how to feed the fire and by the time I’m ready for my bath, I’m exhausted.
“I brought some oils and a few scented soaps, you are getting married this evening after all,” Hillevi announces as I sink down into the tub of now lukewarm water.
“Thanks,” I sigh.
The room is silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. I have a burning question that I need to ask them, but I’m scared. I shouldn’t be. I’m hesitant that this is going to backfire, but I don’t think that it matters even if it does, not at this point.
“Runa?” I ask.
Her body jerks and she looks over to me. “Liv?”
“Can you send me home?”
Even whispering the words aloud, they make my entire body ache. The pain that slices through my stomach is almost too much to bear, and I let out a whimper in pain. The women don’t come to my aid, not that I expect them to. Instead, they stare at me.
“Liv,” Runa exhales. “How can you ask this of me? To betray my konungr?”
Shaking my head, tears fill my eyes as the pain intensifies and starts to fill other parts of my body. My chest, my arms, my legs, they all start to hurt. I don’t know if I can even stand up at this point.
“He doesn’t want me. I’m too old to give him children, or at least that’s what he thinks. Please, please, just take me home.”
They look at one another, and the seeress frowns. “Do you see their children?” Runa asks her.
“I told you, she was sent by the gods, they have blocked me from seeing anything about the future.”
“That is of no help to us,” Runa mumbles.
“I know. I am sorry. It has never happened before.”
They are silent for another moment. Then Runa takes a step toward me. “You love your king, otherwise you would not be in such pain at the thought of leaving him,” she says.
“I don’t know him,” I sneer.
She shakes her head, tipping her chin down to look at me. My jaw is clenched, my eyes are slits and I’m panting heavily trying to keep from screaming out in agony.
“You do, Liv. You know all you need to know. The gods would not create you for one another and bring you from another world if this wasn’t meant to be an epic love match. You are still new, still learning about one another. You are in a new world, Liv. Have patience and give it a bit of time.”
“I’m not sure if I can, not with him,” I admit.
Chapter Twelve
LIV
Once I’m finished with my bath, a man appears with a handful of dresses. He pays me zero attention as he goes about holding up gowns for Runa and the seeress to either approve of or disapprove of. Then, he finally turns toward me and tugs the towel away from my body.
Attempting to cover myself, the women around me laugh as Runa explains that he is the dressmaker here to measure me for my new wardrobe, one that Aaric has demanded. Pinching my eyes closed, I begrudgingly allow him to measure me, completely naked.
When he finally leaves, Hillevi puts me in a simple forest green robe. “It is a dressing gown of sorts, while we help you with your bridal hair,” she explains.
Sitting down on the small bench that Runa brought into the center of the room to replace the bathtub before the seeress can even run the comb through my hair once, the bedroom door flies open and two gorgeous teenagers stand in front of me.
“Sylvi and Oili,” I say with a smile, as soon as my eyes lock in on them.
I know exactly who they are, they look like Aaric and Fiske, except instead of exceptionally handsome, they are out of this world gorgeous.
The taller one tilts her head to the side and rapidly speaks. Hillevi softly replies, but I can’t understand any of them.
“Sylvi wants to know how you know their names,” the seeress translates.
“Aaric told me about them and about their brother, Tait.”
Their eyes widen and then the younger one, Oili, I deduct smiles. She takes a step forward and leans in closer to me. Her lips turn up into a big smile before she speaks.
The seeress laughs. “Oili wants to know how on earth your hair is that color, did you dip it in flames?”
My eyes widen, then I let out a laugh. My pain starts to ebb as I spend the day getting to know Aaric’s little sisters.