Page 18 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“This way,” said Rhea, and I happily turned away to follow her down the hallway with doors on the right spaced far apart. “This is me,” Rhea said as she gestured to the third door we passed. “And this will be you.”

She paused before an open entrance, and I could hear a flutter of activity within before we even stepped inside. There were female griffins making the giant bed on the left and another stood over a steaming, free-standing tub of water in front of the floor-length window. Riordan had told me that his people had a very catlike aversion to water and cleansed themselves by shifting. So the tub was probably a very recent addition to the bedroom.

“You must not enter her private chamber!” Rhea said to Ares, but neither Ktínos heeded her as they both strode into the room to look around.

“She is under our protection,” Ares reminded Rhea, and I did not miss the way her nostrils flared as the two warriors began to search the room. They seemed to think there could be an assassin hiding behind the fluttering drapes at the balcony or behind the potted trees and ferns.

“You cannot invade her privacy—” Rhea attempted to continue her objection.

“It is alright,” I intervened, not because I did not agree with her, I did want some privacy, but because I was tired of the bickering. I was also confident that Ares was not going to stand over me while I was bathing.

Rhea was so shocked that she was unable to hide her horror and suspicion before composing her expression. Then she drew herself up as if she were preparing herself for something uncomfortable.

“As you wish,” she said tersely, before she jerked her head at one of the female griffins. The same one that we had encountered in the courtyard at the top of the stairs. TheImítheos servants all exited the room in an abrupt rush behind their princess, leaving me alone with the two Ktínos warriors. Helena merely rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind them.

“Pretty sure she now thinks I’m… being inappropriate or something,” I muttered in uncertainty.

“Do not worry about what the Imítheos think of you,” Ares reassured me as he moved quickly through my room. “Neither of us will ever secure their full acceptance.”

“You might be right,” I admitted as he continued to peel back curtains and peer under furniture and behind statues and pillars. “To be clear, I don’t actually want you in here while I am bathing.”

“Of course not,” Ares agreed, shifting his wing so he could quickly glance at me over his shoulder as if I had grown another head. “But I am going to secure your room and then stand guard outside it. Helena will remain inside at the window with her back turned to you,” he added, gesturing to the woman who had just finished searching the massive walk-in closet.

“Right,” I sighed, feeling some relief until he began snatching up vials left on the bed. My brows rose as he uncorked them one by one to take a cautious sniff before he inhaled a little more fully. Evidently satisfied that my soaps and oils had not been poisoned, he seized the towel, a robe, and a new dress to shake them roughly. All the pockets and seams were carefully investigated before he sniffed the cloth as well.

“Ktínos might not be able to use magic, but we can sense the remnants of it,” he explained when he saw me staring at him in confusion.

“Right,” I muttered again, my brows still arched high as he dumped the clothing, which had been previously so neatly folded, back onto the bed in a heap.

Once Ares was sure no one was waiting to ambush me, and my things were safe, he moved over to the full tub. And he began to push the stone basin around like it weighed nothing. All the way across the room, away from the window and up against the wall where there was no chance of someone sneaking up on me.

“You are taking this seriously,” I noted.

“As ordered,” he answered and flicked his hands hard after water sloshed out of the tub all over his forearms. “Riordan wards his chambers against unwanted entrance, so I am sure he will do the same here later. But until his authority is established, we will be taking no risks.”

“You make it sound like his authority could actuallybechallenged. I thought he was indisputably king.”

“Anything can be challenged. And the Imítheos will not approve of the changes the king will want to make. Nor the way he will surely make them. We will not take anything for granted, and we will not be lax with your security until he is confident,” Ares insisted.

“Got it,” I grunted and gave him a mock salute that made him cock his head in confusion. I realized that was probably not something they did here in the Vale.

“I will be right outside. I will be able to hear you,” Ares assured me and Helena before opening the door and stepping into the hallway.

I looked at Helena, brows still high with incredulity, but she had already moved to the balcony to stand there. As if someone might actually attempt to fly in or scale the sheer cliffs outside.

I tried not to let the hypervigilance make me nervous, but it was impossible not to feel anxious in response.

I gladly turned my attention to the bath water that was steaming so alluringly. I could not remember the last time that I’d had the chance to enjoy a hot bath, but it would have been before my mother was killed. Before I fled the city forthe tranquility and solitude of my mountain haven near Silver Springs.

“Well, it seems we’ll be spending a lot of time together from now on,” I pointed out to Helena as I walked over to the clothes and vials that had been laid out on the bed.

“I am Helena,thárrosi,” said the female griffin as she pivoted briefly to offer me a bow so deep that she almost folded right in half.

I was quite tall for a human woman, but Helena stood over six feet. Her bare arms were more slender than the men but still bulged with muscle when she crossed them and leaned against the pillar. Now that I was closer, I saw her dark hair had several french braids feeding back along the sides of her head into the larger one.

“You can call me Amira. But can you tell me what doesthere-oes-seemean?” I asked, doing my very best to pronounce the name Ares seemed to have given me.

“Certainly, it is a title of deepest esteem for females,” Helena answered.

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