Chapter 5 #2
My mouth dropped open as I glared at him. Of all the introductions he could have made, he’d chosen this? And while pinned beneath the golden fae as he said it.
“I apologize for this brute.” Those red eyes fixed on me with a dignified gaze. “The rest of us know how to behave in polite company.”
Thain moved in a flash, sitting up and throwing Eberon off with ease, and I wondered if he couldn’t have beaten the other fae effortlessly to begin with. They stood, brushing off dirt and running fingers through their hair. One looked like a mildly inconvenienced cat, the other a preening bird.
“Wren, this is Eberon. It would appear he has abandoned our post,” Thain said.
“Who abandoned it?” Eberon quipped. “Schula is keeping an eye on things while I came to track you down. And where could you possibly have found a young fae all the way out here?”
Thain shrugged, exasperating Eberon, who then turned to me.
“Wren, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Eberon bowed low, sweeping his long arms gracefully and never taking his eyes off mine. “I am at your service, if you ever need to be rid of this oaf.”
“Understood.” I bowed back, a clumsy comparison to Eberon’s. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Eberon.”
Thain’s eyes played between us. “So, what do you think?”
The golden fae scented the air. “She’s definitely from the Wyldes. What do we do, bring her back to Thanantholl?”
A trill of panic straightened my back, hoping that if Thain couldn’t sense anything of the seal that no other fae would be able to either. “It’s lovely to meet you. I appreciate the hospitality offered by Thain to see this outpost.”
Eberon’s brows shot up into his hairline, and he exchanged a look with Thain, who confirmed with a nod.
“How old is she?” Eberon whispered. “Is she not young?”
“I’m not a child.” The insistence in my voice offered more offense than intended. “I’ve been an adult for years now. I’m twenty-five.”
“No, no, of course not. I did not mean young as in a child, I meant young as in . . . How do I put this?” he murmured, turning to Thain. “Did you tell her nothing?”
Thain crossed his arms, shifting his weight to one foot. He was still taller than Eberon, but the way they spoke to each other was so comfortable, so familiar. The golden fae had been able to pull more expression out of Thain in a matter of minutes than I had in a matter of days.
“Well.” Eberon recovered, turning back to me. “Then our hospitality you shall have. I could not fathom living outside the Wyldes. How anyone can breathe properly here is beyond me.”
“Eberon . . .” Thain warned.
“That is,” Eberon corrected himself, “a perfectly fine place to live, perfectly fine. For some. Anyway, I can’t wait for you to experience the other side.”
Thain sighed but said nothing further.
“What do you think, little bird?” Eberon winked at me.
I think you’re a shameless flirt. My face surely relayed my feelings, because Thain’s mouth turned up at the corner as Eberon faltered.
“Let’s keep going, I want to be back well before it grows dark,” Thain mused, patting Eberon’s shoulder as he passed and leading us in the direction we had been heading.
We walked, but the usual quiet peace that had fallen between me and Thain was not what accompanied us now. Eberon liked to talk. He talked about the sights in Thanantholl, the Wyldes, the parties of the courts. Thain bristled at the mention of them.
“Don’t mind him, he can’t stand to have a good time,” Eberon explained, a wicked smile on his lips. “The only time you’ll find him at one of the court parties is when he’s ordered to be there.”
I didn’t blame him. A room filled with that many people was bound to be uncomfortable.
Eberon quickly filled in the space with more chatter.
The current fashions of the different courts, the horses he bred on his family estates.
A whirlwind of information I couldn’t possibly absorb.
It was clear that Eberon enjoyed the luxuries of high society, and he had more money than I would see in several lifetimes in the mountains.
But it was nice, in its own way. Not the endless chatter but to feel the conversation of someone who wasn’t more worried about my ears than my thoughts.
It took another few hours to arrive. As we rose over another peak, further north than I’d ever been in my life, we spotted the outpost. I stayed silent as we approached a stone building that was as big as my cabin and Mila’s combined.
Smoke wafted lazily from the fat chimney.
There was a clearly marked yard around the structure where no grass thrived.
