Page 20 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“I was there,” Helena confirmed, tilting her head back against the pillar behind her. “Witnessing that was unlike any wielding I had ever seen performed. It was almost like watching a god weaving with the very fabric of the world as he moved our kingdom into another realm.”

And yet, Adonis had been killed by a blood witch…

I shivered, glad that we were beyond Jade’s reach now, and decided to focus on lathering my hair and skin.

Helena was completely quiet, giving me an illusion of privacy as I bathed and then slipped into the robe that had been left for me before I considered the dress. It was thin, softer than anything I had ever touched, and definitely meant for sleeping and not for wandering about in public. Unless griffins had a habit of wandering around in clothes that were slightly transparent. I also suspected the dress was meant to accommodate wings which I clearly lacked because there were so many extra loops and strings.

“Uh, Helena?” I called, glancing back at the griffin as she turned her head in my direction. Her brows rose when I presented the gown to her like an offering in my palms.

“I have never worn a dress in my life,” she snorted.

“Great,” I muttered and sighed.

“I expect Ares would have some ideas. Although I do suspect his expertise may be limited to the removal rather than the donning of dresses,” admitted Helena.

“Oh!” I gasped, my cheeks flushing at her insinuation.

“Shall I retrieve him—”

“You know, I might just do my best,” I interrupted.

“You will be uncomfortable tonight if the knots are tied incorrectly,” Helena warned me.

I ignored her very valid point while I tried to work out the best way to put the damned thing on. After some thought, I decided to slip into the skirt and start working out the rest after that. There were a few straightforward strings to tighten on my thighs, lacing provocatively all the way up my hip. But the rest of it was a mess of loose strips that I had no idea how to tie.

Helena gave a resigned sigh, like this was beneath her, and I supposed it was for someone who usually trained griffinwarriors. She should not be babysitting a fire witch who couldn’t even dress herself.

Helena approached my back to try and sort through the multiple loops and straps. She held them up to me, and I tried to help her while clenching the top of my robe around my breasts with my free hand.

“What a useless, impractical costume. I sleep naked,” Helena declared after a few moments.

“Trust me, if I were not in a strange place, I would probably do that too!”

“Keep your robe closed. I suspect Ares will sort this out right away,” Helena advised me as she headed toward the door, and I blew out a reluctant sigh. I turned away from them while they had a brief discussion in the hall, and then I heard the door close. I could hear two pairs of wings rustling and two pairs of boots thudding against the floor as they moved back toward me.

“Thárrosi,” Ares spoke quietly, as if to warn me of his approach, and I smiled briefly over my shoulder without meeting his eyes.

“Sorry.”

“Do not apologize. I am sorry to say that Imítheos dresses are hardly the same as Ktínos. But I shall look.”

I didn’t object, but I could feel them both examine me, and it made my skin itch with self-consciousness.

“Alright, I think perhaps these two loops come over the shoulders from the front. Can you shimmy it around?” Ares asked me.

“Ah, it is backward!” Helena exclaimed as I tried to turn my skirt around with one hand. I was sure to pass the open laces to the front so I didn’t flash them my bare ass. Once I had adjusted myself, Ares stepped closer.

“I am going to touch you,” he warned, and I nodded, feeling appreciative of his sensitivity.

The griffin reached around me and slipped his fingers into two of the loops to pull the dress up my chest and over my robe.

“That is for her neck,” Helena observed, and Ares gave a grunt of agreement with her before shifting a couple straps across my shoulders. I shook my head in disbelief at the ridiculousness of the situation. Trying to dress with wings evidently complicated clothes terribly.

“Hair,” said Ares, and I felt one of them sweep their hand across the back of my neck and under my wet locks in order to pull it out of the way. Someone’s fingers made quick work of a couple ties, and the dress began to take some coherent form aside from the robe that was still bunched up underneath it.

“That looks right,” said Helena, although she did not sound very certain. “Can you remove the robe?”

What the hell. We have come this far.

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