Page 74 of Desire

“Thank you.”

I hadn’t considered that the cold water would drive Darian from his bath and entered the cottage unprepared for a full view of his unclothed person. A small ‘eep’ escaped me, and I quickly whirled around to escape, only to crash into Garron.

He caught me in his arms and held me tight. “Have enough decency to cover yourself, Darian.”

“I would, but I can’t feel anything below my waist to safely move.”

“Good,” Edmund said. “Serves you right.”

“You would have tried coaxing her into a bath, too,” Darian said. “You’re just bitter that she found her release with me first.”

I covered my ears and buried my face in Garron’s chest. When he started scolding, I hummed so I wouldn’t hear any of it. I’d reached my limit for what I cared to deal with in a single day.

Garron lifted me and walked farther into the cottage. I waited until he released me to uncover my ears but didn’t open my eyes until he told me it was safe. Like a well-mannered man, he retrieved my spare shift and a towel for me then held up a blanket so I could change.

“Do you think you can heat the water again?” he asked. “The rest of us wouldn’t mind a bath.”

Tugging my wet dress free, I focused on the water’s energy and warmed it with ease.

“You’ve given me a reason to be thankful for being an invalid,” Edmund said. “I hate sharing bathwater. It was never clean by the time it was my turn.”

I empathized with Edmund. Eloise and I had often shared bathwater, but never after she’d fallen to her usual misfortunes. The muddied water she left behind would have seen me dirtier than when I started.

After considering the problem, I wondered if there was a way to clean the water without changing it. If I could use my energy to move a book and find a small seed in a garden filled with seeds, could I not locate and remove impurities from the water?

Idly drying myself, I focused on the water’s energy, searching for what wasn’t the same. Smaller than seeds and almost invisible, the impurities took more concentration to find. But I found them and separated them from the water.

“Um…what are you doing, Princess?” Darian asked from the other side of the blanket.

“Refreshing the bath? Is something wrong?” I quickly put on my shift and peeked around the blanket. A cloud of glowing dust hovered above the water.

Garron looked from the dust to me as I nudged the impurities with my energy and sent them out the door.

“It should be clean now,” I said.

Darian leaned over the water and stuck his finger in it. “Warm too.” He started tugging at his pants.

Garron threw the blanket over his head. “You had your chance.”

Darian tugged the blanket away and scowled at Garron.

“Hold the blanket so Kellen doesn’t need to go outside dressed like that,” Garron said.

Darian served as a modesty barrier while Garron got into the tub. However, Darian quit his duty the moment his brother sat. The tub, while spacious for me, didn’t accommodate Garron’s size well. His knees were almost to his chest, leaving only a little hollow of space—which explained why I hadn’t sunk any further when Darian pulled me in. Darian's request to help wash his hair made more sense. They couldn’t move with much ease.

“Here,” I said, taking the bucket. “Lean forward.”

I wet Garron’s hair and lathered it with soap. He kept his hands over his lap as I scrubbed and rinsed.

When I finished, I sat by Liam and Edmund with my back to the tub. I thought Edmund was sleeping until I touched his hair and he opened his eyes. He caught my hand and brought it to his lips. Without a word, he closed his eyes again and simply held my hand to his chest.

“I’m done,” Garron said.

“My turn next,” Daemon said, walking in.

“Wait a moment.” I repeated the process of removing the soap and other impurities. This time, when the cloud rose in the air, I focused on absorbing the energy. All of it. I watched it wink out of existence. I used the energy I’d absorbed to heat the water.

“It’s ready,” I said.

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