Lochlan lifted Brea down from the horse—like she couldn’t possibly dismount a horse on her own—and instead of setting her on the ground he carried her to a small wooded area offering the only shade she’d seen all day. A small lake shimmered in the sunlight.
“What are you doing?” She gasped as he tied her hands together and wrapped the rope around a tree. “Are you even serious right now?” She kicked him hard in the shins.
“Did you just kick me?” A brow arched over his dark blue eyes.
“Come here so I can do it again,” Brea growled.
“Do not ever kick me again or you will regret it.” He turned to address his men.
“Lochlan, don’t you dare leave me tethered to a tree like a dog!” Brea stomped her foot, itching to kick him where it really hurt. He ignored her, directing his men to make camp around her as he walked away to help.
Once the tents were ready, Lochlan finally returned.
“You’re a jerk.” Brea shoved her wrists in his face.
“And you stink.” He tossed her pack and a cake of soap at her feet. “If I have to ride with you for the next two days, you will at least smell better.” He released the knot around the tree, giving her a longer tether before he secured her to the tree again and moved her restraints from her wrists to her waist.
“Release me. Now.” Brea slapped him hard across the face and immediately regretted it.
His eyes flashed with carefully controlled anger. “Go clean the swamp stink off.” He pointed toward the lake, just in reach of her leash.
“I won’t escape.” Brea’s face flamed with fury—the lack of her magic more obvious than before. “But I will not bathe in front of you and your men.”
“Trust me, no one will be looking. Fae do not get caught up in the idiocy of human modesty. It’s time you abandon your human tendencies.”
“I’m part human, you jerk.” She kicked a clot of dirt at his face. “And I’m a really good swimmer.” She yanked at the knot around her waist.
“You couldn’t escape even if you wanted to.” Lochlan gave her an arrogant smirk. “We’re surrounded by desert. You’d die of exposure before you could find help. And that knot isn’t going anywhere.”
“Well, if there’s nothing but desert around us, then why bother tying me up at all?” Brea lifted her chin in defiance.
“To teach you a lesson in humility. Now go before I throw you in the lake and bathe you myself.” He turned his back on her.
Brea snatched up her pack and the soap and stomped to the edge of the water. He was right, she couldn’t even get her fingers around the magical knot at her waist. If she wasn’t so incredibly dirty, she’d refuse to take a bath, but she also didn’t want to see if Loch would follow through with his threat to bathe her himself.
Her face flaming with humiliation, she cast a glance over her shoulder to find not one soldier looking her way. She quickly shed her clothes and slipped into the cool, refreshing water until she was up to her neck. The water was crystal clear, and for once she didn’t fear what evils might lurk beneath the surface.
Brea frowned as she worked the soap up into a lather. Everything in Fargelsi was beautiful on the surface with vile and all manner of evil things lying in wait just out of sight. Loch Villandi. The fountain. Magic-blocking Gelsi berries. Beautiful but poisonous flowers, and a vicious queen who spouted lies and played with lives. So far, Eldur seemed to be exactly what it appeared. A hot, dry desert kingdom without the first dragon sighting. Maybe they lived with the queen and guarded the palace? One could hope.
Just as she was rinsing the last of the caked mud from her hair, something tugged at her waist and she went slicing through the water like a fish on a line.
“What is your problem?” Brea sputtered, trying to shield herself in the shallow water.
“Bath time’s over.” Lochlan dropped a linen blanket on the ground and turned his back.
”You know, you could learn a thing or two from your brother.” Brea snatched the blanket and wrapped it around herself several times. “He may have lied to me—and that is unforgivable—but at least he’s a decent person.”
“Griffin is many things, but decent isn’t one of them.” He tugged on her leash, nearly dragging her into his tent. “Get dressed.”
Brea stumbled into the larger tent, grasping for her anger and the magic that normally came with it, but it was gone. And just when she really wanted to use it.
“Stupid handsome blond jerk-face.” Brea let out a string of curses that would have gotten her grounded at home.
“I heard that,” Lochlan called just outside the tent.
Brea stuck her head through the flaps. “I meant for you to!” She called him a few more names.
“Lady Brea!” Finn sounded shocked. “I’ve never heard a noble woman curse like that.”
“You meant to call me handsome, Lady Brea?” Lochlan and a few of his soldiers laughed.
Brea shoved her arms through the soft tunic Neeve had made for her, grateful someone took the time to wash her things after her trip through the swamp. Slipping on her leggings and shoving her feet into her boots, Brea stomped through the tent flaps.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Lochlan. Stay away from me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t even look at me.”
“If you’ll be quiet, you’ve got yourself a deal, my Lady.” Lochlan smirked up at her from where he lounged in the shade.
“Hungry?” Finn offered her a bowl of stew and a chunk of dry bread.
“Starving.” Brea accepted the meal and returned to the tent.
“It’s going to be hot in there, Brea,” Lochlan called. “I’d hate for you to have to take another bath.”
Brea kicked the tent flaps aside and sat down under the shade beside Finn. “What did I just say?” She shot a glare at Lochlan before she turned away, determined to pretend he didn’t exist.
Brea could feel Lochlan moving around the tent in the early hours just before dawn. She hadn’t slept at all in the muggy hot space. Rolling over to face him, she regretted it instantly. Naked once again with his back to her, beads of water rolled down his lean body after a dip in the lake.
“Jeeze, Loch, put some clothes on.” She rolled away.
“That is what I’m doing.” She heard the rustle of his clothes as he dressed. “Most ladies find my form appealing. Do you not?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not at all. I am simply trying to understand your odd human behavior.”
“I am seventeen years old, Lochlan. In the human world you could get arrested for exposing yourself to someone my age.”
“I am only a few years older than you.” He sounded like he didn’t think any of this was odd.
“You’ll have to excuse me if I find it odd to wake up to a naked fae butt in my face first thing in the morning.”
“But you will be of age soon. How does a few weeks make a difference in your world?”
“It just does. And how do you know I’m almost eighteen?” She had no idea what the date was, and with the weird fae calendar added into the mix, she didn’t know when her birthday was, only that it was soon.