After five minutes Faie burst into the bathroom.

  “You have a bath, and you didn’t tell me!”

  Illara jerked, arms crossing over her chest as water rippled against the sides. “Can you please leave. Can’t you see this room is busy.”

  Colour climbed her cheeks and did not stop.

  Faie scoffed. “Pfft. I’m a woman too. Your nudity doesn’t make me uncomfortable.”

  “It’s making Illara uncomfortable,” I said. “If you leave now, we can run you a fresh warm bath in five minutes. You can have it to yourself.”

  Faie considered this, head tilting slightly, then nodded, satisfied. As she turned, Sera’s face appeared around the doorframe.

  “Oh. That’s where you both are. I’d like a turn in the bath too, please. Just Ash and me.”

  “Fine,” Illara said quickly. “But please leave. We’re getting out now and we’d like some privacy.”

  “Ok, got it.” Sera vanished at once. Faie followed, though she neglected to close the door behind her.

  Illara let out a breath. “Well. I suppose that moment’s over. It was peaceful, at least for a short while.”

  She rose carefully from the bath, water tracing slow lines down her skin. I followed soon after. We found a pair of old towels in the corner, stiff with dust, and dried ourselves as best we could before pulling on our underwear and gathering our clothes.

  Illara lingered only long enough to murmur a purification miracle over the bath, then called for Faie.

  Back in my room I picked my way through piles of books and loose papers and found a simple nightshirt. I changed quickly. Illara followed, slipping into one of her own.

  “I’m going to check on the family and let Faie know the bath is ready,” she said, already sounding tired. “Casting this many miracles is taking it out of me.”

  “I’ll come with you. I want to say goodnight to everyone.”

  Illara’s eyebrow rose. “Are you sure you’re wearing enough?”

  I glanced down. “I think so. Everything’s covered, and I don’t have any clean clothes anyway.”

  She hesitated, then nodded. “All right.”

  Downstairs Theo sat by the fire, staring into the embers. Ash and Sera were curled together in the corner, whispering quietly. Faie had claimed the armchair like a throne.

  “Ah, good. You’re finally out,” Faie said brightly. “I shall go avail myself of the warm water.” She swept upstairs at once.

  “Well, I’m off to bed,” I said. “Goodnight, all of you.”

  Theo looked up. The moment his eyes found me his expression shifted, a flicker of something shy and startled, before he looked away again.

  “Goodnight,” he said. “Thank you for letting us stay.”

  I retreated up the stairs quickly, suddenly aware of how thin the nightshirt felt. Illara stayed behind, her voice low as she spoke with Theo, while I disappeared into the quiet above.

  I collapsed onto the bed, a flush of embarrassment creeping up on me. I should have taken Illara’s advice and stayed upstairs. I buried my face in the sheets at once and immediately regretted it. The smell was dust and something faintly musty, like a room that had not quite decided whether it was still in use. I lifted my head again and lay on top of the covers instead.

  I tried to focus on the plan. Tomorrow we needed to contact Bassius, then go with him to see the lord. Everything hinged on whether he would take us seriously, and whether he could see us quickly. I did not even know who held that title in this town, an oversight that made me wince. Drisnil would never have been that careless. Or so I told myself.

  I let my thoughts thin out after that, staring at the ceiling until time slipped past me.

  Eventually I heard Illara’s footsteps on the stairs and her knock on the bathroom door.

  “Faie, could you come out please. Ash and Sera are waiting for a turn. And could you make sure the water’s warm again. I can purify it, so you won’t need to empty it.”

  Faie’s voice carried clearly through the door. “You owe me another bath tomorrow night then. I’ve not had nearly enough time to relax properly.”

  I huffed softly to myself. So much for our quiet moment earlier.

  Illara must have waited, because several minutes passed before I heard her knock again. Soon after, Faie’s footsteps thudded down the stairs. A moment later Illara murmured the familiar words of a purification miracle through the door, careful and precise.

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  Illara joined me not long after. She climbed into the bed facing me and, without hesitation, settled herself half on top of me, her head resting against my shoulder, her leg draped across my hip. Her arm slid over my chest, fingers curling lightly into the fabric of my nightshirt, as though she had simply continued what we had started earlier.

  I went still, aware of her warmth, the easy confidence of the contact.

  Footsteps creaked on the stairs again, lighter this time, and Sera’s laughter echoed faintly from the bathroom.

  “I’m glad Ash has found someone,” Illara murmured, her voice low, close enough that I felt the words more than heard them. “But I think I feel a little jealous.”

  Her leg shifted against mine, slow and deliberate this time, a restless movement that did not quite stop. She pressed closer, breath warm against my collarbone, as if waiting to see whether I would move.

