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Ty gestured at her with this last word, and while she should’ve been mad that he was calling her out on her disheveled appearance, she was so happy to be getting a clean dress that she had to stop herself from verbally thanking him.

She hadn’t mentioned anything to him about her slow, building hatred for this dress, but clearly, her appearance was so rough that he’d figured it out on his own.

“Yes, yes, that should be able to be arranged. Let’s see what you’ve got.” The man gestured to Ty’s pack.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you go settle in at a table while I negotiate with this good man here.” Ty looked at her expectantly, clearly wanting her to play along.

She gave him a quick death glare, before smiling sweetly and wandering off to an empty table.

She watched from afar as Ty took out the few remaining weapons and metal goods he’d brought and haggled with the recordkeeper. After several minutes, they seemed to reach an agreement as the man recorded their transaction in his book and Ty came over to sit with her.

“They said someone will be out soon with some food and ale for us. They’ll bring a dress your size to our room, and I had to trade one of my good daggers, but I was able to secure us one of their best horses.”

“Well done, sweetheart.” Ena smiled with faux sweetness at him, and he chuckled lightly in return.

“I knew you’d hate that,” he said, smiling widely. “But it just makes sense for our cover, you know, so be a good girl and play along.”

Ena narrowed her eyes at that, but something about the way he said it made her stomach flutter.

He was right, though. She didn’t want to be found out any more than he did at this point, not this close to the Occidens Coven. She’d pretend to be his wife, she’d pretend to be a trader from the other side of the Chasm Mountains, as long as it kept her identity as an Auster witch hidden.

“Yes, Master,” she replied.

Ty whipped his head to her, his eyes flaring with desire. So she hadn’t been mistaken the last time she’d called him that—Ty did clearly like it. How interesting… The corner of her mouth tipped up mischievously at him just as a woman in her mid-forties approached their table.

The woman, possibly the wife of the recordkeeper, brought them two large mugs of ale, some cheese, beef stew, and freshly baked bread.

Ena was so overwhelmed by the prospect of eating food other than jerky and bittercress that she almost teared up.

But, deciding there wasn’t time for all that, she simply dug in without another word.

Ena and Ty ate companionably in silence, clearly both exclusively focused on the delicious food they’d been given.

When she’d finished everything and was wiping her bowl clean with a piece of bread, she felt like she finally was able to think rationally again.

The first thing she realized was that, ostensibly, their daemonic companions should be joining them soon, but she hadn’t seen any sign of them.

“Where are Turner and Steig?” she asked, looking around the room as if they might pop out from behind one of the tables.

“I inquired about them with the recordkeeper. They’ve been staying here on and off, posing as bards, but they’re out right now. They should be back soon.”

Ena almost spat her ale out. “ Bards ?!” she asked, as she wiped some of the beer from her chin.

Ty laughed at her reaction, wiping some ale she’d sprayed at him off his sleeve. “Yes, bards,” he said. “Steig has quite a good singing voice, actually.”

Ena was still trying to wrap her mind around that when the woman returned and offered to show them to their room.

Suddenly aching for an actual bed, Ena eagerly followed her as she led the way up a wide, angular staircase to the second floor.

The building was actually three floors; it looked like there was a third attic level without windows that contained rooms, as well, but their room was on the second.

She led them down a dark hallway into a nice-sized room tucked at the back of the house.

“If you’ll be needing a wash, there’s a communal bathhouse just downstairs past the kitchens. I can have one of the girls prepare it with hot water if you’d like,” she said, as she held the door open for them to enter.

“Yes,” Ty and Ena spoke simultaneously, their tones indicating their eagerness at the idea.

The woman smiled and nodded at them before leaving them to settle in.

Ena took in the room with awe. It was clean and simple, with a bed large enough for two and a small dining table complete with two cushioned chairs.

In the corner was a washstand with a pitcher of fresh water and a basin for washing.

The room was fairly dark, but there were several candles lit around the room, and a small window that faced the woods behind the guesthouse.

There was also a small fireplace stocked with cut wood and dry kindling.

All in all, it was nothing special, but after weeks of sleeping on the ground and foraging for her own firewood, it felt so wonderful to have all these amenities right at her fingertips. She almost started to tear up again.

Ty barely seemed to notice her overly intense reaction. He simply put his pack on the ground and got to work building a fire in the hearth.

Ena walked over to the bed to find that a clean dress and shift had been left for her.

The dress was long-sleeved and plain, made out of a simple handspun wool dyed the color of mud.

It had a built-in bodice that laced in the front with sturdy cotton laces—much more practical than the decorative ribbon on her current disaster of a dress.

And, Gaia be blessed, the neckline was significantly more modest. She was eternally grateful that her chest would be warmer and her breasts at significantly lower risk of spilling out going forward.

After starting the fire to warm the room, Ena and Ty walked back downstairs, through the dining room where they’d eaten, and past the kitchens to the small communal bathhouse that was adjacent to it.

It was a tiny room with a large copper bathtub that took up half the space, a stool, and a vanity with a mirror, basin, and pitcher.

Someone had kindly filled the bath with steaming hot water and set out a fresh bar of soap and two worn towels on the stool.