At the far side of the yard was another fae, who must have been Schula. Dripping with sweat, she pounded on a wooden pole with her wrapped fists over and over again. Her practiced rhythms entranced me until I realized we were still walking and I’d fallen out of step.
“Here it is. I’m sure you’re ready to sleep under a roof again,” Thain said. Eberon led the way to the stone building, and Thain trailed behind.
The fae in the yard stopped. Her crystal eyes, such a pale blue they were almost as snow-white as the rest of her, snapped to me as we entered the yard.
She stood unnaturally still, her long white hair tied in a braid that blew gently in the wind behind her.
Her figure was curved, and she looked strong and stunning.
Even in her plain tunic, she was the most beautiful being I had ever seen.
The delicate points of her ears were tipped with silver filigree ornaments, and on her wrist hung a matching bangle, but she was otherwise unadorned.
She didn’t need it. Even standing safely between the two large fae, I thought she breathed with the capability of taking on anyone and anything she wished.
Now that was a presence I would have killed to have growing up.
I watched her with a combination of awe and a healthy dose of caution.
“Schula, this is Wren,” Thain said. “I found her in one of the human settlements that was being raided by the ones from the west.”
Embarrassment suddenly struck me. Bryn’s coat was old and worn, my boots were scuffed and dirty from travel, and I hadn’t been able to properly wash or braid my hair in days.
“What . . . how?” she whispered, leaning in to get a better look at me.
“I’m sure we will have a night of stories ahead of us,” Eberon said. “From both sides.”
Thain nodded, his usual response.
Schula’s eyes softened as she spoke. “I can only imagine how one of us ended up past the borders. Welcome, Wren.”
Swallowing the lump of nerves that had suddenly begun to plague me, I recovered enough of my voice to say, “I’m grateful for your hospitality. I can help around the outpost.”
Schula’s head snapped to Eberon. “What kind of offer did you extend that she thinks she needs to work for a bed?”
Eberon’s palms shot up in front of him. “I made no such claims; ask Thain.”
Thain had no visible response when Schula’s glare landed on him. “I convinced her to come, that’s as far as I got.”
Schula closed her eyes, letting out a slow breath before meeting me with a smile. “I know exactly what you need, even if these two don’t. Come, let me show you to the bath. Which you do not have to earn the right to use, by the way.”
A bath.
I couldn’t afford to be a nuisance here. I desperately craved answers that only the fae could provide. But possibly more importantly, I had to hide my back, and a bath sounded complicated for that.
“You don’t have to trouble over me. I’m fine.” I fumbled around my own tongue. “I can find a spring later.”
“A spring? You most certainly are not fine. You are a guest here, that means we take care of your needs.”
“You can take my room,” Thain said. “Follow me.”
“I’ll start dinner,” Eberon offered.
“I’ll get the water ready,” Schula said, and she followed Eberon to the outpost.
Thain, still carrying my things, walked toward the building. I followed before he left me behind.
When I stepped inside, he paused just long enough to let me look around.
The building was two levels with the second floor half open to the floor below.
A set of stairs led up to a balcony with three doors.
Below was a fourth door, a hearth with cushioned chairs around it, several shelves stocked with more things than I could keep track of, and a large table that commanded the room.
Eberon was at a counter near the shelves, pulling vegetables from somewhere.
Schula had disappeared into the door on the lower level.
I stumbled trying to walk while looking at everything.
If this was camping, I could only imagine what they called a house.
I’d never been in a building this tall before, save for the giant public places in Sulls.
You’d have to be a rich merchant to live in something this big.
Upstairs, Thain opened the middle door for me to find a large bed.
I gaped at it. Bryn and I would have both fit easily, and he tended to toss and turn a lot when it got too warm outside.
There was a mirror larger than a dinner plate and a private washbasin on a small desk.
A window with real, clear glass was framed by red curtains, and sunlight curled up on the wool bedding.
My lips parted as I drank in a luxury that I’d never been close enough to touch before.
“Thank you. I owe you another boon,” I said. And I meant it. One day I truly wanted to repay Thain for everything he had done for me.
Thain took up much of the doorway as he leaned against it. His expression was softer, but there were still questions behind his eyes. He shrugged. “I hope it’s comfortable enough.”
