Page 77 of Artemysia
“Hot springs!” My surprise ricochets off the stalactites spiking the high ceiling.
“Careful, Elphie.” Riev’s firm grasp on my upper arm drags me back, but I wrestle away to check out another crater, larger and shallower based on the glowing algae.
The temperature is perfect bath water.
I’m already peeling off my boots, socks, and pants. Riev’s seen me naked, so I don’t care.
He cares, though, and stops me to make sure the bandages on my shoulder are secure before turning away. “Don’t get your stitches wet, Elphie.” His voice comes out strained.
Soon I’m in the rocky pool, which feels smoother on my feet than expected.
Riev strikes together two rocks forcefully, and the next thing I know, he’s started a blaze nearby for more light.
“How’d you start a fire so quickly?”
“I’m competent. I could ignite a fire in a hurricane,” he says smugly.
“What are you burning?” I ask. “There’s no wood here.”
“Certain rocks in this cave burn like coal. The ones with shiny silver bits.”
Strange. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. How did you figure that out?”
“Got angry once and threw a rock against the cave wall, and it sparked.”
“That doesn’t sound like you at all,” I snicker. “Does it burn for a long time?”
“Longer than wood. Burns cleaner, less smoke.”
“I’ll need to report this to South Kingdom. They’ll want to study it.” I accept that there are too many things I don’t know about in this world. There’s nothing I can do about that right now, so I focus on the luxurious hot water surrounding me.
I dunk my face in the pool, bending at the neck to keep my wound out of the water. When my eyes crack open with a squint, the glowing violet rocks glimmer and flash like starlight. Magical. Otherworldly.
A pair of bare feet dips into the pool.
I lift my head, blinking away water. “This one’s mine,” I tease. “There are twelve other pools you can claim.” The glowing waterilluminates my body and my breasts bob out of the water. Though he tries to look anywhere but directly at me, he must be unsuccessful, because the front of his pants begins to bulge.
He steps back out, frowning. “I don’t need to bathe,” he mutters.
“Oh, just get in. What are you—made of sugar?” I splash him playfully. I’m not going to overthink this. This. Whateverthisis, between us.
An undeniable, irrefutable attraction.
He doesn’t need a second invitation, and shucks off his shirt. Carved abdominals. Strong, broad chest. Long, lean lines. He’s still scowling, but I’m not sure what he has to be conflicted about right now.
When his pants are half-unbuckled, I look away before he steps out of them. It feels greedy to stare for this long. He takes his time folding his clothes into a small square pile on top of a flat rock.
“Ivy thinks you keep things neat because you were raised by an old cleaning woman—Marije, you said?” I ask, watching him iron out the crease of his pants with the heel of his palm before he’s finally satisfied with his stack.
“Marije, yes.” He slides in, water flowing over the luminous edges of the rocky crater of a pool.
“What do you remember of her?”
“She named me. Riev meansravenin the old language. My hair was black as night when I was a baby, though it’s more brown now. Ravens were her favorite birds, and she called me herlittle raven. I took her last name, Wolfgang.”
“Ah.” I remember King Galke using it. I listen intently without looking too thrilled, because he never volunteersanythingfrom his past. “Little raven. That’s cute.”
“No, it’s not cute. It’s manly.” He chuckles when I snort. “I don’t remember much else, except she was nice to me. She’d always say, ‘Your head is in the right place, if you have a tidy space.’” He picks at the silver-speckled rock embedded at the edge of the pool next to him. His expression is unreadable.
