inside of her lip. She certainly wouldn’t call it obvious. But as much as she wanted to continue raging against him, he made it really hard to follow up on.
She released a portion of her tension in a breath. “You can sleep in the bathroom.”
“Thank you.”
A noise like a hissing snake abruptly sounded, making Kira jump. She darted for the bathroom door.
Ryon stood over the basin, washing his hands in a stream of water that poured from the strange implement on the wall. Kira watched, dumbfounded, as the water splashed into the basin and disappeared into the hole at its bottom. They must have water pipes in the walls. It’s just like the diagrams from the tribal scrolls!
A smirk curved across Ryon’s face. “Never seen indoor plumbing before?”
“I’ve heard of it.” Kira smoothed her expression. “Just never understood how the water could be pressurized to flow at will, and how the pressure could be controlled so the pipes wouldn’t burst.”
Ryon lifted a dripping hand to his shoulder, and Kira realized he must have thrown his cloak over his wound when she approached. As curious as she was, she appreciated the gesture. She had seen enough today to make her nauseous already.
“Water is stored at the top of the pyramid and refilled every morning. Because it’s higher up, it falls through the pipes when a breach is opened.” Ryon winced and brought his hand back down into the stream, where it swirled brown. “There’s a device in the pipe that controls the water pressure so the stop doesn’t burst the pipes.”
He regarded her with curiosity in his eyes, which Kira noticed were more brown than the glowing orange they had been when they’d first met. “You’re pretty sharp to ask about stuff like that.”
Kira looked away, preferring to inspect the oddities on the wall instead. One that looked like a knob must have controlled the water flow as he described. “Do the Katrosi have technology like this as well?”
“No. Well, not in most buildings. I mean, we could, but it’s not a priority. Katrosi architecture is different—it would require different designs. It’s easier for the Emberhawk to forge all the pieces because so many of them are elementalists.” Ryon peeked under his cloak and reached a dripping hand for his chest. “You must be a serious gear-head to like traps and indoor plumbing and whatnot.”
He knows about my traps? How many times did he trespass on our land? Kira stepped back and leaned against the door. Well . . . I guess I did put the vast majority of them on his side of the border.
“So you’re Emberhawk by blood, but you chose to join the Katrosi tribe?”
Ryon spluttered and looked up at her with a slack jaw. “What?”
His bewilderment was amusing. Kira raised an eyebrow.
“I . . .” Ryon turned back to the basin, watching the dark whirlpool run until it became clear again. “I wouldn’t call it a choice, although I’m happy to be where I am now.” His reflection in the mirror seemed pensive, like a version of himself that was lost to an alternate time.
“Are you one of the Jade Witch’s spies?” Kira murmured.
Stoicism fell over Ryon’s face like a storm front. “I’m not a spy.”
“Are you an assassin?”
“No.” Ryon quickened his pace with stiff movements. “Listen, I know you don’t believe me, but please be careful around these people. At the very least, they’re breaking the law by being here.”
“Yeah, and you’ve never broken any laws.” Kira crossed her arms. “Did you get a chance to look around?”
“Yeah, a little bit. Waelyn caught me snooping, so I stopped. I didn’t find anything incriminating, but that doesn’t mean they’re innocent.”
Kira rolled her eyes. “Sure, I’ll keep a really sharp eye on the cheerful, old blind man. He’ll probably be the next one who claims we’re married and tries to get a room with me.”
Ryon grimaced and slowly turned the knob, easing the water to a trickle. “Look, I’m sorry for stealing from your future husband, if that’s how you see it. But it would be unjust for Lillian to hold that against you.”
Kira frowned. Not like the water goddess being unjust would be a first. “You mentioned getting me a carriage from Jadenvive to Navarro, right? Good thing you’re not going to tag along, because my papa and brothers would beat the tar out of you if I told them.”
“Well, maybe they’d be happy that I brought you home in one piece before they beat my tar,