Queen Of Glass

Chapter 3

For a royal bathing chamber, the air was surprisingly cold. Then again, Celaena Sardothien was hardly wearing anything to begin with. But shouldn't it at least have been steamy from the heat of the water?
Celaena frowned warily.
Unless the water wasn't heated at all.
Hot or cold, it would do hell to the wounds on her back.
She scratched at the caked mud on her arms, wincing as her sore, swollen fingers throbbed in protest. As unfair and unexpected as it had been, Celaena could not help but smirk with satisfaction over her victory. Three men knocked out cold within a matter of minutes! Granted, if she had wanted to kill them, it would have been a matter of seconds, but...
But I suppose that I will have to take what I can find. At least they picked a man that deserved it—though it truly is too bad that I wasn't given a weapon. I could have made things so much more interesting for the Crown Prince of Adarlan...
She quickly surveyed the large room, observing the size of each the six, slitted windows placed high up on one of the gray stone walls; then in the dark corners for any others that might be watching her, save for Chaol Wydrael. But there was no one to be found. Celaena let out a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing, and she looked over the room again, this time with a human eye.
In the center of the room lay a large, rectangular pool with gold-covered faucets at either end. The hands were shaped like fins, the faucet head like that of a gaping, vicious fish. They dimly gleamed in the gloomy room, bands of light dancing along their surface so that it looked as if it were swimming through the stone.
A small set of steps led down into the dark water, which appeared to be growing exceptionally cold. The water was still, so calm that it could have been sitting there for ages. Celaena looked at her muddied body and ground her teeth.
Against one wall was an oak table; on top of which lay many white towels. Of all the things in the room, they were probably the most pleasant to look at. Several gold hooks, shaped like the faucets' fins, lined the wall beside the table, displaying a few white bathrobes. They looked as soft and fluffy as their unformed friends on the table. Her rags began to chafe against her skin as she saw a bar of pink soap sitting in a glass dish at the end of the table.
"Am I to bathe myself then?" Celaena asked the Captain of the Guard, who was standing beside her in the doorway. Weren't they supposed to have maids to do this? Or was she not esteemed enough to receive maids?
Or perhaps the maids don't want to bathe me.
Whatever the scenario might be, here was the first opportunity she'd had in two years to properly bathe herself. She didn't know how long she'd be able to stay clean after this, but she fully intended on making the most of this event— cold water or no.
Chaol kneeled down and unlocked the shackles that had been re-attached around her ankles, letting them fall to the floor with a clank. She rotated her raw, burning joints, and smiled slightly. The bath beckoned.
Celaena walked forward, aware of the young lord's eyes upon her, and gingerly touched the water with her foot. Instead of the ice-cold hell that she had expected, it was deliciously warm and smelled faintly of herbs. A tingling sensation ran down her body.
"Your handmaidens should arrive soon," he said coldly.
While the Crown Prince had the voice of a celestial being, this man's voice was filled with spite and grounded strength. "Get into the water if you like, you will not have to wait long for them."

His tone was far from kind, but Celaena was surprised to realize that his words were not commanding or condescending. If he hadn't been a royal guard and she hadn't been a great criminal, would they have gotten along? Perhaps even been friends? She suppressed a grin.
Perhaps even more?
Celaena dipped her foot in the water again, waiting to hear his departing footsteps, but from the sound of it, Lord Chaol wasn't moving. Celaena let out a sharp hiss.
Not commanding or condescending indeed.
"Are you going to stand there while I undress?" Celaena turned around and raised her eyebrows in disbelief. As grateful as she was for a bath and to be out of the mines, this kind of disrespect—just on the level of one human being to another—was almost absurd. He stared at her blankly, and when he didn't reply, Celaena faced the pool once again.
Undressing before a male stranger was definitely not worth the price of a marvelous bath. Even if she did stink like a barn animal. Even if she looked like one. Even if she-
Screw modesty.
Celaena began to reach around to unfasten her top when she heard a cough and a shuffling noise. Jerking her head back, Celaena smiled when she saw that Chaol had turned his back to her and was staring at the oak doors.
Coward. You're not as tough as you look.
"I'll keep my back turned towards you as long as you don't try anything foolish," he said with a growl to his voice. "I was given orders not to let you out of sight, and if you attempt an escape or murder of any sort, I'll have you back in those salt mines before you can blink. I'm very good at my job, Sardothien, so don't get any stupid ideas."
Celaena Sardothien smirked to herself, and removed her grimy clothing. Mud fell from her in chunks, and Celaena scratched at her chest before tossing her rags from the pool.
Like she'd do anything to mess up this golden opportunity!
But her smile faded when she saw the state of her body. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen herself naked. She felt dizzy.
She had wasted away to practically nothing. Her ribs were visible, she had bones showing where flesh and meat should have hidden them, and her breasts, once moderately supple and well formed, were no more than they had been in the midst of puberty. Her nipples were now entirely out of proportion! They looked huge compared to the rest of her breast! Celaena cupped her breasts in her hands, brushing aside dirt and felt a lump rise in her throat. Where the mounds of soft flesh met her bony chest, rough, bumpy lines stretched across in strands of white and purple. Celaena released her chest and looked down at them again. They were now more conical than round, and for some reason, all that she could think about was how they would look in a dress.
It was almost enough to make her cry.
Looking down at her reflection in the water, Celaena saw that her face was just as haggard and bony as the rest of her body. Her cheekbones were sharp, her jaw so pronounced that it didn't appear to be real, and her eyes were slightly, but ever so disturbingly, sunken in.
This was what two years of near-starvation could do to you.
How disgusting.
She cursed her vanity, hating the burning around the edges of her eyes, hoping that whatever the Crown Prince had in mind for her would entail eating and lots of sunshine.