Chapter 6 #2
The maid threw up her hands. “Oh dear, my lady! Forgive me. I should have known ye would need relief upon awakening.” She waved Lexi forward.
“Come, come. The chamber stand is right over here. Let me open it for ye.” She went to a fat, short-legged nightstand, unfolded it, and latched its parts in place like some intricate puzzle.
Once she finished, she stepped back and revealed an elaborate wooden chair with a hole in the seat.
Shelves on either side of the seat held folded cloths and colorful jars of mysterious contents.
“Here ye are, my lady, and there are plenty of cloths for the wiping. Simply toss them into the porcelain when ye have finished. If ye happen to be on yer courses, I took the liberty of stocking the drawer with bundles and a belt, and there is a selection of oils should ye need anything for any chafing of sorts.”
Courses? It took Lexi a minute or two to realize that the maid was talking about menstruation.
Thank heavens it wasn’t time for that and wouldn’t be for a couple of weeks.
“Thank you, but I won’t have to worry about courses for a little while.
” She climbed out of the bed and shook out the long linen nightgown Rill had supplied her with last night.
When she reached the wooden toilet, she halted and eyed the maid, willing the girl to go somewhere else so she could pee in privacy.
“Is there aught else ye need, my lady? Is something not to yer liking?”
There was nothing to do but say it, plain and simple. “I can’t pee with an audience.”
The girl gave her a befuddled look and stood there blinking like a frog in a hailstorm. “Audience, my lady?”
Lexi pointed at her. “I have a shy bladder. Would you mind stepping out into the hallway? I’ll let you know when I’m finished.”
Still appearing a bit confused, the maid nodded. “Aye, my lady. Since ye canna relieve yerself with me in the room, must I stay away whilst ye bathe too? Mrs. Shimmerhill said I was to be yer lady’s maid and help ye with everything. I took that to mean…everything.”
It became more than a little apparent that Lexi had hurt Rill’s feelings.
The girl seemed to feel that Lexi thought her inadequate, which was not her intention.
“I don’t mind bathing with you in the room, but I will be washing myself.
Where I come from, I’m not used to someone doing everything for me—but trust me, that doesn’t mean I don’t need your help to understand things during my stay here. ”
Rill beamed at her, immediately returning to her jolly self.
She bounced over to the bedroom door and stepped out into the hall.
Before she closed it, she nodded. “It is glad that I am to be hearing that, my lady. Glad that I am, indeed. Sing out when I may come back inside. I shall remain by the door.”
“I will, thank you.” Lexi willed the girl to get out before the proverbial dam broke, and she peed down both legs.
As soon as the door clicked shut, she bunched up the nightgown, yanked down her panties, and gave a sigh of relief while being sure to sit still on the wooden commode.
It felt smooth enough, but you never knew when you might get a splinter, and a splinter down there would not only be uncomfortable but also humiliating.
Feeling much better and a great deal lighter, she went ahead and stripped down, put her hair into a topknot with her ponytail holder, and got into the tub. “You can come back in now,” she sang out as she sank into the heavenly scented water.
“Why, thank ye.” Jeros strolled into the room, looking smug and entirely too handsome.
Lexi submerged up to her chin and was thankful that whatever oils Rill had added to the water had turned it to a pink milkiness that was opaque enough to conceal her. “I was talking to Rill. Not you. Do you mind? I’m having a bath.”
“I dinna mind at all, thank ye.” After raking a hand through his dark, shoulder-length hair, Jeros settled into a nearby wingback chair, tossing its pillows onto the floor. “I never understood the need for all these pillows. Does the chair need better upholstering?”
“You’re just going to sit there. While I’m in the bath?”
He shrugged. “I thought we might visit. Get to know one another better. Other than the fact that ye are a wonder with animals, ye lost yer parents at a young age, and come from the future of a different realm, I know verra little about ye.”
Thankfully, the sides of the tub were tall enough and the water deep enough that even if she sat up straight, nothing would show but her bare shoulders. “And you didn’t think we could have this visit over breakfast or something?”
