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Fieran pushed open the first door on the right, revealing a wooden table strewn with scattered papers and ledgers. Shelves with more tumbled ledgers filled the wall behind it. “Looks like they left in a hurry. At least there are plenty of supplies that I can use.”

“Must have been the steward’s office. Or perhaps the butler’s.” Merrik gave a nod before he opened the next door, revealing a spartan room with a brass-framed bed, rumpled sheets and blankets, and all the drawers pulled from the wardrobe, the large doors hanging open. “And this must have been his room.”

“Then I’ll claim that one. It will be easiest for people to find me.” Fieran’s grimace deepened as he stepped into the room and tossed his rucksack on the bed.

Merrik ambled farther down the hall to the next door. This bedchamber was similarly done in bland beiges with another brass bed sporting a tangle of bedding, the rest of the room in similar disarray.

After setting his rucksack on the bed to claim it, Merrik left to explore the remainder of the hall. These rooms didn’t have attached bathing facilities, and he needed to see how accessible the water closet was. Not to mention, he wanted to locate the nearest linen closest for fresh sheets for the bed. No way was he going to sleep on the ones there. He’d spread his bedroll on a bare mattress first.

At the very end of the hallway, he found the water closet shared by the upper servants. There was a commode tucked behind a wooden door with a simple basin and a spigot with running water for washing hands and brushing teeth. At least it had running water.

The shower situation, however…

Merrik frowned as he opened the door to the shower closet. Instead of a decent copper tub or even a tiled shower in the style that was becoming popular in the houses of the Escarlish nobility, this had an older style wooden tub lined with a very thin veneer of corroded tin. The shower spigot had been mounted on a tall pipe, extending up and then over the tub.

This would be a problem. The tub sat in the center of the room, far enough from the walls that Merrik wouldn’t have anything to grab to balance on his remaining leg. Yet the edge of the tub wasn’t wide enough for him to comfortably perch.

Worse, the tub had a leak or perhaps the spigot splashed or both. The whole room smelled musty, and there were black spots of mold growing around the base of the tub.

The faint scuff of boots came from the corridor before Rothilion appeared, peering inside past Merrik’s shoulder. His mouth curled as he took in their shower. “I see our bathing facilities leave much to be desired.”

Merrik grimaced and nodded. “Yes.”

Rothilion swept another glance over the room before he spun and hurried away.

Merrik, too, turned and left. He peeked in the rooms he had searched earlier. He thought he’d seen…there. In one of the rooms, a small bench rested behind one of the beds. He grabbed it, carrying it back to the shared bathroom where he placed it over the far end of the tub. As he’d hoped, the bench seat rested on either lip of the tub. The legs didn’t touch the ground, making it slightly wobbly, but Merrik could temporarily secure it in place so that it could be easily removed once he was done. No need to hog the shower space for Rothilion and Fieran.

Moments later, Rothilion returned, hefting one of the potted evergreen trees that had been beside the main double doors. He placed it in the corner, giving a satisfied nod as if just having a plant automatically made the space more palatable.

After adjusting the potted tree, Rothilion reached over and placed a hand on the wooden tub. His fingers glowed green as his magic worked its way into the wood.

Merrik gave an approving nod before he rested his own hand on the side of the tub and added his own magic to increasing the leafiness of their shower.

Between the two of them, branches sprouted from the sides of the tub and moss grew over the ceramic tiles of the floor. The moss would help absorb the water, and the leaves would help freshen the air. Hopefully that would be enough to cut the mustiness.

“Did you claim your rooms?” Fieran’s voice rang in the corridor a moment before he appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, his bright red hair tousled. He swept a glance over their rather be-leafed and be-mossed shower before he laughed. “I suspect the Mongavarian lord will return to find his mansion rather more green and leafy than it had been when he left.”

Rothilion gave the barest curve of a smile as he gestured upward. “Indeed. Several of my pilots were claiming the other potted plants. The upstairs will be transformed into a forest before our stay is out.”

“I would expect nothing less.” Fieran clapped Rothilion on the shoulder. It was a sign of how far the elf had come that he didn’t flinch from the contact.

Merrik grinned. This new station was going to be a rather interesting change.

He wandered into the hall. He should see to finding that linen closet, clean the room he’d claimed, and help Fieran and Rothilion sort through that mound of supplies dumped in the entry hall. Or perhaps he would need to wrangle the flyboys. Even now, the shouting and laughter rang through the mansion, and the ceiling trembled with thumps as the pilots ran back and forth in the upper stories.

As he strolled along the hallway, a tall figure with red-blonde hair stepped into the entry hall, framed by the doorway of this corridor. She wasn’t looking in his direction, her gaze fixed upward as if taking in the chaos.

“Adry?” Merrik hurried as quickly as he could, the movement making both the hitch in his stride and the roll of his foot worse.

She turned, a brilliant smile lighting her face and sparkling in her eyes. “Merrik!”

“What are you doing here?” He had to slow to pick his way past the jumble still filling most of the foyer.

She laughed as she met him partway, wrapping him in a hug. “The correct thing to say is, ‘Thank you for walking a whole mile to come see me.’”

“Linshi.” Merrik smiled as he held her tightly. “You walked here?”

“Yes. And I’m sure it’s farther than the mile Aunt Vriska said it was.” Adry made an exaggerated grimace. Then she glanced around. “Your new digs are as fancy as ours. Dacha and I—and your dacha—were given a large townhouse in the center of the city.”