“We’ve never encountered ones like them. Similar to your arrows. There is a theory they delayed my healing among other things,” he explained. “Do you know anything about that?”
“My daggers usually kill people,” she replied, sending them away in a swirl of ashes.
He huffed another laugh. “Fair enough, tiny fiend.”
She didn’t know why he was amused by the statement, but she was too exhausted to try to decipher social interactions right now. So she let the silence linger, watching Cethin out of her periphery. He seemed content to sit in that chair. He’d closed his eyes, the fingers on his left hand lightly drumming on thearmrest. And of all things, she found herself contemplating his earlier question.
You want me to share a bed with you, tiny fiend?
Reaching for the necklace at her throat, she toyed with the crystal as her thoughts swirled. No, she didn’t want that. That was intimate. That involved touching, or at the very least, close proximity.
She glanced at him again, his eyes still closed.
No, she’d save the touching and the closeness for her dreams where she was safe.
Chapter 21
Cethin
He straightened from a stretch with a muffled groan. Sleeping in that godsdamn chair was getting old. There was no way to get comfortable, and he was still sore from the stabbings and the broken ribs. The external wounds had healed, not even scars left behind. Bones always took a little longer. Add in the delayed healing, and it was takingdayslonger.
Kailia emerged from the bathing chamber, her feet light as she moved, always with a predatory grace. Fallon had brought her spare clothing yesterday, which she had immediately changed into. Loose linen pants sat low enough on her hips that they didn’t aggravate the wound, while the tunic was cut short, exposing her midriff.
“We need to change that,” Cethin said with a nod to the bandage wrapped around her middle.
She nodded, coming closer. They’d done this three times now, and each time her hesitation appeared to lessen a fraction. She was still tense the entire time, but instead of closing her eyes tightly until it was over, she watched him. He never acknowledged it. Gods, if he did, he was certain she’d retreatright back into herself and her defenses would return. But he was also trying to be smart with their time away from Aimonway.
Here, it was just them. And Jarek, Fallon, Razik, and Wren because no one was leaving the king and future queen alone after two attacks in less than a day. He was used to people constantly milling around though, and for the most part, they were treating these chambers like his private floor at the castle.
Sending his magic first, like he always did, he dipped his fingers into the bandage where it was secured, tugging it free. They’d started doing it this way rather than cutting the bandage away like before. She liked to be up and moving around, and this allowed her to get used to being so close to someone. Tohim. And he was absolutely taking advantage of every moment.
This close, he could feel her body heat. He could smell the lavender and honey scented soap she’d just used with a cloth since a fully submerged bath wasn’t an option until late tomorrow. As he maneuvered the bandage and unwrapped it from her torso, stray strands of hair, loose from her braid, fluttered against his skin, and this time, as he passed the bandage to his other hand, he let his arm brush against hers. It was feather-light, hardly a touch at all, but he still watched her stiffen. Watched her fight the urge to jolt back. Watched her fingers flex and move, searching for a dagger that wasn’t strapped to her thigh. Felt her breath of relief when he stepped back, giving her space while he retrieved the pot of herbal paste.
He’d never been more aware of his movements and the space he took up until she’d snuck into his life cloaked in smoke and ashes.
Making his way back to her, she was sliding the blue crystal at her throat along the cord. Back and forth. Back and forth. She stopped when she noticed him watching the movement,letting the thing settle again, just above her breasts, and instead shaking out her hands a little.
Lowering to a crouch before her, he dipped the flat stick into the paste, smoothing it along her deeply tanned skin as he said, “I need to discuss something with you.”
She was already preternaturally still as he worked, watching him, but she somehow went even more tense. Her muscles were coiled tight, and a faint trace of ashes vibrated around her, making him pause what he was doing so they didn’t get caught in the paste.
His gaze flicked to hers. “We have conversations all the time, Kailia.”
“Yes, but when a person starts a conversation like that, it never leads anywhere good,” she said.
“Do you have a lot of experience with conversations like that?” he asked casually, tending to his task once more when her ashes faded. Her wound was also almost healed. Only a slightly raised and faint pink line remained.
There was a pause before she answered, “No, but I’ve observed many.”
“So you are a busybody, then? Eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?”
“No,” she argued. “I… No, I’m not a busybody.”
The way she said it, with such conviction and resoluteness, had him fighting a smile, but she was still watching him intently, so of course she saw it.
“You find this amusing?” she asked.
“I do,” he agreed, setting the pot aside and reaching for the fresh dressing.
