The remembered taste of blood lingered on his tongue. Even the bare stone of the shelf hadn’t been able to draw the unbearable heat from his flesh. It could’ve been worse, he thought, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. He could’ve screamed everyone awake with a night terror, or they c...
The morning sunlight warmed his skin and glinted off the dark brown surface of the lustral bath. Frothy green scum drifted peacefully across the fetid water. He made a face at it and decided to roll up his breeches legs a little farther—not that it would help much when he got in chest-deep. This ...