Page 83 of Heart of the Hunted
"A few times over the years, but mostly on horseback.,” he told her. "This time however, we'll be sitting on the cart as the horses pull us."
"That sounds fun,” she said excitedly.
"Well, when Dain is back, and as soon as you're ready, we can leave,” he told her.
Bouncing with excitement, Natalia jumped up,nearly losing her grip on the blanket in the process, and threw herself into Taredd arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him square on the lips before bounding over to the bathroom.
"I'll have a really quick bath,” she said, then stopped suddenly to turn and face him. "Is that okay? Is there enough time?"
Nodding with a smile on his face, Taredd said: "Yes, there's more than enough time. Take as long as you want."
"Thank you,” she said as she spun on her heels and all but ran into the bathroom.
Shutting the door behind her, she didn't waste any time in running the bath. As soon as it had a couple of inches of water in it, she jumped in. Unlike the night before, Natalia didn't sit around crying, she swiftly washed before climbing out again.
Just as she was drying herself, she heard a knock at the bedroom door. She listened as Taredd spoke with Dain about the travel arrangements. She heard him say that it could take them a good couple of days before they could find their friend Arun.
Just before the door closed, Taredd told Dain that she was having a quick bath and that they shouldn't be too long, so to wait for them downstairs. Natalia couldn't help thinking that this was probably going to be the last time they were going to be alone together for some time, so she wanted to make the most of the time they had left.
Taking a deep breath for courage, Natalia dropped the towel and opened the bathroom door before she could change her mind.
