Page 43 of Black Sea

We moved to the showers, and a little girl entered the bathroom with her head down. She laid two large white towels on the chairs lined up along the dividing wall and quickly ran away.

“Undress and wash up,” the soldier commanded, pointing at the showers with his chin. “You smell worse than the beasts you slept with,” he added, causing his companions to chortle.

Although we were no longer shackled to each other, I instinctively found myself approaching Amlach until my arm brushed against his.

“Then get out,” I ordered the guards. Amlach lightly poked me with his elbow. “Please,” I added in an annoyed hiss.

“You have a short memory, woman?” the man burst out. “Our job is to watch you.”

“Show some respect, soldier,” Amlach snapped in a more than harsh tone, the one I supposed he used with his army. “She’s a princess.”

“She’s a slave,” the other said back contemptuously. “And if she doesn’t take off her clothes right now . . .” His mud-colored little eyes glided lasciviously along my figure, making my fists tingle with the urge to beat him. “Well,” he sighed, trading a conspiratorial glance with his companions. “We’ll do it for her.”

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“Oh, I’d like to see you try,” Amlach taunted him in a tone so sinister that, for a moment, the sunrays filtering through the rectangular cracks in the walls seemed to fade, plunging the room into darkness.

My gaze flicked toward the four soldiers with crossbows, and I felt my eyes filling with tears of anger at the thought that I could not use my elven speed to take them down before they could pull the triggers.

The fifth guard gave a teasing half-smile and stepped toward Amlach with his hand on the short sword’s hilt. “See, friend,” he mocked him, “we didn’t just receive the order to shoot in your legs if you try to run. If you attack us, we have the go-ahead to kill you.”

“And thus lose the money that your Master paid for us?” I said, my voice infused with barely contained rage.

His grin broadened. “The Master will lay your corpses before your kings and deceive them, claiming he witnessed your murder by that serpent Escrain. Your foolish rulers will thank him for returning you to your families to be buried in your land, and he will be richly rewarded for the goodness of his soul. His words, hey,” he quickly emphasized, raising his hands in a mocking gesture of innocence. “So . . .” Amused, he raised his eyebrows, urging me to remove my clothes.

I stood still, every atom of my body seemingly frozen. I didn’t . . . I didn’t want these people to see me naked. I didn’t want to feel their eyes roaming my skin with greedy desire. I did not want to hear their breathing growing heavier as their arousal intensified. I did not want to listen to the horny sounds escaping their lips.

I couldn’t.

“She cannot undress in our presence,” Amlach declared vehemently, almost as if he read my thoughts. “Elves’ customs differ from ours and—”

“It’s not my problem,” the soldier interrupted, bored. He gestured for his companions to lift their aim.

Toward our hearts.

So, I raised my chin with austerity, ready to die rather than lose my dignity.

“Hey.” Amlach stood in front of me, blocking the guards’ view with his body.

I refused to look at his face, not wanting him to see how weak and vulnerable I felt in this . . . human form.

“Hey,” he said again, whispering, squeezing my arms to draw my gaze back to him. His eyes radiated determination. “It’s going to be all right. Don’t let these bastards win.” He squeezed me again to emphasize his words, running his thumbs along the inside of my biceps to infuse me with confidence. “I got you.”

He suddenly let go of me to grab a towel from the chairs. He unfolded it, holding one corner with his left hand and an edge with his right, spreading it out to its full width. He tilted his head toward the showers—each separated by a wall that reached my shoulder—and winked at me.

Understanding his intentions, I embraced his strength and let it restore mine. Then, I slipped into one of the showers.

Amlach adjusted his grip on the towel’s corners to keep it spread behind his back, using it as a curtain to cover the shower threshold.

I lowered my head and let my hair fall in front of my face to hide a grateful smile. Then I undressed and placed my pants and tunic on the wall to my right. I turned the only knob connected to the tube that stuck out halfway up the wall, curved upward, then bent horizontally above me.

The cold water arrived in a few seconds; its flow was weak compared to the waterfall where we had washed on the island.

I picked up the large brown soap from the stone shelf before me and rubbed it to generate foam that I would apply all over my body.

“Hey, soldier,” Amlach suddenly snapped, startling me. “Eyes on me.”

I smiled again.