“Isaac,”she said.“I have tits.Got a cunt betwixt my legs.I trust you were aware ofthis.”
Hecleared his throat.“Yes, I do know some—uh, some purifying....”He movedquickly towards the pool.“Evocations.One moment.”
Hecrouched down at the edge of the pool, trying very hard to force the blush fromhis face.True to her word, the ancient water had congealed into somethingbrown and full of sediment, with a film of pond scum floating in a rotten heap.After a few careful mnemonics, soft beams of light shone from his palms, whichdissolved the dead plants as easily as fire through straw.Over the course of aminute, the light crawled across the entire length of the pool, leaving thewater almost pristinely clear.
Zariaslapped his back.“Gods, I woulda loved havin’ you at some of them water holes,up in the waste.The number of times I shat some foulness back into the sand.”
“Ireallydid not need to hear that.”
“Thanksa bunch, love.”
Isaaccleared his throat, trying not to imagine her standing behind him, naked, herbreasts bouncing level with his head.
Amoment passed.
“Imight,” Isaac said, his voice catching, “start charging you for this.”
“Oh?Truly?”
“Idon’t work for free.”
In thewater, he saw her shadow move.She had leaned down to his level.When shespoke, her voice was right in his ear.“What’s the price gonna be?”
Hedidn’t answer.
After along moment, she stood up, slapped his ass, positioned her feet at the edge ofthe pool, and dove headfirst into the water, before he could retaliate.Herbody twisted nimbly beneath the surface.Through the dim light, he could seeher doing flips and somersaults, the thicker tufts of her fur waving with themotion.Her hips seemed to curve in such a way—
Hestood up, almost went to eat some rations, remembered he was covered in dragonblood, and made his way over to the opposite end of the pool.Gingerly, heremoved his own clothes, wading into the shallows.The water was freezing cold.A film of green blood spread around him as he ventured up to his chest.Hescrubbed his skin with his bare hands, scraping through a heavy layer of grime,fluid, and sweat.It felt, for a moment, like he was rubbing off the collectiveweight of his journey.
Herealized, suddenly, how far he had truly come.
Weeksago, he had ventured from the only home he had ever known.He had travelled agreat distance, through plains and forest and desert and sand.In everyencounter, he had survived against seemingly impossible odds, from pirates to wyrms to wielders of ancient magic.But, now, instead offeeling hopeful at the closeness of his destination, instead of imagining theface of his father, he could only think of the sorceress and her oceans ofbone.
She wasmanipulating them.Her machinations were not evenparticularly subtle.Summoning the sandwyrm during the parlay with Soren hadbeen a particularly ingenious maneuver—the dragon had already been agitatedenough that its attack couldn’t be avoided, so she had merely focused itsstrike on the intruders in her tomb, which would direct the beast to kill heropponents, or otherwise force her opponents into killing the beast.Either way,she would gain some advantage.
Thenecromancer was crafty, to be sure.Isaac would give her that.
Now,she had spared their lives in the hopes that they would help her defeat thepuppeteer.Once again, Isaac could not help but play into her hand—parasitemagic was incredibly powerful, the puppeteer had clearly amassed a sizablearmy, and they would almost certainly be hostile to a member of the Diet, suchas himself.Whoever this interloper was, they posed just as much of a threat ashis father’s captor herself.
Still,he thought, it didn’t make the sorceress’s attempt to divide her opponents anyeasier to swallow.
Fornow, they were safe in this bathhouse.But, come tomorrow, they would likelyhave to face off against the puppeteer, and Isaac was all too aware that hisalliance with the necromancer was little more than a reprieve.Once thepuppeteer was dead, the conflict would resume.Her betrayal would come withoutquestion.
Hewould have to do the same.
“Isaac!”Zaria called, head bobbing on the other end of thepool.“Come on over!Water’s lovely!”
He blushedagain.He was beginning to hate how easily he did so.“I’m fine.”
“Thatweren’t a request, squire!Get over here!”
“Idon’t—” He looked into the deep water.“I don’t know how to swim.”
Shestopped paddling.“Truly?”
“Why isthat surprising?I’ve told you....”
“Imean, didn’t you say your tower was next to a river?”
