Page 19 of Bloodguard

“Andyou’rehorny,” I remind her.

She frowns. “I’m…thorny?”

I wave a hand. “Yeah, that too.”

The woman I now know is Jakeb’s daughter starts toward me but thinks better of it. “Justgetinthebath,” she says, then turns to work at the stone table, her back to me.

Testy little thing.

I remove my clothes and step into the tub, then pause when my foot reaches the base. The water is blissfully hot. Not enough to burn but enough to fully realize the extent of my injuries.

As my muscles relax, my tendons pull like delicate, easily torn webs. I didn’t notice how abused my feet were until now. As a gladiator, if you can run—blazes, if you canhobble—you’re well enough to fight.

I slide my other foot in, gripping the edge of the tub as my body trembles. My mind insists it’s better to ease in. Every throbbing inch of me begs otherwise.

After the initial bite, the hot water covering my thighs brings miraculous relief. And this basin is large enough for me to sink down to my neck and stretch out.

Grime and sweat from my legs drift off and pollute the water, but before it settles, the dirt is whisked away into nothingness. There must be a cleaning stone in here. A big one.

Cleaning stones can purify water for drinking in about an hour. I’ve never seen one work this fast before. It must have cost a small fortune.

I lower myself the rest of the way in and grimace, barely holding back my pained groans.

It’s torture. All of it.

Except then…then there’s peace.

I submerge completely, ignoring how the high temperature bombards my head injuries, but soon, serenity is all I know as the pain fades like dirt removed by the cleaning stone.

I ignore the growing burn of my oxygen-starved lungs and focus instead on the sweet silence, broken only by my pulse thumping in my ears.

When I break through the surface, I fling my hair away from my face, and the long ends smack against my shoulder blades. I take slow, deliberate breaths through the stomach, like I was taught, soothing my lungs.

Growing up, I learned from our elders how to survive in the caverns of Siertos during flood season, which plants I could safely eat and which would kill me. My mother taught me how to store water for the dry months and how to tend to the belladom, a cactus that only grows in Siertos and creates the most expensive and sought-after perfume in the world. It’s all Siertos is known for, and it’s how my family made what little money we had. Those who developed and marketed belladom were the only ones who became rich. We were just the poor farmhands who tended to the crops.

There’s a clink of bottles behind me, reminding me that I’m here for a purpose, not peace.

“So,” I say, and the woman turns to face me. “Ready to take me on, Princess?”

chapter 9

Leith

Jakeb’s daughter comes to stand at the side of the tub, wiping ash from her fingers along the apron she’s tied around her breeches. Ash? On a noble? She must have been doing something in the fireplace.

“All right, here I come,” she says.

I shrug. “Really? I haven’t even touched you.”

“Is this seriously how we’re starting?” she demands and just stands there.

I grumble. At her speed, foreplay is going to take all night.

She’s beautiful—stunning, even—but still a noble. Sleeping with her is simply another task I must perform to keep me fed and to care for my family. At least that’s what I tell myself.

She scatters dried mint and fruit peels along the surface of the water for several minutes, reaching back into her apron to grab another handful to sprinkle.

My eyelids grow heavy. Unsurprising, given how warm this water is.

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