Page 41 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

I wanted to revel in my anger, but considering that night and his promise, I didn’t want to backslide. As confusing as Kieran was, if he stayed good on his promise, he’d be an even better ally. So once dragonsguard training ended, I made my way over to him. “Kieran—”

The look in Kieran’s eyes could’ve turned me to stone.

“I don’t have time for this. Train with Ben for two hours and then you may return,” he growled.

He sidestepped me and went under the shadowed trees.

There, his powers took over. Darkness clung to his body, and he reappeared atop Hesperos.

The two of them took off without another word.

“Coward!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. He didn’t look back. What the fuck was his problem? I turned to the others and they immediately looked away, except for Aurelia who met my gaze head on. I stalked over to Gareth. “Is this normal behavior for him?”

Gareth wrung his gloved hands together. “It’s not.”

“I’m tired of his bullshit.”

“It’s like being in an open war zone.” Ben shuddered. “I might actually prefer that.”

I threw my waterskin at Ben, who dodged it with a laugh. Gods, why did I let Kieran make me feel so crazy? Not again. I was a grown woman. I wouldn’t chase after a man. Except… it wasn’t a simple as that. He had the key to my happiness—my sister. I needed him.

He needs me too. Fuck it. I’d give him a few days. Maybe he’d sort his shit out. And if he didn’t, I’d do something. My chest tightened in my ribcage. I wished I could stop thinking about that night. Wished I could ignore the way my whole body tingled when he so much as looked at me.

Nimue pulled me to the side. “Any chance you’re on your monthly bleed?”

I wished I hadn’t thrown my waterskin at Ben so that I could’ve thrown it at Nimue.

“Really, Nimue? You’re going to ask that?

” I folded my arms. The others, except for Ben who waited for me to join him in our extra training, had already taken off.

I hated when Randall asked if I was on my monthly bleed whenever I argued with him.

And it always pissed me off even more when he said that and I was on it.

“So maybe I am, but that has nothing to do with me being mad. So don’t—don’t reduce it to that.

” It was bad enough to get it from men, I didn’t need to get it from a woman.

Nimue had the decency to look a little shamefaced. “Sorry. I know Kieran can be a dick. I just… I think I have something that can help with your monthly bleed. It always sucks training during it.”

Too true. My limbs ached and the heaviness where my thighs met my groin made training as rigorously as we did hard. I wanted to lie in bed, not push through it. “What did you have in mind?”

Nimue grinned. “The bathing chamber once you finish. Come find me when you get back.”

I rubbed my thighs. “Alright.”

Once Ben and I finished our training and returned to the castle, I met up with Nimue, who took me to the same fancy bathing chamber the rest of the dragonsguard had taken me to.

Since the men wouldn’t be joining us, we didn’t bother getting our wetsuits.

Instead, I brought an extra pair of underwear and tight shorts for the soak.

I still couldn’t get over how fancy the place was. Nobles. Always having to make something needlessly expensive. First, we showered to wash the grime away. Well, I did. Nimue had already showered. After, I put on the fluffy bathing robe she’d given me and my shorts.

Once I dressed, Nimue ushered me toward the sofa next to the kitchenette and brushed my hair.

I closed my eyes and sunk into the bliss of it all.

I loved having my hair brushed. Clara liked to brush my hair most nights whenever she felt well.

There was something so utterly relaxing having someone else do it.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“Figured you could use a bit of pampering.” Another long brush stroke. “We have a big day ahead next week. It’s going to be… well, a lot. And Kieran isn’t helping.”

I groaned. “I don’t even want to think about the mission.” I preferred to think about after. When I’d finally have my proof.

Nimue finished her brushing and stood. “I get that. I do. And you’re right. We can talk about the mission tomorrow. I—I know Kieran’s an ass, but he’s worried. Hell, we all are.”

I shot her a pointed look. “Nimue.”

She raised her hands in submission. “I know. I’ll leave it be. You stay here. I’m going to make you some red raspberry leaf tea.”

I complied and watched her bustle about the kitchen, grabbing a small container from the cupboards.

“Aurelia introduced me to this tea. It helps when our cycles are particularly rough. It soothes the worst of your aches. Really, it’s a miracle worker.

” She poured two cups and tilted her chin at the pool.

