Page 32 of ColdIron
Before I left the interrogation room, Aelindor had taken off his long coat and handed it to me. The Fae prince was kind and considerate like that. I could see why everyone looked up to him. Drakken had shot him a strange look at the gesture, but Caspian and Nikolai appeared almost regretful, as if they wished they’d offered first.
The coat draped over my sorry rags had made me feel less exposed when Harrow paraded me across the courtyard.
I opened the trunk to see what they’d given me.
Everything Harrow said I’d get was there: three sets of uniform, two casual-wear sets, three pairs of men’s boxers, two pairs of boots, five pairs of socks. I stared at them. I’d never owned anything so luxurious. No minerowned socks or boots. Even if I’d stolen some from the guards, they wouldn’t have beaten me for it; they’d have beaten someone else instead. And no boots could ever fit my feet back then, anyway.
I picked up a pair of socks, held them to my nose, and inhaled.
The clean scent of cotton made me close my eyes. When I opened them, I found myself hugging a pair of boots to my chest. They were my size. Like a miracle.
Before I could savor it, the entrance door swung open and a group of cadets in gray and slate-blue fatigues poured in. Black boots that hadn’t earned any unit patches. These were academy trainees, not soldiers yet.
Shit. I’d planned to grab my toiletries, sneak off for a quick shower. Now the cadets were back from training.
I froze, still pressing the boots to my nose, as every gaze in the group locked onto me.
“Maker’s breath, it stinks in here!” one of them shouted across the room. “The new boy smells worse than a rotten egg!”
My face flamed, anger rising beneath the shame. They were training to be soldiers, and they complained about a smell? Some spoiled softies, wrinkling their noses at a miner who couldn’t afford a proper bath.
The demon chuckled.
“Go shower, boy!” The tallest of them stepped forward—still a few inches shorter than me. He had a heavy jaw, low brows, and wheat-colored hair. “Scrub yourself raw and burn that rag before coming back. You’ll not shame our rank.”
They didn’t call me cadet. I hadn’t earned it yet.
I grabbed a set of casual wear and my toiletries from the trunk, then scooped up Aelindor’s coat and stalked toward the door without a word. The other cadets covered their noses, parting to let me through before filing toward their own bunks with exaggerated disgust.
Harrow was in the corridor, filling out paperwork on a clipboard braced against his forearm. He glanced up as I approached.
I held out the coat. “Please return this to Prince Aelindor. And tell him I said thank you.”
Harrow looked at the coat, then at me. “Of course.”
The staff cadet took the coat with a careful grip, tucked the clipboard under his arm, and walked away.
I made my way toward the common showers.
The sound hit me before I reached the entrance—running water, chatter, rough laughter bouncing off tile and stone. I stepped through the doorway.
And froze.
It was all open.
No stalls. No curtains. No dividers. Just a long, rectangular room of gray tile with a row of showerheads bolted to one wall, and a drain channel cut into the sloped floor. Over two dozen men stood under the spray, naked and unconcerned—scrubbing soap through their hair, elbowing each other for better water pressure, shouting over the steam and hiss of the pipes. Some shared a single showerhead because there weren’t enough to go around.
As miners, even relatively clean water had been rationed down to the drop. We washed with rags dipped in collected rainwater, if we were lucky. Seeing this muchwater running freely, pouring down the drain, was a shock that bordered on offense.
Then my gaze dipped to their cocks, and I jerked it up and away so fast my neck cracked.
I hadn’t seen naked men before. Not like this. In the mines, we changed in the dark. Nobody had the energy to look at anyone else. But here, with two dozen of them swinging their dicks around without a care?
Shit. It was too much.
Just dicks,the demon chortled.And everyone has one. Except you.
No way could I shower here without being discovered. Being outed as a girl was unthinkable. I’d played the role of a boy ever since I could walk. I didn’t know why it had been so important to my parents to disguise me. Desta had stayed a girl and had no trouble for it. It couldn’t just be about my size, could it?
