“In with the princess.” The other woman was a birdlike little creature, but what she lacked in size she seemed to make up for in personality. Her belongings were shoved against my chest,forcing my free hand to slap down on the growing pile lest they fall over. “I’m Sparrow. You’re Lance.”
“Gods, I’m so sorry,” Fern said. “I should’ve introduced the two of you.”
“No need.” Sparrow’s smile spread wide. “Everyone knows who Lance Axton is. I was working in the kitchens when you were a cadet here, but your exploits were legendary. The pranks?—”
This is why I rarely came to the keep. It felt like the stones themselves were saturated with memories, of me, of my friends, and no one seemed to realise not all of them were pleasant ones.
“Were misguided and stupid.” I shot the two of them a meaningful look. “Something I encourage the two of you to avoid getting caught up in.” Dimples popped in Sparrow’s cheeks, making clear what she thought of that advice. I turned to Fern, something settling in my chest each time I looked at her. “So you’re situated on the ground floor?”
“I’m not sure…”
Fern’s head bent over the map that had been provided at the same time mine did and it took everything I had not to close the gap between us. Gods, I needed to work out what the hell was wrong with me. Fern was a beautiful woman, but I saw them all the time without losing all good sense. For some reason, I felt like I was teetering on the edge of something each time I was in her presence, fighting to find a way to stop from falling.
And wanting to surrender to it with every breath.
“This is the ground floor.” My finger traced the path on the map, perilously close to hers. “They put you down here to ensure the women’s quarters are as far away from the men’s as possible.”
“Of course.” Fern looked up at me shyly. “For the sake of propriety.”
“And because the male cadets stink.” Sparrow’s interjection had us pulling apart to look her way. “When I was still a maid, we used to draw straws to see who’d be forced to clean the cadet bunks.”
“You put thirty odd young men in the one room.” I smiled wryly. “Have them working hard every day. Things like cleanliness can fall by the wayside.”
“Thirty…?” Fern turned to Sparrow, her face making clear what she thought about sharing a room with so many other women.
“Women don’t have to bunk in with all the other female cadets,” Sparrow assured her. “Some of the officers’ rooms were turned over to us when they started admitting women to the corp. Well…” Her eyes met mine. “Women other than Pippin.”
The Runaway Queen, that’s what they called her, but when I was a first year cadet, she was just Pippin. Curiosity, then friend, then… I swallowed hard and then said, “Well, let’s get you ladies situated.”
I led the way, following the winding corridors from memory until we stopped in front of the right door. I opened it and then ushered the two of them in. Fern’s eyes were everywhere but on me as she tried to take in the room, but Sparrow’s smirk made clear she knew exactly what was going on. She sailed past and started pointing out the amenities.
“Cora is in there.” The suite featured a shared living room and then three bedrooms. The crown princess’ door was closed, but the other two rooms were open and empty except for the supplied furniture. “We get one of these rooms each.”
“Oh, this one has a spectacular view.”
Fern walked over to the window that spanned the wall, staring out to where some dragons were clustered in the courtyard. Beyond that the foothills of the mountain rose, wildflowers pocking the grass.
“You have this one,” Sparrow said.
“I couldn’t—” Fern said quickly.
“What do I need a view for?” Sparrow’s hands went to her hips. “Been looking at that mountain for my entire life. Not having the sun streaming in through windows as soon as it rises?” She strode into a nearby room and bounced on the bed. “This ones for me.”
The woman never seemed to stop moving, grabbing her items from my arms and dropping them on the bed, then walking over to the last room.
“The bathroom is over here. No showering in with all the other women for the princess, and so we don’t have to,” Sparrow announced proudly.
“A bath…” The way Fern said that word. I wanted her to say my name with the same kind of longing. Her hand slid along the copper bath’s edge. “Gods, I haven’t had one in days.” With a discreet sniff of her dress, she blanched.
“Want first bath?” Sparrow said, then yanked on the silken rope in the corner of the room.
“If you’re sure?” Fern asked.
“While watching someone else fill the bath for once will be a pleasure, its one I can wait for. If I’m desperate, I can duck up to one of the serving women’s bathrooms and have a shower.”
Sparrow’s eyes met mine, that mischievous smile back.
Was I that obvious? That my whole body tightened at the sight of the copper because my mind started racing. The bath was big enough to admit the both of us and at that realisation, it was all I could see. Stripping every piece of clothing from Fern, revealing the body my eyes couldn’t stop tracing the shape of, then letting my hands learn the terrain of it as I smoothed the soap across her skin.