“Go inside the pool. I adjusted the temperature, so it’ll be even hotter.

I’ll bring us a tray of nuts and dark chocolate.

Now go. I brought out some water pillows to rest against for maximum comfort. ”

I arched my brows. As much as it felt ridiculous to utilize something so needlessly extravagant like the rest pool—and the back of my mind whispered at how many people would kill for even a bucket of warm water to bathe in instead of using the stream—I had to admit it sounded nice.

With a nod, I followed Nimue’s instructions.

The ‘rest pool’ was the small section of the pool that was intentionally built for people to be able to lounge in and sit in the water up to their waist. It was at the far end of the pool where it was just as easy to jump off into the deep pits of the water.

The edges of it were already padded, but now there were even more pillows to rest against. I sighed in relief as I slipped into the water and took a little over half the pillows so that I could recline comfortably.

Nimue was right. This hit the spot. The hot water felt divine against my aching thighs and core.

And the pillows… it’d be hard to go back to the practicality of the dragonsguard bathing chambers.

Even when we came here as a group, I hadn’t let myself fully relax.

But now that I had… gods, I wanted to stay here forever.

Nimue placed the tray beside us and climbed in next to me. She grabbed the mugs from the tray and handed me one. “It doesn’t work instantly, so just keep sipping and relaxing. And make sure to snack on the food. That also helps.”

I snorted. “No need to tell me twice.”

Nimue wasn’t the least bit bothered being nude, and I had to admire her confidence. I was used to bathing in streams, so nudity didn’t bother me, but I thought it’d be different for nobles.

“You were right. Some pampering was needed.” I hadn’t realized how on edge I’d been until now.

Nimue smiled as she sipped her tea. “We all need it sometimes.”

“I’m surprised Kieran didn’t pitch a fit when he learned about this.

” I wasn’t under any illusion he didn’t know.

The man was controlling as hell. In fact, he’d been in the living room with Gareth when I’d left with Nimue.

When our eyes locked for the briefest of seconds, his expression had twitched.

For a moment, I thought I saw concern, but then it vanished and was replaced with cold indifference.

I hated that that look made my stomach roll.

Nimue hummed. “If he did, I would’ve kicked him in the balls. And Aurelia would’ve found a way to make his life hell.”

I arched a brow. “I don’t buy Aurelia doing that.”

Nimue smiled. “Aurelia’s a bitch, don’t get me wrong. But there are some things where we can’t help but come together. This is one of those things. But at least, on this front, the guys are mature about it.”

“Are you saying they can be immature?” Obviously, Ben was, but the others? I couldn’t see it .

“All the time.” Nimue shook her head and took another sip of her tea. “They drive me crazy. You haven’t seen it, but they can be like children.”

“Even Gareth?”

“Especially Gareth. You haven’t seen him compete against Kieran. When it’s just the three of us, they get ridiculously competitive and whenever one of them loses—gods, it’s a nightmare. So much pouting. One time Gareth almost flipped a table.”

I snorted. Now that, I had to see. We relaxed for a couple minutes.

I should’ve known Nimue was lulling me into a sense of false security.

Because once I got comfortable, she asked, “What’s bothering you?

Don’t lie to me. I’m not stupid. I know something's been bothering you.

Is it because Kieran's back to being an asshole? Do you want me to find a way to kick him in the balls?”

I fought a laugh and slumped against the pillows. “I hate his attitude, and I hate myself for being stupid enough to fall for his act. I thought we were past hating each other.” If only I didn’t go to the tower with him. Then I wouldn’t be feeling like this.

Liar, a voice whispered in the back of my mind.

Truth be told, Kieran consumed my thoughts far more than I liked to admit.

I sighed and sunk even deeper into the water.

I wasn’t the type of woman to chase after a man and beg for affection and it aggravated me to no end that that’s essentially what I was doing. No more.

A glint appeared in Nimue’s eyes. Like the coward I claimed Kieran to be, I looked away, so I didn’t have to face it.

“I don’t know what he’s going through, but obviously it’s something,” Nimue said.

“I don’t want to make excuses for him, because he is being an ass, but normally he has a reason when he acts like this. ”

I ran a hand through my hair and fought the urge to snap. It wasn’t her fault, and I wasn’t going to take it out on her. “Whatever his reasons are, he’s still being an ass and a coward.”