Page 10 of Cold Hearted
I swallowed hard. I never trained for a sustained lie and cover story that would need to last several days.
“How does a Midlander lady dressed like a boy get that much coin anyway?” he added.
I scoffed. “Dressed like a boy!” If only he knew the amount of beautiful dresses I had in my wardrobe back home.
But I needed him to buy my story, so I just waved him off. “I’m a trader. I obtain rare things people need and then walk several villages over to sell them, taking a hefty cut for my efforts.”
His eyebrows shot up. “A lady trader. That is rare and explains the blade.”
Were women not traders in the Midlands? Things seemed to have gone backward from a hundred years ago.
“You can wait in your room. I’ll let you know when I desire to be locked up again,” I said.
He gave me a halfcocked grin and then patted the pocket he’d stored the key to taunt me. “Oh, I think I’m good to wait right here while they bring up the hot bathwater.”
Oh, that insufferable fae!
Chapter 4
Two houndsmen brought a tub up to Zander’s room and filled it with hot water.
“Not up to your standards?” Zander asked with a chuckle when he caught me eyeing it with a scrunched nose.
As a matter of fact, it wasn’t. The tub was too small to recline in, and the water would probably hardly cover my chest. I had a private bathing pool back in our palace, and I suddenly missed it fiercely. A wave of melancholy washed over me when I thought about my home and how I didn’t know when I’d see it next.
“It’s fine.” I crossed the room to go into my own and await the attendant to bring my tub.
“Where are you going, little bird?” Zander asked.
I stopped, glaring at him. “To have my bath.”
He grinned, and it felt like the heat of the sun had bloomed to life inside of me.
“This is your bath.Ourbath,” he said.
My eyes widened. “We’re sharing this bath?” I asked in horror.
“Ladies first, and don’t dally in the water or I’ll come over there and pull you out. I don’t want the water chilled for my turn.”
I scrunched my nose, thinking of how he’d have to bathe in my dirty water.Yuck. Did this land have no modern amenities? I should probably be more appreciative that he was letting me bathe first, but I wouldn’t allow myself to feel anything warm toward my captor. It was his fault, after all, that we were in this situation.
I turned from the tub to glare at him. “I’m waiting for you to leave,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
He crossed his arms, mirroring my posture. “You’re funny, little bird. I’ve made it very clear I’m not going anywhere.”
Little bird. What was with this nickname I’d somehow acquired?
“You can’t be serious. I can’t disrobe with you here!” My stomach hollowed out at just the thought. I was desperate to wash some of the crusted blood off my wrists, but I’d rather never bathe again than bathe in front of him. The small, private latrine room here only had enough room to relieve yourself, but the bathtub had to be brought up and placed in the back of the room to fit.
Zander heaved a sigh and lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “Out of all the maidens in Ethereum, I had to arrest the most modest one.”
“I didn’t ask to be arrested,” I snapped back at him. And if not wanting a strange man to see me naked was too modest, then I didn’t want to know what the other women he’d been around were like.
With a shake of his head, he stomped over to the wall next to me and grabbed a thin rope that was hanging there. Pulling it to the other side of the room, he attached it to a hook on the opposite wall. When he pulled the thin blanket off the bed and threw it over the rope, I realized it was clothesline used for drying. Once he was done arranging the blanket in front of the tub, he stepped back and asked, “Good enough?”
With the blanket suspended in front of the tub, the bathing area was now separated from the rest of the room. It wasn’t as good as a wall, but I supposed I could make do.
Giving the tiniest of nods, I tipped my chin high as I walked to the other side of the makeshift barrier and then started taking off my shoes and clothes.
