When Quinn had cried herself out, Sammah was gone. She had been left alone in his rooms, and night had long since fallen. Her cheeks were dry, but she could feel tightness on her skin where the salty tears had left their erratic trail. The brazier was cooling down. Even the mercenaries, ever-present in Sammah’s suites, had left her to her own devices.
“I’m not a threat to him.” Quinn whispered to herself. Was this a statement of fact, a realisation, or a challenge to herself? She repeated his words back to herself. Fragile. Witless. Clumsy. Maertn took her seriously. No matter what Sammah said to her in malicious confidence, he couldn’t take away the truth of that. He might like to throw his power around when he had her cornered, but what Sammah had to acknowledge was that, of the two of them, Quinn most certainly knew how people felt about her. What stung the most, was that the majority of what Sammah had said was right. Very few people in Everfell had considered her without derision, excluding Sammah. Maertn, obviously, was one. Ross was another. The only other addition to this exclusive collection was Eden. He had been the first, however, who had not judged her on sight. On the contrary, he had been curious, and appeared to have completely overlooked the fact that she seemed to involuntarily collapse whenever she was near him.
Quinn stood and smoothed down her clothes. She thought about going to draw herself a bath, or even risk going down to the communal bathing chambers. It was too late, though, and she still felt drained despite her sleep. The floor had left her stiff, she told herself, and the steam of the bathing chambers would help her to relax. Quinn had historically avoided the bathing chambers for the same reason she avoided everything and everyone in the castle. She didn’t want to be around people, because she already knew without wanting to know it, that people did not want to be around her. As she padded silently out of Sammah’s suites and through the halls, she knew that the bathing halls should be all but deserted. Only those that worked the night, like her, would be awake enough, or odd enough, to want to bathe at this kind of time. She hadn’t been instructed yet, by either Ross or Sammah, to return to her maid duties. Odd, too, that Sammah hadn’t yet challenged her about her attempt to leave the city. Still, if she had a chance of experiencing a night of silence, without being ordered around by the myriad of men in her life, she would take it. Quinn headed down to the bathing halls.
The halls appeared desolate as the candle boys didn’t bother lighting more than one in three of the candles down here after dark. The effect was spell-binding, or so Quinn thought. The walls down here were almost soft. The steam from the baths was constant, and mossy mildew had been growing here steadily over the long years. Quinn trailed her hand over one side of the wall, stroking the damp green quilting. It smelled fresh down here, too. You would expect it to smell rotten, or at least damp and stale. Sammah and Maertn had both tried to explain to her how the waters were a natural hot spring, and the earth herself refreshed the waters. Quinn hadn’t understood, and they had given up trying to tell her. Eventually the carefully laid stone gave way to natural rock, and the walls, still covered with their carpet of moss, led to a massive enclosed cavern. The cavern had existed long before a city even stood in Everfell, and Quinn was sure it would endure long after, too. It was a curious place. The bathing caverns made some feel ill at ease. Many said it wasn’t natural, for such a thing to just exist underground.
There were many stories explaining the caverns, beyond the convoluted explanation about mountains that spewed liquid fire and water movements given to her by Sammah and Maertn. Quinn much preferred these. Her favourite was the story of Indigo, a warrior from Sha’sek who was famed for his bravery. Before the wars, when there had just been one country, before the Severed Desert had become the barren and desolate barrier it now was, Indigo had been a travelling prizefighter. He moved from town to town, fighting any that challenged him. He arrived in Everfell, as it had been back then, just a small collection of huts and villagers. The villagers lived in terror, it had been told, for a demon that came at night and stole their children. The demon lived in a cave and when they were taken, their screams could be heard at night, for miles around. Parents, robbed of their children and helpless to get them back, would cry themselves to sleep with what remained of their family, trying to block out the noise. Newlyweds were choosing to leave before having children. Everfell, as a village, was dying.
Quinn told herself the tale of Indigo as she removed her drab and dirty clothes, folding them gently and placing them at the side of the hot pool with care. Steam rose off the water. This time, as always, she dipped a toe in the water. At first, to her cold body, the water was stingingly hot. She crouched down on to one leg, dipping first her foot, then her shin, then her left leg up to the knee in the water. Happy that the rest of her body would be able to cope with the heat, she hopped off the side of the rock and into the luxurious waters. The feeling on her body was one of near-ecstasy. The water lapped at her skin and folded over her aching muscles, soothing her immediately. Quinn groaned quietly with relief, then became confused as she heard chuckling over her own voice. She floundered around in the water, unable to catch purchase on anything and so doing a creditable impression of a hooked fish. She finally slapped a hand back on the rocks and looked madly around the pool for the source of the noise. When she couldn’t see anything in her immediate vicinity, she tried squinting through the thin wisps of steam creating a constant mist just above the surface of the pool. There was someone in there with her. One person, and still she couldn’t avoid the mockery! Quinn was furious. Instead of lashing out with her voice, or struggling with her eyes, she went to the one sense she was gaining confidence in. Thinking on how she could possibly get a hold of someone if she couldn’t see them, she instead gave a mental push, like a fisherman would cast out a net to widen his catch. Quinn’s jaw dropped when this worked; she felt a tugging straight ahead of her. The emotion she felt though, wasn’t the malicious amusement she had felt before from Yvette, nor the detached scorn she felt from men like Sammah. It was happy, nearing joy. Quin almost ducked under the water to get away, to be anywhere but where she was right now. She had wanted to see Eden again, but not like this.
