Tallulah tipped her head back again, her long dark hair dancing down her shoulders and over her arms and laughed. She’d never thought about that.
“Fair point.” She shot Evren a smile. Her stomach flipped as he returned her smile with one of his own. A rarity. An achievement.
“I’m going to wash up, then I’ll see what I can find for dinner.”
He stood from the sofa and made his way to the door that led to the small room that housed her water barrels.
“Lucky you,” she said sarcastically. “I haven’t had a proper bath since?—”
She bit her lip and glanced at Evren, who propped himself against the doorway, arms crossed, as they so often were.
“I’m sorry about that.” His gaze redirected to her shoulder.
Her stomach erupted with a fluttering sensation. It was the first time he'd apologized for anything and it made her feel…it made her feel everything.
“It’s okay,” she said with a shrug. “This wasn’t your fault.”
Evren nodded, a look of uncertainty passing over his face. Maybe, in a way, the damage to her shoulder was his fault. If he hadn’t found her, hadn’t tried to take her, maybe none of this would’ve happened. But before she could reassure him, he turned. Tallulah resettled on the sofa.
“I could help you,” he whispered from the doorway, startling her. “If you wanted, I mean…I understand if not, but if you just wanted some help I could?—”
He let out a long breath.
Tallulah couldn’t help the smile that twitched at her lips. It wasn’t often he stumbled over his words, and something about him doing it now made her heart warm.
“Okay,” she said.
Evren’s head snapped up, his green eyes meeting hers.
“Okay?” he asked and when she nodded, he met her back at the sofa, reaching for her hand.
“Okay, hunter.”
Heating the water for the basin took ages, giving Tallulah several extra moments to reconsider what she was about to do. Before she could protest and change her mind, Evren popped his head out of the bathing room.
“Ready?”
Swallowing, she nodded before joining him in the room. She wouldn’t undress, she couldn’t imagine doing so. Instead, she sat on the floor, resting her head backward so her long hair draped over the side of the tub, the ends dipping into the water. She closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing.
He will not kill you, Tallulah. He needs you alive.
A weak attempt to settle her nerves, but it was all she had.
Water trickled down her hair as Evren poured from a pitcher. Over and over, he dipped it into the water and ran it over her hair with such gentleness. She kept her eyes pressed tight as his fingers massaged into her scalp, the scent of jasmine from her homemade soap calming her nerves even further. Her spine tickled as his fingers graced her bare nape and before she could let out her next breath, the water trickled over her scalp again.
“Better?” Evren asked.
Tallulah opened her eyes. He was kneeling beside her, his shirt damp from leaning over the tub to fill the pitcher. His freckled cheeks were flushed and, despite the fluttering in her stomach earlier, she smiled.
“Evren,” she whispered, keeping her eyes locked on his. “Are you taking me to Valebridge today?”
Her hands restlessly picked at each other in her lap. Every time she asked, she feared the answer. She knew one day he would say yes. But it couldn’t be today, could it? Not when he agreed to water her hundreds of plants, and not when he smiled and laughed with her. Not when he’d washed her hair with such gentleness.
Dread pooled in her gut as she watched him. Watched and waited for her fate to be determined.
“Not today, Enchantress.” He pulled her to her feet and handed her a cloth for her hair. He did not return her smile. Did not offer anything else before he turned and left her alone.
Not today.
