Page 87 of Boudicca

“How are Ennis and Finley? Was any of that blood that covered them theirs?”

“It was, but the wounds were only minor. Because of the days you have granted us they will be ready when next you need them.” He paused and his smile turned intimate. “Is there anything else you need tonight, my queen?”

I looked into those kind eyes and remembered the passion that had ignited between us the night before. I felt a flutter of desire andopened my mouth to say yes, there was something I needed from him, but the tent flap moved and Rhan stumbled in. She’d lost the glow that had carried her through the night before and this day. Now she just looked wan and weary. Dark circles bruised the delicate skin under her eyes. Her hair was a matted mess and I could smell the scent of death she carried with her, even over the sweet herbs that perfumed my bath.

“Oh, forgive me, Queen Boudicca. I did not mean to interrupt,” she said quickly. “I shall ask Wulffaed to show me to the girls’ tent. Tomorrow I will have my own erected and—”

“Nonsense,” I interrupted as I stood and motioned for Phaedra to wrap me in a blanket. “You’ll stay here.” My eyes went to Maldwyn. “Thank you for your report, Maldwyn. Tonight I need nothing more from you.”

“Then I wish you a good night, my queen.” He bowed to me. “Good night, Rhan,” he said, and nodded to her pleasantly before he slipped out of the tent.

“Phaedra, have Wulffaed’s daughters empty the tub and then refill it for Rhan.” I glanced up at Rhan. “Have you eaten?”

“Today? I—I do not think so,” she said.

“I shall bring food,” said Phaedra.

“And more honey mead,” I added.

Phaedra hurried from the tent. I sat at the table beside my bed and used one end of the blanket to dry my hair.

“I do not want to be a bother,” said Rhan as a line of women began emptying and then refilling my tub with steaming water.

“Was I a bother when you cared for me when I could barely hold my arm up during those long first months of training?” I asked.

Her lips quirked into a ghost of her impish smile. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

“No. Now take off those clothes. You smell like a grave.”

Phaedra gathered Rhan’s filthy clothes as one of Wulffaed’s daughters brought a tray of food and mead. I dismissed Phaedra when Rhan settled into the tub with a long, exhausted sigh. I pulled my nightdress on over my head and found the bowl of herbs Phaedra alwayssprinkled into my tub. Liberally I tossed several handfuls in as Rhan grinned up at me.

“Do I smell that bad?”

“Worse,” I said. “Dunk your head down and get your hair wet. I’m going to wash it for you. I can’t have grave smell in my bed.”

She looked up at me. “I really can go to your daughters’ tent.”

“Why? I’d rather not be alone. Dunk your head.” I pushed gently on her shoulder.

Before she went under, she caught my gaze. “Maldwyn would not let you be alone.”

“True, and he doesn’t smell like a grave, but he is also not the person I am closest to in this world, and tonightyoushould not be alone.”

Rhan closed her mouth, nodded, and ducked under the water. When she came up, I handed her a mug of mead, and while she drank I worked soap into her hair. I could feel Rhan relaxing, little by little, and when I refilled her mug I handed her a hunk of cheese and bread, which she began devouring immediately.

“How bad was it with the shades?” I asked as I continued to work soap through the long strands of her slippery blond hair.

“It was odd,” she said between bites.

“How so?”

“You know how Romans bray about being so superior to women?” she asked.

“Oh, indeed I do. And I have the marks on my back to prove it,” I said.

She looked over her shoulder at me and flushed. “Of course. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I—”

I waved away her apology. “I understand. But what does their loathing of women have to do with the oddness of their dead?”