Chapter 19
Nineteen
SIMON
“ S imon?”
I bit back a wave of annoyance. I’d been staring into the fire, contemplating my next move, and hadn’t noticed Finn coming to join us. He looked nervous, twisting his fingers and biting his lower lip. My gaze shifted to look behind him, where his bondmate watched with a dark look in his eye. If I wasn’t polite, he’d take issue. And I doubted I’d come out of that interaction unscathed.
“Yes?” I gritted out, my voice terse. If he wanted better than that, then he needed to stay the hell away from me. I could pretend he didn’t exist all day long.
“I, um… I noticed you were uncomfortable in the river the other day. I hate it too, this late in the season. I was wondering… Rath—my bondmate—has been warming water for me to bathe. Did you… That is, if you want…”
He struggled to get the words out, and his eyes darted around. He was obviously terrified, and that made me feel like a dick. Forcing my expression into less of a resting bitch face, I leveled my voice to something less aggressive.
“What are you trying to say?” I asked, somewhat patiently.
He shot a pleading look to Patrick, who shook his head. “It was your idea, Finn. Just ask.”
Grimacing, Finn locked eyes with me again. “I was wondering if you wanted to share the water. Rath said he’d get enough for the both of us. I know Feigrind asked about it, so I assume he was doing the same for you. Since he’s gone, I didn’t want you to have to freeze.”
Damn. Of all the things he could’ve suggested, he had to offer the one thing I couldn’t resist. No way in hell did I want to get in the river, especially with Feigrind not around to warm me up afterward. It meant I had to put aside my animosity towards Finn, though, which would be… a trial. I still blamed him for me ending up here.
Drawing in a breath, I let it out slowly. “Sure. I’d like that. Thank you.”
The relief made his shoulders drop, and he smiled brightly at me. “Okay. We usually bathe after supper. I can come get you when it’s ready.” He glanced at Patrick again. “He could get enough for you too, Patrick.”
Patrick shook his head with a smile. “I’m good. I like the river. But I’ll come hang out if you want.” He shot a questioning look at me, like he knew I’d be uncomfortable alone with Finn. I nodded, and he dipped his chin in acknowledgement. “Just tell me when, and I’ll come hang out. Unless you plan on putting the water by the river. Then we can all go together.”
They discussed it before eventually deciding to bring the heated water to the river. It made for easy clean up and wouldn’t end up with the corner of someone’s tent all wet. The floors of the tents were all rugs overlapped, and Feigrind had to make room every time I wanted to get clean and then wait for the ground to dry again before fixing it. They really needed something better for bathing. How hard would it be to make a bath?
I excused myself to go visit Maman, helping her make pots while she chattered about the change in the wind. She said her bones told her it would get cold soon. I said I thought that was a bunch of shit, and she ended up throwing wet clay at me in retribution. I enjoyed spending time with her. She was so sassy, it was hilarious.
I forgot about that word Feigrind had called me until I joined Finn and Patrick at the river. After Rath brought the big pot of hot water for us to use, he kissed Finn on the cheek and murmured something that sounded like a term of endearment. I frowned at his back as he walked away.
“What did he call you?”
Finn had been watching his bondmate walk away too, though for an entirely different reason. His gaze was filled with heat and love, and he glanced back in that direction when Rath stripped to join a few others in the river to bathe.
“Huh? Oh. Kolrav? It means ‘my love’. It’s a term only used with bondmates.”
I pursed my lips, stripping out of my clothes and hanging them on a low-hanging branch of a nearby tree so they wouldn’t get dirty. Finn followed suit when Patrick did. Patrick stood in the shallows, washing himself with icy cold water that made me shiver just watching while Finn and I shared the pot of warm water between us. Patrick and Finn talked about the language lessons with the other tributes, and Finn excitedly told him about their progress. I was glad I didn’t need to go to those, because it sounded boring, but Finn seemed happy about it.
“If you’re the scribe, why are you also teaching language?” I finally asked. I hated being on the outs of a group, and I liked talking. I’d put up with Finn for a little while, at least.
Finn turned back to me and lifted a shoulder. “I’ve always loved learning. I picked up the barbarian language pretty quickly when I first arrived. When Rath told me that all the protectors were responsible for teaching the language, I asked around about other people’s experiences. Not every protector is a good teacher. I figured if I could help, I wanted to. I didn’t just want to be Rath’s bondmate, you know? So I came up with a way to better teach their language that was more universal. Patrick was my first student.”
“Thank the goddess for that,” Patrick said with a laugh. “Verus is a wonderful bondmate but a terrible teacher. All he knew how to do was point at things and say their name. Sometimes we weren’t looking at the same thing, and I just got so confused.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. That was how Feigrind started teaching me too, but he was careful to touch the thing he was explaining first. If I hadn’t already known the language and wasn’t such a brat, I probably would’ve learned something.
“Did Feigrind teach you?” Finn asked me.
