The Thief and Prince

Chapter 10: Prove It

Long chapter, sorry! Hope you enjoy! I'm just about done with college (only need to take my finals now and ya girl is graduated) so I should have a lot more free time on my hands to write!

I wince as I sink down in the steaming hot water, causing the few cuts and bruises I have earned with sparring with Amiri to burn. Leaning back, I rest my head on the edge of the small stone pool of the public bath and exhale slowly, getting accustomed to the temperature.

"I couldn't tell you the last time I had a proper bath, much less a warm one at that," I tell Laria, looking across the water. Soaps swirl around her breasts, lapping at her smooth skin. Her eyes are closed and, taking this time to enjoy the small moment of luxury.

Nodding, she slowly opens them. "Aye. It's been a generous length of time for me too," she replies, letting out a yawn. It echoes off the stone walls of the bath house before silence takes its place again, amplifying the fact that it is just the two of us here. Either the women of this city have already bathed, there aren't enough in this town to catch one in its bath house, none can afford it—or a mixture of all three—has left the place all to ourselves.

Taking my time, I scrub every square inch of my body with the fragrant soap and repeat a second time for good measure. I then wash my hair and lather it with a conditioning solution that was left for us as well, leaving my hair as soft as silk when I rinse everything out.

Laria sighs and sit's up, having already washed herself long before I got here. "What are you going to do later this evening?" she asks me curiously.

Shrugging my shoulders, I turn sideways on the small ledge that acts as a built in seat and prop my elbow onto the edge of the pool. The cool stone is a welcomed difference in temperature compared to the steaming water and soothes my skin, tempting me to leave the bath completely. "I really don't know. There doesn't seem like there is much to do around here unless you are into gambling or whore houses, so probably just get something to eat and go to bed early if I can," I say. Catching up on some sleep sounds rather nice.

With a nod of her head, she stands up and steps out of the pool, grabbing a towel to dry off. I follow suit and grab two—one for my hair and one for my body. Wrapping my hair in a twist with the towel, I dry off. "Are you alright?" I ask, noticing that she's mostly kept to herself since our arrival.

Sighing, she finishes drying off and begins to get dressed in a fresh pair of clothes. "You're very observant, I'll give you that," she begins with a crooked grin, "But it's him, Amiri. I just know that he's going to waste his money on women tonight visiting one of the many brothels we passed today."

Nodding, I too get dressed, slipping on a fresh pair of grey tights and a long sleeved navy blue tunic. As I lace up my boots, I look over at her meeting her gaze, "Laria, I know it's not the wasted coin you are worried about," I state.

Letting out a huff, she runs a large hand through her short blond hair, "You know too damn well it's not. That man...he drives me crazy—in both excitingly new ways and frustrating ways. If there was just some switch I could hit to turn these emotions off," she says with a shake of her head. "I envy those girls he chooses to be with and I don't even know why. Sure he's handsome and charming at times, but there's something more about him that I just can't ignore."

Standing up, we drape our used towels over the drying rack and leave our old clothes in the basket which Gigi—the young girl that works here—had mentioned she would wash for us. "Forgive me for being bold, but it appears you fancy him and wish to be with him. If that is the case, why not make it known? You'll save yourself a lot of heartache," I suggest.