Page 43 of Artemysia
“You’re hovering like a protective guard dog,” Ivy accused me early this morning. “You have the look of a river crocodile I saw once guarding a limb it’d bit off someone.”
When Delphine finally stirs in the afternoon, I explain how long she’s been out and that the rest of us decided she needed the sleep. “Ivy, Throg, and I used the day to train together. After that, the two of them patrolled the village while I stayedhere.”
“Hmmm,” Delphine murmurs, lying flat on her stomach. I’m not sure she heard anything I just said. Her cheeks are a feverish pink now, and her eyelids flutter. “Throg?”
I’d wrapped her in a quilt last night, but I wasn’t able to get a shirt on her before she passed out.
“Throg checked in on you, but he and Ivy made a stew, and we were waiting for you to wake up to eat an early dinner.” I shut my book and feel the urge touch her forehead to check for fever.
She smacks her lips and finally opens her eyes. “Stew? Throg makes the best stew… Why are you still here? You must hate babysitting me. Did I do anything embarrassing?”
She grins slightly but immediately grimaces as she hauls herself upright in bed, blanket wrapped around herself like a cocoon.
You drooled and said my name, making my cock twitch.
“I wasn’t paying attention at all. This book I found was engrossing, and I never have any damn time to read.”Lies.I watched over her like a hawk while she slept. Not in a stare-like-a-fucking-creep kind of way, but I listened for unusual breathing or signs of distress while I read beside her. Then I almost died when she murmured my name.
She looks at me, bleary-eyed. She’s about to fall asleep again.
For a brief, horrifying moment, I wonder if she’s forgotten that she asked me to stay, so I quickly add, “I’m here because Throg and Ivy are busy.”
“Busy? Cooking?” She rubs her face with a palm and peers out the door for them. The kitchen is empty.
I stay silent for a minute longer and let her figure it out. The noises coming from the other bedroom arenotthe sounds of two people cooking.
“Ah.” She purses her lips. “I’m not supposed to allow that. I should go yell at them.”
“You need rest. No yelling.”
She frowns, biting her small, rosy lips. “Hm. Maybe you’re right, dammit. I got stabbed, and I’m going to have to let it go for now. I want a bath,” she mumbles, still heavy-lidded.
The painkillers were apparently top-notch, potent and effective.
She stands and drags the quilt with her, shuffling stiffly across theroom.
I watch, both concerned and amused as she opens the door to a closet, shuts it, and moves onto the next door.
“Bathtub!” she exclaims. “The outposts have all been updated with hot water in the last decade. If I ever meet whoever invented indoor heated water…”
“A bath? Now? Food first, perhaps?” I ask tactfully.
Delphine glances over her shoulder at me like she doesn’t understand me.
Will she fall asleep in there? I can’t go in there with her. But I can’t stay out here and let her drown.
She turns back and stares absently into the mirror of the bathroom. Worried, I stand, my book still in my hand. I approach her from behind and spin her lightly by the hips, herding her back into the bedroom.
Luckily, right then the erotic noises next door peak and fade. There’s a brief silence before Ivy’s voice cuts through the walls.
“I’msohungry! Is the captain awake?” Ivy croaks, loud enough that it seems to snap Delphine out of the idea of a bath.
Good ol’ Ivy. Always hungry or horny.
To get Delphine moving, I indicate the foot of the bed. “I found some extra flannel shirts in the closet if you want a top.” A button-up should be manageable for her stitched back. “I’ll tell them you’re up.”
Her blanket drags behind her like a cape and picks up one shirt at a time, taking a long time to decide. Or maybe she fell asleep momentarily standing upright. Either way, after a few more minutes, she casts aside all of them, except for a cozy blue and gray one.
She fingers its worn softness, and for some reason, smells it absentmindedly, then stares at the wall for a bit before draping it across her shoulders.
