Page 71 of Tarnished Crown

My next thought cut off abruptly as one of the doors to an adjoining room opened, and the man himself emerged. He was clean-shaven and wearing fresh clothes, his hair still damp from the bath he had clearly just taken.

I tried to hide my shaking hands, but his gaze took in everything, as usual.

“Shall I have Taisiya draw you a bath as well?” His tone was carefully neutral. “You can’t immerse yourself entirely, but I’m sure she could work something out.”

A flush crept into my cheeks. I was sure I was disgusting, coated in three days of fever sweat.

“That would probably be for the best,” I agreed.

He nodded, his features still grim, then went to murmur to someone in the hallway.

Soon, servants were marching in with steaming buckets of water. It was a wonder I slept through it the first time, but then, I had always been a hard sleeper.

Taisiya came in, sympathy peeking through her stoic exterior as she held an arm out to help me to my feet.

Evander was already seated at his desk, his quill scratching busily away, so at least he wasn’t witnessing my many valiant attempts at standing. I finally managed to get out of the cushy bed with only twice the amount of agony I had been in before, so I counted it a win.

Once we were in the lavatory, my eyes darted toward the outer door. Taisiya followed my gaze, and she helped me out of my clothes--or what I assumed was Evander’s shirt, rather--and into the copper tub, before going to lock the door.

I sat in only a few inches of water, but she gently helped to rinse me off with steaming water from the buckets she had nearby.

My fingers clawed at the edges of the tub when the first stream of hot water hit my wounds, and I sucked in a hiss of air through my teeth. Taisiya murmured something comforting, a phrase I had heard more in Lochlann than here. She must have spent time around Ava.

The thought made my breaths come more quickly.

“Nearly finished,” she murmured, attributing my anxiety to an uptick in pain.

I tried to reason with myself. It wasn’t like everyone who had been around Ava was a terrible person by association. Gradually, both my panic and the fresh wave of pain ebbed away until I found the water almost soothing.

After that, she helped me from the tub and positioned me in a low-backed chair near a wash basin before engaging in the exciting process of washing my several tons of hair, so I wouldn’t get soap in my wounds.

No part of the experience was remotely soothing, but I couldn’t deny how good it felt to have clean hair once again.

Of course, as soon as the thought crossed my mind, she rubbed a salve on my lacerations that made me wish I had learned more Socairan curse words. I was clutching the sides of the wooden chair in a death grip by the time she was finished securing a breathable linen cloth to my back.

Finally, she brought out one of my warm sets of nightclothes to wear. I eyed the fitted garments with apprehension before shaking my head.

“Another shirt, please.”

She pursed her lips, then seemed to think better of it when she caught sight of my bandage. Nodding, she slipped through the door and returned a moment later with another of Evander’s shirts, this one in black.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the loose fabric settled around me, rolling the sleeves up before we headed back to the main room.

Evander looked up when I entered, and his lips parted slightly before he closed them again. I didn’t have the energy to be embarrassed when he had seen so much more by now.

Besides, the black shirt was markedly more modest than any of Mila’s nightgowns. It hung past my knees and was opaque enough to hide what was underneath.

“I see you’ve helped yourself to my wardrobe,” he finally said.

“It seemed like the least you could do, even if you were magnanimous enough not totake everything from me.” I did my best impression of his serious voice, and a muscle ticked in his jaw, either because he was trying not to kill me or because he was trying not to laugh.

I decided to believe the latter.

“One of many things in my life I’ll come to regret, I’m sure,” he said sardonically, returning to his work.

Taisiya led me to a chair by the fire, then proceeded to alternate working a wide-tooth comb through my hair and using a towel to dry it. I wasn’t sad to see this lengthy process interrupted by the arrival of food, though I was sad that I only had broth while Evander had actual food.

As Taisiya was clearing our bowls away, something occurred to me.