“Did you need that by any chance, my lady?”
“I’m not a lady, captain. Even if I weren’t just a maid, my naming ceremony isn’t until next year.”
“My apologies. I didn’t realise I had to wait until then to be courteous.”
Quinn blushed, though immediately blamed the heat of the pool. She heard water parting, and Eden swam slowly in to view straight in front of her. He stopped as soon as he knew she could see him, keeping a respectful distance. Quinn blamed the pool, too, on the way her heart started racing as soon as she knew it was Eden sharing the water with her. They were the only people in here at this time of night, and her blush grew fierce. No one bothered hiding their bodies in the bathing pools—or in many other parts of the castle, as she had discovered in her work as a night maid. There was something illicit though, about Eden having caught her unawares. She thought suddenly that she should probably be angry that he hadn’t announced his presence to her before she disrobed. What did he think of her, that she wasn’t? Had he actually seen her, or had he laughed in reaction to her groans? No, he had to have seen her. Why would he laugh at the noises a random stranger made in the baths?
“Cat got your tongue?”
Quinn realised hadn’t responded, and hurried to fill the silence. “I’m sorry, captain, I didn’t realise you were here, otherwise…I wouldn’t…would you like to be alone?”
“No. I spend most of my days alone. Please, stay.”
His voice was gentle and quiet. She liked that. It soothed her mind almost as much as the soft, hot water soothed her aching muscles. “I thought you spent your days with your family, my lord?”
“Precisely,” Eden muttered by way of response. Quinn snorted, surprising herself. She had never thought of herself as a snorter. Eden smiled in return, widely, showing off his white teeth. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Before this investigation begins, I mean.”
Quinn tried not to start in fear. “Oh, what do you mean?”
“The lords—even the king—agreed I could head the men trying to track down the Satori. I’m reporting to the king himself on everything I find. I’m honoured that they’re trusting me with this. The first thing they’ve asked me to do is speak to Sammah, and monitor his household. That includes you.” Eden saw the face Quinn made, and realised how that sounded. He stammered to explain himself. “You’re not under threat, you understand, but we think the Satori may try to do something to Sammah, or someone close to him. I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but I’m going to be protecting you. So I suppose it’s only right that you should know?”
“I’d find out anyway from Sammah, I suppose?” was the answer Quinn gave. She wasn’t going to open up to Eden there and then, naked in a pool, and feeling more than a little vulnerable.
* * *
Quinn was composed responding to him. Eden berated himself for being a rambling fool. Bravado aside, he had looked away when Quinn had started taking off her clothes, only looking back when he heard the splash of water that told him she had submerged. Eden wasn’t shy of nakedness, either of his own, or other people’s. That he would be suddenly nervous of Quinn gave this woman a further mystique of her very own. Part of him regretted his actions. She was beautiful. He wanted to see all of her body. He wanted it to be on her terms, though. Above and beyond everything else, Eden was determined to be nothing like his father.
“Sammah can tell you whatever he likes, of course. So yes, of course there’s no problem telling you these things.”
“But you wanted to talk to me anyway, captain? About something else?”
Eden cursed himself again. He was forgetting where his sentences began. What was it about Quinn that set him on edge? Then, as he saw her bold smile, it registered. Not only did she not want anything from him, she wasn’t afraid of talking to him. Everyone in his life either wanted something from him, or feared him. She was neither of those things. It was a surprisingly endearing trait.
“I did. I just wanted to meet you, in truth.”
“I’m humbled, captain.” Quinn responded stiffly.
Eden smiled. “No you’re not.”
* * *
Quinn sensed something new. It was a bouncy feeling. Her senses rebounded off his, with a warm and soft recoil. He was being playful. It felt utterly delightful. “No. You caught me. Do you need to send me to the cells as well now?”
“I doubt I’d ever be able to send you to the cells.” An awkward silence followed as both struggled for something to say. “Do you…do you like working for Sammah?”
“Thankfully I work for Ross. I love Sammah,” Quinn lied smoothly, “but he is a precise man, and a hard man to please.”
“I can imagine. His reputation is well established around the kingdom. My father has a great respect for him, which says a lot, given their history.”
