The vigorous boiling of the soup and the struggle of the vapour to throw away the lid grabbed Aeloria's attention from the terrible memory of the mysterious man in black.
"The food is almost ready now, it just needs to be left on the fire for a few heartbeats," Aeloria announced, but Rya only stared at her with her head still resting on the table, her eyes half-closed from exhaustion.
Aeloria took the pot of boiling water from the second fire beside the soup, walked towards Rya, circled around the dining table to the corner where a large curtain covered a tiny space. She set the hot water down and pulled the curtain aside, revealing a wooden bathtub.
"Come to think of it," Rya said, her voice slow and tired, "where did you get clothes and some of the things to use, living this deep in the woods?"
Both she and Enoch stared at Aeloria.
"My mom goes to the town towards the sunset…" Enoch answered proudly, pointing in the direction where the sun always sets.
"You mean west," Rya corrected, lifting her head a little.
"Yes, there's a town there. She buys clothes and things, she sometimes takes me with her," Enoch said happily.
"Say, Enoch," Rya called.
"Yes, elder sister," the boy replied, eyes bright with expectation.
"Why are you livin—"
Rya swallowed the rest of the words the instant she saw the look on Aeloria's face.
It was a look that said she would be eaten alive if she finished that sentence. A warning sharp as a blade. Rya understood immediately.
"You were saying, elder sister?" Enoch asked again, completely unaware of his mother's predatory glare.
"I was wondering what you think the food is going to taste like."
'What was that? When she glared at me, I felt a suffocating pressure like how my mother often looked at me, except this one was more savage, like…'
Enoch's cheerful voice cut through her thoughts.
"My mom's food is always the best. It always tastes great, you'll see!"
Aeloria poured the boiling water into the bathtub and walked back around the table. This time she didn't look at Rya even once.
I seem to have offended her, Rya thought, guilt heavy in her chest.
"Irene, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I shouldn't have asked. My curiosity got the better of me," Rya said quickly as the woman who always wore a smile passed with a frown.
But Aeloria stopped at the apology.
"It's fine," she said, and the smile returned, real and warm this time, "so long as you don't do it again."
'I'm sure she is a noble. Beautiful, I noticed as I took off her dress earlier that it was very expensive, yet she apologised so easily. Most nobles would rather lose a limb than admit a mistake.'
"Elder sister did something bad?" Enoch asked, his head tilted, still oblivious to everything.
"Yes," Rya answered, ruffling his hair gently, "but Auntie forgave me."
"Come," Aeloria called from the curtained alcove.
Rya looked up. Aeloria was already mixing the hot water with the cooler water already in the tub, bringing the temperature down from scalding to warm.
"Huh?" standing, Rya asked in surprise
"You've never bathed by yourself before, right? I'll help you."
'How did she know?'
Rya walked over with hesitant steps. She had always had the head maid, Mira, by her side; bathing, dressing, even choosing which gown to wear—someone else had always done it for her.
"Don't worry," Aeloria said, her voice soft and kind. "I'll help you and teach you how to bathe."
She invited Rya closer and closed the curtain. Enoch sat patiently at the table, legs swinging, waiting for his own turn.
Rya let the grey gown fall to the floor. She stepped into the warm water.
The warm water closed around her aching body and every muscle sighed in relief. Fatigue, fear, bad memories, perhaps even a few sins, all seemed to lift away with the steam.
'It feels so good… and the scent…'
"Irene?" Rya called quietly, sinking until the water touched her chin.
"Yes dear, what's on your mind?"
"The water smells really nice. Did you put something inside?"
"Oh, you noticed? It's mechnilla herbs. Very rare herbs that are difficult to acquire anywhere else, but luckily they're not hard to find around here. They help repel body odour and leave this good scent."
"Wow… I had no idea. No wonder you always have a welcoming scent around you."
"Of course you don't," Aeloria said gently, dipping the cloth into the water and working soap into it. "My grandmother was the one who taught me how to use them."
She took Rya's right arm with the same care one gives something fragile and began to clean it in slow, gentle circles.
"Watch carefully," Aeloria said, "because from tomorrow onward you'll be bathing yourself."
"Okay… I'm in your care then," Rya answered, her cheeks pink.
Aeloria worked gently but quickly, showing every step: how to wet the cloth, how much soap to use, how to scrub without hurting the skin, how to rinse properly. When she finished, she handed the cloth to Rya.
"Now you do the same."
Rya followed every motion with nervous concentration. To Aeloria's quiet surprise, she copied it perfectly on the first try.
"Wow," Aeloria said with genuine admiration in her voice. "I'm impressed. You did it to perfection on your very first attempt. You really are fast learner."
