Page 97 of Barbi and the Villain

“You do realize that by being a boor you won’t get the High Priestess’s favor. You need her to tell you where the artifact is.”

A mutinous expression appears on Nykander’s face.

“I know you don’t want to do this. I don’t either. I mean, there’s nothing in it for me except getting rid of this bond faster.”

“Fine,” he grumbles.

The entire village is gathered together in front of a bucket holding a multitude of pieces of paper. Families and couples form one group while children over the age of twelve are on their own. One by one, they go and pick one, which designates their activity for the day. Since Nykander doesn’t seem inclined to play by their rules, I head forward and stick my hand in the bucket, rummaging through the pieces of paper and drawing one.

I read the text.

“We are on laundry duty,” I tell Nykander.

He scoffs.

Jeya appears by my side as he peeks at my note.

“I will show you to the laundry room to pick up the garments.”

“You don’t have washing machines by any chance?” I ask as he leads us to one of the main buildings in the village.

“What?” He frowns.

“Yeah, I figured,” I mutter. “So how are we supposed to wash them?”

“By hand, of course. The river is at the edge of the village. Since this is a daily task, there will not be that many clothes to wash. Do not worry,” he assures me.

“Not so happy about this now, are you?” Nykander murmurs in amusement as he sees me scowl.

“I can wash by hand,” I fire back at him. “Can you?” I raise a brow at him. “Without using your powers.”

His eyes narrow at me.

“Are you sure you want to turn this into a competition?”

“Bring it on, oh Dark One,” I mock him.

“It is on,” he declares confidently as he crosses his arms across his chest.

“You need to be done by noon,” Jeya tells us as we enter the laundry room. He gives us a few instructions before he leaves to take care of his own tasks.

Nykander and I stare at all the clothes we have to wash. Jeya said there wouldn’t be much, but this room is full from floor to ceiling with dirty clothes.

But just as we think we’re going to have our work cut out for us, more villagers come to the laundry room to deposit their dirty clothes. One after another, it’s almost like the entire village suddenly decided they have clothes in need of washing.

“They did this on purpose, didn’t they?” I mutter numbly.

Nykander purses his lips and nods.

“Maybe I can allow for your abilities just once—to transport the clothes to the river.”

He slowly turns to look at me, his brow raised, his lips curved in a lopsided smile.

“We shall have to locate the river first. I will then bring all the items.”

For the first journey, we both get an armful of clothes as we traverse the village. PomPom and BonBon are following behind, getting the first dose of exercise of the day.

Despite the fact that it feels as if the villagers had purposefully given us a heavy workload, everyone is hard at work. There are people cooking, cleaning, and tending to small children. Every task required for the optimal working of the village is accounted for, and I can’t help but admire how well they do it.

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