Page 20 of The Demon’s Delight (The Demon Princes #3)

Chapter 19

Hailon

B reaking camp and moving north was a simple affair. We gathered our belongings after putting the fire out and walked along the bank of the little river in companionable silence.

The odd weather and lack of wildlife we’d experienced on the road because of the heavy magical wards was nowhere to be found down here. Birds sang, insects buzzed, and life thrived in every direction. The morning sun was warm, but the season had noticeably changed since we crossed into the bones of the old castle. Gone was the heat we’d experienced the first few days of our journey. I smiled. Autumn was my favorite.

Aunt Sal was a fan of spring, when everything started to sprout anew and the earth came to life again after months of snow and frost. I, however, craved the serene return to the earth that happened in the fall. I loved the way everything turned over, tucked itself in and prepared for a long nap.

Maybe I was just more tired than I wanted to admit.

Perhaps a quarter hour of walking later, the forest opened up into a broad glade. Coltor’s vague description hadn’t been adequate. This place was a glorious oasis, hidden from prying eyes by dense trees and rock formations. Wildflowers of all colors and types mixed in with the tall grasses, and someone long ago had taken the time to lay out a walkway of flat stones in patterns around a series of five springs of varying sizes and shapes. Three of the pools were steaming into the heavy morning air.

“Hot springs.” I sighed, every bit of dirt and grime suddenly much heavier on my skin as the prospect of a real bath dangled in front of me.

Seir made a whooping noise and bounded off, startling the birds into flight. He went from pool to pool, testing their temperatures.

“This one,” he said, pointing at the smallest but steamiest spring. “This is the one I’ll be using.” His grin was wide, his excitement infectious. “Come on!”

Setting our things down to the side of the path made of flat stones, Seir quickly gathered more rocks and started up a fresh fire.

“Are we staying that long?” I asked.

He blew gently into the sparks he’d created in the kindling, getting a strong flame to glow around a twig before responding. “I have no expectations or plans,” he admitted. “I know you want to get home as quickly as you can. A fire is always a good thing to have, in any case, and easily put out.” He started adding bigger and bigger pieces until the flames were well fed. “I wasn’t sure how recovered you truly were, to be honest. You didn’t sleep much compared to the effort you expended yesterday, and what little you got seemed less than restful.” Seir stood, dusting his hands off on his pants. “I thought about making it a requirement in my repayment terms that you allow me to carry you, but?—”

“I’m fine.” My knee-jerk response had him lifting an eyebrow. “Really. I could continue on right now if we needed to. On my own feet even; no carrying required.” That eyebrow arched even further, his head tilting forward in challenge. “I could , I said. Not that I wanted to. Or that it would be easy.” I frowned, realizing I really wasn’t in very good shape, and not resting now could result in me having to take twice as long to recover later. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind lingering in a hot bath for a bit before we do anything of the sort.”

“Was that so difficult?” he teased, fishing out the towels we’d inherited from Widow Callahan’s linens and a cake of soap. “Besides, I don’t have paper or ink so that, too, will have to wait until we return to civilization. I’ll have to humbly request that you take my suggestions for recuperation into consideration before rejecting them out of hand.”

I opened my mouth to protest but shut it as quickly. There was nothing unfair about his request, in fact it was designed to benefit me more than him. My reactionary nature was defensive, but I was trying to school it a little better around Seir. His intentions were never malicious. “I’ll do my best.”

He smiled wide. “Can’t ask for more, then, can I?”

As I gathered our mutual dirty laundry, he dashed around and gathered wood for the fire. I tested the temperatures of the pools, finding the one he’d chosen far too close to scalding for my liking. The one next to it, however, felt perfect.

“We’ll wash everything, yes? We can string it up to dry while we eat, after.” He looked around thoughtfully, hands on his hips as he evaluated the potential of the rocks as laundry racks.

“What will we wear?” I asked, blushing as I pictured the pair of us sitting around in just our skins.

“The towels, I suppose. Cloaks?” He squinted as he considered this option. “No, they’d be terrible against even damp skin.” His hands and tail stayed busy as he carted our laundry to the small walkway between the pools, plus the towels and the soap. When he stripped off his shirt without warning I turned around and started walking toward the trees.

“I’m going to see if there are any shampoo plants growing here. For our hair.”

“Don’t go too far.”

I was deep in the shade of the trees when I heard the telltale splash of water. Had he really been about to strip right there in front of me? My mind spun through several scenarios as I hunted among the low-growing foliage for the broad-leafed plant I’d come looking for. As far as I knew, that plant didn’t grow unless it was intentionally nurtured in a greenhouse with constant high heat and humidity, but perhaps I’d get lucky outside the cool climate of Ravenglen.

After several minutes of searching, I abandoned the search. However, I noted that there were brambles and berries growing all over the place, and we would do well to come back here to collect berries.

I paused, watching from the shadows of the trees. Seir’s back muscles knotted and rolled as he scrubbed the soap between his hands. He was indisputably beautiful. There was not a muscle underdeveloped on his lean body. Even from a distance, I could make out what seemed like infinite white scars standing out in relief on his bronzed skin. Freckles were also generously sprinkled along his shoulders like they were across his nose and cheeks. The two contrasting colors looked like a galaxy of dueling stars spread across his skin. I wondered how exactly a demon developed freckles in a place where there was no sunshine, my thoughts less and less linear the longer I stared. In that moment, Seir turned enough that I could have been spotted, had he looked closer. My heart pounded, but I still didn’t step out into the sunshine.

