Book 3: Chapter 38 (1/2)

“We’re here,” Tafel said as she pushed open the door to the bathroom. Inside, there was a steaming pool with a fountain placed in the center with a statue of a two-headed lion adorning it. Water poured out of the lion’s mouths, crashing into the pool below. Tafel raised an eyebrow at the sight. “Wow. This bath is huge. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged by your clash with Vur.”

Mary nodded. “Good job. You’re useful for something,” she said, causing Tafel’s eye to twitch. The empress walked into the bathroom and leapt into the bath, submerging herself fully. A moment later, her head popped out of the water, and she whipped her hair behind her. “Good temperature.”

Tafel’s expression darkened. “Um…?”

“Yes?” Mary asked as she sat down and leaned back, resting her head against the edge of the bath.

“Your armor,” Tafel said.

Mary looked down. She raised her gauntleted hand out of the water. “What about it? You can’t have it.”

“No,” Tafel said, shaking her head. “I don’t want it. I mean, why didn’t you take your armor off before you went in? You’ll get the bath dirty. And you won’t be able to wash yourself, but more importantly, you’ll get the bath dirty.”

Mary scratched her head. Then she removed her gauntlets and sabatons, placing them on the ground behind her. She glared at Tafel as she approached and hugged her armor as if she were a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Tafel’s expression darkened even further. “I’m not going to steal your armor,” she said. “Do you want help removing the rest?”

“You can’t,” Mary said. As Tafel continued to come closer, Mary dragged the pieces of armor she took off into the water and stuffed her limbs back inside of them. “They’re mine.” She brushed her hair back with her armored hand and sank back into the pool. “Besides, I can’t take off the rest.”

“That’s why I offered to help,” Tafel said. She had watched knights get dressed when she was little. They always had their squires around to remove their armor for them since it was almost impossible to do by themselves. She turned away to leave the bathroom. “Since you don’t need my help, I’ll be leaving.”

Mary shook her head. “You can’t remove my armor,” she said. “My uncle made it a part of me.”

Tafel stopped and turned back around. “What do you mean?”

“You have an imprint, right?” Mary asked, raising her head and meeting Tafel’s gaze. “Have you awakened yet?”

Tafel bit her lower lip. “No.”

“I have.”

Tafel’s eye twitched. “Are you picking a fight?”

“To awaken, you have to be in a near-death situation or driven by rage,” Mary said, ignoring Tafel’s question. “I received my imprint when I was eight. I couldn’t awaken for two years no matter how many times my uncle almost killed me.” Mary sighed as she leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. “He got frustrated.”

“What does—”

“Turtles’ spines and ribs are attached to their shells,” Mary said, cutting Tafel off. “My uncle thought making me more like a turtle would help awaken the snaketurtle imprint faster.” She tapped the armor covering her chest with her gauntlet. “This is my shell.”