“You don’t look half bad yourself,” Emmaline replied with a lascivious wink. She wondered if Greta were listening at the door but decided she didn’t much care. A rumble from her midsection reminded her that it had been several days since she had eaten. In fact now that she thought about it, the last time had been on the Dark Elf corsair. She tore a chunk from the nearest loaf of bread and dunked it in her stew, wolfing it down without hesitation before taking a spoonful of the soup directly. It was hot and salty and wonderful and the both attacked the meal with vigour. The wine was excellent and chilled, probably in a cellar beneath the tavern though having drunk her share of palm wine and other less identifiable potable Emmaline found that her palate had expanded considerably.
 
“Vacation…” she said  around a mouthful of bread after they had slaked the worst of the hunger pangs. The idea had never really crossed her mind for so long her priority had been to  go somewhere and do something, escape from the harem, find the city in the desert, deal with the endless series of maritime calamity, that they might every reach a place of safety and what they might do if they did had never really occurred to her. Now that she was thinking about it though it sounded wonderful. They had enough gold to live and live well for quite a while, months even at the exorbitant prices this place was charging and Emmaline was certain they could get about the same for much less if they looked around a little. Maybe they could even rent a villa if they tired of the city, once she found out how safe the area was at least.
 
“I like the sound of that,” Emmaline murmured, lounging back on the settee and enjoying the feeling of food, drink and Amal’s company.