in a better part of the city than they originally arrived in. And the gate they finally had opened for them lead into a pretty courtyard, well at least pretty for what could be made out in the dark that was only somewhat brightened by a few flickering torches and lanterns. It was clear that in the olden days, nights were truly dark. Looking up in fact, Tina could enjoy the Milky Way shining across the sky, beautifully. No light pollution in the eleven hundred’s it seemed.

Their ‘apartments’ turned out to be quite a bit more than Tina had expected. Once out of the dirty alleys and into the gardens, the place that Devon had somehow booked for them seemed more like a palace than what she might think of as a byzantine era hotel, or she had guessed, an inn. First, there was the gardens, the breeze from which blew the rank background stench from the city completely out of the air, a bit salty and startlingly fresh, a lot like what it had been like skipping over the waves on their way across the Hellespont plus an underlying sweetness of flowers. It felt like she could finally fill her lungs with full breaths for the first time since they’d set foot on this side of the Constantinople proper and she was kind of glad that not all of this world's medieval cities were entirely open sewers.

And then there was the marble entranceway, something right out of a sword and sandals epic, with various servants, and men in tunics and women in stolas going to and fro on whatever tasks they were off to perform. Tina did find herself a little disappointed that the attire involved more puffy pants and jackets and less of what the consul affected, but she remembered, the height of the Roman empire was nearly eight hundred years in the rearview mirror, so it made sense most people weren’t pretending it wasn’t.

She hesitated for a moment at the threshold of their suite, as though by entering she’d be agreeing to what her soon to be ex-employer was offering, selling out, something like that, giving in entirely to some trick of Devon’s to weaken her resolve.

The dwarf stopped, turned back to look at her after the servant who led them to the room finished with the lamps, fully brightening up the marble decked chamber impressively.

“This is… really nice, “she finally said to break the silence.

“You stated that you wanted to wash the filth off of you, didn’t you” he stated. “You can’t do it in the fountain out front. Well… you could, but you might make a spectacle of yourself and most people here have more decorum than that.”

She glanced out into the gardens, back at the fountain. No, not with people likely watching, even if it wouldn’t in broad daylight. It did look inviting though and certainly appeared both sparkling and clean.

Tina turned, took in a breath and walked across the marble-clad threshold into the suite. After wandering around Byzantium for most of the day and picking up every smell imaginable, she could certainly use a bath, not to mention some clean clothes.

“All right,” she told him. “As long as I have to stay, it might as well be here. But I warn you, I’m not changing my mind about that Deathmatch 1100 back there.”

He gave her a look, raised eyebrows included, suggesting that mind-changing was exactly what he intended. Figured. Knowing Devon as much as she did by now, he probably thought he could wear her down.

“Can’t he?” said that little voice.

“Shussh,” she ordered, but did find herself looking forward to making the most of at least the luxuries on display here.

The only fly in the chardonnay was she realized that the servants who attended her were most likely not paid at all but were probably slaves or at least indentured servants. Slaves she could do little for, just like she could do for herself. And the last thing Tina wanted was to get stuck in this time, this place, to be constantly reminded of such injustices, but perhaps she could pass them some of the odd cup-like coins shed been paid herself, and maybe that would help them. She had read such people could buy their freedom, that it was allowed.

The woman who stood by to attend her bath, she couldn’t help but glance at as she shed her clothes in preparation for dipping into the waters topped with flower petals, the steam rising a bit, as there was a fire stoked beneath the iron tub. That could just as easily be her if she’d been born in a less egalitarian time like the 21st century. It was a sobering thought. Tina remembered from her historical ethics course that slavery was a way of life for most of human history. It was where she was from that was the oddity, but not such an oddity that she didn’t enjoy slipping naked into the warm water with gusto.