I did that just to show us both that I could and withdrew a shiny sword that was thinner and fancier than the one I’d given him.
“Are you sure this is a fair trade?” I asked him.
“If it gets the boy to change his ways and save the lot of us, I’d give everything I own.”
Solaris tried, but the staring contest between them didn’t last long when he blinked and looked away. I gave the man a nod and put my new sword away.
“Two silvers?” I asked the woman. She nodded.
I looked Solaris over and thankfully saw a pouch hanging from his belt that seemed promising. He stepped back like he wasn’t going to let me have it, but I tugged on his chains, briefly tightening them. I smiled right into his murderous glare as I fished two silver coins from his little coin purse.
Such an angry fairy.
I handed the coins over, she dropped them into her own coin purse, grabbed a key, and asked me to follow her up the stairs.
“The linens were changed this morning,” she said, “and the mattresses re-stuffed last week. I’ll have one of my girls bring up some wash water, and one of the kitchen boys will bring up your dinners.”
She walked us over to a room at the end of the hall, unlocked it, and handed over the key.
“Thank you very much,” I said as I accepted it. I gave Solaris a nudge and cocked my head at her. He looked at me like he had no idea that I wanted him to thank her, too. “Right. We’ll work on that.”
She giggled and walked off, and I felt like I had another ally.
I could tell by the curl of his lip that Solaris was not impressed by the room at all. Admittedly, it was rough, but it seemed clean and the beds were long enough that I might actually be able to stretch out.
First, though, I unwound the chain from around Solaris and cuffed my end to a notch in the headboard of the bed farthest from the door. With as much chain as Lars had given us, Solaris could go anywhere he needed to in here.
Apparently, where he needed to go was straight to the window.
“Don’t you dare,” I warned.
He locked eyes with me and opened the window. A breeze rushed in.
“Oh. Okay. Good boy.”
The prince of this brittle land bared his teeth and growled at me. I got the feeling he was becoming less and less worried about me and my sword.
A knock at the door startled both of us. And it seemed like maybe he didn’t want to commit murder in front of witnesses, because he sat down on his bed and crossed his arms. I went to answer the door.
“Your water, sir,” the teenage girl said as she handed me a wide bowl and a large pitcher in a matching rose pattern.
“Thanks.” I took both and closed the door. There was an odd-looking wooden thing that seemed just right for holding both, so I went over and set the bowl and pitcher down.
“That’s it?” Solaris said, his tone dripping disbelief. “A pitcher?”
“What were you expecting?” I got a washcloth and a bar of soap that looked handmade.
“A tub. To bathe.”
I stared at him incredulously. “Have you not noticed the drought? I’m guessing most of what we paid for was this pitcher of water.”
I honestly had no idea, but it made sense that something in short supply would be the most expensive thing. And it didn’t surprise me at all that he was so out of touch.
“But…”
He looked utterly bewildered.
I sighed and eased up on him. “Okay, maybe way up in the castle it’s hard to see the little guy struggling, but this—” I pointed at the pitcher “—is luxury down here. Be grateful for what we have, and I’ll let you bathe first.”
