“But…is there any water?” I look around uncertainly.
“Yes there is, my Lady, for this is the Deluxe Suite!”
Maud sounds extremely proud as she goes to the wooden tub and twists a faucet set over it. I can see tubes leading down to the metal tap. They run through the middle of the fireplace and from there, presumably outside.
“See there—the water comes in from the well and the fire warms it,” the innkeeper explains. “It’s almost like magic! So go on, scrub away and I’ll make a bit of breakfast for you both.”
She leaves us and I have no choice but to help Valen into the tub. Even though it’s quite big, he still has to scrunch up with his knees halfway to his chin. This parts his legs and puts the male part of him on display—it, too, is covered in the brown poison dust, I note with distaste before I look hastily away.
Luckily, there’s a large sponge and a bar of harsh but effective soap sitting on a little tray beside the tub. I hand them both to Valen and nod at him.
“All right—clean yourself up.”
His head lolls weakly as he looks up at me, his eyes regaining a bit of their old fire.
“That’s not how it works and you know it, Princess,” he rasps. “You wear the ring and I wear the collar—that means you have to clean me yourself. Otherwise this fucking dust won’t come off. See?”
He dips the sponge in the rising water and wipes his face with it. When he pulls the sponge away, his face is still exactly as dirty as it was before, despite the smear of brown dust on the sponge.
I stare at him indecisively. I’m remembering now what the scrap of manuscript said—“Be ye aware that the one who controls the beast must also clean him and rest with him nightly.”
I didn’t think much of that line when I read the manuscript—I was more concerned with the part about having to feed the beast on my own blood. Or “Blude” as it’s spelled in the Old Tongue. But now it occurs to me that wearing the ring has made me responsible for the huge male before me in all sorts of unpleasant ways.
The ring on my forefinger throbs, as if to agree with me. There’s nothing for it but to roll up my sleeves and start washing.
“Fine,” I say. I sit gingerly on the edge of the tub, keeping my cloak between the wooden edge and my gown, and reach for the sponge and soap. The water is barely lukewarm—which I suppose is still better than ice cold. Back home in the castle we have actual magic to warm the water of our baths, and it gets as hot as you like. But “beggars can’t be choosers,” as my old nurse used to say.
I wet the sponge and rub the soap on it until I’ve worked up a weak kind of lather. Then I bend forward and begin to scrub Valen’s broad chest.
“Ah…feels fucking good.” He relaxes against the back of the tub, his head thrown back to show his strong throat and the silver collar, which gleams mockingly at me through the grime.
I thin my lips but say nothing. I have a favorite horse in the Royal stables back home—Princella is her name. I tend to her myself since my father told me if I want my own animal, I must take care of it. I often wash and curry her—she loves the attention. I tell myself that’s what I’m doing now—just grooming a horse. And indeed, Valen is so huge, I can almost make myself believe it.
But his muscular chest and broad shoulders aren’t those of an animal and his scarred but handsome face reminds me that, though he can turn into a beast, he is presently quite human.
But though I scrub and scrub with the sponge, he remains dirty. At last, I throw down the sponge in disgust.
“What’s wrong with this thing?” I demand. “Why isn’t it coming off?”
Valen’s eyes have been closed as he relaxes in the water. Now he opens them and gives me an annoying smirk.
“I believe, Princess, that you need to wash me with your bare hands. The sponge doesn’t work because the magic relies on skin-to-skin contact.”
“You’re lying!” I exclaim. “You…you’re just trying to get me to touch you!”
He narrows his eyes.
“No, I’m trying to get you to wash off the poison I’m fucking coated in—poison I got covered with while flying your royal arse across the fucking desert.”
He has a point—I flush with shame and embarrassment.
“All right,” I say. “It’s just…I’ve never touched a naked man before.”
Valen gives me a lazy smile.
“Of course you haven’t, my little virgin Princess. Glad I can be your first.”
Then he leans back again, his arms draped over the sides of the tub and his long legs spread wide.