He turned thoughtful, an unmistakable coldness in his eyes that reminded her of the blue-white gaze of a cautious Husky pup she had once treated at the infirmary.
She didn’t know if it was their icy shade or the emotions flashing in them, but his glare cut right through her, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was not pleased.
“As intent as ye were to leave me last night, I feared I would not have much time with ye this morning. I wished to catch ye afore ye ran away again.”
“I am not some kid plotting to escape and run away from home, and I am not leaving you. I’m going back where I belong.”
He shook his head. “Nay, my own. Ye are a stubborn woman determined to run away from yer mate rather than give destiny a chance to make ye happy.”
My own. Whenever he called her that, a part of her melted, which was not good.
She had a life in twenty-first century Kentucky that she intended to resume as soon as she figured out how to get back to it.
The ache in the center of her chest flared stronger, making her swallow hard. Jeros Seventhson didn’t play fair.
And so far this morning, he hadn’t even flinched when he’d looked at her, and she knew her scars tended to turn darker whenever she was in hot water. And boy was she ever in hot water, figuratively and literally. “Do you intend to come with me again when I try to find my car?”
His expression hardened into a narrow-eyed scowl.
“I intend to accompany ye any time ye leave the safety of Sevenrest Hall. War is on the horizon with the Fifth Kingdom. I shall not leave ye unguarded.” He glanced over at the bed where the great Fae tiger was still stretched across the foot of it, sound asleep.
“Especially since yer wee guardian there appears to be lax in his duties.”
She picked up the dark pink bar of soap from the marble stand beside the tub, sniffed it, then started sudsing it between her hands.
It smelled so much like juicy, ripe strawberries that her mouth started watering.
It reminded her of a soap Mammaw had always used.
“Maybe Aylryd knows I am safe here, so he’s conserving his energy. ”
Jeros’s cold, piercing stare cut through her again. “He should never let down his guard. Not ever. There is too much at stake with war on the horizon.”
Even though the strawberry scented water of the tub remained at the perfect, near scalding temperature she loved, the mention of war made her shiver.
What sort of situation had she wandered into here?
Even if she remembered her European history lessons word for word, they would do her little good here, because this was a different Scotland entirely.
“You mentioned the Fifth Kingdom, but said you are the prince of the Seventh Realm. What exactly is the difference between a kingdom and a realm here?”
“The Realm encompasses the entire Seelie world in this plane of Scotland. The Fifth Kingdom is a part of the Seventh Realm. A very thorny, difficult part.”
“So, they’re trying to revolt and take over the Realm?”
“Aye.”
“I’m sorry.”
He eyed her, tilting his head like a loyal dog trying to understand its master. “Why are ye sorry?”
“War is never good for either side. It’s bad for everyone concerned.
People suffer and die, and things are never the same.
” She wouldn’t add that the thought of all the innocents, whether they be people or animals, harmed in any conflict made her heart ache.
“Is there not any way to resolve the Fifth Kingdom’s issues?
Come to some sort of agreement that would be acceptable to all parties involved? ”
His strong jaw flexed as though he were grinding his teeth. “No accord has been found as yet. The Fifth Kingdom is more like the Dark Fae, the Unseelie. They dinna always embrace the ways of the Light, and their stubbornness blinds them to all reason.”
“Maybe you need a neutral arbitrator. You mentioned there was a Seven Cairns in this reality. Is there a Mairwen-type person there? Back in my Seven Cairns, she seemed like the glue that held everyone together and helped them all get along. She always struck me as being their leader, like a mayor or something.” Lexi scrubbed her arms and legs, taking care not to expose any parts that didn’t need exposing.
The strawberry-scented steam somehow made it seem not nearly so strange that she was bathing in front of a man she’d only met yesterday.
“Mairwen resides in every Seven Cairns of every reality.”
Lexi dropped the soap with a loud splash. “What?”
“Mairwen, the old one, in fact, all the Divine Weavers, exist in every Seven Cairns.”
“I distinctly remember you telling me that your Seven Cairns was different from my Seven Cairns.” She patted around the bottom of the tub until she found the soap. She clutched it so tightly her fingers left dents in the luscious pink bar that smelled good enough to eat.