Page 41 of Black Sea

The old woman guided us to the stables, and I felt immediate relief when my feet rested on the cooler ground. However, the stale air, filled with the smell of dung and urine, tightened my throat.

We made our way to the far end of the large, fly-infested room, where there was a cell containing bales of wood shavings, sheaves of hay, and a bale of straw.

The servant opened the gate, pulling out the key from the lock. “Go in,” she ordered bluntly.

My expression turned menacing. “I didn’t get the impression that your Master still considered us as prisoners after saving us from the pirates.”

She didn’t react. “Until the Master returns, I consider you a threat to every person in this house.”

“A threat?” I echoed, angered and about to invade her personal space.

Amlach was quick to yank the chain to pull me back. “We understand perfectly, and we thank you for this temporary accommodation while waiting for Master Roxior’s return,” he said with a charming smile as I glared at him. “Would you allow us to use the straw to make a bed?”

Amlach’s polite manners and persuasive tone seemed to soften the woman’s rigidity, allowing her to relax slightly. “Of course.”

Amlach dipped into a modest bow and then pushed me gently into the cell.

The slave shut it instantly and turned the key in the lock, holding the hostile look I gave her sideways. “Food and water will be brought to you at the appointed times. As for the rest . . .” She looked at the dirt that covered us like a second skin with subtle disgust. “It will be seen after the Master’s decision.”

Amlach thanked her again, and I had to resist the urge to punch him in the teeth.

The woman spun around without adding anything else, then left the stables in small, swift steps and with a drawn-up posture.

Amlach shot me an amused glance. “Any accommodation, huh?”

“Shut up,” I growled with a lethal look.

He gave that warm, vibrant chuckle that made my lower belly muscles tighten up.

Without a fork, we used our hands to pull the straw from the bale carefully and spread it on the ground in the only available space between the sheaves and the wood shavings bales. Once we were satisfied with our work, we sat shoulder to shoulder, leaning our backs against the brick wall.

I stared at the goats in the pen near the cell without really seeing them, cursing myself for every single choice that had led me here.

Praying that Araton would hear me call him in my thoughts. And call him and call him. Praying that he would come to get me.

“We should have stayed on the island,” Amlach murmured, his voice as dark as the sky before the storm.

I let out a somber breath, resting my head against the wall. “Yeah . . . We should have.”

24

The next day, the sudden bleat of a little lamb jarred me awake. The room’s sliding doors were still closed, but the sunlight was already filtering through the numerous rectangular openings on top of the walls, where doves were sleeping between crusted birds dropping with their heads nestled down into their feathers.

I sat with my shoulders against the wall, my legs stretched out in front of me. A gnawing pain radiated from the back of my head, and I felt as if my bladder was about to explode, as if something heavy was pressing down on it.

And it was so.

Amlach’s strong arm rested on my lap, his fingers digging into my side with the same intensity he had used when he covered my hands with his around the hilts of our daggers during the sea storm. He was lying on his side, facing me, with his forehead pressed against the outside of my thigh.

Completely unaware of the intimacy of that position.

Completely unaware that my heart felt like it was going to break my chest.

I needed to get him off me. Right away. I couldn’t let the overwhelming sensation that was gradually forming within me take over. I refused to entertain the thought of lying down on the straw beside him and surrendering myself to his embrace.

I couldn’t feel so good.

So, I grabbed his wrist, pulled his fingers off my side, and angrily threw away his arm, producing a rattling sound that upset the animals in the stables.