The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 52

"Ah, that felt good."

Char looked up as Rath reentered the room, and he frowned, scanning his brother from head to toe with a disapproving eye. Rath wore only a towel around his waist.

"Rath."

"What? She's unconscious anyway. You're lucky I'm wearing this much." Rath smirked. "And even if she woke up right now, she'd like what she sees."

Char rolled his eyes. "Go put some clothes on."

"Nope. I'm finally clean for the first time in days, and I am not ruining that by putting on dirty, sweaty clothes. You could stand a bath, too. Then Iris can wake up to two hot guys in towels and tell us who she prefers."

Char was so glad Iris wasn't awake to hear this conversation.

"You're such an idiot."

"Hey, I know what I've been told, and girls like this," Rath replied, gesturing to himself. "And they were all over you at that one party when you took your shirt off." His grin took on a sly aspect. "Has Iris ever seen you shirtless?"

Rath would never let Char live that stunt down.

"No. And it smells like the fairies are done cooking, so you should go get something to eat."

Rath shook his head. "Not without you. Come on. The fairies are ready to get to work on her, but they can't do anything with you hanging around."

Char dropped his gaze to Iris' still form in his arms. The fairies who weren't busy in the kitchen had been hovering around her for a while now, but Char was reluctant to hand her off to anybody else. He'd come too close to losing her too many times.

Rath crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Char."

"Fine."

Char stood and laid Iris on the sofa, placing a throw pillow under her head and running his fingers through her hair one more time. Rath clapped him on the shoulder and steered him toward the kitchen.

"Come on. She'll be fine. I'm starting to think it's not possible to kill her."

Char knew Rath was trying to boost his spirits, but that statement didn't help. It just reminded Char of all his failures and her near misses.

The fairies zipped out of the kitchen when the dragons walked in, leaving them with a hearty meal of meat and potatoes in a room that felt both familiar and foreign. Dwarves and dragons carved their caves out of stone, but their materials of choice for furniture and fixtures differed, and dwarves loved right angles. Heavy woods and cobblestone bricks; square table, square chairs, square counters and cabinets.

A good meal, however, transcended all cultural differences.

"I love a little adventure, but I also love three meals a day," Rath said through a mouthful of food. "Real sit-down meals that are hot, fresh, and tasty."

"Agreed."

Rath swallowed and pointed his fork at Char. "It wouldn't kill you to take a bath after this. You need to relax."

"I can't relax until I know she's okay."

Rath sighed. "Stop beating yourself up. Nothing that happened to her was your fault, and you've been doing everything you could for her since you two met. Yeah, she's been through some horrible stuff, but it could have been worse."

"How?" Char muttered, pushing his food around his plate.

"Well, let's see. If you hadn't interfered, Micah would have snatched her up at Little Rest, and she would have been completely alone, with nobody to help her at all. I kind of think that would have been worse, don't you?"