Page 99 of Wilds of Wonder
“Rules?” Driscoll echoed.
“No killing.” Aron ticked off his fingers. “No stealing. No lying. No conspiring. If any of those rules are broken, they face the red queen.”
Annalee gasped. “I’ve always wanted to meet the queen of hearts. I’ve heard so much about her.”
“You already met her,” Maverick said drily.
“El,” Annalee guessed. “That makes perfect sense.” She studied Aron. “Though I have a feeling you’re the one who keeps things running around here.”
Aron gave a sharp shake of his head. “I simply follow orders.”
Annalee made a face like she disagreed but didn’t say anything.
Driscoll was already striding toward a door, opening it, and slipping inside. “No offense,” he said, “but I’d rather take a bath than stand here talking with you all.” He paused. “Actually, I really don’t care if I offended you.” With that, his door slammed shut, and he was gone.
Annalee followed suit, picking the room next to Driscoll’s and almost disappearing inside before Maverick surged forward and grabbed her arm.
She gave him a look full of exasperation. “I’m just taking a bath, Mav. Promise I won’t go anywhere, okay? I just need a break from your hovering.”
“I’m not hovering,” he said calmly.
She raised a brow.
He rolled his eyes
Aron scratched his head. “I assume you two will take the final room left?” He nodded to the one across the hall. “All the others are in disrepair.”
Of course they were.
Maverick shifted from foot to foot, and I tried my best to look anywhere but at him.
“Emory can stay with me,” Annalee chirped.
Before I had a chance to respond, she reached for my arm and pulled me toward her door.
Maverick glared at her, and she just smiled wide, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “We’re just going to have some girl time.” She shooed him away. “Go take a bath and maybe a nap because you’ve been a little grumpy ever since you interrupted my tea party.”
Aron looked between all of us. “Does this mean you’ve chosen your rooms? I have other matters to attend to, but I will check on all of you in a little bit.”
“Yep,” Annalee said quickly, then yanked me inside the room and shut the door in Maverick’s face before he could say another word.
I turned and gave her my best smile. I could use some girl time. Relaxing, bathing, napping, but Annalee clearly had other ideas.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Chapter Forty-Seven
EMORY
“You can have the bath first.” Annalee gestured to the open bath chamber off to the side of the room. My gaze swept around the small room, a bed pushed against one wall that was big enough for two people. A wardrobe sat against the opposite wall, the wood knotted and twisted, woven with such craftsmanship it looked exactly like a few of the trees we’d encountered in the Wilds. The walls gleamed silver, the floor that pristine glassy material that gave the illusion of standing on a frozen lake. The ceiling, which had three big glass skylights that gave a view of the twilight sky.
“Thank you,” I said to Annalee, giving her an unsure smile. “I haven’t had a proper bath in days.”
I walked across the floor into the bath chamber and gasped. A tub sat, water already filling it, a stream of water pouring from a chute that jutted from the wall.
I approached the water, holding out my hand, feeling the warmth of it slide against my skin. I’d read about these famous baths in various texts and books. The chutes were made from a type of wood that was always warm, heating the water automatically and depositing it into thetub. The chute connected to a network of pipes that were inside the walls of the castle. Only the very rich in the star court could afford something like this.
A drain sat at the bottom of the tub. Water swirled into it, flowing through pipes and back out to the lake outside the castle. Bacteria-eating fish cleaned the water before it was filtered back to the chutes. It was a magnificent system, and I’d always wanted to see it in person.
