Page 36 of Tarnished Crown
“Princess Rowan, meet Nico and Riina.” Evander introduced us.
He must have been forgoing calling me his pet for their sake, since it sure as stars wasn’t for mine.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” I added.
Their postures relaxed, though their smiles didn’t return. We made small talk, and they filled Evander in on how they and the cabin were doing and the things that needed repairing.
Apparently, they lived at the cabin year-round, tending to it when Evander was away and taking care of him and his men whenever they visited.
Riina showed me to the room that Evander had declared was mine for the duration. It wasn’t nearly as grand as the set of rooms back at Bear Estate, but it was infinitely cozier. A fire lit up the hearth, lending its warmth to the entire space.
A double bed made of dark wood and covered in several thick blankets and fluffy pillows rested against the far wall, with two small nightstands on either side. On the floor in front of it was a massive wool rug that stretched nearly to the two armchairs resting in front of the fire.
An enormous mirror stretched across the wall, giving me an unwanted glimpse at myself. Days of riding hard and sleeping in a barn were visible from the bags under my eyes and the even wilder, more volatile turn my hair had taken.
No wonder Riina and Nico had looked at me that way. Even if they weren’t superstitious, my hair was terrifying, and this small basin of water was doing nothing to alleviate that.
If I showed up to negotiations looking this way, Theo probably wouldn’t even want to bargain for our betrothal. And I wouldn’t blame him.
I needed a bath, but there didn’t appear to be a tub in this room or the adjoining privy.
My gaze snagged on the view outside the floor to ceiling window, and I gasped.
Even in the moonlight, pale, snow-capped trees and mountains stretched out as far as the eye could see. A small hut with smoke billowing from a chimney sat on the edge of a vast frozen lake that sparkled like crystals.
Footprints led from the door over to a large, black hole carved into the ice...I froze.
Der’mo.
Of stars-damned course there was a sauna, and a freezing body of water to go along with it.
Though I suspected I knew the answer by now, I poked my head out of my room to call down to Riina.
“Is there a bathtub somewhere nearby?”
“No, milady,” she responded, confirming what I had already begun to suspect. “Only a sauna outside. We are about to go, if you would like to join.”
We, meaning Riina and her husband? All of the men?
Did it matter, when that was my only option to be clean?
I stood immobile, debating that for all of about thirty seconds. As nervous as I was to see Theo tomorrow, I didn’t want to compound it by smelling like a barn and looking like a lunatic.
So, sauna, it was.
Mila had told me about men and woman sauna-ing together, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around that concept, especially without her here to make it feel more normal. Or at least to laugh at me for being nervous about walking into a room full of naked men.
Because anyone would be comfortable in that situation...
“Come,” Riina called back over her shoulder, gesturing toward the entrance to the sauna.
Removing her towel, she hung it up on one of the posts just outside the door, standing naked as the full moon above us and waiting for me to do the same.
Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and ripped my towel off, placing it next to hers. I felt even more naked than the lack of clothing accounted for, since I had removed my bracelet and the chain with my ring also.
When in Socair...
The cold air bit at my skin and I shivered until Riina opened the door to the sauna, allowing the steam and warm air to wash over us. I yanked the door shut behind me, cognizant of Mila’s warnings about the steam escaping.