“Not anymore—Elsedora or Ryn typically handle matters here when needed.”
He was taking off his pants now.
My hand found my throat, which had gone dry.
“Have you no shame?” I gasped out, shielding my eyes.
Huffing a dark laugh, he said, “It isn’t anything you haven’t seen before—don’t you want out of that filth too?”
I desperately wanted to remove the scratchy, damp material.Modesty be damned.
Unclasping the charmed quiver and bow from my back and discarding my sword onto the sofa, I sighed, having not realized how they’d weighed on me. My hands found the seam of my tunic. The feeling of the fabric peeling away from my skin was glorious.
Luckily, I’d worn conservative undergarments, but they did little to hide anything with the fabric clinging. “What are theseotherbathing arrangements?”
“You’ll see,” he said.
“Are you playing coy with me?”
He smirked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
At the river, he’d insisted he didn’t mean the things on that list.
Yet he’d written them.
Though who was I to judge someone for writing things they didn’t mean when I so often fired them off verbally? I hadn’t meant most of the fire I’d spewed his way. It scared me to admit it, but my reasons to keep him at arm’s length were dwindling.
As I peeled off my breeches, Krait walked over to a closet and retrieved what looked like two bedrolls, two pillows and a leather satchel, where he stowed the food and drink from the kitchen.
“We’re ready to go,” he declared.
“Wait. Like this?” I glanced down at myself and the thin white fabric barely covering me, and then to him, where his thin underbreeches left little to the imagination.
“Just like this,” he said and held his free hand to me. “There won’t be anyone else where we’re going.”
Reluctantly, I clasped his hand. An eager flutter settled in my stomach.
Chapter 52
Krait
Sahlmkar was not my favorite city by any stretch of the imagination. But in a remote corner of the northern Sahlms was my most treasured place in the realm. I’d never shared it with anyone before.
Sybilla reluctantly took my hand, and I Shadowed us into the cavern behind the falls. We weren’t far from Sahlmkar, but the spot was impossible to reach on foot.
A natural spring had formed here amidst the dry lands to create a curtain of water flowing down into a crystal pool. It later split off into smaller streams that headed toward the volcanic shores.
Water cascaded off the rich red rock above us. I released Sybilla’s hand before setting down the bedrolls and unraveling them there in the cavern, where we’d sleep cooled by the mist and breeze.
Not many ever wandered toward the volcanic shores. I’d discovered this place by chance centuries ago. Since havingfound it, when in Sahlmkar, I rarely slept in the flat. Instead, I found solace in the head-clearing sounds of rushing water.
Sybilla’s lips parted. As she dipped her hand into the waterfall, her eyes glistened. “We’re staying here?” An edge of excitement leaked into her voice.
Even with the mud coating her cheeks, she was a beautiful sight, standing there, appreciating one of the places I treasured.
“Is this acceptable accommodation for a Queen?” It only then occurred to me—what if she hated this gesture?
She glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. “I’m not sure I know what’s acceptable anymore.”