Ena stared at the bath like it was a vision of Gaia herself.

Assuming she’d take the first bath, which was only kind enough, considering she was here by force, she walked into the bathhouse elated, and so, so ready to get in the warm tub, but as she went to close the door behind her, Ty stopped it with his foot.

“Uh-uh, viper. I’m coming in too,” he said with a cocky grin on his face.

“Excuse me?” Ena hissed, trying to keep her voice quiet so as not to attract attention.

“There’s a window in here.” He gestured to the small, foggy-glass window behind her. “I’m not leaving you alone in here so you can run off again.”

Ena looked at the window, then she looked at Ty. There was no possible way she could even fit through that fucking window and he knew it.

“Ty,” she said, mustering all her patience. “I just want a bath. Desperately. I’m not going to run anywhere. Besides, that window is tiny. I don’t even know if I’d fit, and I know you’ll just come chasing after me anyway.”

Ty made a show of considering this for a second, then said, “Nope, sorry, I can’t take that chance.”

Ena glared at him. She knew what he was playing at.

This wasn’t about stopping her from escaping.

He was toying with her. Pushing her buttons on purpose.

This was just another one of his challenges to see if she’d back down.

She knew if she fought him on it, he’d likely love that even more and still come in anyway.

She let out an extremely put-upon sigh, then asked, “Is this payback for me staring at you before we got in the stream?”

“Sure, let’s call it that,” he replied, grinning wolfishly.

She rolled her eyes and opened the door wider so he could follow her in.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you go first,” he said, gesturing to the fresh water.

She eyed him before turning around to start unlacing her dress.

She heard him settle on the stool behind her, and looked over her shoulder to see that he had his back to her and was facing the door.

His attempt at protecting her modesty was laughable considering she knew expressly why he’d insisted on coming in with her. The dirty pervert.

She turned back and shrugged quickly out of her dress. She wondered absently if they’d be able to launder it for her so she could keep it with her as a spare, then she stepped delicately into the bath.

The water was so hot it hurt a little bit at first, but Gaia, it felt amazing.

She let out an indecent moan as she lowered herself into the water and tilted her head back to dip her hair in too.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ty inconspicuously adjust himself under his pants while he stared studiously at the wall.

Ena smiled privately to herself, pleased that she was at least inflicting some revenge on him.

That’s what he got for insisting on coming in.

If he thought to get a rise out of her and throw her off, well, she would not make it easy on him.

Ena took her time scrubbing herself down with the lavender-scented soap.

The almost two weeks’ worth of dirt and grime took a long time to come off.

Then she took her time washing her hair—twice—and finally, after all that was done, she sat low in the tub, soaking her bones and absently picking out the dirt from under her fingernails.

“Are you done yet?” Ty groaned. “Iblis, you’re taking fucking forever. You’ve gotta be a prune by now.”

Ena rolled her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her. “Fine,” she sighed loudly. “Hand me that towel then.”

Ty went to grab the towel from where he’d placed it on the vanity, and, as he turned to hand it to her, she stood up in the bath.

The water dripped down her body, sliding over her chest, her stomach, her hips and thighs. Her long, wet hair just barely covered her breasts, and she knew exactly what she was doing.

She innocently reached out to take the towel, as if it was no big deal, but Ty’s eyes were frozen on her chest. Then they went lower.

She saw his throat bob as he swallowed, then he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

His gaze was predatory, as if he was watching her every movement, taking in every facial expression.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, viper,” he said, his voice deep and rough with desire.

“Game? Who’s playing a game?” Ena asked innocently, raising an eyebrow. “I’m just all wet and cold,” she said, crossing her arms over her breasts as if to warm them and giving them a gentle squeeze that served no purpose but to squish them together. “Please can I have that towel…Master?”

The word “Master” seemed to break him, and he growled. He threw the towel at her and turned quickly around.

She let out a sultry laugh as she wrapped herself with it, thoroughly pleased with herself at having ruined his power move.

She stepped out of the bath, lamenting her exit, and turned her back as Ty removed his clothes and got into the significantly dirtier water.

She put on the new, clean shift that she’d brought with her, then she spent an absurdly long time combing her fingers through her hair, trying to get the tangles out before she re-braided it.

She heard Ty splashing around in the bath, presumably cleaning himself, but, feeling that she’d already had her revenge, she gave him his privacy.

By the time she was done with her hair, Ty had gotten out and dried off with his own towel. She kept her back turned while he got dressed, and then when he indicated he was ready, they walked back to their room.

The sun was setting now, and with her belly full for the first time in weeks, her body finally clean of all the dirt, grime, and persistent campfire smoke smell, she suddenly felt exhausted.

The room was warm now, the fire having warmed it thoroughly while they were gone, so Ena crawled into the bed without another word to Ty.

She knew they’d be sharing the bed—there was no question about that—but it didn’t concern her since they’d already been sleeping next to each other for the last week.

Ty didn’t follow her right away, though. He watched as she tucked herself in, then he took a seat at the table. She saw him take his whetstone out of his pack and slowly, methodically, begin to sharpen his knife.

Ena fell asleep in seconds to the soothing sounds of the whetstone dragging across his blade.