Zafir turned to me, his eyebrows furrowed. “The entire manor?”
“Yes. The table would fill with food, the wardrobes all filled with clothes. The rooms were enchanted to be forests or waterfalls and all sorts of things.”
I didn’t like the long, calculating look he gave me. “I’ve never heard of a dragon powerful enough to do all that,” he finally said.
“Well, now you have.”
His eyes narrowed. “Quite so.” He turned and spoke firmly to the wardrobe door’s handle. “Give me attire to turn this”—he looked back at me—“street urchin into a princess.”
“Can it provide you with better manners?” I shot back.
He smirked. “No. Nor would I let it if it could. Now choose.” He pulled on the handle to expose a wide selection of clothing, all perfectly tailored to my size.
I reached for a pale-green gown, but Zafir pushed it away. “That color wouldn’t be flattering on you.”
“I thought you said I could choose,” I grumbled.
“I intended for you to choose well, not poorly. Never mind, I’ll select something for you.”
He began holding different gowns up to me, his cold black eyes analyzing as his gaze flicked over my face, down to the dress, then back up. Occasionally he would have me hold the dress up to myself or give a spin before he finally snapped his fingers and handed me a slimming purple gown trimmed with golden thread.
“Wash up, then put that on,” he told me. “You’re still dirty and I won’t have you soiling the gown. There are boilers that heat the water, so don’t scald yourself. I have enough to do without treating you for burns on top of everything else.”
“You really have no empathy for anyone, do you?”
Zafir didn’t answer. He crossed to the washroom to show me where a pool was sunken into the floor, complete with taps of pressurized water. He explained how water towers forced water through the piping, then spent an additional ten minutes lecturing me on which soaps would be best for my skin versus my hair and how to properly clean beneath my fingernails.
I shot him a scornful expression. “Are you planning to watch me bathe so you can criticize me the whole time?”
Zafir rolled his eyes and murmured a few words, running his hands along the chain so it lengthened enough that he could leave the room. Thank goodness I still managed to retain some semblance of privacy. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and cringed. I was so filthy I couldn’t even recognize myself. Bloodstains had crusted on my clothing and sand mixed with my sweat and blood, coating my entire body in grimy, discolored streaks. I wouldn’t be able to charm a snake looking like this. And now I needed to seduce some pompous rich man I’d never met? I had no chance at all.
CHAPTER 11
After several frustrating minutes of trying to get my blood-stained dress off while still bound by the chain, I tore the fabric. There was no hope of salvaging that gown anyway.
A sigh of relief slipped out between my lips as I sank into the pool. It didn’t magically wipe away the dust and grime like the bathing pools at Rahil’s house did, nor was the view as breathtakingly beautiful, but it was still plenty clean and just as well-organized as Zafir’s potions were on the shelving in his study. At any rate, it beat what Nadia and I were used to by a long way.
If I were a classier woman, I might’ve been scandalized to be bathing in a single man’s private quarters. I closed my eyes as I soaked. Good thing I wasn’t a classy person. The warm water felt strangely good on my shoulder, and when I unwound the bandages, I found that there was only a faint scar left.
So, Zafir was an adequate healer. I still loathed him.
He hadn’t said exactly what time the fire dance would start, so I wasn’t sure how long I was supposedto take in the bath. It was still early in the afternoon, and I assumed that fire dances would be held at night. He wasn’t coming to bang on the door, nor did he order me to hurry, so I took my time, scrubbing away all the sand and dried blood. Whatever Zafir had done to my shoulder had healed it faster than any injury I’d ever sustained. If only he were bad at his job so I could despise that about him, too.
I had to drain the pool and refill it after I’d turned the water a light shade of brown, but with the second bath, the water stayed clear and I used the soaps Zafir had recommended. A floral ginger scent lingered in the air when I washed my hair, and the pomegranate exfoliating scrub seemed to take away three layers of my skin when I used it, leaving me with a fresh, rosy glow.
When I finally emerged, I felt more like a princess than the street rat I really was. There was only one towel, so I dried off then wrapped up my hair and looked at the gown Zafir had left hanging on the door.
I had to admit, as obnoxious and overbearing as he was, Zafir had good taste. It didn’t have any sleeves to get caught on the chain—which, until I put it on, I hadn’t thought about. The fabric was light and airy as I slithered into it, a perfect dress for the boiling hot climate. I managed to fasten the halter top behind my neck but the laces in the back still needed to be cinched. I tried to knot them myself, staring behind myself into the mirror at where the gown yawned open right down to the back of my waist. Each time I tried to tighten the strings, a different part would slip. It would be impossible to manage alone.
If Zafir was so insistent that I wear this particular gown, he could help.
“Tie me up,” I ordered him, emerging from the bathing room and turning to expose my back.
There was no reply, so I looked back over my shoulder at him.
Zafir’s cheeks had flushed a delicate shade of pink, and he kept his eyes averted.
“Are you embarrassed?” I teased. “Is the sight of a woman’s bare back too much for you to handle? Maybe you should occasionally actually look at a woman rather than keep your nose in your books. You’re right; this Julian will very much like watching you squirm. I do.”