A breath escaped, almost a laugh as I looked around the room. “You know this is nicer than my home, right?”
He moved his gaze away, instead choosing to look out the window across from the door. “No amount of nice things will replace home.”
True. Very true. “Where will you sleep?”
“Eberon has plenty of room,” he said. “Before I go, I wanted to make sure you’re all right here. New places, new people.”
Of course I knew what he meant, and I was able to meet him with a smile. “I can handle a little bit of overwhelm. They seem like they mean well.”
That allowed him to relax his posture a bit.
“The bath is downstairs. Schula should be done soon, by the time you’ve laid out your belongings.
” And with that, he left the room. Staring after him, I wondered if I’d ever be able to predict him.
Moving to my things, I pulled out a clean set of clothes and spent time pulling out anything I wished to check for travel damage.
After setting a few items around the room, I moved downstairs.
Schula was coming out of the door just as my feet hit the bottom step. She smiled and waved me over. Eberon looked over his shoulder from the kitchen, then went back to cooking.
“Let me show you the fixtures, in case you haven’t used one of this kind before,” Schula offered, urging me inside the room. Steam hit my face, and I cleared my throat.
“What about the others?” I asked. “I can be quick or wait my turn.”
“I’m sending them to the creek,” Schula said merrily. “They can rough it a little longer; we’re on duty, after all. Duty that Thain left for me and Eb to handle, and then Eb left to be a nosy little prick, and I was here alone. This is their punishment.”
“I didn’t mean to be the cause of anyone leaving their post.”
“No, no.” Schula placed a hand on my shoulder. “They could have done this a dozen different ways, but Thain is a big boy. If he chooses to wander off without telling me or Eberon why, that’s on him. They can handle a little bit of cold water in retaliation.”
“Still . . .”
“Enjoy the bath,” Schula insisted. “I don’t know what Thain told you, and I don’t know what you’ve been through, but believe me when I say you are about to have thousands of people overjoyed that you’re with us.
The least we can do is welcome you with a hot bath before figuring out what to do next. ”
What does that mean?
She didn’t elaborate.
Schula pointed out how everything worked, and perfumed steam engulfed me the moment she closed the door.
Rising from the floor like the bottom half of an enormous barrel was a tub of water.
The concept in here was confusing. It was like a public bathhouse in the city, but the tub was only big enough for one or two people.
The ladle for spilling water over my head and the slatted corner of the floor where excess water could escape was familiar enough, even if I had only done this a few times in Sulls.
After you washed, you got into the tub, right?
But there were shelves of soaps, oils, and salts that must all have been for special occasions: we never added expensive oils to the lard soaps back home unless it was for a holiday, a wedding, or a burning.
Sometimes Mila would mix mint into hers to chase off the bugs, but that was about it.
After looking for far too long, I selected a soap that smelled of the wild mountain roses that bloomed in the summer. At least that I could come to terms with as something common, though the idea of using it to bathe with still seemed excessive.
The door had a lock, which I was thankful for.
I undressed and laid my fresh clothing on a stool in the corner.
After washing as carefully as I could with the soap, carefully maintaining its shape and setting it back on the shelf to dry, it was finally time to enjoy the hot water.
A stepping block helped me over the edge to sink into the luxurious heat.
High above the tub was a half-sized window that could be opened for air, but the wavy glass prevented seeing in or out otherwise.
The bath was unlike anything I had experienced. I usually washed in springs and ponds, but we had a small washtub at the cabin for the cold days of winter when we heated water to make it bearable. This was something else entirely.
I sank to my neck in the water and moaned.
A shiver ran through me with the release of my screaming muscles.
I let the heat seep into my bones for as long as I could until I had to pinch myself to keep from falling asleep.
I let myself savor it for a few minutes before I had to drag myself out of this bliss.
Two wet drops fell from my face, landing in the smooth surface of the water. Swallowing through the lump in my throat, I scrubbed my face.
Standing in the tub, the cool air bit my now pink skin. Fingers and comb worked swiftly to regain my preferred braids, ensuring my ears were hidden once again.
Clean, but still juggling how this new situation made me feel, I dried off and brought my dirty clothes out with me. It was time once again to face the fae.