Chapter 13

FUNNY HOW the cold didn't seem to bother him when he stepped back out into it. His collar was still damp and the waistband of his trousers was already soaking through his shirt, but he didn't feel any of it. Clean and warm and relatively dry, and smelling of soap instead of dirt, Wil stepped back out into the yard with a happy sigh. The stew and bread had filled his belly almost to the point of lethargy as he'd lounged in the tub, and the beer, combined with the heat of the fire as he'd sat beside it and waited for his clothes to dry, had sent him into a light doze right there in the bathhouse. He'd have to watch himself in the common room; it wouldn't do to fall asleep there.

He spotted Miri on his way through to the yard, where she was chivvying Tom as he scrubbed out the cauldron, but she stopped as he sauntered by, peering up at him with a grin and a teasing whistle. "Cor, look how pretty he is under all that!" She gave Tom a bit of a nudge with her elbow.