I shook my head. “No. I learned at home. I was better at servicing my clients if I understood them. I know a few different languages because of that. And I can say ‘Wanna fuck?’ in seven.”
Both their jaws dropped, and I snickered, focusing on scrubbing my skin with the bar of soap Feigrind had given me. This one at least smelled of flowers instead of just plain soap.
“I can barely say that in one language,” Finn admitted softly. “I’ve been with Rath for over a year, and I still blush when asking him to make love.”
I wrinkled my nose. He really had to stop being so damn cute. It was hard to hate him when he acted all innocent like that.
“I don’t really have the chance to ask much,” Patrick said. “Verus always propositions me. He knows exactly how to make me feel wanted.”
Feigrind was good at that too. Apparently, so was Rath, since Finn was nodding rapidly in agreement. Curious, I couldn’t help but ask, “Are they both also mind blowingly good at sex?”
Finn flushed bright red as he nodded, and Patrick laughed. “Yeah. You too?”
“Yes. It’s annoying,” I growled. “I’ve been working at the brothel for over ten years, and yet he somehow manages to make me come like it’s nothing? What even is that? Do they have magic dicks or something?”
Finn made a sort of choked sound, and a deeper voice spoke behind me, laced with amusement. “I’ve never heard someone refer to our dicks as having magic before. At least we know Feigrind is doing well at keeping you happy. I thought for sure he’d embarrass the rest of us with his inexperience.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow at Godr. “Are you standing behind us for a show, or are you just eavesdropping like an old biddie?”
He grinned, gesturing to where the other men were getting out of the water. I hadn’t realized he’d been one of them, but on closer observation, his hair was still wet, and his skin was pink from the cold.
“We’re still close enough to hear you. If you want privacy, you should learn to be more quiet.” He winked when he said it, which made me think he was referring to another time when I wasn’t quiet. I gave him a blank look.
“You sound jealous. Your right hand not doing it for you?”
Unlike the last asshole I sassed, Godr didn’t get offended. He just laughed. At least some people could take a joke around here.
“You are going to keep Feigrind on his toes, aren’t you? I will give him my sympathies when he returns.”
I shook my head, smirking to myself as I finished rinsing the soap from my skin. They were all a bunch of idiots. But maybe they weren’t so bad. At least, some of them weren’t.
FEIGRIND
It took a few days for us to travel to where the next clan was established. We were the closest to the forest, as we had the best hunters. The Halleik clan was against a river. They were best for fishing, and some in the clan even traveled by boat to trade with the towns that didn’t ban our people. We would spend a day or two trading with them before heading home again.
I worried about Simon. Despite his sass, I could see how upset he was about me leaving. I hoped the clan would make him feel more at ease. I’d privately spoken with Maman and told her of his upset. She’d said she’d make sure he was okay. I trusted her to take care of him.
While Uttin talked to those in charge of trade, I wandered away to look at their wares. I hoped I could find something for Simon. He deserved nice things. I stopped at a stall set up with items from nearby towns, studying everything carefully.
“What are these for?” I asked the woman selling them, pointing at the bottles on one side.
“They are soaps and shampoos. Good for hair and skin. They are very popular among the women in the towns. Did you want to try it?” She opened one, offering it to me to smell. I recognized the scent immediately. It was how Simon had smelled when he first arrived.I’d asked one of the women in our clan who makes soap to scent some for me, but it wasn’t the same. I wasn’t sure what kind of flower created such a scent. Simon had said he’d be happier with his products.
“How long will this last?”
She tipped her head thoughtfully. “For the season, at least. If careful, perhaps two.”
In the end, I bought half her stock for Simon. I didn’t want him to have to be careful. He could use as much as he wished if it made him happy. If I could give him more of what he liked, maybe he would be more likely to stay.
I put the bottles into the cart that was already emptied of our goods and being filled with items we would need to survive the winter season, like vegetables that were foraged farther out from the forest and healing items. I helped where I could to hurry the process along. Uttin looked amused at my efforts, but no one complained about the work being done early.
“We will rest here tonight, with the clan leader’s permission,” Uttin said to the group once we were through. “If there are no objections, we will head back home tomorrow. Feigrind is anxious to return to his tribute.”
His tone was teasing, but he clapped me on the shoulder, and the rest of my brothers agreed to return early. I was grateful to them and looked forward to a hot meal and rest before heading home to Simon.
We were sitting around the community fire, catching up with old friends, when a scout rushed into the village center. I watched as he hurried to his clan leader, whispering harshly to him. His gaze flicked to us a few times, and I felt my spine stiffen. A layer of dread settled over me when the clan leader approached us, the scout following behind him with anxiety written all over his face.
Pushing to my feet, I met them halfway. “What is it?”
“Olr is our scout. He tells me a large group of Fer’na were seen headed in the direction of your clan. Is this expected?”
Fer’na. My stomach dropped. Simon. They were coming for Simon.