Page 21 of A Rose Among Snakes (Gardens of Ruin and Revival)
Chapter Twenty
T he water was the perfect temperature; hot, but not scalding. The aches from travel washed away, and in the silence, my mind wandered back to the day before. Looking at my naked body, I examined the bruises from my attacker. Matching marks stretched across my thighs, another spreading across my ribs on my left side presumably from hitting the ground. I prodded at them, pain seeping through me. I had never been so scared in my life, and I didn’t want to ever be in that position again. If Velian hadn’t saved me when he did…
I didn’t want to think about the what-ifs.
Instead, I scrutinized the handprint from Regalla, the fortune teller, on my upper left arm. It was turning an ugly shade of yellow at the edges and I glared at it. There was no way to conceal it in my new dress.
I sucked in a deep breath and submerged my head beneath the water. I thought I heard a noise, but it was distorted. Water still clogged my ears when I resurfaced, but I was positive I heard something then. Shaking the water out, I deciphered loud knocking and Velian saying,
“I’m coming in! ”
The door handle jiggled and then footsteps padded across the carpet. The door to the bathing room was cracked, and thankfully, not wide open.
“Kezara! Mihrra!”
My jaw dropped, but I knew I had to answer him.
“I’m in the bath.” My voice was small and squeaky.
“Is Kezara with you?” His footsteps came closer to the door and my heartbeat quickened. He cannot be serious, I thought, hugging my knees to my chest as I sank down so my eyes barely peeked above the rim.
“No.”
He was standing right outside the door now. “Where is she?”
I huffed in exasperation. “She’s… out. She’s exploring the castle.”
“Understood.” His tone was clipped as if the full scope of his intrusion was dawning on him.
“Did you need something?” I asked, unable to keep the irritation out of my voice.
“No, nothing in particular.” He paused. “I only wanted to make sure neither of you needed anything before I turned in for the night.”
“We’re fine, thank you.”
“Very well. Goodnight then.” He didn’t move. “Ummm… do you want this door closed?”
I cringed. “No, you can leave it. Goodnight.”
His footsteps retreated, and the bedroom door clicked shut.
I sighed loudly and sank back into the tub .
I slowly bathed myself, luxuriating in my free time before drying off and getting dressed. I set my hair up in pin curls; my stick-straight, honey strands needing more assistance than Kezara’s natural curls. I wrapped myself in a silk dressing robe and sat by the fire waiting for Kezara to return. I found a book and began reading it, but within minutes my eyes grew heavy. Laying my head on a pillow, I curled up and let myself drift to sleep.
Soon after, the bedroom door slammed shut as Kezara marched in. It was difficult prying my eyes open, but by the way she was stomping around, I knew she was not happy. I sat up and found her pacing back and forth.
My voice rough with sleep, I asked, “How did it go?”
Kezara wheeled around to me. “The gall of that man. He does not have any solutions. None.”
“What happened?” I scooted over, patting the cushion next to me on the sofa. Kezara dropped onto the sofa, crossing her arms and glaring at the fire in front of us.
“His solution is to continue sneaking around as we are,” Kezara seethed. “Even after he is married.”
“What, as in a kept woman?”
“YES!” She shouted as she jumped back to her feet, resuming her pacing. Knowing this conversation was going to take a while, I decided to use our time wisely. I stood up and steered Kezara by her shoulders toward the vanity in the bathing room. The sun had set, so I worked by candlelight to tame her hair.
“So, you don’t want to be a kept woman,” I prompted as she took a seat in front of me. I had to admit I was quite relieved to hear her objection to the idea.
“No! I want to be a princess.”
Trying not to laugh, I bobbed my head, encouraging her to continue.
“He said he tried talking to his father and telling him he loves me, not whatever-her-name-is from Etheniar, but the king wouldn’t hear of it. Apparently, he said, ‘Royalty does not marry for love, they marry for political gain.’ Can you believe that?” Her shoulders were heaving with her rapid breathing.
“What did you say to Leoran?” I asked as I worked on coiling her perfect curls and pinning them to her head.
“I told him I would not be a kept woman, and he needed to figure out a different plan, or that’s it.” Her jaw was set, but in the mirror, her lip trembled. I paused what I was doing and looked at the eighteen year old woman in front of me. Though she was six years younger than me, she bore a grief that sometimes made her seem older, like there was no gap in our ages. This sad, vulnerable side was not one she let show often, and it broke my heart. A single tear fell from her eye and she swiped it away as I placed my hands on both her shoulders and squeezed, leaning down to rest my cheek atop her head. Kezara responded by patting my hand and taking a deep breath.
“It will be fine. No matter what, I will be fine. ” She sounded as if she didn’t quite believe it yet. “Distract me. Tell me what you did while I was gone.”
I straightened and got back to work on her hair. “Well, I took a bath, and your brother interrupted-”
“ What? ”
“Yes, I know. Thankfully, the bathing room door was mostly shut, but he did come into the bedroom because I didn’t answer the door when he knocked.”
“Why? What did he want?” Kezara’s lip was curled with disgust.
“He was checking on us before he turned in for the night.”
“Where did you tell him I was?”
“I said you were out exploring the castle. I think he was too uncomfortable to ask further questions.”
“Heavens, I’m sorry, Mihrra.”
“It’s alright,” I said, chuckling. I finished up her hair and helped her out of her gown. Kezara crawled into bed, and I made my way back to the sofa.
“Are you really going to sleep there?” Kezara asked.
“Yes, it’s quite comfortable, honestly.”
“If you insist.”
I blew out the candles and the fire remained as the only source of light as I wrapped up in a blanket and settled onto the sofa.
“Remember the look on Fingley’s face when I told him you would be sleeping in here with me?” Kezara snorted with laughter, “I’m sure he’d never heard of that before.”
“No, I’m sure he hadn’t,” I agreed.
“He’s probably never known any employers to be friends with their staff. ”
I snickered. “I don’t think your brother is paying me to be your friend.”
“True, it’s just a little bonus for you.” Kezara paused before muttering, “I don’t think he planned on paying someone only to fall in love with her either.”
I froze. “What did you say?”
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed all the stolen glances between you two.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “He looks at you differently.”
My whole body was heating up with embarrassment. “I have no idea what you mean,” I said, grateful it was dark and she couldn’t see me blushing.
“You can pretend you’re immune, but I see it all, Mihrra.” Kezara yawned and rustled under her covers.
“You’re tired, you’re speaking nonsense.”
Kezara chuckled and repeated, “I see it all.” She went silent as she gave in to sleep, but I was wide awake then.
Kezara had to be wrong. He was only being polite to me like he was to everyone else—and yet, he was uncharacteristically cold toward me sometimes. I lost track of how many times I’d found myself wracking my brain to think of how I might have offended him.
I closed my eyes, but I only saw his face; a crooked smirk melting into a dazzling smile, rich brown hair normally swept back but falling forward into his green eyes. I remembered the feel of his arms as he held me close and let me cry; how strong yet gentle his embrace was, and how safe I felt near him. I could brush off the charged emotion in that embrace due to the life-threatening circumstances, but then I recalled the way he looked at my lips after I said I owed him. I couldn’t deny there was a spark.
At some point, my arguing with myself dissipated enough for me to sleep fitfully until our breakfast arrived the following morning.