Indeed, and I know why your father appears to show respect for him. I can’t tell you that, though, can I? Quinn thought all this, but instead responded with the more diplomatic “Your father does him a great honour.”
“Bah. My father doesn’t honour anyone if there isn’t anything in it for him. That’s why I volunteered to search for the Satori, you know? I’m a good fighter, and a strong thinker. But I’m a third son. It’s just so unlikely that I’ll inherit, that I have to make my name and respect my house in other ways. I’ve been made captain of the guard for a reason, and this just seems like the perfect way to please my father.”
Quinn understood then exactly how he felt. Despondent, and one of many children desperate to please a man he knew didn’t respect him, to gain standing amongst a population that would otherwise ignore him. Quinn wanted to please Sammah out of gratefulness that he had plucked her out of obscurity; Eden wanted to please Shiver out of fear that he would plummet that way. Hating what she knew she had to say next, Quinn whispered “You’ll find the Satori. I know it. You’ll be a hero.”
“I hope so. I really do.” Eden meant it so much, that Quinn felt his sincerity through his very words. His need to please Shiver resonated so much with her that she felt close to tears. She dashed them away with a splash of water, under the pretence of dousing her hair and face. “I have no idea where to start though. I think I might be biting off more than I can chew.”
“You won’t be. Sammah is a knowledgeable man. And Everfell can’t have that many Sha’sek in it, can it? If that Satori is here, and wants to start a war, your hunt won’t scare him off. It may even make him bolder, and drive him into making a stupid mistake. Everyone is going to be looking for him. It will only be a matter of time.”
“Thank you Quinn. It means a lot that you believe I’ll find him. You don’t even know me.”
Better than you think Quinn thought. “I’ve heard of you. You’re well-respected amongst the household. Though some of the maids think you’re a bit of a bore.”
Quinn couldn’t help but have a dig at Grainne and Yvette, to tempt Eden into talking about why he had rejected the flirtatious maid. He took the bait, scoffing at her words. “You mean I won’t rise to their pointless flirting? I haven’t got time for women like that.” Eden blushed. “I mean…not maids…I don’t mean you, Quinn…I….” he trailed off as he realised she had started laughing at him, and he had been trapped in a corner. He pouted and flicked water at her. She feigned shock, and flicked some back. This triggered a brief water fight that resulted in both of them squealing and thrashing around the side of the pool. This was only interrupted with a holler from Ross, which brought them both back to their senses. The Chamberlain crouched down next to the pool so that he didn’t have to shout at them. Quinn thought they were in trouble, but saw immediately a glint in Ross's eye that told her they were safe.
“If I had been any judge, I was sprinting down this hall to break up a fight. If you two want to catfight, you’d best do it in the privacy of your own rooms. Captain, you need to be up early in the morning for your first brief with Baron Sammah. A word of advice: he hates it when people are late.” Ross's eyes flicked almost imperceptibly to Quinn “And he is very over-protective of his household. To bed with you, if you’ll excuse me saying so.”
“Not at all sir, I’ll be off directly.” Eden swam to the edge of the pool. Quinn didn’t avert her eyes as he pulled himself out. His body was lean, skin tight against taut muscles. What unpredictably caught her eyes were the scars of lashes against his back. Who would dare lay a whip across the son of a lord, other than the lord himself? Ross clicked his fingers, bringing her attention back to him.
“You’re chasing high-born game there, young Quinn. It seems you might not be running yourself into as much of a stable as your empty-headed friends, either. Be careful, young Quinn. Sevenspells is a dangerous city. Eden may seem harmless enough, but his father is a man you do not get in the way of. I don’t want to see you with a broken heart, but I want to see you with a broken body even less.”
Ross left before Quinn could respond. They were sombre words from a conservative man, therefore Quinn knew she should take them to heart. She was secretly elated though, that Ross thought Eden might even slightly reciprocate her interest. She had to admit that Eden intrigued her in more ways than one. He was the first man her own age who was accepting her immediately for the way she was, with there being no hesitation on her own part. Talking to him seemed completely natural. There was no fear around him. Had there ever been fear around Maertn? Quinn wasn’t sure, but she knew that she had never reciprocated the quiet healer’s feelings. Eden was a different, unknown quantity. Not for much longer, she hoped.
Quinn set about cleansing herself, the pool now hers alone to enjoy. Throughout she kept stealing glances to where Eden had treaded water, wishing he were still there. The scant few words they had shared were not enough. Her smile faded. Whether she liked it or not, they would be sharing more words. Those words would be about the Satori. Eden was pursuing her, and not because of the flirtatious words they had shared in the pool. Eden thought she was a murderer. And if he found out about her, they would have nothing. Quinn closed her eyes, a tear squeezing out and rolling down her cheek. For the first time in her life, she had found something that she was afraid to lose, and it wasn’t in her power to keep it.