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The silence stretched on for so long that I was sure they’d never answer me, that I was cursed to live in silence within these walls. But then they both slowed when we reached a fork in the corridor. They veered left, and we walked in silence again. I idly wondered how long the interior of the castle was given the fact that we kept walking and walking yet hadn’t gotten to the destination in mind yet.
And when I didn’t think we’d ever get there, the corridor finally opened up to a grand central room.
There were several doors placed around the circular room, with a marble statue of a bird midflight in the center. Everything was still so pristine and clean, the white stone having dark veins running through it that almost looked like tendrils of smoke.
“We are here.”
I looked at the redhead when she spoke. “Here? Where’s here?”
“We are to purify and cleanse you for your wedding night with King Fenrir.”
My heart raced, and I grew dizzy. “I’m already clean.”
The blonde gave me a small, almost sympathetic smile. “You are, but the king wishes you to be purified, and we must obey his orders.”
I was surprised both women were making eye contact with me then.
All I kept thinking about was they were preparing me for my… wedding night.
God, this all sounded so foreboding.
Part of me wanted to fight, to go against this. I didn’t want to be turned into some weak submissive. But I wasn’t a fool. If I wanted to leave at some point, to escape the clutches of the barbarian, I’d have to be smart about it. Me resisting would only make it harder on myself, would only anger Fenrir and evoke his wrath.
And that was the last thing I wanted directed at me.
So until I could figure out a way to get out of this mess, playing nice was the only thing that was going to keep me sane and hopefully unscathed.
It was the only thing that made sense.
5
Prima
The bathing chamber was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Everything up until this point had seemed almost plain, as if the king didn’t want his wealth to be boisterous or obscene.
But this bathing chamber dripped riches and luxury, with gold-leaf accents, white marble flooring and walls, the pristine stone having these smoky, dark tendrils that moved throughout it all. A massive pool sat in the center of the room, steps leading down into the lower area.
The entire room was incredible. The scents of lavender and vanilla permeated the air, but I also picked up on hints of a masculine aroma. Was the latter what Fenrir smelled like? My memories of him said it wasn’t likely. I had never been close enough to know what the Destroyer smelled like, but he seemed like he’d be all smoky wilderness and potent masculinity.
So this room seemed very much… unlike him.
Because Fenrir was the definition of a barbarian, with furs covering his massive shoulders as he sat upon his giant steed, with scars littering his masculine body from the battles he had countless victories in.
The two women led me into the room, and the door shut silently behind us. I stood there for a moment, still clutching my parcel, looking around, feeling out of place and even more uncertain.
There was a long table off to the side that was covered with a gauzy material. On top of it were apothecaries with what looked like salts and herbs, and different colored dried flowers and crushed potions.
“King Fenrir bathes in here?” I found myself asking out loud, although I hadn’t meant to.
I clenched my teeth together when the pale-haired woman looked over at me.
“This is our king’s private bathing chamber.” She said it as if it were common knowledge.
I wanted to point out that our king was a brute, and that all I could see him doing was bathing in a lake right after he poured copious amounts of mead down his throat from his massive horn pitcher. I certainly couldn’t imagine him lounging in that pool with dried flowers floating around his ginormous body.
“This was constructed before his reign, but he enjoyed the luxury so much he wished to keep it as his,” the redhead said as if she’d seen my thoughts written clearly on my face.
I nodded, unsure what I was even agreeing to. I licked my lips and continued looking around the room, taking everything in, because it was as if I’d been dropped into an entirely different world.
I didn’t know if they felt my nervousness thicken the air, or maybe it was the way I was worrying my bottom lip with my teeth as I glanced around, but when I glanced back at both of them, they had this sympathetic look on their faces.
“It will be all right,” the redhead said in a soft, calming voice.
