Sadly, we could not go back to our tent.
When Theo asked Iiro about leaving early, his brother insisted we stay for several more dances, all of which Theo danced with someone else.
If I hadn’t known any better I would have thought he was trying to punish me.
Even Mila took a turn being his partner, not that I faulted her. She wasn’t any more friendly with him than she was with any of the other lords.
I was left waiting for them to finish while standing at the refreshment table. Which, if I was being honest with myself, wasn’t the worst thing in the world when there were trays stacked with chocolates and bacon-wrapped bits of goat cheese.
Maybe Iiro knew I would find a way to console myself after all.
I nodded my head to him, raising one of the bacon cheese squares in salute, and I could have sworn there was a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth when he shook his head in response.
When Iiro finally gave me his permission to leave, Mila danced over to me.
“Come to the sauna with me before bed,” she said.
“The what?” I looked at Theo for an explanation.
“It’s where we bathe. I went this morning while you were still sleeping.”
“Oh.” A bath did sound nice. “That sounds perfect, actually.”
Theo opened his mouth to say something, but Mila spoke up, making me like her even more. “Don’t worry, Lord Theodore. One of my guards can accompany us.”
His shoulders were still tense, but he looked to Iiro, who nodded. “All right, then.”
It felt awkward, somehow, just walking away from him. I gave him a little wave that only intensified that feeling before turning to leave with Mila. As I had sensed, the air was getting colder by the minute. Not freezing, but certainly colder than the clear day had been before.
I hoped the bath would be warm, at least.
Mila led me to two tents with openings that faced each other, and a walkway lined by semi-opaque material that stretched between them. They were illuminated only by the silver moonlight, the nearest torches several feet away.
She turned to look at her guard, and he stopped, standing outside the makeshift walkway. Near him was a keg next to a table with several steins on it.
Mila filled two cups, handing one to me. “For the sauna,” she said, as if that explained everything.
Then she led us into an opening in the fabric walkway, heading first to the tent on the left. It was little more than piles of clothes and towels, and I shot her a quizzical look.
“This is where we undress,” she told me. I nodded.
None of this made any sense at all, but I followed her lead anyway, wondering if this was what Theo had opened his mouth to say when Mila cut him off.
She gestured for me to turn around, and we both put our ale down so she could help me out of my dress. I was still unsure of what was going on, but I dutifully reciprocated, then took off my shift, quickly covering myself with one of the towels.
She was in no such hurry, making me feel like a bit of a prude. Something I never expected in Socair, of all places.
When she left the tent for the walkway, I saw the reason for the low lighting around it, and was eternally grateful for it. She strode through completely nude while I followed in my small towel, hoping that we weren’t visible through the thick veils on either side.
The tent on the other side was completely closed, not even an open flap, and up close, I noticed the material around it was thicker than the others.
“Go in quickly when I open it,” she said.
I nodded, getting more confused by the minute. Then she unhooked one side of the opening and a cloud of steam rushed out to meet us. Mila grabbed my wrist and tugged me behind her, shutting the flap again.
It was so hot.
So hot.
I could barely see between the low lighting and the steam filling up the entire tent, but apparently, whoever was in there could see me. Gasps rang out, and I saw the vague outlines of movement.
Mila pulled me until I was sitting on a warm bench.
“Where are the baths?” I whispered.
Before she could answer me, several bodies moved past us, each of them whispering something to the other in Socairan.
The tent entrance being open for so long allowed much of the steam out, enough for me to see that there were no tubs, just a cookpot hanging over a small fire, and a bucket of water with a ladle in it.
Wooden benches lined either side of the tent, made of cedar, if the sweet scent was anything to go by.
I turned to Mila to question her, but she was glaring at the women leaving, the ones I had clearly driven away. “Small minds,” she muttered loud enough for them to hear.
They didn’t react, just shuffled faster from the tent.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “I’m used to it.” Maybe I hadn’t been used to being treated like a leper before coming to Socair, but in the week I’d been here it had become familiar rather quickly.
“It’s really not,” she countered, agitation coating her tone. Fortunately, she dropped the matter after that.
Two brave souls stayed in the tent near the cookpot, and I realized with a start that they were completely naked, their towels neatly folded next to them. Mila was doing the same at my side.
She caught my expression unabashedly. “Your towel will get dirty if you leave it on.” Her voice was gentle, but matter of fact.
She wasn’t wrong, either. Already, sweat was pooling on my forehead and chest, rolling down my body in rivulets.
All right, then.
I pulled my towel out from under me and folded it onto the seat next to me. It wasn’t that I was unaccustomed to being nude in front of people, ladies maids and my sisters. But usually, everyone wasn’t naked at the same time, or casually visiting as the two ladies at the end were.
Clearly, I was the only one fazed by that, though.
“So,” I struggled to take a breath in the oppressive heat. “Are saunas always…a group activity?” I asked.
Mila’s laughter echoed throughout the tent. “Just be glad this one is women only. Men and women sauna together in most clans, but the Summit separates them for the few who don’t.”
“Isn’t that…awkward? What if you ran into—” I dropped my voice. “The guard?”
She shrugged. “It would be nothing we hadn’t all seen before.”
That was one way of looking at it, I supposed. Though the thought of running into Theo in the sauna—I abruptly cut off that line of thought before I turned even redder than the heat accounted for.
Mila stood up, striding over to the bucket and ladling water onto the rocks. A fresh wave of sweltering steam went through the tent.
“What are you doing?” A note of panic crept into my voice.
She laughed again. “They let the steam out.”
“I think I already can’t breathe.” I took a sip of my ale, willing it to cool me down.
“You can, I promise. It’s good for your lungs.” She added another ladleful, and I wondered idly if anyone had ever actually died in these tents or if I would be the first.
Look at me, doing the Summit’s job for them.
Searching for a distraction, I returned to our earlier conversation when Mila sat back down. “Isn’t this at odds with how modest you are normally?”
She tilted her head. “I never really thought about it. The saunas are sort of, separate from the rest of society. Being completely nude in an area where you go to be cleansed is practical, but wearing revealing clothing is considered intentional and inappropriate.”
I didn’t quite understand it, but then, every culture had its quirks.
“Well, we certainly can’t have anyone being intentionally inappropriate,” I murmured.
She let out another peal of easy laughter, going on to tell me more about Lynx lands and all the fun of being the only girl with four older brothers. Just when I thought I might actually keel over, she got to her feet.
“Are you hot yet?”
“I’ve been hot from the moment we set foot in this tent,” I assured her.
“Good,” she said. “Because it’s time to rinse off in the river.”
I gaped at her. “It has to be freezing this time of year!”
“It’s good for you to switch,” she insisted. Then, with a look at my hair, she tacked on, “And I think you’ll want to do something about that.”
My hand went automatically to my curls, which were, indeed, poofier than I had ever felt them, layering twice as high as they should be to create what felt like a giant sphere around my head.
Well, then. I shrugged, putting on a brave face. “When in Socair…”
