Then he was being set on the open bowl, and he flushed as he realized what it was for.
“It’s okay, little love,”Trenet said, tail curling around Asher’s ankle. Both he and Vrayl were justwatching.“We’ll take care of you.”
Asher grit his teeth, fighting down tears. This was a new humiliation on top of the ones he’d already endured. But he couldn’t lie and say he didn’t need to.
He squeezed his eyes shut.Fine.But he refused to watch them watch him.
When he was finished, Vrayl made a low hissing noise as he and Trenet used water from the nozzles to clean Asher… thoroughly.
“Such a perfect yshain you are.”Vrayl scooped Asher up again.“And now don’t worry, we won’t leave you empty for long.”
Asher dug his teeth into the gag for lack of any other way to vent out his displeasure at being carried about like a doll. Although maybe that was what he was to them; just a toy to play with.
“I know you’ll enjoy the bath, little love,”Trenet said.“You’ll get to relax and be clean and—”he made that low-throated laughing sound.“—I think our mate is looking forward to washing your hair.”
“It’s so pretty,”Vrayl crooned, nuzzling his cheek on the top of Asher’s head.“Such a lovely, lovely red color, like glowing embers. And so long! We’ll braid your hair into all sorts of pretty patterns, Asher.”
“And dress you in all the finest silks,”Trenet said.“For our fine, beautiful yshain.”
Asher sighed, gnawing petulantly on the ball of the gag in his mouth. He’d heard his name. They were either talkingtohim or talkingabouthim. He wondered if it even mattered to them that they couldn’t understand each other.
Not that he’d exactly been given much opportunity to talk, to try bridging the language barrier. Aside from the meal, he’d been gagged. Which did not lead Asher to believe that Trenet and Vrayl were very interested in him joining the conversation.
Still. He could make an effort. His translation implant was only keyed to three star quadrants, and hadn’t included places like Journey-5. Asher had learned the language of the Almari clan all on his own. He hadn’t beengreatat it, which hadn’tbeen helped by the Almari being an insular people, but he’d been getting by. Learning more every season.
So much for that.
Vrayl stopped walking and started… going down some steps? Along with the sounds of gentle splashing.
Cold fear dripped down Asher’s spine as he pulled himself back to the present to find that Vrayl was stepping down into a large, steaming pool. Trenet was already standing in the water. It was chest deep on the large Dresht, which meant that Asher would be up to his neck or worse.
While gagged so he couldn’t cry out and cuffed in mitts so heavy he couldn’t lift his arms.
This is it,Asher thought frantically.I’m going to die here.The warm heat of the room suddenly felt oppressive, the gag in his mouth choking him. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. All he could do was sit curled up in Vrayl’s arms, frozen, and wait. Drowning was such an awful, awful death.
But considering how Trenet had tasted him earlier…
At least it would be better than being eaten alive.
Chapter 5
Asher barely registered the ping sound echoing strangely in the steam-filled room.
Vrayl let out a growl.“Was that—?”
“The alarm,”Trenet replied, looking at his wrist device.“Unsafe stress levels.”Then he turned to Asher, cupping his cheek in one huge palm.“Sweetling, it’s okay. It’s just the baths. At a nice, Human-safe temperature, I promise. You’ll like getting washed up, won’t you? And Vrayl will clean your pretty hair.”
Asher blinked at him, vision blurry, and shivered.
“Oh, he’s cold!”
“Get him in the water—”
Asher’s brain came back online as he was lowered into the blood-warm pool, straight into Trenet’s arms. He yelled out and tried to twist in Trenet’s arms, not having a plan aside frombe anywhere but in the water.Even though he’d half accepted death by drowning, his body wouldn’t allow it, fighting with everything it had to avoid that fate.
He kicked out, a horrible keening noise leaving him, but Trenet just wrapped his arms around Asher’s body and stepped back, back, further into the water—
Until suddenly Trenet was seated, Asher in his lap. Asher trembled in his arms as tears dripped down his chin and plip-plopped into the pool.
