Page 47 of The Oracle's Journey

Emma cleared her throat. “I have more insight on that particular story, and some other things. It would be best to wait for the rest of my entourage to join us. I have some apologies to make.”

CHAPTER 19

Ozanna

The hot spring in the bathhouse was amazing. The building itself was nothing special, just a huge shack with high, louvered windows to allow light and ventilation, but the hot water was nearly divine. It soothed my road weary muscles and aches, leaving me thoroughly relaxed. I nearly fell asleep, my head against the stone wall of the pool, within five minutes of submerging myself. My doze was interrupted when other women joined me. These members of the household staff kept their distance, but I could hear their whispers as if they were beside me.

“Look at all those scars and bruises,” one of them said. “She’s not a woman, you know. I heard she’s an elf.”

“How awful,” said another, “they chopped her ears up to hide it, no doubt.”

How strange to be considered other by my once fellow humans. Then again, I’d never thought of myself as an elf before, either. Not until Lhoris. I wondered if it was an inevitable mental shift once we became close. Had it changed me so much that people could see it? It was strange to think of him as mate now that we were in a human setting. I couldn’t decide what that would equate to in human culture. Concubine? The word didn’t sit well with me and left a sour expression on my face.

“Do you think the dark elves put those marks on her?” a woman asked.

“Who’s to say?” came a third voice. “I don’t know much about 'em, but those two … I honestly wouldn’t put it past ‘em.”

That left a cold pit in my belly. Lhoris and Lobikno had been greeted consistently with threatening looks and harsh words on our journey. The duke and his people hadn’t been hostile, but what if it was just slow in coming?

Lhoris was alone on the men’s side of the bath house. I found myself fearing he’d be mistreated by close minded strangers. Would the men consider him too much of a threat to tolerate? Would they hurt him?

I didn’t linger in the spring after that thought.

I dressed and left the bath house to find I’d finished before Lhoris. Unwilling to go into the men’s side without good reason, I looked for a place to wait. Clutching my bag of dirty clothes, I tried to look as though I was just enjoying the warm evening air from a nearby garden bench. Unfortunately, I was too frightened for Lhoris, and the passersby gave me strange looks when I greeted them with tight smiles and short words.

Thankfully, I didn’t hear anything to indicate that there was violence happening within the bath house. In fact, quite a bit of good-natured chatter came through the vents on the men’s side of the springs, Lhoris’ voice among them. My shoulders gradually relaxed, and I settled some, starting to wonder if it might just be the women who were uncomfortable with me. I sighed and adjusted the skirts of my borrowed dress. The matron, Agnes, had frowned when I asked for pants, but the dark reddish-brown color of the dress at least suited my complexion. I’d have to find a tailor to replace my pants and tunics.

Thankfully, my fears of Lhoris being shunned were misplaced. He’d met a few of the younger knights and the blacksmith while enjoying the hot spring, and they’d all emerged laughing like old friends. From the sounds of it, they were inviting him to attend their next training session.

“I’d be honored!” he replied. “Once our princess has situated herself and our schedule set, I’ll come knock you on your ass.”

They laughed. “You can try!” one said.

“Lhoris!” I called, waving from my seat. He’d already spotted me though. I’d seen the tension relax out of his shoulders the moment he had. “I was starting to wonder if you’d drowned.”

“Is that your wife, Lhoris?” another of them asked as the group approached.

I smoldered at Lhoris, knowing it could earn him more credit with his new friends.

“Yes,” he said, a broad, smug grin curling across his face, “she is.”

Though not technically true, it was close enough. We were bound together by a divine being, after all. It was better than concubine.

Naturally, that signaled what I thought to be a male bonding ritual, cajoling Lhoris with increasingly crass words to drive him to me. “She got a sister?” “My wife don’t look like that.” “Where’d you find her?” “Better get her to bed before one of us steals her away, friend!” were but a few examples.

Lhoris bade them goodnight and turned a predatory gaze in my direction, stalking towards me with a wolfish grin. I leapt to my feet and, with a wicked smile, pirouetted out of his grasp, causing his new friends to cheer and jeer as I played prey, scurrying behind the bench. We circled around it laughing like fools, enjoying the chance to simply play. I didn’t draw it out though. Lhoris vaulted over the bench and caught me by the hips. I squealed and almost fumbled the bag of clothes when he flung me over his shoulder. He turned to the men with a raised fist: victory! They laughed as he turned to carry me back to the guest apartments. I waved at them. One of them muttered “lucky bastard,” as they wandered away.

At least they didn’t care that I was an elf.

We returned to the room given to us only to find a note Lobikno left under the door, asking us to join him in Emma’s suite. We both stared longingly at the large bed, waiting for us undisturbed. We were ready for it after our flirtatious display in the gardens, but we turned dutifully away to find out what was going on.

One of de Rais’ guardsmen was standing outside Emma’s door, and we could hear the sounds of lively discussion within.

“You must be Guille Granet,” Lhoris said with a big grin as we approached the guard. He was a big fellow with short dark blonde hair, soft brown eyes, and soft, youthful features. “I just met some of your cohorts down at the springs. They had some of the most entertaining stories about you, sir! I am Lhoris Virra, and I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” Lhoris extended a hand to shake with the man.

I had never seen Lhoris so gregarious! Perhaps he really did find interacting with day dwelling people invigorating. Or maybe finally being somewhere “safe” had allowed him to relax. Either way, I gazed up at him like a lovestruck idiot, basking in his joy.

Guille appeared disconcerted by Lhoris’ friendly demeanor but eventually reached for his offered hand.

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