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‘If we don’t, we won’t get to go back to the Camp, Kallum. It doesn’t matter what she is. She’s not worth being locked out of our home forever.’
He doesn’t answer.
‘Let’s get out of here first, and then we can figure out the rest. We can talk. Dane and I will listen to what you have to say.’
He looks dubious. ‘I can tell you think you’re telling the truth, but we both know what Dane will say. He misses home more than either of us. He wants to go back to Fiana.’
I sigh. ‘Seven years is a long time to be without the one you love,’ I say. ‘We don’t truly understand how hard it’s been for him without her. Don’t judge him too harshly.’
Kal rolls his eyes and mutters something about her being a prize bitch that he wishes the Harbinger had killed when she left, but I ignore him and hope he doesn’t say as much in front of Dane, or he’ll probably get conjured into a snail and crushed underfoot.
We make our way back to the room with some bread and cheese and cooked ham.
She is on the bed where we left her. Dane is behind the screen.
Kallum goes to her immediately, and I watch as she threads her fingers through his. It doesn’t look like artifice to me. He speaks to her in a quiet voice, and she begins to shake her head, her eyes flying to mine, but he makes her listen, and, finally, she nods.
We eat without Dane as he seems content to soak in the bath for ages. When he’s finally finished and the water is gone, Kallum draws one just for her. He goes behind the screen, and he beckons me, telling me to stand by the edge and watch her. Her cheeks flame as he undresses her, batting her hands away when she tries to do anything herself. He makes sure I see her body and he makes sure that she sees that I see. He lets her sink into the water slowly, ensuring that I watch her every movement. It’s fucking torture. And then he takes the soap and begins to wash her, ignoring her wide-eyed protests.
‘You need to get used to me touching you as soon as possible,’ he says to her. ‘You need to be able to bend over the table and not care that we can see you, that strangers can see you. They’ll remark on your body, on your status as a slave. They may even ask you questions about what we’ve done with you, how we’ve disciplined you, how many times we’ve released you … if we’ve ever mounted you ourselves.’
I flinch at his words, only guessing at how much more she must hate them than I do, but he’s using the rhetoric that they will use, the ideas and laws that take her from a sentient being to an animal to be bred for their wealth and status.
I hate that, too, and I’m only just now beginning to realize how much. I force the beast down, adamant that I, too, will do what is needed to ensure we all leave tomorrow and that she won’t be stuck here. Because I already know she’ll take her own life rather than become like Gwennie.
My thoughts give me pause. Kallum said things were different for her at home than they were for us, and now I’m beginning to wonder how her experiences differed from ours. There were rumors, of course, that his men never let her out of their sights and that some of the elites were cruel to her, but when we did see her, there was never a hair out of place … and Fiana’s stories about her in the keep were very believable at the time.
Humans are deceptive. She could be lying to Kal. But, if she were, he’s adamant that he would know.
I watch Kallum bathe her, I watch as she succumbs and relaxes at his touch, and I decide that she will relax against me tonight as well. Better me than Dane. So long as I can keep the beast in check, it’ll be easier for me than for him. He’s still hinging all his hopes that we’ll arrive home and Fiana will be there, ready to pick up where they left off. Thoughts of her kept him sane in Alcana. I hope for his sake that she has waited for him.
Kal gets her out of the bath and wraps her in a bath sheet. I approach cautiously.
‘I want her to sit with me,’ I say to him. He purses his lips and stares at me.
‘Are you sure?’ he asks finally. ‘Are you …’
‘I’m fine, and I think this is necessary. As you say,’ I look at her. ‘You need to be comfortable with us touching you. What if they decide which of us will do it based on who you look most uncomfortable with?’
I can see that she hadn’t thought of that, but she nods a little. ‘It would make sense if they don’t want me leaving. They might try to make it as difficult as possible for me, so it looks like you’re not competent.’
I let out a breath, relieved that she understands as I take her hand and try to ignore the tension in her body.
I pull her gently into the other room and sit in a chair, moving it away from the table slightly.
‘Sit with me,’ I murmur.
She begins to lower herself to my knee, her body rigid and radiating disquiet.
‘Without the bath sheet.’
She glances at Kallum, who’s leaning against the wall in a picture of nonchalance that isn’t fooling anyone. He gives her a small smile of encouragement, and she heaves a breath. She doesn’t look at Dane at all, I note as she closes her eyes and drops the sheet to the floor in a sudden burst of boldness.
She immediately squeaks and tries to get it back to cover herself, but Dane whips it away.
I take her hand. ‘It’s all right,’ I murmur. ‘Come here.’
She comes to me, bumping my leg. I turn her, my huge hands around her waist, making her look dainty, pulling her carefully down to sit sideways on my lap. I put my arms around her, holding her firmly as her body remains rigid.
