Page 37 of Tarnished Crown

Fortunately, I was fast enough that the thick billowing cloud hadn’t dissipated around the men sitting further in on the benches.

Just around those of us standing close to the door.

Between the steam and the wan shafts of moonlight leaking in through the single miniscule window, it was too dark for me to really see much of anything. Hopefully, that was true for everyone.

I forced myself to believe that so I didn’t cringe and run to the nearest empty seat. Instead, I walked with false confidence, keeping a stately pace behind Riina as she led us to an space on one of the benches. Waves of intense heat threatened to bowl me over as we went.

A sharp intake of breath sounded over the low hum of conversation, and I froze. Of course, I realized the men were in here, in theory, but somehow, I hadn’t quite put together that Evander would be with them. He seemed to keep himself separate so often.

“Welcome, Princess.” The jovial voice sounded like Kirill. “Have an ale!” A shadowy outline thrust a wooden tankard a respectful distance away from me, and I greedily reached for the liquid courage.

“Thank you, Kirill,” I said, before chugging a rather long swig.

I reminded myself that it wasn’t strange that a naked man just handed me an ale in a room full of other naked people, myself included.

Mila said it was practical. We were all here to get clean. That was it. Even Riina, who I could already tell was far more reserved than Mila, seemed entirely unfazed by the situation. She happily drank her ale and conversed with the men around her, and Nico certainly didn’t appear to be bothered by her nudity around the soldiers.

I wondered how Theo would react to this situation. Of course, if he were here, I would actually die before getting in this sauna. Maybe the Socairans saw nudity as platonic, but I had a hard time applying that to the two of us.

“Doesn’t being in a sauna offend your Lochlannian scruples, Lemmikki?”

I flinched at the sound of Evander’s voice, closer than I was comfortable with him being to my naked self.

“Not as much as being kidnapped does,” I muttered.

A few smothered chuckles sounded around us, and I grinned victoriously into my ale, taking another drink as a reprieve from the oppressive heat. Beads of sweat poured down my skin in warm rivulets.

Evander sighed. “Indeed. I just know how delicate your sensibilities are.”

That got much louder snickers, probably because of the blatant lie. I got the sense he didn’t want me in the sauna, which, naturally, only made me determined to stay in longer.

Even if I did feel like I might pass out and die at any moment.

“I find your smug face far more offensive than a few pasty man-butts,” I said with false cheer. “But thank you for being so considerate of my needs.”

Even in the dark, I could practically make out the semi-amused expression he always got when he couldn’t ruffle me.

“If there’s a pasty butt in here, it doesn’t belong to a Socairan,” someone said after a moment--Dmitriy, possibly--and everyone, even Riina, howled with laughter. Even Evander’s dark, surprised chuckle joined in, and I couldn’t help but laugh along.

Even if it was an unwelcome confirmation that the men could see me and my translucent arse just fine in here.

CHAPTER28

We had either been in the sauna for minutes or several days. I couldn’t tell.

Sweat streamed down my neck and back, and I could feel my hair inflating by the second. If this was going to become a regular thing, I would need to start braiding the whole unruly mass back.

One of the many masochists in here threw another ladle-full of water onto the hot stones, and the new wave of heat hit my face, sending another bucketful of sweat dripping down my brow.

Only my pride kept me firmly planted in my seat.

This is it. This is how I go.

For all my taunting about Evander deserving a mediocre death, it will be me, prisoner and second-in-line to the throne of Lochlann who keels over from a building full of hot rocks.

“Come on, Princess. Let’s get you to the ice.” Kirill’s voice floated over from the direction of where Evander’s had been.

I wondered again about how much they could see in the dark room but decided it didn’t matter when I desperately needed a break. I gratefully followed him out of the sauna and into the snowy world outside, taking a deep breath of the crisp air.