  “I am too,” I said quietly. “I still remember him as that frightened little boy in the snow. He’s come a long way.”

  The change in her was immediate.

  Illara’s body stilled, then eased away. She rolled onto her side, turning her back to me, drawing her leg back as though she had only just noticed where it was.

  There was a pause.

  “Can I have a hug?” she asked, softer now, the edge smoothed away.

  I shifted closer and wrapped an arm around her from behind, careful, grounding. She leaned back into the contact, tension leaving her shoulders as she settled against me.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, already drifting.

  Somewhere down the hall water sloshed, then laughter, then quieter sounds that faded again. I lay awake, aware of what she had reached for and what had pulled her back. The closeness remained, changed but not broken.

  I stayed like that until the house finally fell silent.

  I woke to Illara pressed against my back, her arm folded around my waist, her breath warm at my neck. For a moment I stayed still, listening to the quiet of the house. Then, carefully, I eased myself free of her hold and slipped out of bed.

  The problem of clothing presented itself at once. Everything I owned was dirty. It was one of the less glamorous consequences of creating a character without considering the realities of living inside her skin.

  Now that I had some money, the first thing I would do was buy clothes. If I was going to stand before a lord, I needed to look as though I respected the occasion.

  I pulled on the least offensive of my garments, still damp and faintly unpleasant, and crept from the room. I managed the stairs without waking anyone, avoiding the worst of the floorboards by luck rather than skill.

  Downstairs the room was a tangle of sleepers. Faie was curled in the armchair like a cat. Theo lay on the floor near the hearth, wrapped in a blanket. Ash and Sera were together on the far side of the room beneath another. No one stirred.

  I let myself out quietly.

  Morning had already taken hold outside. The air was sharp, early spring still clinging to the night’s cold. A few vendors were already setting up, voices low, breath misting. I bought a pair of meat skewers for a handful of copper and ate as I walked, the warmth settling my stomach.

  Finding a clothes stall took longer. Eventually I came upon a portly man with a thinning crown and a red tunic, his wares stacked in careful piles.

  “Good morning, madam,” he said as I approached. “Looking for something in particular?”

  “I need something respectable,” I said. “Something I can wear around town.”

  He nodded and worked through his stock before producing a pale blue dress. It was simple, but the cut was deliberate.

  “This would suit,” he said. “Plain enough, but it sits well.”

  “May I try it on?”

  “Of course.” He drew a curtain around a corner of the stall. “Go ahead.”

  Changing felt awkward with the sounds of the street so close. When I had the dress on, I discovered the ties at the back were beyond me.

  “Could you help?” I called. “I don’t know how this fastens.”

  He stepped in only after I asked, eyes on the fabric rather than me, and tightened the ribbons with practiced hands.

  “There’s a light corset built into the lining,” he said as he worked. “It supports the chest and shapes the fit. Without proper under support it won’t sit as intended.”

  When he finished, he stepped back. “Turn, if you would.”

  I did. He studied the dress critically.

  “It fits,” he said. “But if you want proper support, you’ll need something underneath. Otherwise the bodice won’t do its job.”

  “That makes sense,” I said. “Do you sell something suitable?”

  “As it happens, yes.”

  He returned with a plain, cream-coloured bra and a matching set of underclothes.

  “The bra is padded,” he explained. “It lifts and supports, helps fill the cut properly. I’ll step out while you try it.”

  Once changed, the difference was obvious. The dress sat more securely, the bodice doing what it had clearly been designed to do.

  He retied the back without comment.

  “That’s better,” he said, then hesitated a moment. “I should warn you, though. The cut draws the eye. Some people will look, whether you want them to or not.”

  I frowned slightly. “I’m not trying to make a statement.”

  “Most aren’t,” he said mildly. “Clothes do it for them.”

  I reached for my cloak. It was already bundled full of my old clothes, tied at the corners to serve as a bag.

  “How much for all of it?” I asked.

  “Two gold.”

  “How about three,” I said, “and you include something more practical as well. Trousers and a top.”

  He considered, then smiled. “Very well. I’ll choose.”

  The extra clothing was plain and serviceable. Brown trousers, a black woollen top, another set of underclothes. Sensible, if not elegant.

  I paid him and changed once more, stuffing everything I owned into the cloak-bundle.

  Outside, the cold bit immediately. With my cloak occupied as a bag, I had no choice but to endure it, the dress offering little protection against the chill.

  As I made my way back towards the tower, I noticed the looks. Curious glances, lingering eyes. More than I was used to.

  The shopkeeper, it seemed, had been right.