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He turned, rather pleased with his logical reasoning, to watch Anrid settling the children down as Granger prepared a quick meal. She was setting the table and as she went, she touched a shoulder here, ruffled unruly curls over there, stroked a dirty cheek with the side of her little finger. She hesitated when she reached Crag, who lifted his rock monkey for a pet. To her credit, she patted the animal between its tufted ears before moving on.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, unaware he was mimicking Kora’s own behavior from earlier, and watched as she moved around the tables. She must be exhausted and scared...and yet there she stood, offering comfort and compassion to complete strangers.

Compassion he had not been too keen to offer himself. But no, he reasoned in his own defense that he hadn’t tossed them all out, and that he had chosen to bring them home. But he had done it grudgingly.

Anrid was anything but grudging, and she was the only true victim in the room. She’d been kidnapped, ensorcelled, mobbed, and attacked by magic. She didn’t know these children, didn’t owe them anything, and yet she was taking care of them as if they were her own.

He tugged at the tall collar of his undertunic.

Great. Now he felt like an unforgiveable cad.

Chapter 11

They left the kitchen in total disarray. Anrid muttered an apology to the poor cook who had to clean up after them. She wanted to assist, but she suspected she wasn’t even going to survive bedtime, let alone make it to wherever she was going to sleep for the night. She would make it up to the cook tomorrow, she decided.

Anrid gripped two sticky, yawning goblins and trailed after Jael and the female in a rumpled canvas apron he had introduced as his housekeeper. Trap was a stout goblin lady with brown hair and a square face with dimples. Her expression had been guarded as she observed the large number of children thrust into her charge, but then she rubbed her hands together and took things in hand.

At long last, they stopped at the top of the stone stairs and turned into a chamber on the right. Humid air washed over Anrid, sticking to her skin. She drew in a stabilizing breath before she tugged her two charges into what must be the bathing chamber.

A chorus of howls erupted as soon as they realized what lay in store for them. Half a dozen goblin maids in mobcaps and aprons waited to catch them and plunge them into steaming tubs. Anrid approached, tugging both her goblins after her, and peered into the steaming water.

The copper tubs glowed from within, the bottoms filled with blue runestones covered in tiny bubbles. She wondered if the stones only offered light or if they caused the water to be hot, as well. Perhaps she could find out later.

How she wished she could be the one climbing into that tub. Instead, she handed off her charges and let the maids take over. There were tears and bawling for the first few minutes, but after half a dozen of the children had made it into the washtubs and realized it wasn’t so bad, the atmosphere gradually changed.

Soon splashing water and floating soap bubbles filled the room, along with the frequent shriek of mirth or a hearty belly laugh.

These little ones did nothing by halves, that was for certain.

Anrid leaned against the smooth stone wall and closed her eyes. She felt lightheaded and weary in a way she had never been before. Every bone, every muscle, every thought...it all hurt.

Rough fingers caught her elbow and gave a gentle squeeze. Her eyes flew open, but it was only Jael. He stared down at her; dark smudges high on his cheekbones revealed his own weariness.

“Come with me,” he ordered. “Trap can take it from here.”

“I promise I’ll tuck them into bed as if they were my own!” the housekeeper called from behind the largest tub where she scrubbed Rig’s hair with alarming force.

Anrid hesitated, concerned the housekeeper may not treat her own as gently as she perhaps ought. Rig stared at her mournfully as she moved to follow Jael to the door.

“Uh-NEE!” he shrieked and tried to clamber out of the tub, but Trap caught him just in time and hauled him back into the water, receiving a face-full of soap bubbles for her efforts. “Don’t go, Uh-NEE!”

Soon the others began to take up the lament. Tears of desperation pricked at Anrid’s eyes. She wanted to help them, wanted to help them more than she had ever wanted to do anything in her life, but she had nothing left to give.

A dripping-wet figure streaked through the room and threw itself at Anrid. She might have gone down had Jael not been holding onto her elbow still. Medda twisted toward them, betrayal of the worst sort etched all over her face.

The goblin child didn’t have a stitch of clothes on. One of the maids rushed over with a towel and threw it around her, but Medda bared sharp teeth and fought back when the maid tried to pick her up.

“Don’t bother with that one,” Jael said. “She’s a cannibal.” He grabbed what might have been two bony elbows beneath the towel and hauled Medda up against his chest. “We’ll take this one with us. Give me one of those shirts.”

The rest of the children began to wail.

“None of that!” Jael shouted over the din. Then he glanced at Anrid and pursed his lips, a whistle echoing through the bathing chamber.

It did no good.

Tears leaked from Anrid’s eyes. She turned to him, almost desperately. “I can’t.” It was all she managed to say.

With Medda still curled into his neck, he caught hold of Anrid’s elbow again and herded her to the door. “They’ll be fine,” he told her as they left the sticky warmth of the bathing chamber and stepped back into the cool, dark corridor. He closed the door with a bang, but muffled wails still seeped past the door.