The inn was surprisingly spacious. The heavy stench of ale and smoke instantly hit my senses, and it wasn’t just tobacco that the men at the bar were smoking. But otherwise, it appeared rather well-kept and clean.
“Water and whatever you have for breakfast for all of us,” Torvin’s raspy voice called.
“Oh, and ale!” Joel added.
The breakfast wasmassive. Eggs, bread, cheese, meat, fruit, vegetables. I didn’t know where to start, so I decided to settle on one of each.
Aegir took the remaining empty seat beside mine. I went to reach for the jar of water but ended up hitting Aegir’s palm as he, too, reached for it. I retracted my arm. Aegir didn’t. Then he poured me a tall glass. I drank carefully, one eye on the glass, the other, secretly, on Aegir. I was cautious to note any temperature fluctuations, ready to put the glass down if it turned ice-cold. I wasn’t yet ready to accept it. And it wasn’t about anger or holding a grudge. I just…didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Later, we stood at the bar waiting for the grey-haired, short man to return behind the counter.
“How can I help you, sirs? Oh, and lady,” he added, when he noticed me.
“Rooms for the eight of us,” Aegir replied.
“The single rooms are all taken—it’s a Sunday, sir—but I can offer you four double rooms. All of them have large beds and a private bathing chamber with two separate baths. I can open thewater valve to your rooms for the right price. I can assure you that you’ll all be very comfortable, sir.”
“All right, we’ll take them.”
“You’re staying with me,” Joel said, hitting Darius in his chest. “Torvin snores like a pig.”
“Guess I’ll be sharing a bed with you, my fellow snorer,” Theodor said, receiving an unbothered shrug from Torvin.
Georgious and Alarik were already halfway up the stairs.
I swallowed hard.
The rooms we were shown to were on the first floor. Aegir’s and mine was at the far end, closest to the shared restroom. The barman was not lying; the rooms were indeed spacious. A large poster bed, big enough for four—well, three, if one of them was Aegir—stood on the left side of the room beneath a rectangular window.
A double-door wardrobe occupied the opposite wall, and to my right was a curtain that separated the bedroom from the bathing chamber. I lifted the side of the curtain, revealing two copper baths and an elaborate dresser.
“I would like to use the bath,” I told him.
He nodded.
I placed my bag on the dresser and took out my brown dress, then grabbed one of the many oil bottles—lavender.
I sat in the bath, adjusting myself comfortably in the fragrant water. Through the thin curtain, I could see his shadow. I could tell that he was lying on the bed, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much of me he could see with that Fae sight of his. The thought somehow made me feel even more naked.
I submerged myself, washing away sand and three days’ worth of muck from my skin and hair. Then I scrubbed myself from scalp to toes. Twice.
Before rising to my feet, I reached for the towel and immediately covered myself. I put on my dress and only thendared to remove the towel. I wasn’t going to waste any water, so I placed the filthy grey dress into the bath and let it soak there while I braided my hair.
While Aegir used the bathing chamber, I took the liberty of sitting comfortably on the bed, my back resting against the headboard. I bit on my thumbnail, attentively watching his silhouetted movements from behind the curtain. Even as a shadow, one could tell that he was more than well-built—blood of a Fae and Strongman.
I made a small attempt to look away but I couldn’t. I just stared at his naked shadow. My brow creased in slight confusion as I watched him lower himself into the bath—not the one he had just filled, but the one I had bathed in. Then he rose to his feet and made his way to the other bath, submerging himself in that one, too.
I was almost startled when I noticed that he was returning to the bedroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. I turned my head elsewhere.
I had to remove myself from the room, so I went back behind the curtain and washed his clothes, including the newly mended shirt.
I didn’t move back into the room until I was certain that he was fully clothed.
When I hung his clothes next to mine, he said, “You didn’t have to do that.”
It took me additional seconds to process his words. I was too distracted looking at his movements, his fingers running through his damp dark curls, the front parts of it falling just above his pointed ears.
“As your servant, I did. Why else would I be here?” I replied, my voice low.