She asked Rya to stand, then lifted a bowl of cool water and poured it slowly over her head, washing away the last of the soap foam in gentle streams. Rya stepped out of the tub into the soft bath slippers Aeloria had laid ready. Aeloria wrapped a light drying towel around her and began patting her skin dry.
She stopped mid-motion.
'So all this time she was covered in layers of dirt? To think what I mistook for a skin colour was dirt.
Even like that she was breathtaking.
Now that every single trace has been washed away… she's…'
"Is something the matter?" Rya asked, tilting her head, completely unaware of her own beauty.
Aeloria blinked, then smiled. "It's just… I was amazed by just how beautiful you are."
"Really? Thank you," Rya said shyly, wrapping the towel tighter around herself.
Aeloria opened the small clay tube that ran from the bottom of the tub to a ditch outside and let the used water drain away with a soft gurgle.
She led Rya back to the bedroom. Enoch watched them pass with a bored expression, his stomach rumbling loud enough for the whole house to hear. Aeloria knew exactly what that look meant even if he didn't say it.
He was hungry.
"Food will be ready in a moment," she promised. "Just hold out a little longer, dear."
Enoch nodded solemnly and went back to swinging his legs.
A few minutes later the two women stepped out of the bedroom. Rya now wore a simple but elegant black gown that hugged her frame and made her pale skin glow. The contrast was striking.
Enoch's eyes went wide.
"Elder sister is a ghost," he declared, "but she is good and nice like Mom."
Aeloria laughed softly as she walked to the tub to rinse it and close the drainage tube.
"He means you have smooth, perfect skin and you look breathtaking."
"Thank you, Enoch," Rya said, her cheeks pink again.
"Your turn, dear," Aeloria called, already mixing fresh hot water with cold for the second bath.
"Okay!" Enoch replied and hurried over, already pulling at his tunic.
It didn't take long. A quick scrub, a rinse, and Enoch was dressed again in clean clothes, his hair still damp and sticking up in every direction.
Soon all three were bathed, dressed, and gathered around the small dining table. The food steamed in wooden bowls: boiled potatoes cut into thick chunks, rich rabbit-and-mushroom soup, and a smaller bowl of cooked forest snails glistening in herb butter.
Rya was almost drooling.
The night she fled Runevale, Michael that idiot had looked at her with the most serious face she had ever seen on him and said he had something very important to tell her. She had lost her appetite that night and barely touched her plate, wondering what he was going to tell her tomorrow. She had fled the the day after the next morning on an empty stomach, surviving only on wild grapes and a few sour berries ever since.
Now, sitting in front of real cooked food, her stomach growled loud enough to embarrass her.
They closed their eyes, clasped their hands, and spoke the old words together.
"A great gratitude to you for the food given to us."
Then they ate.
"This is incredible," Rya said after the first spoonful. "Enoch was right. It tastes really good."
"Glad you like it," Aeloria said quietly. "I learned the recipe from a friend. Her name was Yoru."
"Was?" Rya asked, surprise softening her voice.
"Yes," Aeloria answered, gaze dropping to her bowl. "She passed away. It was my fault. She was… a very nice person."
The table went quiet for a moment. Rya wanted to ask more—she could feel the weight behind those words—but the shadow in Aeloria's eyes stopped her.
"Could you maybe teach me how to make it next time?" Rya asked instead, changing the subject with a gentle smile.
Aeloria's expression brightened. "Of course. We still have plenty of the ingredients left. I'll teach you later."
Enoch was too busy devouring his second bowl to join the conversation, his cheeks stuffed like a squirrel.
While the three of them ate in companionable quiet, far beyond the protective ring of mist that hid the little house, something dark was already moving through the forest.
Deep in the woods, a young man swung down from his horse.
He had an athletic build and looked to be in his late teens, twin golden daggers gleamed at his hips, the wolf crest of Runevale shining on his cloak clasp.
He walked toward the circle of corpses that had once been a full company of soldiers.
"Lord Javier," one of his scouts reported in a tight voice, "it looks like they were devoured by some kind of wild beast. They didn't even have a chance to figh—"
Javier's dagger flashed from its sheath and pressed against the scout's throat before the sentence finished.
"I don't recall asking for your opinion," he said with a cold unfriendly look.
The scout swallowed, sweat rolling down his face.
'Just because he's the commander's son, he thinks he's on cloud nine,' the man thought, but he bowed and retreated without another word.
Javier crouched beside one of the bodies, turning the ruined helmet over with the tip of his dagger.
"You're right, though," he murmured. "They were devoured. But no ordinary beast did this. Look: every bite taken only to kill. Barely any flesh actually eaten. Precise. Angry."
He stood, narrowing his eyes.
"Aeloria the Cannibal.
It seems I'll finally get to meet my rogue aunt.
I hope we don't end up as enemies."