Page 83 of Frost Bound

Lia spun around and sat on the burnished wooden truck from her country and stared out the windows. It was the most striking abode she’d ever had the pleasure of visiting. She should have been excited, but all she felt was dread and exhaustion.What would happen next? How long would it be until she saw Cosmos again?

“How about a bath, my lady?” Jaessa offered. “It must have been a long, cold ride for you today.”

Dahlia smiled gratefully at the housekeeper. “And use all that water for one person? I think not.”

Jaessa blinked at her. “It’s no problem.”

Lia waved a hand at the toilet room. “I will shower later.”

The housekeeper frowned. “Please allow me to get it ready for you.”

It seemed the giantess would not be happy unless she helped. Dahlia heaved herself from the trunk, trying to look as ladylike as possible, with Loshika silently following her. “I would be grateful if you showed me how it works.”

Jaessa nodded, and opened the door for Lia and Loshika.

The room was large, with a commode in a small separate room to the left. Raw aquamarine formed the long western wall. The floor dropped down two steps, forming a sunken rectangle. The wall to the north was covered in a crystal so flawless it could have been a mirror.

Dahlia blinked at her reflection, and then looked to the housekeeper as she pointed to two knobs on the right wall. “One controls hot water and one cold.” She adjusted them and Loshika gasped as water poured down from the ceiling like heavy rain collecting in the sunken rectangle and then flowing out the drain in the center.

A giggle slipped from Lia in delight. This would be her new home. She couldn’t wait to try it.

Jaessa grinned. “Everything to your liking,reilleve?”

“I more than like it. I love it. Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I’ll make sure linens are ready for your ladies in waiting.”

Lia cocked her head. “My ladies?”

“Yes, the king has provided four ladies-in-waiting for you as a marriage gift.”

It didn’t feel like a gift. It felt like another way for him to spy on her. But that wasn’t Jaessa’s fault. “No need to trouble them tonight.”

“I will help her,” Loshika said. “I will care for ourreilleve.”

“Then I will say goodnight,lae reilleve.” The housekeeper bowed before exiting the shower room.

The air grew warm and damp as the shower continued to rain down miraculously.

“Have you ever seen something like this, Loshika?”

“No, my lady.”

“Would you like a turn?”

Loshika frowned and waved a hand at the shower. “This is not for the likes of me.”

Nor for Dahlia.

Feeling a little desperate and a whole lot out of place, she grabbed the healer’s hand and tugged her toward the shower. “Well, you did say you would help me…” Lia darted into the spray, towing the giantess along. She laughed and held her hands up to the spray, Loshika squinting at her.

“We’re in our clothes,reilleve.”

Lia spun in a circle. “They needed a good wash, don’t you think?”

Loshikatsked, but the corner of her mouth turned up. “You are something else, my lady.”

“Thank you. Now let’s find some soap and get the stink of travel washed from our hair.”

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