My eyes caught next on his mysterious tattoos. The odd greenish lettering ran across his back at the top of his shoulders and continued all along his front just under his collarbone and down his breastbone. I squinted as though that would help me see them better, startling when he glanced my direction again, a concerned look on his face.

I flushed with heat, heart thudding heavily in my chest. I turned to the side and blinked several times, realizing my hand had strayed to my breast. Guilt and shame pressed in. I was not a voyeur, but here I was, spying on him. After a moment, I turned back again, unable to stop myself.

A bird flapped right above me, making Seir spin to look a third time. I had enough presence of mind to step out of the trees, making it appear as though the bird had fled because of me.

Seir caught my eye and smiled broadly as I came ever closer to the pools. “Any luck?”

“No.” I shook my head hard and stepped near the pool, purposely avoiding looking into the water where he was standing. “Plenty of berries, though. For later.”

Boldly unashamed where I was self-conscious, Seir spread his arms out wide, leaning back slightly in the water. “That’s alright, the soap isn’t so bad. Isn’t this wonderful?”

Face hot, a faint pulse between my thighs, I forced my hands to start working on undoing the ties on my clothing. “I can’t wait to soak. Could you…”

He scanned me, then turned away. “Oh. Of course.”

I quickly shucked my clothing and stepped down into the spring. My assessment had been right; this one was perfect for me. At the edge where I entered, I was covered up to my ribs. If I moved to the side a bit, there was a seat or shelf of some kind in the stone, low enough that if I sat, I was submerged all the way to my chin. If I ventured further in, I could stand and be covered to my shoulders. I walked around until I found the deepest part, going all the way under for a moment so my hair would get wet.

Seir pulled the pile of laundry close, dipping them in the hot water, then scrubbing in the same soap we were using on ourselves.

“I can do mine,” I protested as he pulled mine over too.

“Nonsense. I’m already working on it. Just relax.” He cracked the little cake of soap into two pieces. He kept the small one for himself and gently tossed the other part to me. His eyes never left the garments, his movements methodical and well-practiced.

“Do you enjoy doing laundry, then?” I asked, standing deep enough my chest was covered, working some of the lather over my arms.

His smile appeared, but still, he didn’t look up. “Not particularly, but I’m very good at it. It was my assigned duty for nearly a hundred years in my old unit.”

I froze. “A hundred years?”

His eyes lifted. “Yes. The alternative was latrines. I’ll take dirty clothes over toilets any day.” He finally focused on me, and his expression changed. The gold in his eyes seemed to glow, and his gaze dipped before darting back to my face. “I’ll…” He gestured vaguely, then moved the sopping clothing from the rock path between our pools to the one on the opposite side, so he was no longer facing me.

I turned, too, for whatever good that would do. I moved to a shallower part of the pool and scrubbed myself from the top down, motivated to get the layer of dirt and grime that had accumulated the last several days off my skin. Things only got truly revealing when I raised my legs out one at a time to wash them down. Glancing over my shoulder, I could see his back tensing and relaxing as he worked.

I washed and rinsed my hair three separate times. The uneven length left from the number of clumps removed for samples bothered me. Once, it had been a source of pride. Long, soft. Well kept. Now it was an ugly distraction.

Lost in thought as I combed through the knots with my fingers, I stared off at the trees, trying to picture myself the way I’d been before I was taken. I was most certainly smaller now, thanks to the lack of care and feeding Ignus and his lot had provided. My hair was dry and uneven, the same with my skin. My hands traveled from one end of my body to the other, assessing, measuring. I was whole, but I was changed.

“I’m getting out,” Seir’s quiet voice warned, breaking me out of my reverie. I sank into the water up to my throat.

His bare feet tapped across the stones as he carried the clothing past me to the colder pools. Towel knotted around his lean waist, he squatted down and proceeded to rinse, scrub and smack the garments until their cleanliness met his satisfaction. Again, I watched him, fascinated by how his tail accompanied his hands in the labor with no visible effort or thought… and also how it no longer seemed strange to me.

Peaceful was the word that came to mind as he crossed back in front of me with the wet clothes, then laid them all out on some of the larger stone formations.

There was no resting for him, it seemed. Once that was done, he stoked the fire and started some tea in the big pot. Then he wandered off toward the trees, still barefoot in just a towel.

“Won’t your feet get dirty? Or cut up? What will we do then? I’m not sure I can carry you!” I teased.

I was rewarded with a rich laugh. “Don’t underestimate yourself, Hailon! You’re dangerous, remember? That includes strong.”

He vanished into the trees, and I finished up, getting out and into my own towel as quickly as I could, all too aware that he would be within his rights to look his fill at me as I had of him.

As I turned around, my eyes met Seir’s, the pile of berries he’d collected in the end of his towel spilling to the ground at his feet.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up,” he rushed to say, one hand out defensively. His eyes darted up and down my form, then over to the trees, a fierce blush lighting up his cheeks. But everything stopped when he dropped his gaze toward the ground again. “Hailon, what’s happened to your leg?”