BATHE ME

When they entered Ceaser's room they were greeted by the darkness there. His curtains were black and thick and drawn letting no light sip in. Crow noticed that the room seemed to be dustier than when he had left but he said nothing and spotted his master sitting in a corner on a rocking chair. Eve and Elizabeth had to adjust to the dark so they didn't see Ceaser nor where Crow was looking. After a few seconds more they finally saw Ceaser's silhouette.

"I brought them, sire." Crow announced in a lazy tone.

"Prepare my bath. Warm water." Ceaser addressed the two girls.

"Yes sire." they answered in sync.

After the short talk the girls left the room and headed downstairs. They both had frowns on their faces but they exchanged no words. Eve felt upset with herself and she dared not to disrespect Ceaser. Her people were obviously suffering because of her and she didn't want to add to their troubles. She wondered how her parents were doing after the sudden change of power and status. She knew her mother was a woman who loved living a soft life. Rakka couldn't even boil water so having to be a slave must have been taking a toll on her.

"What are you thinking about?" Elizabeth asked after noticing that her friend was too quiet,"I hope you are thinking bout how to warm the water for his bath."

"We have to make a fire. The troublesome part is getting the water up to his room." Eve said thoughtfully.

They were now outside and they decided to split the duties; one to fetch the water and the other to get wood to start a fire. Elizabeth was fetching the water while Eve was collecting wood. Elizabeth was much faster with fetching the water and soon she started to watch her friend. Eve had a more fragile body and holding an axe to chop wood only made it more obvious. The axe kept slipping out of her hands and more than five times she almost cut her legs off.

"Be careful!" Elizabeth exclaimed when the axe grazed Eve's skin.

Blood oozed out from the cut above her ankle and she hissed in pain. Elizabeth came to her side and slightly lifted her dress to see the cut.

"Maybe I should do it." Elizabeth suggested but Eve shook her head in dismissal.

"I'll manage. It's just a scratch." Eve said trying to smile.

"Well then let me cover it up for you before it gets infected."

"Let me finish this just in case there will be more cuts later on." Eve said smiling brightly and Elizabeth frowned deeply,"I was joking. No need to be serious."

"It wasn't a funny joke you know. I'll go get a clean clothe for this. Finish up quickly."

Elizabeth jogged away from her and Eve resumes the cumbersome task of chopping wood. Once she was done, she gathered them and made a heap with three rocks in the sides where the large coundrone would be set. She run to the kitchen and lit one of the long pieces of wood there to take back outside. She was lucky to not have been seen by anyone and by the time Elizabeth was returning, the fire was burning brightly.

"Did you manage.to light it yourself?" Elizabeth asked looking amazed.

"No. I stole the fire from the kitchen." Eve confessed cheerfully.

Elizabeth smiled at her friend and noticed that Eve looked more alive with black hair.

"Black suits you." Elizabeth said and Eve frowned,"I'm serious. I'm sure now you can even seduce him."

"What are you talking about? I don't like him anymore." Eve said upset.

"Sorry....I was joking."

"Tend to the wound."

Eve sat down on the ground and Elizabeth sat down at her feet. Elizabeth took Eves leg and placed it on her thigh. She took the clean clothe she had already dampened and then she started wiping the dry blood.

"It's bigger and deeper than I thought." Elizabeth said with a deep frown.

"Really? It can't be that bad."

"It is that bad. Let me tie this to cover it for now."

Elizabeth tied the clothe around Eve's ankle and then they stood up to start adding more wood to the fire. It wasn't long before the water was boiling.

"So how will we carry this?" Elizabeth asked.

"Let's get buckets. We'll leave it on the fire so the water doesn't become cold." Eve said.

They found two buckets and started taking water back and fourth until they finished taking up the water. Ceaser was watching them the whole time and once they were done he checked the temperature and then dismissed Elizabeth keeping Eve with him.

"Do you need something?" Eve asked looking down at the floor.

"Draw the curtains." Ceaser said as he took his shirt off.

Eve moved to the window not knowing that the window went all the way down to the floor and up to the ceiling. She grabbed one side of the heavy curtain and started pulling as she walked. Once she saw that there was no wall she got scared and slipped.

"Ahhh!" she screamed hanging from the curtain,"Help!"

"You can help yourself. Stop being dramatic." Ceaser said yawning as he walked towards the window with his shirt slung over his shoulder.

"I'm scared."

"If I help you up you have to bathe me." Ceaser said grinning.

The fear in Eve's eyes evaporated and she started trying to pull herself up. Ceaser saw this and took his sword to make a cut in the curtain.

"You can not use your ability or else I'll kill you." he said watching her gripping the material for dear life.

It started to rip even further and she broke into a cold sweat. As she tried to pull herself up, the material ripped even further and to make matters worse Ceaser used her own ability to make it windy. She looked up and saw that she was nearing the materials end.

"I'll do it!" she screamed and the material that was left ripped and she started falling,"Ahh!"

Ceaser used Elizabeth's ability and a vine caught Eve a meter above the ground. She was upside down so she held onto her dress to cover herself. The vine pushed her up and back into Ceaser's room.

She panted loudly when she was finally on solid ground. She glared at Ceaser who was looking down at her with a grin still on his face.

"Let's go. My bath is running cold." Ceaser reminded her.

She followed him to the bathroom and looked down when he started taking off his trousers. He got into the tub and waited for Eve to gain enough confidence to look at him. When she was finally ready she walked closer to the tub and picked up a clothe to scrub him with.

"You are scrubbing too hard." he complained with a frown.

"Sorry master." she apologized stiffly.

"You will scrub better if you get in the water with me."

Eve stared at Ceaser for a few seconds before shaking her head to convince herself she was doing it because it was her duty. She slowly walked into the tub and she was surprised at how shallow the tub felt when it had taken her and Elizabeth such a long time to fill it. She became conscious of Ceaser's eyes on her and the moment she made eye contact with him she couldn't look away. His gaze was so intense and calm at the same time. There was an ocean of emotions in those eyes and it made ade her afraid; afraid she might fall in love with him all over again.

She sighed and moved closer to him and started scrubbing. She used little to no pressure so it was as if she was wiping him instead of scrubbing.

"You were scrubbing too hard earlier and now you are barely scrubbing at all." Ceaser complained.

"Oh." she sighed again and scrubbed a little bit harder but after a few seconds she was back to wiping him.

"It's not only my upper body that needs cleaning." Ceaser reminded and she turned pink.

It was impossible for her to hide the fact that he was affecting her because of how much her pale skin allowed the redness to show.

"Can't you do that yourself?" she asked locking eyes with him again.

"No. Do your job."

She lowered her hand into the water while still looking into his eyes. He caught her hand and took the clothe from her then he asked her to leave.

Eve was more than happy to leave and she practically run out of the bathroom.

"Prepare my evening garments." Ceaser called out to her just as she was about to exit his room.

Eve stopped walking and looked behind her and saw Ceaser standing with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"You didn't even scrub." she pointed out and he just continued to stare at her seriously.

"It's getting cold." he said and she raised her brow in question.

How could a man who was practically raised on a freezing mountain feel cold because of a small breeze?