"Thefool wishes us to help him take off his armor," Eada explained.
"Youcan speak their tongue?"
"Yes,but I do not feel like telling them so. Not just yet." Laughter shook hervoice as she watched Drogo struggle to let them know what he wanted by actingit out. "I believe I have let the poor fool stumble about for long enough.Come, May, let us help him ere he injures himself."
Drogomuttered his relief and gratitude as each piece of his armor was removed. WhenEada felt the weight of his mail, she was not surprised that he had been soeager to get it off. She carefully set it down on one of the chests which linedthe west wall of the great hall. The armor he wore interested her less andless, however, as the man beneath became clear to see.
Hewas still big, even after she and May had helped him remove the thick, paddedtunic he wore beneath his mail. Even when he was finally seated on the bench atthe head table wearing only his linen tunic, he still possessed the broadestshoulders Eada had ever seen. He was lean, but his dark skin was stretchedtautly over hard muscle.
Inwardlydeciding that his body was the finest she had ever seen, Eada looked at hisface and silently sighed. For a man, he had almost-beautiful eyes; and she nowunderstood why, every time he had looked her way, those eyes had caught andfirmly held her attention. They were nicely spaced and set beneath finelydrawn, slightly arced brows and encircled with thick lashes. Of a brown so darkthey were almost black, his eyes exerted an almost frightening pull on her. Shehad to tear her gaze away to look closely at the rest of his face. A strong,straight nose cut its way down through high, wide cheekbones to a firm yetslightly full mouth.
"IfEdith saw this face upon the man she knew I was destined for, it is no wonderthat she was certain I would accept him," Eada mused.
Heronly complaint about him was his hair. It was a rich, glossy black, thick andwavy. It was also cut in a way that made her wince. Eada decided it looked asif someone had stuck a bowl over his head, cut around the rim, then taken thebowl away and brutally shaved off the whole back of his head. She muchpreferred the long, proudly displayed hair of Saxon men and wondered how longit would take Drogo's hair to grow back.
"Helooks like a badly shorn lamb," Eada muttered, and May giggled.
Drogolooked at the two grinning women and knew he had been insulted again, but hedecided to ignore it. After a rough, dirty passage across the water and a longday spent in full armor, he had a need far more pressing than scolding Eada forher continued impertinence. He repeated the word bath as he struggled to mimethe act of washing.
"IfI did not hear him call for a bath, I would think he suffered the curse offleas," Eada said, and she grinned when May laughed. "Ah, and thatgives me an idea."
Eadasmiled sweetly at Drogo and nodded, then hurried into the kitchen at the farend of the hall. Her mother had not taken any of her herbs and potions, andEada quickly found the medicine she sought. She put some of the dark,strong-smelling paste in a small wooden bowl and, walking to where Drogo satexpectantly, solemnly placed it on the table in front of him.
Drogoscowled at the dark muck in the bowl, cautiously sniffed it, coughed, and thencursed softly. "Merde!I know what this foul brew is for. It is acure for vermin. I have never been afflicted by them. I want a bath, woman, or,by God's merciful eyes, I might soon suffer that curse."
Hisobvious inclination toward cleanliness pleased Eada, but she played dumb for alittle longer. Finally, acting as if she suddenly understood his gestures, shemotioned for him to follow her. She led him to a lean-to off the kitchen, evenmore pleased when he showed great delight in the bathing room her family hadbeen so proud of despite the gentle ridicule of their friends.
Ashe looked around the room, Drogo murmured his surprised pleasure. The lean-toenclosed a well, and a long wooden tub stood to one side. There was a drain inthe masonary floor to aid in the emptying of the tub. So, too, was there abrazier to warm the room. Since it was next to the kitchen, filling the tubwith heated water would not be difficult. He touched the tub and nodded, abroad smile on his face.
Bythe time Eada brought in the first pot of hot water, Drogo's impatience wasevident. He had already put some water from the well into the tub and wasclearly in a hurry to scrub away days of sweat and dirt. Eada gasped when, asshe poured the hot water into the tub, he flung off the last of his clothes.
Eadahad seen men naked before, but she quickly decided that she had never seenquite so much naked man. Drogo was dark all over, lean and finely honed. A neattriangle of tight black curls adorned his broad chest, tapering into a thinline that went down his rippled stomach to his groin, where it thickened again.A light coating of hair covered his long, well-formed legs. When she realizedthat staring at him was clouding her mind with wanton thoughts, she glared athim. She hurriedly emptied the last of the water into the tub, refilled hercauldron at the well, and stomped out of the room.
Itwas not easy, but Drogo swallowed the laughter trembling in his throat. The wayEada had looked him over had pleased him, for the appreciation he had read onher face meant that his attentions might be welcomed. It had also aroused him,and it had taken every drop of his willpower to subdue any blatant response byhis body. The way she had suddenly glared at him, however, as if her interestin him were all his fault, was highly amusing.
WhenEada walked past May, who was taking the man even more hot water, she brieflythought about warning the girl, then shrugged away the thought. May would notbe shocked by the sight of a naked man. Her confidence wavered badly when, afew minutes later, May dashed back into the kitchen looking very flustered.Eada realized that she loathed the idea that Drogo might have acted lustfully towardthe girl; and the fact that May was a young, timid, much-abused girl had littleto do with it.
"DidDrogo touch you?" Eada demanded as May hung her refilled pot over thekitchen fire to heat the water.
"No,mistress. I fear I was shocked, for I have never seen such a man. My master andhis friends never looked like that. I swear, all the man did was touch this potand say what I assume wasmore hot water.I think he wants to be surethat we understand him."
WhenEada carried yet another pot of water into Drogo, she was severely tempted topour it over his head as he lolled in her tub. He held out the soap andsignaled that she should scrub his back. She struggled against the urge to hithim over the head with the pot then sighed. Courtesy demanded that she assisthim. He was not insulting her with his request. Eada was very unsettled,however, to be caught washing his broad, smooth back by his fully armedcomrades who suddenly appeared in the doorway. She prayed that they had notseen the appreciation she felt as she touched Drogo reflected in her face.
"Hereis comfort," Tancred drawled as he stepped into the room and lookedaround.
"Comeand make use of it," Drogo called, waving his friends inside.
Howgenerous of him,Eada thought crossly.He does not have to heat all thewater.
"Ihad best be the last to bathe, my friend," Serle said, and he smiledcrookedly as he and the others began to remove their armor. "I believe mycompanion on the boat has gifted me with a few of his livestock."
Theway Serle scratched told Eada what he suffered from. She knew she could act asif she understood his gestures and not reveal her understanding of what he hadsaid. As she hurried to fetch her mother's medicine, she decided she waswilling to risk discovery if it kept such vermin away.
"Now,here you are, Serle," Drogo said with a hint of a laugh when Eada returnedwith the bowl she had presented to him earlier. "The girl intends tophysic you for that curse."
"Itis a foul-smelling potion," Serle grumbled as Eada rubbed it into hishair.
Eadatugged off Serle's tunic and rubbed the thick medicine into the hair on hischest and beneath his arms. There was one other place where fleas were sure tonest, but Eada decided that courtesy only went so far. She ignored the men'slaughter as she lightly tugged on Serle's braies and then set the bowl in hishands. Forcing herself not to blush, she refilled her cauldron and left theroom.
