My heartbeat settled as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Penelope was staring at me with an unreadable expression, draped in gray afternoon light.
“What is it?” I asked.
She motioned to the door with a tilt of her head. After a tentative moment, I pulled on my gown and followed her.
I braced myself as we walked toward her bedchamber. I did not want to argue, nor could I stand the thought of seeing that hideous pain in her eyes again. But if she wanted to speak, then I knew I owed it to her to listen.
Inside Penelope’s chamber, a large metal tub had been set before the fire, sleepy steam curling off the water’s surface.
Wordlessly, Penelope took my hand and guided me forward. When we were standing beside the tub, she lifted a hand to the brooch at my shoulder.
“May I?” she whispered.
I nodded, watching her intently as she unfastened my gown andlet it fall to the floor.
Questions crowded on my tongue, but I said nothing as she took my hand again and gently guided me into the tub. The water was deliciously warm, smelling of sweet saffron and fresh pine. I let out a hiss of pleasure as I sank into it. Beyond the window, the sun had finally broken through the clouds, golden fingers reaching toward the water’s surface, making it glow like warm honey.
Penelope watched me for a moment, then slowly unclasped her own gown.
“What if someone comes in?” I asked.
“I told Skaris to keep watch.”
She stepped in, making the water rise and slosh over the edge. It was only a small tub, but Penelope managed to slip in behind me so I was sitting between her legs, my back resting against her chest.
Retrieving a cloth, Penelope dipped it into the water before running it over my skin, along my shoulders and arms. Her touch should have been soothing, but it seemed to make that tension inside me grow tighter.
“You cannot simply wash away what I did, you know,” I muttered.
“I am not trying to.”
We were quiet for a moment. Then I felt her fingers trace the scars on my back.
“Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head.
She kissed the tip of one scar, and the feel of her lips loosened that knot inside me, causing the tears to finally come. A sob ripped from my chest, and Penelope wrapped her arms around me, pressing her forehead against my back.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
I could hear the hesitancy in her voice, though she tried to hide it. We both knew those details were the last thing she wanted to hear. Yet still, Penelope waited patiently, ready to listen should I need her to.
“No,” I whispered. “It’s all right.”
She kissed my shoulder before resting her chin there, her arms tightening around me. The silence was heavy yet soft, and within its depths, I could feel our love and pain mingling together, dancing in the light like the steam rising from the water.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
I turned to look at her and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“It’s not your fault.” The words ached like a bruise. “None of this is.”
“But I should never have—”
“Penelope. It’s not your fault.” I reached out to cup her fallen face. “Just…promise me one thing.”
“Anything,” she murmured into my palm.
