I’d barely slept.

When Starna woke up and turned the light on, it felt like I’d just fallen asleep a few moments before. I rubbed my eyes as she stared down at me.

“Get up! We’ve got to get presentable before we meet the king!” She dumped the fur blanket on top of me before hurrying out the door.

The blanket was still warm, very heavy, and smelled very much like her. I allowed myself a few moments to enjoy the warmth before I tossed it back on the bed and stood up. There was a younger Dwarf standing in the doorway shaking his head as I stretched and yawned.

“Master told me to clean you up, but this…” He wrinkled his nose. “You smell like the backside of an Ogre!”

I’d grown up with an Ogre for a cook, so I knew what happened when you were downwind from an Ogre. Do that enough and eventually it wasn’t only your smell that would vanish, so would your tastebuds.

“Do you have any clothes for me and a place where I could wash off?” We had money for expenses like that and I dug in my pocket to pull out some coins. Among the silver and gold was a red coin that I’d gotten from a Vampire matriarch in exchange for a vial of my blood. The coin had a lot of uses, first of which was to serve as a ward against any other Vampire. I was sure that there might be a few strong Vampires that would see the coin as a challenge, but most of them wouldn’t dare incur the matriarch’s wrath by messing with me. The other great function of the coin was that it would compel any Vampires that were part of her coven to help me. Both of which I considered to be worth a lot more than giving her a way to track me.”

“Y-y-you know the Glynots!” The Dwarf trembled as he fixated on the coin.

“I guess.” I shrugged as I pocketed the coin. I hadn’t talked with her for long, so I wouldn’t say that I knew her, but I was under her protection, at least from her own kind. “Do you know them?’

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The Dwarf backed up. “Your companion is in the shower. There are clothes laid out in the washroom for you to try on.” He bowed, then ran off.

I thought about going after him to see why he ignored my question, but Tharkun had been really hospitable and I didn’t want to insult him by interrogating his employees.

I leaned against the doorframe as I waited for Starna to finish getting cleaned up so I could take my turn. I used the time to think about what I could do with her once we were back in Hepool. I hadn’t been inside the city itself much, but there were a few places that I knew of that she might like to visit with her newfound freedom.

The person who walked out of the bathroom was unlike anything I’d seen from Starna so far. She was wearing a sparkling silver strapless dress that flowed down to her knees. Her hair was down and curled at her shoulders. She had a barrette on each temple to keep her hair out of her face. The design on the silver accessory was a flower that I didn’t recognize.

“What?” The beautiful Elf turned to look herself over. “Is something wrong with the dress?”

“No.” My chest was tight and I wasn’t quite sure why. As a sailor, I’d been around the world and seen exotic women in every type of clothing that I could imagine. Despite my experiences, I’d never felt a sense of awe like I was feeling while looking at her. “I’ve only seen you in pants, so this is… different.”

“Different?” Starna put her hands on her hips.

“I’m used to seeing Starna the fighter, and while I love to have her in my corner, it’s nice to know that I’ve got Starna the beautiful lady there too.”

Her cheeks turned deep blue and she looked away as she fidgeted with the stray hair behind her right ear.

I left her in the hall and slipped into the bathroom. There were a few different sizes and styles of suits for me to pick from, but I went with the simplest design over some of the more flashy ones. I noticed there were also a few dresses that were hanging up in the large closet in the bathroom. My mind started to wander as I began to imagine Starna wearing them. None of them were practical enough to do much physical activities in, but there were plenty of things we could do without moving around.

But that was for another day. I shed my clothes and climbed into the shower. First we’d have to get through this audience with the king. Then once we got home I could take Starna somewhere. Until then, I had plenty of time to plan.