Page 39 of Lady Knight and the Thief

Staring at the side of his face, Cypress merely drawled, “I knew this bath was a trap.”

Torren hadn’t noticed her yet, but when Cypress spoke, his cheeks darkened as he spun around, holding his cloak up to block his view. “I had no idea you were still in the bath, Lass. You have to believe me,” he said once his back was to her, though Cypress did not miss the desperate grasp of his crotch as Torren whirled around.

“I know, thief. Your manhood is safe.”

Torren deflated comically, so much so that Cypress was unable to hold back the “For now,” warning.

“You are a cruel thing, Lass, you know that?”

“You’re the one intruding on my bath, Thief.”

“Well. When you put it that way. I’ll leave you to it,” Torren said, then made to leave the partitioned area around the bath.

“That would be appreciated,” Cypress drawled at his receding form.

Alone again, Cypress left the warmth of the bath and quickly dried her body. Then she ran a comb made of pearly white bone through her hair, wrapped the lengths in the drying cloth, and donned the soft robe.

When Cypress was dressed once more, or at least as much as she was willing to be while lacking other clean options, she gathered her dirty clothes and emerged from the bathing area.

Torren was reading something at the desk and glanced over at her for the briefest of moments.

“Do we have somewhere I can wash these?” Cypress asked, pointing toward the pile of clothes in her arms.

“Call for a Small Folk. They love to clean.”

“You want me to ask another person to clean my undergarments for me?”

“I do,” Torren said without turning from the desk or the parchment in his hands.

Cypress sighed. “Alright. How do I call for them?”

Torren whistled, and with a smallpop, one of the Small Folk appeared in the midst of the tent.

“You called, sir?”

“Clean and mend Lady Cypress’s clothes, please. She will need them on the morrow when we disembark for A'aravos Paravale."

“Certainly, sir,” The Small Folk said with a bow, then turned to Cypress and said, “I’ll take those from you, miss.”

“Thank you,” Cypress murmured, suddenly unsure what to do with her hands now that they were empty.

The Small Folk nodded, then disappeared with a crack, leaving Cypress and Torren alone once more.

“If ye don’t mind, Lass, I’ll be taking a bath as well. Don’t be going around relieving me of my manhood now, understand?”

“I told you, your manhood is safe for now,” Cypress retorted, then asked with an arched brow, “You’re going to bathe in my dirty water?”

Torren pulled a face. “Eugh, no! One of the Small Folk would have taken care of draining and cleaning the tub, as well as refilling it and stoking the flames for me by now.”

Cypress nodded. Even though Torren gave out orders, he was never impolite about it. “Can I ask you something?”

Torren chuckled. “You already have, but I suppose another question won’t hurt.”

Cypress glared at him before asking, “What is your role here? I know you are royalty among the Fair Folk, but do you rule?

“It is not as simple to define it asruling,” Torren shrugged. Then, after a moment, he added, “I just try to keep these people safe.”

“And what about the killings? If entire villages are being burned, what are you, or Faerie, going to do about that?”