"I'll inform the rest of the guard," Cresswell murmured.
He shifted out of the corner of my eye and my hand flew out in his direction. "Not now! Not…just…" I swallowed hard, and Owen let me shift to face Cresswell. "I don't want Camellia to catch you in the halls. If she'll force my Chosen to respond, there's no reason why she wouldn't attempt with you too."
"I am…" Cresswell hesitated and glanced between me and Wendell. "I may be more resistant. I am a shifter."
Had I known that? I didn't think so and Cresswell looked nervous to admit it, so maybe he was unregistered like Wendell and apparently many of my citizens.
"We don't know for sure," I said, looking up at Wendell who crouched at my side.
"You can test it on me, if you need to," Wendell offered gently. "If Thao and I can ignore a push like that, it'll only be Cosmo and Owen who have to be careful while she's here."
I wanted to bare my teeth and growl at the idea that any of my Chosen needed to be cautious in my court. That Camellia would even dare to attempt such a thing made me want to race into the hall and tear at her hair.
"I don't think I can right now," I admitted softly, raising a hand for them to see the way it shook. Wendell's brows jumped and he caught my hand in his, drawing it to his lips to kiss the back of it firmly.
"The Hunger wears on you when you use it without—"
"Feeding it," I finished for him, nodding.
"What is your second nature?" Thao asked Cresswell, frowning.
"Oh…a—a grizzly bear," Cresswell said softly.
He was the odd man out in the room, watching us all with interest. And yet I understood in a private and separate part of my mind, that I didn't have room for at the moment, that I had felt almost as strongly opposed to my sister touching him as I did for any of the others. But as Cresswell had said, he was exempt as my Head Guard. I liked him, and I didn't want Camellia to waste him down to almost nothing like her other Chosen.
"Bryony," Owen whispered, hands cupping my waist. "I think…I think I'm just going to go make myself a bath."
I whipped back to him, taking in the slump of his shoulders and the downward tilt of his eyes. "Can I…?" I bit my lip and squared my shoulders, rising up from Owen's lap and then taking his hands firmly in mine. "We're going into the bedroom," I said to the others.
Owen was mine, and I was every bit as much his. If he needed anything right now, even simply a hand to hold, I intended on being there.
"We'll be here," Cosmo said with a nod.
"If we leave the room, we'll go as our second natures," Thao said. "I will bite her hand off before letting her touch me or Wendell."
I sighed and nodded, strangely relieved by the offer, and then I moved to guide Owen toward the bedroom.
"You don't need to stay," he said, eyes not meeting mine after we stepped inside and I shut the door behind him.
I hesitated in place, watching Owen's bunched back as he moved for the screen that hid the tub. "I'll go if you want."
"I…" Owen sighed and shook his head, turning and wearing an open tangle of confusion. "I don't want to be aroused right now, but I don't want you to leave either."
Good, instructions. I wanted those in the moment. "I can be…unarousing," I said, nodding.
Owen's lips twitched. "I'm not sure about that, Mistress." He said the word so fondly it made my chest ache.
I hurried to join him, running behind the screen to start the water in the tub, sliding between it and the wall to perch myself on the windowsill there, twitching the curtains to cover it so that no one would spy us from outside the castle.
"I can be chaste, at least," I said, testing the temperature of the water and ignoring the picture of Owen stripping out of his clothes out of the corner of my eyes.
"I came up here to change before going to find you," he said, nearly whispering. "I didn't think to refuse her when she knocked on the door."
"I continuously underestimate the depths Camellia will sink to, just to appease her own impulses," I growled at the water. "If I'd known, I would've warned you or prepared the guards."
"Which of these is yours?" Owen asked, and I looked to find him naked down to his toes and examining the array of bottles on a small shelf by the end of the tub.
"Mm, I like these two best," I said, leaning forward and tapping a small gold and glass bottle of violet oil as well as a small pot of an herbal blend the maid had recommended. I added them to the water under Owen's supervision, stirring my hand through it as the tub began to fill.
We stood in the quiet rush of water together, not touching, not speaking. There was a rising anger burning in my chest, and while the vast majority of it was for Camellia and her actions, there was a tiny morsel I didn't understand that was more painful and reserved for Owen.
He lowered himself into the water as I stared down at my hands gripping the ledge of the golden tub.
"I should've stopped it," Owen said.
I shook my head. "This is Camellia, Owen. You're not to blame."
"I knew she was being too flirtatious," Owen said. "I just assumed… You always worried over using your Hunger on me, Bryony, but it was nothing like that. Your magic asked for what I already wanted to give. When I tried to stand up and leave, and she grabbed my leg, it hurt."
I busied myself by grabbing a soft cloth and dipping it into the water, moving to kneel behind Owen so I could wash his back as he curled forward with his arms around his knees.
"It never felt good, but it also didn't stop my body from reacting. If you hadn't walked in when you did —"
"Owen, I'm so sorry," I breathed, leaning into the edge of the tub, feeling the press of the ledge digging uncomfortably into my chest.
"Bryony, why are you apologizing?"
"Why did you?" I cried, the cloth slapping into the water as Owen twisted to face me. "This wasn't your fault! I should've known to be more careful. She hurt you! She would've, could've done more if Grandmother hadn't let me leave when she did."
"Shhh," Owen murmured, dripping hands reaching for me. "Nothing really happened. I didn't let her kiss me."
"You shouldn't be comforting me," I moaned. "I'm comforting you!"
"You're shaking, Bryony," Owen said, kissing my forehead. "You'd better join me."
I should've refused and gone back to washing him, but I stood and wrestled myself out of my dress and slip and stockings, sliding eagerly into the water and leaning into Owen's side, my face tucked against his neck.
"I love you," Owen whispered.
"I love you too."
"No magic would change that I am yours."
I sighed and kissed Owen's pulse, nodding. The sting in my chest softened, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, the pair of us resting together in the water. It was warm there, especially with Owen next to me, and the weariness of expending magic I hadn't earned weighed heavily on my eyelids.
"Still…I will make Camellia pay for daring to try to steal you from me," I growled, eyes falling shut.