Chapter Four: Stream

The stream filled the air with the sounds of rushing water hitting rocks. It was clear enough I could see the fish swimming slowly in the direction of the current, taking their sweet time to get to wherever they were going. The sunrise casts a gleam over the water through the thick shade of the trees above. This was as good of a place as any to bath, considering fighting over who got to have the bathroom next at the brothel sounded about as appealing as having my arm chewed off by a rabid beast.

I sat my change of clothes on a patch of grass by the bank before slowly trudging out my slip-on shoes. The ground was cool against my feet, the sand mushing in around them from being soggy with water. Next to do was the thin gown that I despised just as much as the rose stench it was encased in.

The fabric brushed my shoulder as it lowered to the ground in a circle around my feet. The water was freezing realizing just why the fish were swimming so slowly. Inch by antagonizing inch I eased myself off into the stream in nothing but my thin undergarments that did little to protect my body from the cold water. This stream must be running off a cold spring for it to remain at this temperature despite the summer sun beating down on it.

Eventually, I work my way to my hips deciding it would be best to go under in one big motion instead of suffering inch by inch. Kind of like ripping a bandaid off.

I squeeze my eyes shut tight and fall into the water. The cold rushed around me stealing my breath away and making me tempted to open my mouth but knowing it would drown me. When I merged from the water I heard the clicking of horsefeet digging into the mud.

Hot panic raced up my spine, ridding any chill I had from the water. Before I could even contemplate what to do the horses were at the edge of the bank and I was stuck in this water unless I wanted three Fae Warrior men to see me in nothing but my frail, nearly see-through undergarments.

The one in the front was noticeably larger than the other two, I don't think I had ever seen a Fae so large in my life. Not in my visions, not even in the history books I read as a child. He looks vaguely familiar even though I know if I would have seen his face before I would have distinctly remembered considering it had a long jagged scar running nearly from his head to his chin. The flesh wasn't pink and angry look as it would have been on a Mortal, it was white with a small gleam to it.

His hair was dark brown, so dark it could be mistaken for black if he wasn't standing in a ray of sunshine. It held a bit more volume than normal, something I had never seen on a Fae.

It didn't take long for their eyes to turn my way and I wish this freezing stream would gobble me up whole at this point. Maybe they would ignore me entirely, considering that's what most Fae do to Servants in town.

I don't recall ever seeing Warriors this close to town before, they normally stuck to the outer wall in camps, what had forced them to come in?

Commander Haldis won a great battle last century, it seems he's facing another war soon.

A part of Professor Pines's lecture stuck out with the question and perhaps they were here seeking refuge while they wait on the threat to pass, or at least as they wait for a better time to strike.

The Mortal Quarters seems like a bit of a stretch for that reality though.

"Since when did Mortals start bathing in Dalis Stream?" That warrior to the left of the giant man says curiosity reigning in his voice as he unsaddles his chocolate-colored horse. Even their horses were bigger than ours, by at least a head height. Even though they looked just alike I knew these horses were made with a thicker coax meant for arrows flying through the air and stronger enough to support this beast of a man on top of them while they do so.

"I'm not riding to town, especially with the brothel we're staying in a few miles away." The second Warrior hops down from his horse with a huff of impatience.

Brothel? They're staying in?

"General is still thinking about beating your ass for that one too." They started to undo their armor letting it clank at their feet with loud thuds and I spin around, my breath leaving my lips quickly.

They were ignoring I was here, ignoring the fact that I was in nothing but my undergarments, and even though I wasn't born a high-class lady, one of the women that served the royals I still had decency and morals.

Who was I to tell them not to bathe here? They would liable just laugh in my face or worse drown me for being so forceful with my words. Not many people would miss me, the woman at the brothel would worry, and my sister would know I was gone until at least a year later.

"Do you have no manners?" His voice was deep and deadly as he shunned the other two. The sound of it vibrated down my spine to my two as they curl into the rocks below. There was something different about this man, something that edged itself in the back of my mind with chains preventing it from coming loose.

"Oh come on now, don't give us that tone. The girl doesn't mind. We will be in and out before she's even done bathing." The sound of clothes hitting the ground let me know that the question of their morals didn't stop them.

I stared out at the vast grove of trees as they made their way into the water not even so much as hissing from the cold temperature.

"This feels nice." He grunts as the water splashes around behind me.

"We don't bite, feel free to keep bathing." Keep bathing? As three Warrior men stood a few yards behind me in clear view of my backside, I had a chance that they would see everything with me crouched down this way, but I didn't have the tough skin like theirs, I would freeze in this stream, catch hypothermia if I wasn't careful.

I turn around to face them as they were all submerged in the water trying not to feel intimidated but it was hard with their mere size of them. They were all stunningly beautiful but the one that called to my soul was thrilling to look at without a shirt.

I was only twenty-one, and there were never a lot of men lining up to sleep with me considering my visions started occurring when I was nothing more than four years old. That fact never bothered me because I didn't crave a man's touch but now what ai would give to run one measly Mortal finger down his chest and over his taunt abs.

The thought process scared me and I quickly looked away towards the bank where my soap lay beside my clothes. "Wait ill get it."

The smallest Warrior with red hair offered as he swam up to the bank snagging my soap and tossing it my way.

I caught it swiftly, my palms tingling with the force of the throw. I hiss slightly and shake my hand to rid the sting from it. "Great going, moron. 'Bout dislocated her fingers." The slick blonde-haired Fae snickered.

"Thank you." I hated my voice for coming out weak, I wasn't a meek silence flimsy Mortal. I had struggled and fought my whole life to survive and to keep my sister safe, I spent a year and a half in hell. That wasn't me but I could help how inferior their presence made me feel even if they weren't being mean or rude to me. Just the size and sheer strength of them intimidated me.

"Your clothes reek of roses." The redhead comments scrunching up his nose in protest.

"I'd get used to it, considering your staying at the brothel." The comment slid past my pips before I could weigh the consequences of them. This statement let them know where I live and made them assume I was a harlot.

"You're a Harlot?" The question came from the large man stationed in the back as he spread soap all over his wet skin. I stood up, my breast barely covered by the thin white bra bobbing above the water.

I wet the soap swishing it between each hand to get bubbles to form. "No." My eyebrows pull together at the disgust for the thought, not that I thought the woman at the brothel was disgusting just that I thought me as a harlot was disgusting. Letting men slide between my thighs as they pleased didn't appeal to me at all considering I had never had a man's touch, to begin with.

"Not a harlot but staying at a brothel?" The blonde questioned in puzzlement as he proceeded to wash.

I lather on the bubble starting with my wrist and working my way up my arm. The act was simple enough but I felt his gaze burning into my pale skin almost making me shaky enough to lose the soap in the water. I tightened my grip.

"I rent a room there." This didn't change their expressions, so I felt compelled to add. "With silver, not services."

Why was it that these Warriors were more courteous to Mortals than the Fae uptown? You would figure that they would be the more ruthless of them, willing us as beings not fit to rule ourselves.

"Well, you can lead us there then considering that's where we're quartering." I glance between the three of them lingering on the biggest one for a little longer than the rest.

"Okay."

We wash in silence and the whole time I'm scrubbing my body I feel his gaze on every movement I make. It was overwhelming but it made my skin warm and tingle. They were friendly enough for me not to be scared of them but just big enough that I still couldn't fully relax.

They were quartering here, which meant something was a mist outside of the wall.

The wall that soldiers hadn't quartered in for centuries.