the stone walls, and a window is open, showing thick, wavy glass to keep out the cold and revealing a gorgeous view of the mountains. A woman sits near them and gets to her feet when we arrive.
“My ladies,” she says, sinking to the floor in a deep bow and Aron’s gesture. “I am told you are Aron’s property. This will be your home while you honor Novoro with your presence.”
I glance behind us as the doors close, leaving Yulenna and me alone with the woman and the servant girl. Markos and the others are stationed just outside, but I can’t shake my unease. Maybe it’s because I’m so far away from Aron that I feel a faint tingle humming through my body. This is the first time in a while that he’s left my side and I’m not a fan of it. Not one bit.
“Thank you,” Yulenna says in her most arch, haughty voice. “This is Faith, Aron’s concubine.” She gestures at me and then sweeps her cloak off. “We will be staying in this room together, so my lord Aron will not be inconvenienced.”
“Of course, the woman says, bowing her head again. “I am Lady Garline, Lord Secuban’s wife and mistress of Novoro. What we have is yours. We will be honored to share with the gods and hope they will share with us in return.”
“I’m sure that is for Aron to decide,” Yulenna says sweetly.
“You must be tired,” Lady Garline says. “And dirty. Let me have my women draw hot baths for you both and get you fresh clothes.”
“Oh,” I blurt out. “Our clothes are with the woales—”
“No, honored guest,” Lady Garline continues, putting up her hands. “In Novoro, we share everything with our guests and hope they will honor us in the same fashion. You will wear my finest gowns this night. I imagine they are much warmer than anything you have.” And she beams at us, as if the thought of two strangers in her clothes is all she’s ever wanted. “You will want to be fresh and pretty for my lord Aron and the feast, will you not? To show him honor?”
Boy, they sure like tossing around the “honor” word. Maybe these people have a cleanliness thing. Yulenna just nods and then Lady Garline sweeps away, her clothes dusting the cold stone floors. “I will return shortly with my ladies.”
“We’ll be here,” I joke. It could be worse.
The moment they leave, Yulenna turns to me and clutches my hands tightly. "Faith, please don't make me go to the feast."
I'm surprised at her question, but I didn't miss the way the men leered at us as we came in. There's real fear on her pretty face, and coming from someone who's a concubine, I can't imagine that she would get skittish over nothing. "Of course not," I tell her. "You're the anchor of the Lord of Storms as far as they know. You can do what you want."
She shakes her head, her grip on my hands tightening. "They will want me at his side. Or he might give up the lie and tell everyone I am a useless concubine." Her eyes brim with tears. "I am afraid. I do not have the protection of the god's claim on my body like I did before. Please, Faith."
My old friend guilt returns, and I give her hand a reassuring squeeze. "As far as they know, I'm the concubine. If they want Aron to have company, I'll go volunteer to sit at his side and look pretty." I don't point out that I'm secretly glad, because I don't like the thought of Yulenna having to fawn all over Aron at dinner while I sit somewhere nearby. I don't want her to touch him, and I'm startled at my own possessiveness. "Besides, if you hide out up here, they'll probably just think that Aron's protecting his anchor from any that would hurt her."
Her expression brightens, and one perfect tear slips down her perfect cheek. "Do you truly think so?"
"I do. Don't stress, okay? Let's just enjoy a bath and try not to worry too much."
Unfortunately for me, I think about Tadekha's citadel, and how that turned out. I had a bath there after I arrived and then shit went to hell.
I think of how I fondled Aron.
And I think about my dream of Aron earlier today.
Man, that fortune teller was straight up wrong when she said the King of Pentacles was gonna be my lover. I keep offering and