After several long hours of intense study, she groaned in exhaustion.
The sky had begun to fade from brilliant orange to soft violet. Rubbing her stiff shoulder, Maxi gazed at the burnt amber sun before closing the book and rising to her feet. Her stomach growled as if on cue, and she realized she felt famished. She had not eaten a proper meal since this afternoon’s meager bread and soup.
Pressing a hand to her rumbling stomach, she stepped out of the library. She greeted the servants who were lighting the corridor’s braziers before making her way down the stairs.
She had descended a few floors when four servants hauling something beneath the stairwell caught her attention. Atfirst, she noted them without much thought, but she stilled when she realized that what they were carrying was blood-soaked armor.
“Wh-What happened? Has…someone been injured again?” She hurried down the remaining steps. The servants, struggling with the weight of the hefty armor, stopped in their tracks. Maxi pressed on before they could even answer. “Is it his lordship wh-who is…”
“No, my lady! This blood is from a monster. His lordship is unharmed.”
The breastplate, tassets, and vambraces—all clearly recognizable as Riftan’s—were coated in dark ichor. It was not his blood, thankfully, but she was still concerned that there had been another gory battle.
“Wh-Where is…he now? Has he returned to his chambers?”
“No, my lady. His lordship went to wash by the well after instructing us to clean his armor. He should still be there.”
Maxi gave them a baffled look. “Why…would he wash himself outside?”
“I’m afraid we also do not know…” the servants trailed off, embarrassed.
She shook her head and hurried to the yard, done with her questioning for now. As she scanned the spacious grounds, she saw laborers chopping firewood, stable hands pushing carts loaded with fodder, and maidservants drawing water from the well.
Riftan stood beside the well, shirtless and dousing himself with water.
Maxi narrowed her eyes at the scene. Two maidservants each drew pails of water and handed them to Riftan, whoupended them over his head before roughly combing his fingers through his hair to wash away the blood. Water trickled down his muscular neck and rock-hard shoulders, over his smooth back, and along his slim waist.
When Maxi saw the young maidservants stealing glances and exchanging gleeful looks with each other, she rushed over with an angry flush in her cheeks. Riftan, who had been scrubbing the back of his neck, looked surprised when he saw her approaching.
“Maxi?”
“Why a-are you…cleaning up out here?”
She had intended to chastise him for exposing himself in public, but the moment she stood in front of him, her voice caught in her throat. She stared at his muscled body, gleaming like a golden statue of a god, unable to tear her eyes away. His exquisite bone structure, carved muscles, and bronzed skin glowed in the reddish light of the setting sun.
Despite having seen his naked body many times, she suddenly felt parched, and her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips.
“I tracked down the monsters that attacked my scouts and killed every last one of them.” Maxi jerked her gaze away from the mesmerizing lines of his chest as he spoke, looking up into his eyes. He ran his fingers through his black hair, which glistened darkly with water, and said somewhat self-consciously, “I got their blood all over me in the process. I was trying to get it off.”
“Y-You could do that in our chambers. I will h-have the servants prepare a bath—”
“I know I’m ghastly to look at right now,” Riftanmurmured, eyes downcast. “I’m practically a monster myself.”
One of the maidservants held a pail out awkwardly and he snatched it, emptying it over himself once more. Maxi took a step back to avoid the splashing water. Riftan shook his head like a hound and sniffed his forearm.
“Damn it. I still reek of blood….”
“Wh-Why don’t we…return to our chambers instead? I’m sure a good soap…will wash away the smell.” Maxi gently dabbed his dripping face with the loose sleeves of her dress, but Riftan drew back as if he had been burned.
With a grimace, Riftan said, “Don’t soil your dress. Werewolf blood has a terrible stench.”
“I can just…change if I have to.”
Ignoring the hovering maidservants, Maxi began to wipe the water from his cheeks and neck. Riftan flinched as if he wanted to jerk away from her before meekly lowering his head. The motion reminded her of an animal nudging its head against its master’s hand, and she smiled faintly as she brushed his soaked hair away from his forehead.
Perhaps it was the glow of the sunset, but his ears looked flushed. Worried that he might have a fever, Maxi ran her hand over his forearm and frowned when she felt how cold it was.
“You are f-freezing. It is still too cold…for you to be bathing outside.”
