Page 43 of Taloned Heart

“It is!” Mirin slapped his hands to his cheeks and groaned. “But if I bring in the Fallen Star looking like that, they’ll all question if you are who you say you are! You look terrible, miss. I don’t mean that as an insult, but you look like you’ve been rolling around with the pigs.”

The second part was definitely an insult. Crossing her arms, Lore glared down at him. “Then what do you propose, master dwarf?”

His eyes darted around them before he muttered, “Nothing to be done about it. I’ll just have to fight the others off. No one is presenting you to himself other than me, that’s for certain. Follow me, you three. We’ve got a bathing house to clear out.”

They abruptly changed directions, and Lore had to assume this was a good thing. She could use a good bath, so could her two companions, and... she just wanted to feel clean again. It had been a while, and the salt grit in her hair was still there from a week ago.

Abraxas placed his hand on the small of her back as steam filled the tunnel around them. “I think our guide has lost his head.”

“And just a few moments ago, he’d suggested we were the ones to have done so.”

“Should we point it out?”

Lore glanced at the young man, who had leaned into an adjoining tunnel and started shouting. “No. Let’s let him have his moment.”

Amused, she watched as three dwarves exited the tunnel he’d shouted into. A few of the dwarves had robes on, and one of them was wrapped in nothing but a towel. They all glared at Mirin, who seemed all too smug for having kicked them out. Until they turned around and saw her. Then their jaws hung open and their eyes widened in shock, as though they couldn’t believe who was right in front of them.

Lore gave them a little wave, after which all three of the young men turned bright red and skittered away. They ran like hounds nipped at their heels, and she could only assume that meant they were racing off to tell whoever they could that they had seen the Fallen Star.

What a name.

She much preferred the others, and that was saying something. Lore didn’t like any of the names she’d been given, other than her namesake from her mother. That was it. The more people who called her just Lore, the better.

Mirin bowed low, one arm held out to his side. “For you, Lady of Starlight. The baths are just around the corner. There are plenty of towels and soaps should you wish to use them. Of course, if it is not up to your standards, then please don’t hesitate to ask for something else. I can go fetch you whatever you need.”

Lore glanced down at her clothes before wryly grinning at him. “If I am to be clean, I’m afraid these will need to be washed as well.”

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. She wondered if that reaction was because he’d forgotten, or because he was imagining her without clothes on. She liked to think it was the latter, only because the young man really did seem rather innocent.

He cleared his throat and nodded. “Right. You all need clothes. I don’t think we have anything big enough for him. But you two, I can probably find something that’ll work.”

She felt Abraxas roll his eyes. Her dragon growled, “I will be fine in the clothes I arrived in.”

“Good.” Mirin took a step away from them and backed into Beauty. He whirled with an apology already blurting past his lips. “Sorry. Beauty. Right, you need to get clean as well. And then clothing. And I’ll try to find some soap that is satisfactory. Perhaps you would like food as well before meeting the king? Shall I—”

Beauty sighed and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “I’ll go with him. Just leave some water clean for me, will you?”

Lore had to bite her lip, so she didn’t burst out laughing yet again. She nodded gravely at Beauty. “I will trust my fashion to you, Beauty. Make sure I look good for meeting their king.”

If she said any more, she was afraid Mirin might faint. The dwarf hustled Beauty away with his hand on her lower back as he muttered about making haste, and if anyone tried to claim the Fallen Star while he was gone, he would have their beard.

Rolling her eyes, Lore turned back to the tunnel that would lead them to the baths and sighed. “Do you think it’s really a bath down there? Or are we about to be ambushed by dwarves who have been waiting to meet me for years?”

“Only one way to find out.” Abraxas held out his hand for her to take, and Lore didn’t hesitate. Anywhere he was, she would go as well.

Together they walked down the tunnel and turned the bend to find themselves surrounded by natural hot springs. There appeared to be four of them. Each one with steam coiling up from the water and filling the air with a wet humidity that made her shirt stick to her chest.

Little glass vials lined the edges of these baths, each one likely filled with some kind of liquid soap that would clean the hair or the body. She could only hope one of them didn’t make her want to sneeze. Towels were kept in a glass cabinet wall at the end of the cavern, neatly rolled and stacked in little pyramids.

This was... lovely. She was surprised to find so many creature comforts here. The dwarves really knew how to live.

“Come,” Abraxas said, his voice low and appreciative of what they’d been given. “Let’s distract ourselves for a few moments. Shall we?”

“We don’t know when another dwarf will walk into the room. Do we want to give them an eyeful?”

He arched a dark brow. “I’m sure they’d appreciate seeing everything they could of you, but seeing my bare ass would scar them for the rest of their lives.”

“Probably, but we’ll never know unless we try.” She smiled at him, although the expression felt a little fragile. “I know you aren’t suggesting we do anything untoward.”

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